A Skeptic Analyses, Interprets and Provides Commentary on the Holy Bible: GENESIS Chapter 2
GENESIS Chapter 2 (KJV)
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
A notable first use of the word Lord, which we know to be equivalent to the word baal, which translates as owner. I find language to be very interesting, and it should not be ignored that lord sounds like lored. Perhaps a suggestion that the LORD has been lored into existence. Perhaps not.
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
The "ancient alien" Annunaki theory suggests that humans were created as slaves to mine gold. Creating man to till the ground doesn't sound too different.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The physical elements the human body is composed can indeed be found in the Earth, just as they return to their upon our death.
I find it interesting that the words living and soul are coupled. This suggests that, whatever a soul is, it is not living. But I think it relevant that soul sounds like sole - as in something that is singular or the sole of one's foot. Language often contains insight and I will be paying close attention to how the word soul is used throughout the bible to try and better understand what the soul is.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
This indicates the the author did not consider gold to be the element we did, but potentially a word for any previous resource?
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Yes. Sounding more like forced labour. Though to take a look at the human hands, they do appear rather perfect for pulling roots out from the soil..
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
I have a theory on how the tree of knowledge of good and evil could be a metaphor for the introduction of private property into human culture. I wrote it here to save this post from getting too long.
18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
I think that names are quite relevant in the Bible. I've heard it speculated that Adam is like the Egyptian Atum or representative of the first atom. With water often being symbolic of spirit, I find the fact that Adam spells "a dam" to perhaps be of interest also.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Deep sleep, or local anaesthesia? Also, if the Adam represents the atom theory is on point, does this verse speak to the splitting of the atom?
22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
This, and the earlier mentioning of eve being taken from Adam, invites the question as to whether man and woman are two parts of one greater whole. Though that's probably not a question that many in the modern era would be tolerant of. And perhaps everything is a part of a greater whole anyway. Humanity are individuals, but perhaps one the collective level we are another thing entirely, making a separate journey that we are all a part of- like cells within the human body contributing towards the journey of a single human being.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.