Editing Garden of Eden

{{Short description|Biblical garden of God}}
{{about|the Biblical garden}}
{{Redirect|Terrestrial Paradise|the painting|Terrestrial Paradise (Bosch)}}
[[File:Jan Brueghel de Oude en Peter Paul Rubens - Het aards paradijs met de zondeval van Adam en Eva.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''[[The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man]]'' by [[Jan Brueghel the Elder]] and [[Pieter Paul Rubens]], {{circa|1615}}, depicting both [[List of domesticated animals|domestic]] and exotic wild animals such as [[tiger]]s, [[parrot]]s, and [[ostrich]]es co-existing in the garden]]

In [[Abrahamic religions]], the '''Garden of Eden''' ({{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|גַּן־עֵדֶן}}|gan-ʿĒḏen}}; {{langx|el|Εδέμ}}; {{langx|la|Paradisus}}) or '''Garden of God''' ({{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|גַּן־יְהֹוֶה}}|gan-[[Tetragrammaton|YHWH]]|label=none}} and {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|גַן־אֱלֹהִים}}|gan-[[Elohim]]|label=none}}), also called the '''Terrestrial Paradise''', is the [[biblical]] [[paradise]] described in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 2–3 and [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 28 and 31.<ref name="Metzger2004">{{cite book|last1= Metzger|first1= Bruce Manning|last2= Coogan|first2= Michael D|title= The Oxford Guide To People And Places Of The Bible|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=amlXOOaSuLMC|access-date= 22 December 2012|year= 2004|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-517610-0|page= 62}}</ref><ref name="Cohen 2011 228–229">{{harvnb|Cohen|2011|pp=228–229}}.</ref>

The location of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis as the source of four tributaries. Various suggestions have been made for its location:<ref name="wilensky2012" /> at the head of the [[Persian Gulf]], in southern [[Mesopotamia]] where the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] rivers run into the sea;<ref name="Hamblin-1987" /> and in [[Armenia]].<ref name="Zevit" /><ref name="Duncan" /><ref name="Scafi" /> Others theorize that Eden was the entire [[Fertile Crescent]]<ref name="Mark-2018">{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |date=March 28, 2018 |title=Fertile Crescent |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Fertile_Crescent/ |website=World History Encylcopedia}}</ref> or a region of "considerable size" in [[Mesopotamia]], where its native inhabitants still exist in cities such as [[Telassar]].<ref name="Telassar">{{Cite web |title=Telassar in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |url=http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/T/telassar.html}}</ref><ref name="Biblehub-2023">{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Isaiah 37: Barnes Commentary |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/isaiah/37.htm |website=Biblehub}}</ref>

Like the [[Genesis flood narrative]], the [[Genesis creation narrative]] and the account of the [[Tower of Babel]], the story of Eden echoes the [[Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian myth]] of a king, as a primordial man, who is placed in a divine garden to guard the [[tree of life]].{{sfn|Davidson|1973|p=33}} Scholars note that the Eden narrative shows parallels with aspects of [[Solomon's Temple]] and [[Jerusalem]], attesting to its nature as a sacred place.<ref name="Stager" /><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Garden of Eden as an Israelite Sacred Place |journal=Theology Today |last=Kang |first=Seung Il |issue=1 |volume=77 |pages=89–99 |doi=10.1177/0040573617731712 |year=2020 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Mentions of Eden are also made in the Bible elsewhere in Genesis,<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|13:10|HE}}.</ref> in Isaiah 51:3,<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|51:3|HE}}.</ref> Ezekiel 36:35,<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezekiel|36:35|HE}}.</ref> and Joel 2:3;<ref>{{bibleverse|Joel|2:3|HE}}.</ref> [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] 14 and [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 47 use paradisical imagery without naming Eden.<ref>{{harvnb|Tigchelaar|1999|p=37}}.</ref>

The name derives from the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] {{transliteration|akk|edinnu}}, from a [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] word {{transliteration|sux|[[Edin (Sumerian term)|edin]]}} meaning {{gloss|[[plain]]}} or {{gloss|[[steppe]]}}, closely related to an [[Aramaic]] root word meaning {{gloss|fruitful, well-watered}}.<ref name="Cohen 2011 228–229" /> Another interpretation associates the name with a [[Hebrew]] word for '[[pleasure]]';{{sfn|Day|2014|p=26}} thus the [[Vulgate]] reads {{lang|la|paradisum voluptatis}} in Genesis 2:8, and the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]], following, has the wording "And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Latin Vulgate Bible with Douay–Rheims and King James Version Side-by-Side+Complete Sayings of Jesus Christ|url=http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=1&c=2|access-date=2021-03-10|website=www.latinvulgate.com|archive-date=2021-03-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312221644/http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=1&c=2|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Biblical narratives==
===Genesis===
{{main|Genesis creation narrative|Adam and Eve}}
[[File:James Jacques Joseph Tissot - Adam and Eve Driven From Paradise - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Expulsion from Paradise'', painting by [[James Tissot]] ({{circa|1896–1902}})]]
[[File:CaedmonManuscriptPage46Illust.jpg|thumb|The Expulsion illustrated in the English [[Junius manuscript]], {{circa|1000 CE}}]]
The second part of the [[Genesis creation narrative]]<!--do not remove the word narrative, click the link and read why it is called this-->, Genesis 2:4–3:24, opens with [[YHWH]]-[[Elohim]] (translated here "the {{LORD}} God"){{efn|See [[Names of God in Judaism]]}} creating the first man ([[Adam]]), whom he placed in a garden that he planted "eastward in Eden":<ref>{{harvnb|Levenson|2004|p=13}}, "The root of Eden denotes fertility. Where the wondrously fertile gard was thought to have been located (if a realistic location was ever conceived) is unclear. The Tigris and Euphrates are the two great rivers of the Mesopotamia (now found in modern Iraq). But the Piston is unidentified, and the only Gihon in the Bible is a spring in Jerusalem (1 Kings 1:33, 38)."</ref>

{{Blockquote|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.|source=<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|2:9|HE}}</ref>}}

The man was free to eat from any tree in the garden except the [[tree of the knowledge of good and evil]], which was [[Taboo#in religion and mythology|taboo]]. Last of all, God made a woman ([[Eve]]) from a rib of the man to be a companion for the man. In Genesis 3, the man and the woman were seduced by the [[Serpents in the Bible|serpent]] into eating the [[forbidden fruit]], and they were expelled from the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of life, and thus living forever. [[Cherub]]im were placed east of the garden, "and a [[Flaming sword (mythology)|flaming sword]] which turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life".<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|3:24|HE}}</ref>

Genesis 2:10–14<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|2:10–14|HE}}</ref> lists four rivers in association with the garden of Eden: [[Pishon]], [[Gihon]], [[Tigris]] (Hiddekel in Hebrew),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of Tigris (Hiddekel) in the Bible |url=https://www.biblestudy.org/meaning-names/tigris-hiddekel.html |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=www.biblestudy.org}}</ref> and the [[Euphrates]] (Perath in Hebrew).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strong's Hebrew: 6578. פְּרָת (Perath) -- Euphrates |url=https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6578.htm |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=biblehub.com |archive-date=2024-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203053021/https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6578.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> It also refers to the land of [[Cush (Bible)|Cush]]—translated/interpreted as [[Ethiopia]], but thought by some to equate to ''Cossaea'', a Greek name for the land of the [[Kassites]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=me8sAAAAIAAJ&q=Cossaea  |title=The Jewish Quarterly Review|journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |date=1973 |volume=64–65 |page=132 |issn=1553-0604 |access-date=2014-02-19 |quote=...as Cossaea, the country of the Kassites in Mesopotamia [...]}}</ref> These lands lie north of [[Elam]], immediately to the east of ancient Babylon, which, unlike Ethiopia, does lie within the region being described.<ref>{{harvnb|Speiser|1994|p=38}}.</ref> In ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'', the first-century Jewish historian [[Josephus]] identifies the Pishon as what "the Greeks called [[Ganges]]" and the Geon (Gehon) as the [[Nile]].<ref>Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews''. Book I, Chapter 1, Section 3.</ref>

===Ezekiel===
{{main|Ezekiel's cherub in Eden}}

In Ezekiel 28:12–19,<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezekiel|28:12–19|HE}}.</ref> the prophet [[Ezekiel]] the "son of man" sets down God's word against the king of Tyre: the king was the "seal of perfection", adorned with precious stones from the day of his creation, placed by God in the garden of Eden on the holy mountain as a guardian cherub. However, the king sinned through wickedness and violence, and so he was driven out of the garden and thrown to the earth, where now he is consumed by God's fire: "All those who knew you in the nations are appalled at you, you have come to a horrible end and will be no more." (Ezekiel 28:19).

==Proposed locations==
[[File:Tigr-euph.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The Tigris and Euphrates rivers]]
[[File:Mortier, Situation du Paradise Terrestre, 1700 Cornell CUL PJM 1014 01.jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.5|Map by [[Pierre Mortier]] captioned ''Map of the location of the terrestrial paradise, and of the country inhabited by the patriarchs, laid out for the good understanding of sacred history, by [[Pierre Daniel Huet]]'' (1700)]]
The location of Eden is described in Genesis 2:10–14:<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|2:10–14|HE}}.</ref>

{{blockquote|And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. The name of the first is [[Pishon]]; that is it which compasseth the whole land of [[Havilah]], where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is [[bdellium]] and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is [[Gihon]]; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is [[Tigris]]; that is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the [[Euphrates]].}}

Suggestions for the location of Eden include<ref name="wilensky2012">{{cite book|last=Wilensky-Lanford|first=Brook|url=https://archive.org/details/paradiselustsear00wile|title=Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden|publisher=Grove Press|year=2012|isbn=9780802145840|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>Carol A. Hill, The Garden of Eden: ''A Modern Landscape' Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith'' 52 [March 2000]: 31–46 https://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2000/PSCF3-00Hill.html</ref> the head of the [[Persian Gulf]], as argued by [[Juris Zarins]], in southern Mesopotamia where the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] rivers run into the sea;<ref name="Hamblin-1987">{{cite journal|last=Hamblin|first=Dora Jane|date=May 1987|title=Has the Garden of Eden been located at last? (Dead Link)|url=http://www.theeffect.org/resources/articles/pdfsetc/Eden.pdf|journal=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|volume=18|issue=2|access-date=8 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109135715/http://www.theeffect.org/resources/articles/pdfsetc/Eden.pdf|archive-date=9 January 2014}}</ref> and in the Armenian Highlands or Armenian National Plateau.<ref name="Zevit">Zevit, Ziony. ''What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden?'' 2013. Yale University Press, p. 111. {{ISBN|9780300178692}}.</ref><ref>Day, John. ''Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan.'' 2002. Sheffield Academic Press, p. 30. {{ISBN|9780826468307}}.</ref><ref name="Duncan">Duncan, Joseph E. ''Milton's Earthly Paradise: A Historical Study of Eden.'' 1972. University Of Minnesota Press, pp. 96, 212. {{ISBN|9780816606337}}.</ref><ref name="Scafi">Scafi, Alessandro. ''Return to the Sources: Paradise in Armenia, in: Mapping Paradise: A History of Heaven on Earth.'' 2006. London, England and Chicago, Illinois: British Library and University of Chicago Press, pp. 317–322. {{ISBN|9780226735597}}.</ref> British archaeologist [[David Rohl]] locates it in [[Iran]], and in the vicinity of [[Tabriz]], but this suggestion has not been adopted by mainstream academia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cline |first=Eric H. |year=2007 |title=From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible |publisher=National Geographic |page=10 |isbn=978-1-4262-0084-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJW-zhffwk4C&pg=PA10}}</ref>

Others theorize that Eden was merely a region of "considerable size" in [[Mesopotamia]], where its native inhabitants still exist in cities such as [[Telassar]], based on verses such as Isaiah 37:12.<ref name="Telassar" /><ref name="Biblehub-2023" /> Or that it encompassed the entire Fertile Crescent.<ref name="Mark-2018" />

According to Terje Stordalen, the Book of Ezekiel places Eden in Lebanon.<ref>{{harvnb|Stordalen|2000|p=164}}.</ref> "[I]t appears that the Lebanon is an alternative placement in Phoenician myth (as in Ez 28,13, III.48) of the Garden of Eden",<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|2001|p=138}}.</ref> and there are connections between paradise, the Garden of Eden and the forests of Lebanon (possibly used symbolically) within prophetic writings.<ref>{{harvnb|Swarup|2006|p=185}}.</ref> [[Edward Lipinski (orientalist)|Edward Lipinski]] and [[Peter Kyle McCarter]] have suggested that the [[Garden of the gods (Sumerian paradise)|garden of the gods]], the oldest [[Sumer]]ian analog of the Garden of Eden, relates to a mountain sanctuary in the Lebanon and [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains|Anti-Lebanon ranges]].<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2009|p=61}}.</ref>

Some religious groups have believed the location of the garden to be local to them, outside of the Middle East. Some early leaders of [[Mormonism]] held that it was located in [[Jackson County, Missouri]].<ref name="fairlatterdaysaints" /> The 20th-century [[Panacea Society]] believed it was located at the site of their home town of [[Bedford]], England,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Jane |title=Octavia, Daughter of God |date=2012 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9781446484272 |pages=119}}</ref> while preacher Elvy E. Callaway believed it was on the [[Apalachicola River]] in Florida, near the town of [[Bristol, Florida|Bristol]].<ref>Gloria Jahoda, ''The Other Florida'', chap. 4, "The Garden of Eden." ISBN 9780912451046.</ref> Some suggested that the location is in [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/26/3/2|title = Jerusalem as Eden|date = 24 August 2015}}</ref>

On [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus#Third voyage|his third voyage]] to the [[Americas]] in 1498, [[Christopher Columbus]] thought he may have reached the Earthly Paradise upon first seeing the [[South America]]n mainland.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bergreen|first=Lawrence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Dyhtkk4VQcC|title=Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1493–1504|publisher=Penguin Group US|year=2011|isbn=978-1101544327|page=236|author-link=Laurence Bergreen}}</ref>

In his book ''The Creation, the Garden of Eden and the Origin of the Chinese'', [[Tse Tsan-tai]] argued that the Garden of Eden was located in modern-day [[Xinjiang]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-02 |title=The Garden of Eden – in China? |url=https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/583-east-is-eden-adam-and-eves-chinese-garden/ |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Big Think |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Blissful garden concept==
{{Utopia}}
Scholars have identified and proposed connections to similar concepts from ancient religions and mythologies, and have studied the post-scriptural evolution of the concept in religion and arts.

===Sumeria and ancient Greece; Renaissance===
A number of parallel concepts to the biblical Garden of Eden exist in various other religions and mythologies. [[Dilmun]] in the [[Sumerian religion|Sumerian]] story of ''Enki and Ninhursag'' is a paradisaical abode{{sfn|Mathews|1996|p=96}} of the immortals, where sickness and death were unknown.{{sfn|Cohen|2011|p=229}} The [[garden of the Hesperides]] in [[Greek mythology]] was also somewhat similar to the Jewish concept of the Garden of Eden, and by the 16th century a larger intellectual association was made in the [[Lucas Cranach the Elder|Cranach]] painting.

===Canaanite origin theory===
By studying [[Ugaritic texts|late-13th-century BCE clay tablets]] from [[Ugarit]], Hebrew Bible scholars M.J.A. Korpel and J.C. de Moor reconstructed close [[Canaanite religion|Canaanite]] parallels, which they posit as being the origin of the biblical [[creation myth]] from the first chapters of Genesis including the Garden of Eden and Adam narrative.<ref name=MCAK>{{cite book |author1= Korpel, Marjo Christina Annette |author2= Moor, Johannes Cornelis de |title= Adam, Eve, and the Devil: A New Beginning |year= 2014 |publisher=[[Sheffield Phoenix Press]] |series= Hebrew Bible Monographs (65) |isbn= 978-1909697522 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rojtoAEACAAJ}}</ref> Their reconstructed texts talk about the creator deity [[El (deity)|El]], who lived in a vineyard or garden together with his wife [[Asherah]] on [[Mount Ararat]].<ref name=MCAK/> Another god, [[Hauron|Horon]], tries to depose El and when thrown down from the mountain, he transforms the [[Tree of Life]] from the garden into a Tree of Death.<ref name=MCAK/> Horon also spreads around a poisonous fog, Adam is sent from the mountain to restore life on earth, Horon takes the shape of a large serpent and bites him, which leads to Adam and his wife losing their immortality.<ref name=MCAK/> However, [[John Day (biblical scholar)|John Day]] argues that these stories are not explicitly attested in the Ugaritic texts but are reconstructed on the basis of speculative and dubious suppositions.<ref>{{cite book |title=From Creation to Abraham: Further Studies in Genesis 1-11 |last=Day |first=John |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-567-70311-8 |page=50 |chapter=The Serpent in the Garden of Eden: Its Background and Role |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIpFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA50}}</ref>

===Evolution of Old Iranian "paradise" concept===
The word "paradise" entered English from the [[French language|French]] {{lang|fr|paradis}}, inherited from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|paradisus, paradisum}}, from the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] {{transliteration|grc|parádeisos}} ({{lang|grc|παράδεισος}}). The Greek, in turn, was derived from an [[Old Iranian]] form, itself from the [[Proto-Iranian]] ''*parādaiĵah-'', 'walled enclosure', which was derived from the [[Old Persian]] {{lang|peo|𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎹𐎭𐎠𐎶}} (p-r-d-y-d-a-m, {{transliteration|peo|/paridaidam/}}, whence from the [[Avestan]] {{lang|ae|𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌⸱𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬰𐬀}}, {{transliteration|ae|pairi-daêza-}}. The literal meaning of this word is 'walled (enclosure)', from ''pairi-'' 'around' (cognate with the Greek {{lang|grc|περί}} and the English ''peri-'', of identical meaning), and ''-diz'', "to make, form (a wall), build" (cognate with the Greek {{lang|grc|τεῖχος}}, 'wall'). The word's etymology is ultimately derived from a [[Proto-Indo-European root]], ''{{PIE|*dheigʷ}}'', 'to stick and set up (a wall)', and ''{{PIE|*per}}'', 'around'.{{cn| date= February 2024}}

By the 6th/5th century BCE, the Old Iranian word had been borrowed into the [[Akkadian language]] as {{transliteration|akk|pardesu}}, 'domain'. It subsequently came to indicate the expansive [[Paradise garden|walled gardens]] of the [[First Persian Empire]], and was later borrowed into a number of languages: into Greek as {{lang|grc|παράδεισος}} ({{transliteration|grc|parádeisos}}), 'park for animals', cf. ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]'', the most famous work of [[Xenophon]]; into [[Aramaic]] as {{transliteration|arc|pardaysa}}, 'royal park'; and into [[Hebrew]] (see below).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/garden-i |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

The idea of a walled enclosure was not preserved in most Iranian usage, and generally came to refer to a plantation or other cultivated area, not necessarily walled. For example, the Old Iranian word survives as {{transliteration|fa|pardis}} in New Persian, as well as its derivative {{transliteration|fa|pālīz}} (or {{transliteration|fa|jālīz}}), which denotes a vegetable patch.{{cn| date= February 2024}}

====Hebrew Bible and Jewish literature====
The word entered the Hebrew language with the meaning of [[pardes (Jewish exegesis)#Association with paradise|pardes]] ({{lang|he|פַּרְדֵּס}}), 'orchard', appearing thrice in the [[Tanakh]]: in the [[Song of Solomon]] ({{bibleref2-nb |Song |4:13}}), [[Ecclesiastes]] ({{bibleref2-nb |Eccl|2:5}}), and [[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]] ({{bibleref2-nb |Neh|2:8}}).{{sfn|Day|2014|pp=26–27}}

The word {{transliteration|he|pardes}} occurs three times in the Hebrew Bible, but always in contexts other than a connection with Eden: in the [[Song of Solomon]] {{bibleref2-nb |Song|4:13}}: "Thy plants are an orchard ({{transliteration|he|pardes}}) of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard"; [[Ecclesiastes]] {{bibleref2-nb |Eccl|2:5}}: "I made me gardens and orchards ({{transliteration|he|pardes}}), and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits"; and in [[Nehemiah]] {{bibleref2-nb |Neh|2:8}}: "And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's orchard ({{transliteration|he|pardes}}), that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city". In these examples, {{transliteration|he|pardes}} clearly means 'orchard' or 'park', but in the Jewish [[apocalyptic literature]] and in the [[Talmud]] ''paradise'' gains its associations with the Garden of Eden and its heavenly prototype, a meaning also present in the [[New Testament]].{{cn|date= February 2024}}

Italian historian [[Mario Liverani]] argues that the Garden of Eden was modeled on Persian royal gardens,<ref>Liverani, Mario (2007). ''Israel's History and the History of Israel'', Routledge, p. 238. "[R]oyal gardens are the model for the 'garden of Eden' where the biblical story of Adam and Eve is set (Gen. 2.4–3.24). The word paradise (Heb. pardēs, Bab. pardēsu 'park') is of Persian origin (pairidaēza 'enclosure'), and the Persians were responsible for the spread of this kind of enclosed garden Thus, the Eden narrative should be assigned to the Babylonia of the Persian age."</ref> while John Day argues that linguistic and other evidence indicates that the [[Jahwist|yahwistic]] Eden story was composed before the Persian period.{{sfn|Day|2014|p=49}} US archaeologist [[Lawrence Stager]] posits that the biblical Eden narrative drew from aspects of [[Solomon's Temple |Solomon's palace and temple compound]] and [[Jerusalem]].<ref name="Stager">{{cite journal |author=[[Lawrence E. Stager |Stager, Lawrence E.]] |title= Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden |journal=[[Israel Exploration Society#Periodicals and Series|Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies]] |publisher= [[Israel Exploration Society]] |year= 1999 |volume= 26|pages= 183*–194*|jstor= 23629939}}</ref>

====Septuagint and New Testament====
In the [[Septuagint]] (3rd–1st centuries BCE), the Greek {{lang|grc|παράδεισος}} ({{transliteration|grc|parádeisos}}) was used to translate both the Hebrew {{lang|he|פרדס}} ({{transliteration|he|pardes}}) and {{lang|he|גן}} ({{transliteration|he|gan}}), meaning 'garden' (e.g. {{bibleref |Genesis |2:8}}, {{bibleref |Ezekiel|28:13}}): it is from this usage that the use of ''paradise'' to refer to the Garden of Eden derives.{{sfn|Day|2014|p=26}}

In the New Testament ''paradise'' becomes the realm of the blessed (as opposed to the realm of the cursed) among those who have already died,{{sfn|Day|2014|p=27}} with literary [[Hellenistic]] influences.{{cn|date= February 2024}}

====Quran====
The same usage as in the Septuagint also appears in [[Arabic]] and in the [[Quran]] as {{transliteration|ar|[[firdaws]]}} {{lang|ar|فردوس}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tafsir Surah Al-Kahf - 107 |url=https://quran.com/18:107/tafsirs/en-tafsir-maarif-ul-quran |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=Quran.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Other views==
===Jewish eschatology===
[[File:Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthly Delights - The Earthly Paradise (Garden of Eden).jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|right|The Garden of Eden in the left panel of [[Hieronymus Bosch|Bosch's]] ''[[The Garden of Earthly Delights]]'']]
In the [[Talmud]] and the Jewish [[Kabbalah]],<ref name="Gan Eden">{{JewishEncyclopedia |title=EDEN, GARDEN OF |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5428-eden-garden-of |access-date=2023-11-09 }}</ref> the scholars agree that there are two types of spiritual places called "Garden in Eden". The first is rather terrestrial, of abundant fertility and luxuriant vegetation, known as the "lower {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden" ({{transliteration|he|gan}} meaning garden). The second is envisioned as being celestial, the habitation of righteous, Jewish and non-Jewish, immortal souls, known as the "higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden". The [[rabbi]]s differentiate between {{transliteration|he|Gan}} and Eden. Adam is said to have dwelt only in the {{transliteration|he|Gan}}, whereas Eden is said never to be witnessed by any mortal eye.<ref name="Gan Eden"/>

According to [[Jewish eschatology]],<ref name="Eschatology">{{JewishEncyclopedia |title=ESCHATOLOGY |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5849-eschatology |access-date=2023-11-09 }}</ref> the higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden is called the "Garden of Righteousness". It has been created since the beginning of the world, and will appear gloriously at the end of time. The righteous dwelling there will enjoy the sight of the heavenly {{transliteration|he|[[chayot]]}} carrying the throne of God. Each of the righteous will walk with God, who will lead them in a dance. Its Jewish and non-Jewish inhabitants are "clothed with garments of light and eternal life, and eat of the tree of life" (Enoch 58,3) near to God and his anointed ones.<ref name="Eschatology"/> This Jewish rabbinical concept of a higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden is opposed by the Hebrew terms {{transliteration|he|[[gehinnom]]}} and {{transliteration|he|[[sheol]]}}, figurative names for the place of spiritual purification for the wicked dead in Judaism, a place envisioned as being at the greatest possible distance from [[heaven]].{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Some modern Orthodox Jews believe that history will complete itself and the ultimate destination will be when all mankind returns to the Garden of Eden.<ref>{{cite web|title=End of Days|date=11 January 2000|url=http://www.aish.com/ci/a/48925077.html|publisher=Aish|access-date=1 May 2012}}</ref>

====Legends of the Jews====
In the 1909 book ''[[Legends of the Jews]]'', [[Louis Ginzberg]] compiled Jewish legends found in [[rabbinic literature]]. Among the legends are ones about the two Gardens of Eden. Beyond Paradise is the higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden, where God is enthroned and explains the Torah to its inhabitants. The higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden contains three hundred and ten worlds and is divided into seven compartments. The compartments are not described, though it is implied that each compartment is greater than the previous one and is joined based on one's merit. The first compartment is for Jewish martyrs, the second for those who drowned, the third for "Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples," the fourth for those whom the cloud of glory carried off, the fifth for penitents, the sixth for youths who have never sinned; and the seventh for the poor who lived decently and studied the Torah.<ref name="Legends">{{Cite web |title=Chapter I: The Creation of the World |url=https://sacred-texts.com/jud/loj/loj103.htm |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref>

In chapter two, ''Legends of the Jews'' gives a brief description of the lower {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden. The tree of knowledge is a hedge around the tree of life, which is so vast that "it would take a man five hundred years to traverse a distance equal to the diameter of the trunk". From beneath the trees flow all the world's waters in the form of four rivers: Tigris, Nile, Euphrates, and Ganges. After the fall of man, the world was no longer irrigated by this water. While in the garden, though, Adam and Eve were served meat dishes by angels and the animals of the world understood human language, respected mankind as God's image, and feared Adam and Eve. When one dies, one's soul must pass through the lower {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden in order to reach the higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden. The way to the garden is the Cave of Machpelah that Adam guards. The cave leads to the gate of the garden, guarded by a cherub with a flaming sword. If a soul is unworthy of entering, the sword annihilates it. Within the garden is a pillar of fire and smoke that extends to the higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden, which the soul must climb in order to reach the higher {{transliteration|he|Gan}} Eden.<ref name=Legends/>

===Christian views===
====Atemporal fall view====
For some Christians, especially in the [[Eastern Orthodox]] tradition, Eden is considered a reality outside of empirical history that affects the entire history of the universe as seen in the idea of an [[atemporal fall]] which separates humanity's current reduced form of time from the divine life enjoyed in Eden. This idea of an atemporal separation from Eden has been most recently defended by theologians [[David Bentley Hart]], [[John Behr]], and [[Sergei Bulgakov]] as well as having roots in the writings of several early church fathers, especially [[Origen]] and [[Maximus the Confessor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/origen-and-the-eschatological-creation-of-the-cosmos/ |title=Origen and the Eschatological Creation of the Cosmos |last=Behr |first=John |author-link=John Behr |date=15 January 2018 |website=Eclectic Orthodoxy |access-date=5 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124131351/https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/origen-and-the-eschatological-creation-of-the-cosmos/ |archive-date=24 January 2023 |quote=Our beginning in this world and its time can only be thought of as a falling away from that eternal and heavenly reality, to which we are called.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/jacobswell/docs/jacob_s_well_spring_2022_online_1_ |title=The Redemption of Evolution: Maximus the Confessor, The Incarnation, and Modern Science |last=Chenoweth |first=Mark |date=Summer 2022 |website=Jacob's Well |access-date=5 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814135608/https://issuu.com/jacobswell/docs/jacob_s_well_spring_2022_online_1_ |archive-date=14 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Sergei |last1=Bulgakov |translator-first1=Boris	|translator-last1=Jakim |year=2001 |chapter=Evil |title=The Bride of the Lamb |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |pages=170 |isbn=9780802839152}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=David Bentley |last1=Hart |author-link=David Bentley Hart |year=2020 |chapter=The Devil's March: Creatio ex Nihilo, the Problem of Evil, and a Few Dostoyevskian Meditations |title=Theological Territories: A David Bentley Hart Digest |location=Notre Dame, Indiana |publisher=Notre Dame Press |isbn=9780268107178}}</ref>

===Islamic view===
[[File:Spanish-Arabic map of 1109.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Mozarabic art|Mozarabic]] world map from 1109 with Eden in the East (at top)]]
The term {{transliteration|ar|jannāt ʿadni}} ("Gardens of Eden" or "Gardens of Perpetual Residence") is used in the [[Quran]] for the destination of the righteous. There are several mentions of "the Garden" in the Quran,<ref>''Qur'an'', 2:35, 7:19, 20:117, 61:12.</ref> while the Garden of Eden, without the word {{transliteration|ar|ʿadn}},<ref>See [http://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?q=lem%3AEadon+pos%3Apn list of occurrences] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722082206/http://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?q=lem%3AEadon+pos%3Apn |date=2015-07-22 }}.</ref> is commonly the fourth layer of the Islamic [[Jannah|heaven]] and not necessarily thought as the dwelling place of [[Adam in Islam|Adam]].<ref>Patrick Hughes, Thomas Patrick Hughes ''Dictionary of Islam,'' Asian Educational Services 1995 {{ISBN|978-8-120-60672-2}} p. 133.</ref> The Quran refers frequently over various [[Surah]] about the first abode of Adam and his spouse (told to be Hawwa or Eve, her name is never given in the Quran), including surah [[Sad (surah)|Sad]], which features 18 verses on the subject (38:71–88), surah [[al-Baqara]], surah [[al-A'raf]], and surah [[al-Hijr (surah)|al-Hijr]] although sometimes without mentioning the location. The narrative mainly surrounds the resulting expulsion of Adam and his spouse after they were tempted by [[Iblis]] (Satan).

Despite the biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, the tree of immortality, from which [[God in Islam|God]] specifically forbade Adam and his spouse. Some [[tafsir|exegesis]] added an account, about [[Satan]], disguised as a serpent to enter the Garden, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and his spouse did so, resulting in disobeying God.<ref>Leaman, Oliver ''The Quran, an encyclopedia 2006'', p. 11.</ref> These stories are also featured in the [[hadith]] collections, including [[al-Tabari]].<ref>Wheeler, Brannon. ''Mecca and Eden: ritual, relics, and territory in Islam'' 2006, p. 16.</ref>
;Quranic scripture of story
Quranic verses Q. 2:35–38, are believed to tell the story of Adam disobeying God's command and eating the Forbidden Fruit, and of God ordered him out of the Garden. One translation (the Clear Quran) that indicates that the Garden of Eden was in Heaven goes: 
* We cautioned, "O Adam! Live with your wife in Paradise (lit. "the Garden") and eat as freely as you please, but do not approach this tree, or else you will be wrongdoers." (2:35) 
* But Satan deceived them—leading to their fall from the [blissful] state they were in,1 and We said, "Descend from the heavens [to the earth] as enemies to each other.2 You will find in the earth a residence and provision for your appointed stay." (2:36)
* Then Adam was inspired with words ˹of prayer˺ by his Lord, so He accepted his repentance. Surely He is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful. (2:37) 
* We said, "Descend all of you! Then when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows it, there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve. (2:38)<ref>[https://quran.com/2/35-40 Al-Bakarah, verses 35-38] translation: Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran. from Quran.com</ref>
;Location
Quranic verses describe Adam was being expelled from ''al-Jannah'', "the garden", which is the commonly used word for paradise in Islam. However, according to [[Ibn Kathir]] (d. 1372) and Ar-Razi (d. 1209), (exegetes of the Quran), four interpretations of the location of the garden prevailed among early Muslims: 
*that the garden was Paradise itself, 
*that it was a separate garden created especially for Adam and his spouse, 
*that it was located on Earth,  
*that it was best for the Muslims not to be concerned with the location of the garden.<ref name="IWL-2019">{{cite web |last1=Shanavas |first1=T. O. |date=September 6, 2019 |title=The Garden of Eden: An Earthly or Heavenly Garden? (from: Shanavas, T. O. (2005). Islamic Theory of Evolution: The Missing Link between Darwin and the Origin of Species. (p. 161–168).) |url=http://www.islamicweblibrary.com/2019/09/06/the-garden-of-eden/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528010259/http://www.islamicweblibrary.com/2019/09/06/the-garden-of-eden/ |archive-date=28 May 2022 |access-date=8 June 2022 |website=Islamic Web Library}}</ref>
According to T. O. Shanavas however, contextual analysis of Quranic verses suggests the Garden of Eden could not have been in Paradise and must have been on earth. (For example, a sahih hadith reports Muhammad said: "Allah says: I have prepared for my righteous servants that which has neither been seen by eyes, nor heard by ears, nor ever conceived by any man." i.e. no man has ever seen Paradise. Since Adam was a man, he could not have seen paradise, therefore he could not have lived there.)<ref name="IWL-2019"/>
;Doctrine of "The Fall of Man"
Islamic exegesis does not regard [[Fall of man|Adam and his spouse's expulsion from paradise]] as punishment for disobedience or a result from abused free will on their part.<ref name="Lange-2016">{{cite book |last=Lange |first=Christian |url= |title=Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-50637-3 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |page= |author-link=}}</ref>{{rp|p=171}} Instead, [[ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya]] (1292–1350) writes, [[Hikmah|God's wisdom]] (''ḥikma'') destined humanity to leave the garden and settle on earth. This is because God wants to unfold the full range of his attributes.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=171}} If humans were not to live on earth, God could not express his love, forgiveness, and power to his creation.<ref name="Lange-2016"/> Further, if humans were not to experience suffering, they could neither long for paradise nor appreciate its delights.<ref name="Lange-2016"/> [[Khwaja Abdullah Ansari]] (1006–1088) describes Adam and his spouse's expulsion as ultimately caused by God.<ref name="Awn">{{Cite journal |last=Awn |first=Peter J. |date=1983 |title=The Ethical Concerns of Classical Sufism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40017708 |journal=The Journal of Religious Ethics |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=240–263 |jstor=40017708 |issn=0384-9694 |archive-date=2023-04-04 |access-date=2023-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404201310/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40017708 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|p=252}} Nonetheless, despite the paradoxical notion that man has no choice but to comply to God's will, this does not mean that humans should not blame themselves for their "sin" of complying.<ref name= "Awn"/>{{rp|p=252}} This is exemplified by Adam and his spouse in the Quran (Q. 7:23 "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be losers"), in contrast to Iblis (Satan) who blames God for leading him astray (Q. 15:37).<ref name= "Awn"/>

===Latter Day Saints===
{{see also|Adam and Eve (LDS Church)}}
Followers of the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] believe that after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden they resided in a place known as [[Adam-ondi-Ahman]], located in present-day [[Daviess County, Missouri]]. It is recorded in the [[Doctrine and Covenants]] that Adam blessed his posterity there and that he will return to that place at the time of the [[final judgment]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/107.53?lang=eng|title=Doctrine and Covenants 107:53}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/116.1?lang=eng|title=Doctrine and Covenants 116:1}}</ref> in fulfillment of a prophecy set forth in the Bible.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/dan/7.13.13-14,22?lang=eng|title=Daniel 7:13–14, 22}}</ref>

Numerous early leaders of the Church, including [[Brigham Young]], [[Heber C. Kimball]], and [[George Q. Cannon]], taught that the Garden of Eden itself was located in nearby Jackson County,<ref name="fairlatterdaysaints">{{Cite web |title=The location of the Garden of Eden – FAIR |url=https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Joseph_Smith/Garden_of_Eden_in_Missouri |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=www.fairlatterdaysaints.org}}</ref> but there are no surviving first-hand accounts of that doctrine being taught by Joseph Smith himself. LDS doctrine is unclear as to the exact location of the Garden of Eden, but tradition among Latter-Day Saints places it somewhere in the vicinity of Adam-ondi-Ahman, or in Jackson County.<ref>{{Cite web |title=I Have a Question |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/ensign/1994/01/i-have-a-question |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org |pages=54–55 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormonism-101#C18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310215659/http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormonism-101#C18|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-03-10|title=What is Mormonism? Overview of Mormon Beliefs – Mormonism 101|date=2014-10-13|work=www.mormonnewsroom.org|access-date=2018-10-31|language=en}}</ref>

===Gnosticism===
The 2nd-century [[Gnostic]] teacher [[Justin (gnostic)|Justin]] held that there were three original divinities, a transcendental being called the Good, an intermediate male figure known as [[Elohim]] and Eden who is an [[Earth goddess|Earth-mother]]. The world is created from the love of Elohim and Eden, but evil later is brought into the universe when Elohim learns of the existence of the Good above him and ascends trying to reach it.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gnosticism – Apocryphon of John|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/gnosticism/Apocryphon-of-John|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref>

==Art and literature==

=== Art ===
One of oldest depictions of Garden of Eden is made in [[Byzantine style]] in [[Ravenna]], while the city was still under Byzantine control. A preserved blue mosaic is part of the mausoleum of [[Galla Placidia]]. Circular motifs represent flowers of the garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden motifs most frequently portrayed in [[illuminated manuscript]]s and paintings are the "Sleep of Adam" ("Creation of Eve"), the "Temptation of Eve" by the Serpent, the "[[Fall of Man]]" where Adam takes the fruit, and the "Expulsion". The [[idyll]] of "Naming Day in Eden" was less often depicted. [[Michelangelo]] depicted [[:File:Michelangelo Buonarroti 022.jpg|a scene]] at the Garden of Eden on the [[Sistine Chapel ceiling]].

<gallery widths="240px" heights="216px">
File:Lucas Cranach the Elder - The Garden of Eden - Google Art Project.jpg|''The Garden of Eden'' by [[Lucas Cranach der Ältere]], a 16th-century German depiction of Eden
File:Mausoleum of Galla Placidia ceiling mosaics.jpg|Fifth-century "Garden of Eden" mosaic in [[mausoleum of Galla Placidia]] in [[Ravenna]], Italy. UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]].
File:Thomas Cole - The Garden of Eden (1828).jpg|''The Garden of Eden'' by [[Thomas Cole]] (c. 1828)
File:Lilith (Carl Poellath).jpg|After wandering through the Garden of Eden, Eve takes the forbidden fruit while [[Lilith]] speaks to Adam (by [[:ko:Carl Poellath Münz- und Prägewerk Schrobenhausen|Carl Poellath]], c. 1886) 
File:Garten Eden (von Adi Holzer 2012).jpg|''The Garden of Eden'' by [[:de:Adi Holzer|Adi Holzer]] (2012)
</gallery>

===Literature===
For many medieval writers, the image of the Garden of Eden also creates a location for human [[love]] and [[sexuality]], often associated with the classic and medieval [[Trope (literature)|trope]] of the [[locus amoenus]].<ref>{{harvnb|Curtius|1953|p=200, n.31}}.</ref>

In the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', [[Dante Alighieri]] places the Garden at the top of [[Purgatory|Mt. Purgatory]]. Dante, the pilgrim, emerges into the Garden of Eden in Canto 28 of ''[[Purgatorio]]''. Here he is told that God gave the Garden of Eden to man "in earnest, or as a pledge of eternal life," but man was only able to dwell there for a short time because he soon fell from grace. In the poem, the Garden of Eden is both human and divine: while it is located on earth at the top of Mt. Purgatory, it also serves as the gateway to the [[heaven]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dante Lab at Dartmouth College: Reader|url=http://dantelab.dartmouth.edu/reader?reader%5Bcantica%5D=2&reader%5Bcanto%5D=28|access-date=2021-11-06|website=dantelab.dartmouth.edu}}</ref>

Much of [[John Milton|Milton's]] ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' occurs in the Garden of Eden.

The first act of Arthur Miller's 1972 play [[The Creation of the World and Other Business|''Creation of the World and Other Business'']] is set in the Garden of Eden.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]''
* [[Golden Age]]
* [[Heaven in Judaism]]
* [[Hesperides]]
* [[Jannah]]
* [[Mazandaran (Shahnameh)]]
* [[Persian gardens]]
* ''[[Purgatorio]]''
* [[Sacred garden]]
* [[The Summerland]]
* [[Tamoanchan]]
* [[Utopia]]
* [[Atemporal fall]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=John Pairman |title=Israel and Hellas, Volume 3 |year=2001 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YjaHwdvEVZAC&q=The+Restoration+of+Eden&pg=PA138 |isbn=9783110168822}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Chaim |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion |chapter=Eden |editor1-last=Berlin |editor1-first=Adele |editor2-last=Grossman |editor2-first=Maxine |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199730049 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKAaJXvUaUoC&q=Occasionally+called+the+%27garden+of+YHVH%27&pg=PA228 }}
* {{cite book |last=Curtius |first=Ernst Robert |author-link=Ernst Robert Curtius |title=European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1953 |url=https://archive.org/details/europeanliteratu0000curt_a0s3 |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-691-01899-7 |language=en-us}} Translated by Willard R. Trask.
* {{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Robert |title=Genesis 1–11 |year=1973 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, England |language=en-uk |isbn=9780521097604 |author-link=Robert Davidson (theologian) |edition=commentary by Davidson, R. 1987 [Reprint]}}
* {{cite book |title=From Creation to Babel: Studies in Genesis 1-11 |last=Day |first=John |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-567-37030-3 |chapter=Problems in the Interpretation of the Story of the Garden of Eden |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtveBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA24}}
* {{cite book
  | last      = Levenson
  | first     = Jon D.| editor1-last  = Berlin| editor1-first = Adele| editor2-last  = Brettler| editor2-first = Marc Zvi
  | title     = The Jewish Study Bible
  | chapter   = Genesis: Introduction and Annotations
  | date      = 2004
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | isbn      = 9780195297515
  | url       = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195297515
  | url-access = registration
}}
* {{cite book |last=Mathews |first=Kenneth A. |title=Genesis |year=1996 |publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers |location=Nashville, Tennessee |isbn=9780805401011}}
* {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Mark S. |title=The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, volume II |chapter=Introduction |editor1-last=Pitard |editor1-first=Wayne T. |year=2009 |publisher=BRILL |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=in1lCQ0yF40C&pg=PA61 |isbn=978-9004153486}}
* {{cite book |last1=Speiser |first1=E. A. |title=I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood |chapter=The Rivers of Paradise |editor1-last=Tsumura |editor1-first=D. T. |editor2-last=Hess |editor2-first=R. S. |year=1994 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=9780931464881 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5MGVP6gAPkC&q=Speiser%2C+%22The+Rivers+of+Paradise%22+Cush&pg=PA38}}
* {{cite book |last=Stordalen |first=Terje |title=Echoes of Eden |publisher=Peeters |year=2000 |isbn=9789042908543 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UIXwojA2_nYC&q=%22in+Eden%22 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Swarup |first1=Paul |title=The self-understanding of the Dead Sea Scrolls Community |year=2006 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=9780567043849 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ex55CzJi_dkC&pg=PA185 }}
* {{cite book |last=Tigchelaar |first=Eibert J. C. |author-link=Eibert Tigchelaar |editor-last=Luttikhuizen |editor-first=Gerard P. |editor-link=Gerard Luttikhuizen |title=Paradise Interpreted |chapter=Eden and Paradise: The Garden Motif in some Early Jewish Texts (1 Enoch and Other Texts Found at Qumran) |date=1999 |publisher=Konninklijke Brill |place=Leiden |series=Themes in Biblical narrative |isbn=90-04-11331-2}}
* Willcocks, Sir William; Hormuzd Rassam. ''Mesopotamian Trade. Noah's Flood: The Garden of Eden'', in: [https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14754959 The Geographical Journal 35] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222210544/https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14754959 |date=2021-12-22 }}, No. 4 (April 1910). [http://doi.org/10.2307/1777041 DOI: 10.2307/1777041].

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wiktionary|Garden of Eden}}
* [http://bible.cc/2_kings/19-12.htm Many translations of II Kings 19:12]
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Eden |short=x}}

{{Adam and Eve}}
{{Heaven}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garden Of Eden}}

[[Category:Garden of Eden| ]]
[[Category:Genesis creation narrative]]