Christians are familiar with the Garden of Eden. It is a popular place where the history of humanity began. But, let us look at the Garden of Eden from the Hebrew perspective to find its deeper meaning.

Garden of Eden

The word Eden first appeared in the second chapter of the first book of the Bible. It says, “And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 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. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.” (Genesis 2:8-11)

Pleasure or delight

The Hebrew root of Eden, “A-D-N,” means “pleasure” or “delight.” The same Hebrew root is also found in the story of Sarah, where she found out that she will get pregnant after her old age.

“So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” Pleasure in this verse is from the Hebrew word, ‘Ednah.’

Another passage in Psalms proved that Eden means delight or pleasure. “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.” (Psalm 36:8) The word, ‘delights’ in Hebrew is “Adanecha.” It is derived from the same root of Eden as well.

Therefore, Eden is delight or pleasure. It simply means that the Garden of Eden is where all the good things that God created dwelled. He delighted over His creations and was pleased with all His work. “God looked at everything He had made, and He was very pleased.” (Genesis 1:31)

Reference: Hebrewversity