Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
23. sent him forth, &c.] Man is dismissed from the garden with the duty imposed upon him to till the ground. Agriculture is here treated as the earliest human industry. See note on Gen 3:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For prevention thereof, the Lord God sent him forth, or expelled him with shame and violence, and so as never to restore him thither; for it is the same word which is used concerning divorced wives.
To till, to wit, with toil and sweat, as was threatened, Gen 3:17, the ground without Paradise; for he was made without Paradise, and then put into it, as was noted before.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,…. Gave him orders to depart immediately; sent or put him away as a man does his wife, when he divorces her; or as a prince banishes a rebellious subject: for how long Adam was in the garden
[See comments on Ps 49:12], however, he did not send him to hell at once, as he did the apostate angels, but
to till the ground, from whence he was taken: either the earth in general, out of which he was made, and to which he must return, and in the mean while must labour hard, in digging and ploughing, in planting and sowing, that so he might get a livelihood; or that particular spot out of which he was formed, which is supposed from hence to have been without the garden of Eden, though very probably near unto it: some say it was a field near Damascus; the Targum of Jonathan is,
“he went and dwelt in Mount Moriah, to till the ground out of which he was created;”
and so other Jewish writers say p, the gate of paradise was near Mount Moriah, and there Adam dwelt after he was cast out.
p Pirke Eliezer, c. 20. fol. 20. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth (217) Here Moses partly prosecutes what he had said concerning the punishment inflicted on man, and partly celebrates the goodness of God, by which the rigour of his judgment was mitigated. God mercifully softens the exile of Adam, by still providing for him a remaining home on earth, and by assigning to him a livelihood from the culture — although the labourious culture — of the ground; for Adam thence infers that the Lord has some care for him, which is a proof of paternal love. Moses, however, again speaks of punishment, when he relates that man was expelled and that cherubim were opposed with the blade of a turning sword, (218) which should prevent his entrance into the garden. Moses says that the cherubim were placed in the eastern region, on which side, indeed, access lay open to man, unless he had been prohibited. It is added, to produce terror, that the sword was turning or sharpened on both sides. Moses, however, uses a word derived from whiteness or heat (219) Therefore, God having granted life to Adam, and having supplied him with food, yet restricts the benefit, by causing some tokens of Divine wrath to be always before his eyes, in order that he might frequently reflect that he must pass through innumerable miseries, through temporal exile, and through death itself, to the life from which he had fallen; for what we have said must be remembered, that Adam was not so dejected as to be left without hope of pardon. He was banished from that royal palace of which he had been the lord, but he obtained elsewhere a place in which he might dwell; he was bereft of his former delicacies, yet he was still supplied with some kind of food; he was excommunicated from the tree of life, but a new remedy was offered him in sacrifices. Some expound the ‘turning sword’ to mean one which does not always vibrate with its point directed against man, but which sometimes shows the side of the blade, for the purpose of giving place for repentance. But allegory is unseasonable, when it was the determination of God altogether to exclude man from the garden, that he might seek life elsewhere. As soon, however, as the happy fertility and pleasantness of the place was destroyed, the terror of the sword became superfluous. By cherubim, no doubt, Moses means angels and in this accommodates himself to the capacity of his own people. God had commanded two cherubim to be placed at the ark of the covenant, which should overshadow its covering, with their wings; therefore he is often said to sit between the cherubim. That he would have angels depicted in this form, was doubtless granted as an indulgence to the rudeness of that ancient people; for that age needed puerile instructions, as Paul teaches, (Gal 4:3😉 and Moses borrowed thence the name which he ascribed to angels, that he might accustom men to that kind of revelation which he had received from God, and faithfully handed down; for God designed, that what he knew would prove useful to the people, should be revealed in the sanctuary. And certainly this method is to be observed by us, in order that we, conscious of one own infirmity may not attempt, without assistance, to soar to heaven; for otherwise it will happen that, in the midst of our course, all our senses will fail. The ladders and vehicles, then, were the sanctuary, the ark of the covenants the altar, the table and its furniture. Moreover, I call them vehicles and ladders, because symbols of this kind were by no means ordained that the faithful might shut up God in a tabernacle as in a prison, or might attach him to earthly elements; but that, being assisted by congruous and apt means, they might themselves rise towards heaven. Thus David and Hezekiah, truly endued with spiritual intelligence, were far from entertaining those gross imaginations, which would fix God in a given place. Still they do not scruple to call upon God, who sitteth or dwelleth between the cherubim, in order that they may retain themselves and others under the authority of the law.
Finally, In this place angels are called cherubim, for the same reason that the name of the body of Christ is transferred to the sacred bread of the Lord’s Supper. With respect to the etymology, the Hebrews themselves are not agreed. The most generally received opinion is, that the first letter, כ ( caf) is a servile letter, and a note of similitude, and, therefore, that the word cherub is of the same force as if it were said, ‘like a boy.’ (220) But because Ezekiel, who applies the word in common to different figures, is opposed to this signification; they think more rightly, in my judgment, who declare it to be a general name. Nevertheless, that it is referred to angels is more than sufficiently known. Whence also Ezekiel (Eze 28:14) signalizes the proud king of Tyre with this title, comparing him to a chief angel. (221)
(217) גרש, ( gairesh,) to expel, drive out, or eject by force.
(218) “ Cum lamina gladii versatilis.” להט החרב, ( lahat hacherab.)
(219) “ A candore, vel adore.”
(220) “ כרוב, ( cherub.) An image like a youth, which the Chaldeans call רבי, ( rabia.)” — Schindler. Other writers give a different derivation, and consequently a different meaning to the word. But Professor Lee says, “It would be idle to offer anything on the etymology; nothing satisfactoroy having yet been discovered.” — See Lexicon. — Ed
(221) Primario angelo. It is clear that Ezekiel, in the chapter referred to, has both the garden of Eden and the ark of the covenant in his view, when speaking of the king of Tyre. Thus, in the 17 verse, it is said, “Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God;” and, in the next verse, “Thou art the anointed cherub that acovereth;” (namely, that covereth the ark,) “and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) To till the ground.This is the same word as that rendered dress in Gen. 2:15. Adams task is the same, but the conditions are altered.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth The divine utterance in the previous verse was impressively left unfinished, a notable example of aposiopesis . The writer here passes abruptly to state what immediately followed the penal sentence, as if unwilling to express the awful words of the Judge .
To till the ground from whence he was taken His toilsome labour in the dust is to be a constant reminder both of his bodily origin and of his future dissolution . Compare Gen 3:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Therefore the Lord God expelled him from the plain of Eden to serve the ground from which he was taken.’
Man not only loses the tree of life, but all the trees in the plain of Eden. He is sent out into a place where he must eat ‘herbs of the field’, scrabbling among the weeds to obtain his food, and scratching at the surface of the ground in hope that it will increase its production. He had been raised above it by God, but now he returns to it, a reminder of his new situation.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 3:23. Therefore the Lord God, &c. The connexion of this and the following verse, according to the sense which we have given, is this: “And the Lord expelled, divorced, the man from the garden of Eden, to till the ground; and after he had expelled him, he placed cherubims, &c. at the east of the garden, to keep, or to preserve the way, and the right knowledge of it, to that tree of life, of which man, it was hoped, would hereafter eat, and live for ever.” The word which we render keep, to keep the way of the tree of life shamar, signifies keeping, or preserving of any kind; and therefore may be used here with as much propriety in the sense of preserving, or keeping a knowledge of the way, as of guarding the way to the tree. Those who conceive that the tree of life had a power in itself independently to preserve human life, and think that our first parents were driven from Paradise lest they should continue in natural existence, will understand these cherubims, &c. as guards to prevent Adam and Eve from coming to this tree: an opinion, by the way, which seems encumbered with many difficulties. Those who believe that this tree was sacramental and religious only, and that spiritual life was here intended, will believe that this apparatus of cherubims, &c. was placed by God in mercy to keep up in man a knowledge of the approach and way to the sacred tree.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Ver. 23. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth. ] He gently dismissed him, as the word signifies; placed him over against Paradise, in the sight thereof (as Stella a observeth out of the Septuagint) that, by often beholding, the sorrow of his sin, might be increased, that his “eye might affect his heart” b Lam 3:5 Yet, “lest he should be swallowed up of over-much sorrow,” and so Satan get “an advantage of him” – for 2Co 2:7 ; 2Co 2:11 God is not ignorant of his devices – Christ, the promised Seed, was, by his voluntary banishment, to bring back all believers to their heavenly home; to bear them by his angels into Abraham’s bosom, and to “give them to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Rev 2:7 Our whole life here is nothing else but a banishment. That we like it no worse, is because we never knew better. They that were born in hell, saith the proverb, think there’s no other heaven. The poor posterity of a banished prince take their mean condition well-aworth; Moses counts Egypt, where yet he was but a sojourner, his home; and in reference to it calls his son, born in Midian, Gershom, that is, a stranger there. Oh, how should we breathe after our heavenly home! groaning within ourselves, like those birds of paradise naturalists c speak of, stretching forth the neck, as the apostle’s word d importeth, “waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our bodies,” Rom 8:23 glorifying God meanwhile with our spirits and bodies, devouring all difficulties, donec a spe ad speciem transeamus , till Christ, who is gone to prepare a place for us, return and say, “This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”
a Stella in Luk 7:1-50 .
b Iisdem, quibus videmus, oculis flemus.
c Avis Paradisi . – Gesner .
d , Rom 8:19 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Therefore: the object is self-evident.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Therefore the Lord God
The Second Dispensation: Conscience. By disobedience man came to a personal and experimental knowledge of good and evil–of good as obedience, of evil as disobedience to the known will of God. Through that knowledge conscience awoke. Expelled from Eden and placed under the second, or ADAMIC COVENANT, man was responsible to do all known good, to abstain from all known evil, and to approach God through sacrifice. The result of this second testing of man is stated in Gen 6:5 and the dispensation ended in the judgment of the Flood. Apparently “the east of the garden” Gen 3:24 where were the cherubims and the flame, remained the place of worship through this second dispensation. See for the other six dispensations:
INNOCENCE (See Scofield “Gen 1:28”)
HUMAN GOVERNMENT (See Scofield “Gen 8:21”)
PROMISE (See Scofield “Gen 12:1”)
LAW (See Scofield “Exo 19:8”)
GRACE (See Scofield “Joh 1:17”)
KINGDOM (See Scofield “Eph 1:10”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
till: Gen 3:19, Gen 2:5, Gen 4:2, Gen 4:12, Gen 9:20, Ecc 5:9
Reciprocal: Gen 2:7 – dust Eze 28:13 – in Eden Joh 18:1 – a garden