To Till the Earth – Humanity’s Purpose and the Garden Story

When read in terms of plain sense, the story of the Garden of Eden found in chapters two and three of Genesis seems to be quite unambiguous in its meaning. Man, only recently created by God and given an easy life of ignorant bliss, throws it all away by breaking God’s commandment to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and bad. Transgression and punishment lay at the heart of the plain sense reading, enabling subsequent generations to blame the misdeeds of the man and his wife (later Adam and Eve) for the toils and drudgery they must endure in everyday life. It is as though man were placed on earth for the sole purpose of enjoying the bounty of God’s creation and was forced to suffer the hard task of laboring in the outside world only because of his transgression

Far more about the role man is to play inside and outside of Eden can be deduced from the garden story itself. Several instances in the text indicate that God places man in the garden of Eden not as a passive observer but in order for him to be an active participant in caring for the garden.   Even though it may not be necessary for the garden’s survival, God sets man apart from the rest of creation and assigns him this special task. This action will prepare man for the similar but far more arduous task he is to face when he must care for the rest of creation outside of the garden and prevent humanity from perishing in the process.   That God prepares man for this task even before he transgresses suggests that perhaps the duty of caring for the whole earth, and not just Eden, actually belongs to man the entire time.

In Genesis 1:26, God first mentions man when he says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”^[1] From this initial reference, it is already clear that God intends to set man apart from the rest of the created world.   Previously, every creature created is referred to only as part of a category, such as “birds that fly” or “cattle, creeping things and wild beasts of every kind,” (Genesis 1:25). God not only places man in a category by himself, but also considers his creation before actually creating him in the next verse.   Furthermore, God “created man in His image,” suggesting that God instills some part of the divine in man (Gen. 1:27).   This reading is consistent with Gen. 2:7, which also refers to man’s creation, saying, “[God] blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.”   Rashi interprets this verse to mean that man’s “body [is made] from earthy matter and his soul from heavenly matter."^[2] This inclusion of the heavenly in man sets him apart from the rest of the created world. Such distinctions by no means make man comparable to God, but the division between man and the rest of creation is important because of the specific role man is to play in that creation. God commands man to “be fertile and increase; fill the earth and master it,” signifying in even starker terms man’s uniqueness in God’s eyes (Gen. 1:28).   Both what mastering means and how man will know how to accomplish it remains unclear.

The nature of the role that God crafts for man becomes more comprehensible when a portion of the creation story is presented differently in chapter two. The text states, “When the LORD God made earth and heaven—when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted … the LORD God formed man from the dust of the earth” (Gen. 2:4-5, 7).   In this retelling of the story, the creation of man precedes the appearance of at least some of the earth’s vegetation.   The text gives two reasons for the lack of greenery prior to this point: “because the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil” (Gen. 2:5, emphasis added).   This portion of creation, the vegetation of the field, is dependent not only on natural resources such as water from God but also on the direct action of man.   God remains the creator, but the implication is that without man to act as a caretaker the created vegetation would be unable to survive or grow.   Man must depend on the resources that God has given him, but the vegetation is also dependent on both God and man concurrently.

Other passages suggest that creation’s reliance on man as caretaker extends far beyond the grasses and shrubs of the field.   When God first situates man in the garden that he planted in Eden, the text says, “The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it” (Gen. 2:15).   The word “to” in the last clause of the verse can mean that God positions man in the garden for the purpose of functioning as its caretaker rather than as a passive occupant. Were the final clause not included, we would have no clues as to what man would actually be doing in the garden. The phrase “to till it and tend it,” however, suggests that man will be involved in the same kind of active caretaking that the text spoke of in 2:5. The text also implies that by placing man in the garden, God expands man’s caretaking role for the grasses and shrubs of the field to include “every tree that was pleasing to sight and good for food” as well as “with the tree of life … and the tree of knowledge of good and bad” that God plants in Eden (Gen. 2:9). For a being that has just been created, man is being entrusted with big responsibilities by God. Man will spend his time in the garden tending to it and keeping it alive rather than sitting idly by while God does all of the work.

This does not suggest that God is incapable of looking after the garden or any other part of creation without man’s help, but rather that God designates the care of the garden to be man’s purpose for the time being.   The task is likely not a terribly arduous one, as there is no indication in the text that Eden is anything short of a paradise.   Life in the garden is bountiful and man could probably survive even without working, but God chooses to train him by teaching him skills he will later need when he must survive outside the garden.   The important point is not the complexity of the task, but rather that God assigns it to man at this early stage in man’s history, before any transgression occurs. God commands man to “rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth” and also gives man “every seed-bearing plant that is upon the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit,” but only on the condition that he tends to them effectively (Gen. 2:28-29).  The image of Eden as a training ground becomes more convincing here.   Only when man is outside the garden will he be able to fulfill God’s commandment, but as long as he chooses to work within the framework provided by God by adhering to his commandments, God will allow him to continue a comfortable existence within the garden.

The way that the text characterizes the arrival of the woman lends further support to the proposition that God places man on earth with the specific purpose of caretaking in mind.   God pronounces, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him” (Gen. 2:18).   First of all, it is not immediately clear why it is “not good” for man to be by himself. While he may feel somewhat lonely, the text neither explicitly states this reason nor gives any other. Additionally, God’s promise of a “helper,” as opposed to some other word choice, indicates that the man has a task to perform that requires someone else’s help.  

If we assume that the task with which the woman is to assist is the tilling from verse 2:15, a whole range of new possibilities emerge. In addition to the vegetation in the garden, man now has another project to till or cultivate:   his relationship with the woman.   This is essentially the beginning of society or of relationships.   God sends man a helper so that he (and she) may grasp the first vestiges of not only individual relationships but also societal collaboration. Again, such skills may be of questionable use inside the garden, but outside of it they will be invaluable if he (and she) is to survive and still fulfill God’s commandment to till and tend creation.

This conclusion is solidified by the verse “Hence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). The relationship between the man and the woman will be the first marriage, but it is not yet official. For the man still remains in the garden under the care of God, who is often paternal, and it is arguable that he still enjoys the free bounty of the earth, which is often seen as maternal in religious texts.   The verse provides a template for the marital relationship that will become necessary outside of the garden. For now, the man and the woman may become familiar with the relationship and practice it within the garden’s safe confines. Once outside the garden, the man and his wife will have to cling to one another to survive, as the text says, but God ensures that when they are forced to do so, the practice is not completely alien to them.   Thus it is not surprising that only the woman is capable of being a “fitting helper,” since her role entails not only assisting the man with the task of caring for God’s creation but also preparing the foundation of human society (Gen. 2:21).

In an earlier scene, God instructs the man, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat, but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die” (Gen. 2:16-17). The violation of this prohibition by the woman at the snake’s urging and the man’s subsequent participation in the transgression signal the end of the pair’s comfortable existence. What it does not signal, however, is the immediate enactment of the punishment that God promises will befall the man if he (or, presumably, his wife) disobeys God’s commandment; God does not immediately kill either the man or the woman.   Instead, the concept of death explicitly enters the world for the first time.   In detailing the punishments that will befall the man for his actions, God says, “By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat, until you return to the ground—For from it you were taken.   For dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19). It is plausible that man forfeits some form of immortality that he might have enjoyed had he remained in the garden, and this idea fits the meaning of 2:17.  

God still intends for the man and woman to play specific roles in caring for creation, whether they are immortal.   An important component of their punishment, however, is how their roles in tilling the earth will fundamentally change.   Just as it is unclear before whether death is present in the world prior to the transgression, it is similarly uncertain to what extent (if any) childbearing is a necessary part of survival in the garden.   Now, however, there is no doubt of its importance, as God says to the woman, “I will make most severe your pangs in childbearing.   In pain shall you bear children” (Gen. 3:16).   While in the garden, her role in the tilling process is to assist in the care and repair of creation and to help the man cultivate the beginnings of human society and relationships.  God now gives the woman a new primary responsibility:   literally growing and cultivating the entire human species. Perhaps recognizing both “the positive and life-affirming aspect[s] of the new reality,”^[3] “the man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living” (Gen. 3:20).  

The man’s role in tilling and tending the earth also becomes much more difficult outside of the safe confines of Eden. God says to him, “Cursed shall be the ground because of you; by toil you shall eat of it” (Gen. 3:18). His primary task transforms from the easy work of caring for a garden to the arduous labor of farming a field, which now he must do so simply to survive.   But there is more at stake than survival.   In 3:23, the text states, “So the LORD God banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken” (emphasis added).   Just as God places the man in the garden “to till it” in 2:15, he now sends the man and his partner out into the world with the same purpose. The difference is that because of God’s anger with human disobedience, both the man and the woman’s tasks are now much more difficult than before, with the added sting of losing the possibility of immortality.

At the same time that God’s temper flares, however, he also shows his capability for compassion towards his creations.   As stated above, he already gives the man and his wife opportunities for working with the garden that surely prove valuable when they must farm for their own food in the wilderness.   Having learned to till and take care of the garden, they are consequently capable of doing so elsewhere even if the conditions are significantly rougher. God also gives them a chance to become accustomed to one another, so that when they are more interdependent on each other for survival, it will not come as so great a shock. Furthermore, in addition to not immediately carrying out the punishment of death he previously promises to the man, God allows both humans to keep the knowledge of good and bad that they receive from transgressing.   On top of it all, God even provides clothing for the pair, who are now conscious of their nakedness, for it says, “And the LORD God made garments of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21).   God simultaneously shows his fury at being disobeyed and the consequences of disobedience as well as his capability for compassion and providing his creations with the tools necessary for survival and success.   “The ‘punishments’ meted out by God to the man, woman and serpent,” notes commentator Joel Rosenberg, “are in effect simply statements of our normal biological realities….   To each of these woes there is a positive aspect, the most important of which is that without procreation, we (later generations) would simply not exist.”^[4] Adam and Eve still have their purposes to fulfill as caretakers of the world.   It is only now that they are outside of Eden that they can fully comply with God’s commandment to “[be] fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it” (Gen. 1:28). As God says, “Now … the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad” (Gen. 3: 22).   While it is for this reason that God expels man from the garden of Eden, at the same time the milestone marks the fulfillment of God’s first declaration regarding man:   that he be “in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26).

Now that they are fully prepared to face the hardships of the world, Adam and Eve are sent out to fulfill God’s commandments to till and tend to it. These two orders, to till and to tend, have separate but related meanings.   The former implies an action involving preparation, cultivation and development, whereas the latter entails a process of repair.   Adam and Eve begin these undertakings, but the tasks they have to perform remain relevant and necessary for mankind today.

Even in the literal sense, the act of tilling has several applications for Adam, Eve, and us today.   First, the pair must farm the land in order to survive.   They also have to farm effectively enough so that the species can grow and prosper, so that humans may eventually “fill the earth and master it” (Gen. 1:28). Today, humans have certainly filled the earth, and to a great extent we have either mastered or are in the process of mastering its many resources—for better or for worse. Nevertheless, we remain just as dependent on the earth as our ancestors were, although we may not be cognizant of the fact since most of us are accustomed to purchasing our food processed rather than producing it ourselves.   With a much greater population on the planet, it is even more important that we marshal our resources and develop them effectively.

This leads us to the other tilling that Adam and Eve begin: the process of setting up or cultivating the early vestiges of human civilization. Eve’s arrival in the garden allows the pair to model a marital relationship that eventually becomes the primary unit of society, and once they leave the garden they have to put this model into practice and develop it.   As the population grew, the level of societal organization and complexity progressed accordingly from relationships between individuals. Our ancestors, beginning with Adam and Eve, prepared the earth for habitation like one prepares a field for planting, although they managed not only soil but society as well. Such actions are especially relevant to us because advances in communications technology have made the world smaller than ever before.   Whole civilizations can and do interact with one another and no segment of the world can act as though it is completely cut off from the rest.   These communications and the forces of change that accompany them have lead to extensive problems and disagreements.   For example, a series of cartoons in a Danish newspaper mocking the Muslim prophet Muhammad resulted in riots and violence across the Middle East.   Our primary task in tilling is to develop norms for interactions between the diverse societies on this planet that now have no choice but to interact with one another.   The bar for dealing with these problems has been raised as societies have become more complex, but human ingenuity combined with greater opportunities for cooperation have allowed us to meet the challenges set before us by God, and we have every indication, based on Genesis, that he will continue to provide us with the necessary tools to do so in the future.

Like the act of tilling, tending can also be applied both literally and figuratively. Adam and Eve have to remove the “thorns and thistles” that sprout in their fields if they are to cultivate their crops successfully (Gen. 3:18).   For us today, however, many of the dilemmas that we face on this planet are of our own making.   The most obvious example is the looming threat of global warming caused by our own industry. While certain high-ranking public officials may choose to ignore it, the damage we are doing to the planet will have lasting consequences for our children.   We must tend to these problems and repair the damage done as best we can, lest we end up disobeying God’s command to care for the earth.

Finally, tending also refers to the repair of societal injustices and the restoration of fundamental fairness to society when it is lacking. When God punished but did not destroy Adam and Eve, he was modeling the compassion and justice that we should and for the most part have incorporated into our societal laws. In our own country, human rights are by and large respected in the course of normal law, but this is not the case in many parts of the world.   That is not to say we must launch crusades to rectify the injustice. Still, where we can, we have a duty to use reasonable methods to pull the weeds of societal injustice both at home and abroad.  Politics is gardening on a local or global scale.   Just as God gave our ancestors the capability to till and tend the earth on an individual level, so too has he bestowed upon us the aptitude to cooperate and make use of our skills as an entire species to develop and repair the entire world.

ENDNOTES

^[1] JPS Hebrew-English TANAKH (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003).   All other biblical   references are also from this source.

^[2]Rashi Gen. 2:7-8

^[3] Joel Rosenberg, “Bible – Biblical Narrative,” in Back to the Sources-Reading the Classical Jewish Texts, ed. Barry W. Holtz (New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1984), 57.

^[4]Rosenberg, 57.

© 2007, Society for Scriptural Reasoning

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