This commentary examines the contrast between God’s true creation and the actions attributed to a false deity. It explains that true creation is inseparable from divine order and the growth of the soul, while imitation without spiritual foundation inevitably leads to distortion. The commentary emphasizes that human development is possible only through gradual learning, responsibility, and the knowledge of good and evil.
Contents: Genesis 2 — God and the Lord God: Truth and Imitation in Creation
Completion of Creation and Divine Presence
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.*
God did not rest in the sense of ceasing His work, but completed creation, for He is always everywhere and ever-present.
True Creation and False Imitation
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
Here it says that God first created the heavens (the dome – the firmament) and then the Earth, whereas the “Non-God” supposedly “created” the Earth first and then the heavens.
However, it is impossible to create an Earth independent of God on an already created planet, because there would be no place for it. Even if one tries to create the Earth on water, it would only be on the water created by God.
Afterward, it is claimed that the ‘Non-God’ created the heavens, but without establishing an autonomous planetary system. That is to say, the “Non-God” illuminated “his” Earth using celestial bodies created by God.
From now on, for convenience, the ‘Non-God’ will be referred to as the false deity.
Dependence on God’s Creation
5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up–for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,
6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground.
Steam is water, and it cannot rise from the Earth unless water already exists. It turns out that the false deity “created” the Earth by attaching itself to the water created by God.
The Path of the Soul and the Order of Incarnation
7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It is written here that the false deity allegedly first created humans and then plants for food. Let us look at this point more closely.
God’s Order
Souls grow through successive stages of life: plants → animals → humans.
God creates humans after He creates plants for food and other living beings. In every living creature made by Him, there is a soul.
As these souls grew and surpassed the level of animal existence, they were incarnated into the human form, whose bodies had by then been created by God.
The human form is the crown of earthly existence. A soul that grows beyond the human level is incarnated into a form in a higher creation.
False Order
Immediate creation of humans → no spiritual growth → degradation
However, for the false deity, it is the opposite. Humans are created immediately, without prior spiritual development, without having undergone the teaching and growth of the soul through the cycle of life—in the forms of plants and animals.
The level of the soul in such a human cannot be higher than that of the lowest plant.
Paradise Without Growth
These conditions of life were called Paradise. It is suggested: why should one grow along God’s path to Paradise if the false deity created you in Paradise from the start? Yet people are led to believe that Adam was holy and, along with Eve, was the ancestor of humanity.
The Location of Eden and False Autonomy
10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.
11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.
13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush.
14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
First, it is mentioned how the false deity is presented as having created heaven and earth autonomously. Then, the location of Eden is described, which, judging by the names of the lands and rivers, is situated on the Earth created by God.
Knowledge of Good and Evil as the Path of Growth
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
The Almighty created conditions for the souls’ growth through the knowledge of light and darkness, good and evil—and this is presented as the only path that allows true spiritual growth.
However, in Genesis 2 the false deity forbids the knowledge of good and evil. It is claimed that one should exist in endless consumption without independent thought, and that this is happiness in paradise.
Man and Woman in God’s Creation
Incomplete Creation and Missing Beings
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
If that were the case, it would have been clearly described which animals the false deity brought into existence and what form they had, because they came after the creatures made by God.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Unlike the false deity, God created man and woman at the same time — before the invented Adam, from whom humanity is supposedly said to have descended.
Moral Responsibility
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Decent people do not abandon their parents.
Conclusion
This commentary demonstrates that true creation is inseparable from divine order and the gradual growth of the soul. Any attempt to imitate creation without this foundation leads to distortion, dependency, and spiritual stagnation.
God’s path is based on knowledge, responsibility, and development through different forms of life. The false deity offers an illusion of paradise without growth, where independent thinking and moral maturity are suppressed.
The commentary emphasizes that human dignity arises not from being placed in a ready-made paradise, but from conscious spiritual development within God’s creation.
A related perspective can be found in the Tanakh commentary on Bereshit 2, where the distinction between “God” and “the LORD God” is examined from another interpretive angle.
* The text of the Bible is quoted from the “English Standard Version“. ↑ back
Frequently Asked Questions
Because the commentary contrasts true creation attributed to God with creation claims attributed to a false deity, and treats them as different in nature and order.
True creation is understood as a process rooted in divine order, where the soul grows gradually through different forms of life and conscious development.
Imitation without spiritual foundation cannot create independent life and leads to dependency, distortion, and stagnation.
The commentary states that human existence should be the result of prior soul development through lower forms of life, not an instant creation without spiritual growth.
It is presented as a necessary condition for the growth of consciousness, moral responsibility, and spiritual maturity.
Because a state without learning, choice, and moral awareness prevents the soul from developing and creates spiritual dependency and degradation.
Human dignity arises from conscious spiritual development, responsibility, and ethical growth, not from being placed in a ready-made paradise.
No. The commentary explains that Scripture is intended to support the growth of the soul, not to provide detailed explanations of the physical universe.
It emphasizes the contrast between true creation and imitation, and presents spiritual growth through knowledge, responsibility, and good and evil as essential for human development.
Choose Another Chapter:
Part One
Part Two