This is old news, borrowed mainly from James Jordan, but maybe worth putting up.
Genesis 2-3, like Genesis 1, is divided into seven main sections. For the most part, the divisions are marked by the name Yahweh God and by descriptions of Yahweh God’s actions. Thus:
1. No shrub, etc; Yahweh God had not sent rain; Yahweh God formed man, vv 4-7
2. Yahweh God planted, v 8
3. Yahweh God caused plants to grow, v 9
4. Yahweh God placed man in garden, v 15
5. Yahweh God commanded, v 16
6. Yahweh God said, v 18
7. Naked and ashamed/clothed as inclusio, 2:25, 3:21
A few additional notes:
First, vv 4-7 fit together in a parallel pattern:
a) Yahweh God had not sent rain
b) no man
a’) mist rose to water
b’) Yahweh God formed man.
This parallel is enclosed with references to the name Yahweh God.
Second, it’s true that there are a number of references to Yahweh God in vv 18-24 [vv 18, 19, 21, 22], but that is pretty obviously a single episode.
Finally, there are a number of general parallels between the creation week of Genesis 1 and the creation of Adam and his placement in the garden in Genesis 2. One particularly intriguing one is the link that’s forged between the garden and the firmament. The garden is the place between, between the land of Eden (of which it is part) and the other lands downstream from it. But the garden is also more strictly similar to the firmament: Water arises in Eden, “above” the garden, then flows through the garden, and “below” the garden divides into four rivers. The garden of Eden is between the waters above and below, the sources waters of Eden and the river waters of the other lands.
Dear Reader,
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