The Book of Genesis, Chapter 2

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Although this is the beginning of chapter 2, verses 1 through 3 are actually the summary or conclusion of the story told in chapter 1. (Remember, these chapters and verses were defined by Christians long after the Bible was written.)

2 And on the seventh[4] day God ended[7] his work[9] which he had made; and he rested[16] on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

The Hebrew words for seven and rested are similar. The word "Sabbath" comes from the Hebrew word for rest.

The Lamsa reads "And on the sixth day God ended his work ..." while the LXX reads "And God finished on the sixth day his works ... and he ceased on the seventh day ..."

Did God do any work on the seventh day? What is meant by the word "ended?"

[4] 'SEVENTH'

7637. shebiy'iy, sheb-ee-ee'; or shebi'iy, sheb-ee-ee'; ordinal from H7657; seventh:--seventh (time).

[7] 'ENDED'

3615. kalah, kaw-law'; a prim. root; to end, whether intrans. (to cease, be finished, perish) or trans. (to complete, prepare, consume):--accomplish, cease, consume (away), determine, destroy (utterly), be (when . . . were) done, (be an) end (of), expire, (cause to) fail, faint, finish, fulfil, X fully, X have, leave (off), long, bring to pass, wholly reap, make clean riddance, spend, quite take away, waste.

[9] 'WORK'

4399. mela'kah, mel-aw-kaw'; from the same as H4397; prop. deputyship, i.e. ministry; gen. employment (never servile) or work (abstr. or concr.); also property (as the result of labor):--business, + cattle, + industrious, occupation, (+ -pied), + officer, thing (made), use, (manner of) work ([-man], -manship).

[16] 'RESTED'

7673. shabath, shaw-bath'; a prim. root; to repose, i.e. desist from exertion; used in many impl. relations (caus., fig. or spec.):--(cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail, keep (sabbath), suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.

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.

Here we read that the Sabbath Day is holy. God has blessed it because he has rested. This finishes the first account of the creation given in Genesis. In the Hebrew text, the letter Pey (P) appears, indicating a major break (see Gen 1:26.)

There is a theory about the composition of the Bible called the "Documentary Hypothesis" (See Appendix B,) which claims that the Bible is actually a composition of several books. According to the Documentary Hypothesis, Gen 1:1 through Gen 2:3 is an account of the creation from one source (called the 'P' source for 'priestly'), while Gen 2:4 begins a second account from another source (called the 'J' source for 'Jahweh', the German form of YHWH).

Notice that in the first account, God is identified as 'elohiym:H430 (see Gen 1:1), while in the second account, God is referred to as Jahweh or yehovah:H3068 (see Gen 2:4.)

4 These are the generations[4] of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day[18] that the LORD[21] God[22] made[23] the earth and the heavens,

The phrase "These are the generations" is the same phrase used to list genealogies of a person (e.g., Gen 5:1 & Gen 6:9.) See also the discussion about "moved" in Gen 1:2.

In Gen 1, the creation took six days. In Gen 2, the entire creation is grouped into one day. In both versions, the word "day" could refer to some indefinite period of time, as opposed to 24 hours.

The word yehova:H3068 is the sacred name of God, usually written "YHWH". 'elohiym:H430 is a plural word meaning God or gods (See Gen 1:1.) The literal translation of the two words is "YHWH, God." yehova:H3068 does not modify 'elohiym:H430, as implied in the KJV translation. Rather, 'elohihm is used as a title, indicating that YHWH is the God who made the earth and the heavens.

For a more detailed discussion of this, see Appendix C.

[4] 'GENERATIONS'

8435. towledah, to-led-aw'; or toledah, to-led-aw'; from H3205; (plur. only) descent, i.e. family; (fig.) history:--birth, generations.

[18] 'DAY'

3117. yowm, yome; from an unused root mean. to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether lit. (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or fig. (a space of time defined by an associated term), [often used adv.]:--age, + always, + chronicles, continually (-ance), daily, ([birth-], each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever (-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (. . . live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth
, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year (-ly), + younger.

[21] 'LORD'

3068. Yehovah, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord. Comp. H3050, H3069.

[22] 'GOD'

'elohiym:H430. See Gen 1.1

[23] 'MADE'

'ashah:H6213. See Gen 1.11

5 And every plant[3] of the field[6] before[7] it was in the earth, and every herb of the field[18] before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain[31] upon the earth, and there was not a man to till[42] the ground.

The Lamsa uses "tree" instead of "plant."

Apparently, the plants and herbs did not exist on the earth yet because they could not grow until the rain began.

Some people beleive that this verse describes God planning or thinking about what he is about to make. Others believe that God first created everything in some other form (e.g., spritually) before creating it physically on the earth. Still another view is that God created other worlds before, and this one followed the same pattern.

Of course, it could also mean that they existed on the earth, but in a dormant state. For example, a desert often looks like nothing is growing there, but after a rain, life seems to come from nowhere (see Gen 1:11.) This might be the image that is being presented. Many other possibilities exist.

[3] 'PLANT'

7880. siyach, see'-akh; from H7878; a shoot (as if uttered or put forth), i.e. (gen.) shrubbery:--bush, plant, shrub.

[6] 'FIELD'

7704. sadeh, saw-deh'; or saday, saw-dah'ee; from an unused root mean. to spread out; a field (as flat):--country, field, ground, land, soil, X wild.

[7] 'BEFORE'

2962. terem, teh'-rem; from an unused root appar. mean. to interrupt or suspend; prop. non-occurrence; used adv. not yet or before:--before, ere, not yet.

[18] 'FIELD'

sadeh:H7704

[31] 'RAIN'

4305. matar, maw-tar'; a prim. root; to rain:--(cause to) rain (upon).

[42] 'TILL'

5647. 'abad, aw-bad'; a prim. root; to work (in any sense); by impl. to serve, till, (caus.) enslave, etc.:-- X be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, + husbandman, keep, labour (-ing man), bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use) service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.

6 But there went[3] up a mist[6] from the earth[9] , and watered[11] the whole face[14] of the ground[17] .

Notice that in this account, the water rose from the earth and then watered the earth. In Gen 1, the waters were separted by the firmament. Here, we get a description closer to the actual rain cycle: a vapor rising from water on the earth and then falling back to the earth.

The Lamsa and LXX translations paint an entirely different picture: "But a powerful spring (LXX: fountain) gushed out of the earth ..."

The word paniym:H6440 paints an image of the earth opening its mouth to drink the water. In a desert community, this would be a very vivid image.

[3] 'WENT'

5927. 'alah, aw-law'; a prim. root; to ascend, intrans. (be high) or act. (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, lit. and fig. (as follow):--arise (up). (cause to) ascend up, at once, break [the day] (up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, + shew, climb (up), (cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up), grow (over), increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, [make] up, X mention, mount u
p, offer, make to pay, + perfect, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), (begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work.

[6] 'MIST'

108. 'ed, ade; from the same as H181 (in the sense of enveloping); a fog:--mist, vapor.

[9] 'EARTH'

'erets:H776

[11] 'WATERED'

8248. shaqah, shaw-kaw'; a prim. root; to quaff, i.e. (caus.) to irrigate or furnish a potion to:--cause to (give, give to, let, make to) drink, drown, moisten, water. See H7937, H8354.

[14] 'FACE'

paniym:H6440

[17] 'GROUND'

127. 'adamah, ad-aw-maw'; from H119; soil (from its gen. redness):--country, earth, ground, husband [-man] (-ry), land.

7 And the LORD God formed[5] man[6] of the dust[9] of the ground[12] , and breathed[14] into his nostrils the breath[19] of life[21] ; and man became a living[26] soul[27] .

The image here is of God forming a person much like an artisan would form a sculpture.

The Hebrew word for dust ('aphar:H6083) appears later in the narrative: see Gen 3:14 and 3:19. One of the plagues afflicted on the Egyptians was 'aphar:H6083 which turned into lice (Exod. 8:16, which is Exod. 8:12 in the Hebrew Bible.)

Notice the similarity between nephesh:H5315 and naphach:H5301 (Since Hebrew didn't have vowels, the words were originally NPHSH and NPHCH.) See Gen 1:2.

[5] 'FORMED'

3335. yatsar, yaw-tsar'; prob. identical with H3334 (through the squeezing into shape); ([comp. H3331]), to mould into a form; espec. as a potter; fig. to determine (i.e. form a resolution):-- X earthen, fashion, form, frame, make (-r), potter, purpose.

[6] 'MAN'

120. 'adam, aw-dawm'; from H119; ruddy, i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.):--X another, + hypocrite, + common sort, X low, man (mean, of low degree), person.

[9] 'DUST'

6083. 'aphar, aw-fawr'; from H6080; dust (as powdered or gray); hence clay, earth, mud:--ashes, dust, earth, ground, morter, powder, rubbish.

[12] 'GROUND'

127. 'adamah, ad-aw-maw'; from H119; soil (from its gen. redness):--country, earth, ground, husband [-man] (-ry), land.

[14] 'BREATHED'

5301. naphach, naw-fakh'; a prim. root; to puff, in various applications (lit. to inflate, blow hard, scatter, kindle, expire; fig. to disesteem):--blow, breath, give up, cause to lose [life], seething, snuff.

[19] 'BREATH'

5397. neshamah, nesh-aw-maw'; fr. H5395; a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concr.) an animal:--blast, (that) breath (-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit.

[21] 'LIFE'

chay:H2416

[26] 'LIVING'

chay:H2416

[27] 'SOUL'

5315. nephesh, neh'-fesh; from H5314; prop. a breathing creature, i.e. animal or (abstr.) vitality; used very widely in a lit., accommodated or fig. sense (bodily or mental):--any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will,
X would have it.

8 And the LORD God planted[5] a garden[7] eastward in Eden[10] ; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

The name of the Garden in the LXX is Edem.

In this account, YHWH:H3068 creates the garden after man. In Gen 1, 'elohiym:H430 creates man after everything else. Of course, Gen 1 discusses the creation in chronological order, a day at a time. This account might not follow that formula, since it is all one day.

The word for garden (gan:H1588) can refer to a fenced area for growing vegetation or for keeping animals, such as domestic fowls. Some Kings had a "gan" where they could go to relax (see 2Ki 9:27, 2Ki 25:4.)

[5] 'PLANTED'

5193. nata', naw-tah'; a prim. root; prop. to strike in, i.e. fix; spec. to plant (lit. or fig.):--fastened, plant (-er).

[7] 'GARDEN'

1588. gan, gan; from H1598; a garden (as fenced):--garden.

[10] 'EDEN'

5731. 'Eden, ay'-den; the same as H5730 (masc.); Eden, the region of Adam's home:--Eden.

5730. 'eden, ay'-den; or (fem.) 'ednah, ed-naw'; from H5727; pleasure:--delicate, delight, pleasure. See also H1040.

9 And out of the ground[5] made the LORD God to grow[11] every tree[13] 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[39] of good and evil.

[5] 'GROUND'

'adamah:127

[11] 'GROW'

tsamach:6779. See v. 5

[13] 'TREE'

'ets:H6086 (throughout this verse) See Gen 2:9

[39] 'KNOWLEDGE'

1847. da'ath, dah'-ath; from H3045; knowledge:--cunning, [ig-] norantly, know(-ledge), [un-] awares (wittingly).

10 And a river[3] went[4] out of Eden to water[9] the garden[11] ; and from thence it was parted[17] , and became into four heads[22] .

If the river went out of Eden to water the garden, was Eden and the garden separate? Was Eden a larger place, and the garden a small part of it? Perhaps the river was a spring that came up out of the ground (from inside Eden) to water the garden.

Much effort has been expended to identify the rivers and the exact location of Eden. Of course, after a major flood as described in Gen 7-8, the original configuration of rivers could have been dramatically altered. The existence of cities with similar names after the flood may not reflect geography before the flood, since people tend to retain familiar names when relocating to new areas. The same name might have been used for many different rivers, cities, mountains, etc. For example, Bethlehem, PA an
d the river Jordan in Utah. It is possible, therefore, that when Noah left the ark, he might have found himself in a new area, and began to name rivers and mountains with the names from his original homeland.

[3] 'RIVER'

5104. nahar, naw-hawr'; from H5102; a stream (includ. the sea; espec. the Nile, Euphrates, etc.); fig., prosperity:--flood, river.

[4] 'WENT'

3318. yatsa', yaw-tsaw'; a prim. root; to go (causat. bring) out, in a great variety of applications, lit. and fig., direct and proxim.:-- X after, appear, X assuredly, bear out, X begotten, break out, bring forth (out, up), carry out, come (abroad, out, thereat, without), + be condemned, depart (-ing, -ure), draw forth, in the end, escape, exact, fail, fall (out), fetch forth (out), get away (forth, hence, out), (able to, cause to, let) go abroad (forth, on, out), going out, grow, have forth (out), issue
out, lay (lie) out, lead out, pluck out, proceed, pull out, put away, be risen, X scarce, send with commandment, shoot forth, spread, spring out, stand out, X still, X surely, take forth (out), at any time, X to [and fro], utter.

[9] 'WATER'

8248. shaqah, shaw-kaw'; a prim. root; to quaff, i.e. (caus.) to irrigate or furnish a potion to:--cause to (give, give to, let, make to) drink, drown, moisten, water. See H7937, H8354.

[11] 'GARDEN'

gan:H1588

[17] 'PARTED'

6504. parad, paw-rad'; a prim. root; to break through, i.e. spread or separate (oneself):--disperse, divide, be out of joint, part, scatter (abroad), separate (self), sever self, stretch, sunder.

[22] 'HEADS'

7218. ro'sh, roshe; from an unused root appar. mean. to shake; the head (as most easily shaken), whether lit. or fig. (in many applications, of place, time, rank, etc.):--band, beginning, captain, chapiter, chief (-est place, man, things), company, end, X every [man], excellent, first, forefront, ([be-]) head, height, (on) high (-est part, [priest]), X lead, X poor, principal, ruler, sum, top.

[39] 'A'

If the river went out of Eden to water the Garden, does that imply that Eden and the garden are separate? Perhaps it was a spring, or Eden is larger than the garden.
Much has been expended to identify the rivers and the exact locatin of Eden. Of course, after a major flood as described in Gen 7-8, the original configuration of rivers could have been dramatically altered.

11 The name[2] of the first is Pison[7] : that is it which compasseth the whole land[15] of Havilah[17] , where there is gold;

[2] 'NAME'

In the LXX, the name of this river is Phison. The only difference in Hebrew between the two names is a tiny dot that appears in the middle of the "P" character. The only difference in Hebrew between Pison and Pishon is another tiny dot.

[7] 'PISON'

6376. Piyshown, pee-shone'; from H6335; dispersive; Pishon, a river of Eden:--Pison.

[15] 'LAND'

'erets:H776

[17] 'HAVILAH'

2341. Chaviylah, khav-ee-law'; prob. from H2342; circular; Chavilah, the name of two or three eastern regions; also perh. of two men:--Havilah.

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium[11] and the onyx[14] stone.

Many words appear in the Bible only a few times. Sometimes we can derive the meaning from context, but other times we are less sure. This verse describes valuable minerals in various parts of the land, but the exact meanings are uncertain.

Bedolach:H916 appears only twice: here and in Num 11:7, where it is used to describe the color of manna.

Shoham:H7718 appears more often, but mainly in lists of precious stones, and describing the ephod.

[11] 'BDELLIUM'

916. bedolach, bed-o'-lakh; prob. from H914; something in pieces, i.e. bdellium, a (fragrant) gum (perh. amber); others a pearl:--bdellium.

[14] 'ONYX'

7718. shoham, sho'-ham; from an unused root prob. mean. to blanch; a gem, prob. the beryl (from its pale green color):--onyx.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia[20] .

[20] 'ETHIOPIA'

3568. Kuwsh, koosh; prob. of for. or.; Cush (or Ethiopia), the name of a son of Ham, and of his territory; also of an Isr.:--Chush, Cush, Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel[9] : that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

The first river got two verses, the second one, and now the third and fourth rivers share a single verse.

[9] 'HIDDEKEL'

2313. Chiddeqel, khid-deh'-kel; prob. of for. or.; the Chiddekel (or Tigris) river:--Hiddekel.

15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress[17] it and to keep[21] it.

The LXX reads "the garden of Delight," where the greek word for Delight is Paradise.

In Gen 1, man is told to subdue or conquer the earth. Here man is told to nurture and preserve it.

The Hebrew word shamar:H8104 (keep) is used by Cain in Gen 4:9: "Am I my brother's shamar?"

[17] 'DRESS'

[21] 'KEEP'

8104. shamar, shaw-mar'; a prim. root; prop. to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; gen. to protect, attend to, etc.:--beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree[11] of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

The Hebrew word 'ets:H6086 can mean anything made of wood. The meaning is clear here, but in other cases it is not. For example, if a man is hanged on an 'ets:H6086, it could mean either hanged from a tree or from a gallows built of wood.

[11] 'TREE'

6086. 'ets, ates; from H6095; a tree (from its firmness); hence wood (plur. sticks):-- + carpenter, gallows, helve, + pine, plank, staff, stalk, stick, stock, timber, tree, wood.

17 But of the tree of the knowledge[7] of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die[29] .

In Hebrew, a word is repeated to give emphasis. In this verse, the word muwth:H4191 appears twice in a row, indicating that this person will "surely die".

[7] 'KNOWLEDGE'

1847. da'ath, dah'-ath; from H3045; knowledge:--cunning, [ig-] norantly, know(-ledge), [un-] awares (wittingly).

[29] 'DIE'

4191. muwth, mooth; a prim. root; to die (lit. or fig.); causat. to kill:-- X at all, X crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy (-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro [-mancer], X must needs, slay, X surely, X very suddenly, X in [no] wise.

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help[21] meet for him.

In Gen 1, Elohim created mankind male and female. Here, the creation of male and female are distinct. Notice also, that YHWH told only the male not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Woman had not been created when Adam was told. Notice also that the word "apple" appears nowhere in this story. (See Gen 3:6) It is clear that the tree had some kind of fruit, however.

The Hebrew word 'ezer:H5828 contains no implication of greater or lesser importance for the giver or receiver. In Exod 18:4, the name of Eliezer means God (El) is my help ('ezer). The Psalms often refer to YHWH as an 'ezer.

[21] 'HELP'

5828. 'ezer, ay'-zer; from H5826; aid:--help.

5826. 'azar, aw-zar'; a prim. root; to surround, i.e. protect or aid:--help, succour.

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.

In Gen 1, Elohim created the animals before man. Here, YHWH creates the animals after man, in order to find a help meet for him. Adam names the animals in Gen 2, while God names them in Gen 1.

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.

After naming all the animals, no helper was found for the man Adam.

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[28] thereof;

[28] 'INSTEAD'

8478. tachath, takh'-ath; from the same as H8430; the bottom (as depressed); only adv. below (often with prep. pref. underneath), in lieu of, etc.:--as, beneath, X flat, in (-stead), (same) place (where . . . is), room, for . . . sake, stead of, under, X unto, X when . . . was mine, whereas, [where-] fore, with.

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made[12] he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

[12] 'MADE'

1129. banah, baw-naw'; a prim. root; to build (lit. and fig.):--(begin to) build (-er), obtain children, make, repair, set (up), X surely.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone[7] of my bones[10] , and flesh[12] of my flesh[15] : she shall be called Woman[20] , because she was taken out of Man[27] .

All the previous references to "man" have seen 'adam:H120. This is the first time we see 'iysh:H376 (man.) This is also the first time we have seen 'ishshah:H802 (woman.)

A chiasmus is a Hebrew literary form in which words or phrases are repeated in reverse order (e.g., ABBA). This verse is a double chiasmus in Hebrew: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh for this shall be called woman because out of man has been taken this." The verse has two short chiasmi (with bone and flesh), and then the Hebrew word for "this" (zo'th:H2063) appears in the beginning, between the two short chiasmus, and at the end of the verse.

[7] 'BONE'

6106. 'etsem, eh'-tsem; from H6105; a bone (as strong); by extens. the body; fig. the substance, i.e. (as pron.) selfsame:--body, bone, X life, (self-) same, strength, X very.

[10] 'BONES'

'etsem:H6106

[12] 'FLESH'

1320. basar, baw-sawr'; from H1319; flesh (from its freshness); by extens. body, person; also (by euphem.) the pudenda of a man:--body, [fat, lean] flesh [-ed], kin, [man-] kind, + nakedness, self, skin.

[15] 'FLESH'

basar:H1320

[20] 'WOMAN'

802. 'ishshah, ish-shaw'; fem. of H376 or H582; irregular plur. nashiym, naw-sheem'; a woman (used in the same wide sense as H582):--[adulter]ess, each, every, female, X many, + none, one, + together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.

[27] 'MAN'

376. 'iysh, eesh; contr. for H582 [or perh. rather from an unused root mean. to be extant]; a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation):--also, another, any (man), a certain, + champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, [foot-, husband-] man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man [-kind], + none, one, people, person, + steward, what (man) soever, whoso (-ever), w
orthy. Comp. H802.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave[13] unto his wife[16] : and they shall be one flesh[22] .

Although this is the first time we see the word "wife" in the KJV, the same Hebrew word was used for "woman" in the previous verse. This verse could be translated using the word "woman" as well.

[13] 'CLEAVE'

1692. dabaq, daw-bak'; a prim. root; prop. to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere; fig. to catch by pursuit:--abide, fast, cleave (fast together), follow close (hard, after), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take.

[16] 'WIFE'

'ishshah:H802

[22] 'FLESH'

basar:H1320

25 And they were both naked, the man[7] and his wife[10] , and were not ashamed[14] .

This verse could also read "Adam and his wife."

[7] 'MAN'

'adam:H120

[10] 'WIFE'

'ishshah:H802

[14] 'ASHAMED'

954. buwsh, boosh; a prim. root; prop. to pale, i.e. by impl. to be ashamed; also (by impl.) to be disappointed, or delayed:--(be, make, bring to, cause, put to, with, a-) shame (-d), be (put to) confounded (-fusion), become dry, delay, be long.