Genesis 2:5
New International Version
Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,

New Living Translation
neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the LORD God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil.

English Standard Version
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,

Berean Standard Bible
Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

King James Bible
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

New King James Version
before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;

New American Standard Bible
Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

NASB 1995
Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

NASB 1977
Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth; and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet grown, for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Amplified Bible
no shrub or plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground,

Christian Standard Bible
no shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

American Standard Version
And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And there were no trees of the field yet in the Earth, and no grass of the field had yet grown, because LORD JEHOVAH God had not sent down rain on the Earth, and there was no Adam to work in the soil.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and every herb of the field before it was on the earth, and all the grass of the field before it sprang up, for God had not rained on the earth, and there was not a man to cultivate it.

Contemporary English Version
no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And every plant of the field before it spring up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

English Revised Version
And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Wild bushes and plants were not on the earth yet because the LORD God hadn't sent rain on the earth. Also, there was no one to farm the land.

Good News Translation
there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land;

International Standard Version
no shrubs had yet grown in the meadows of the earth and no vegetation had sprouted, because the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there were no human beings to work the ground.

JPS Tanakh 1917
No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground;

Literal Standard Version
and no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouts, for YHWH God has not rained on the earth, and there is not a man to serve the ground,

Majority Standard Bible
Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

New American Bible
there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground,

NET Bible
Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

New Revised Standard Version
when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground;

New Heart English Bible
Now no bush of the field was yet in the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted; for God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there were no people to cultivate the ground,

Webster's Bible Translation
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

World English Bible
No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,

Young's Literal Translation
and no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouteth, for Jehovah God hath not rained upon the earth, and a man there is not to serve the ground,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Man and Woman in the Garden
4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them. 5Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.…

Cross References
Genesis 1:11
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind." And it was so.

Genesis 2:6
But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Psalm 65:9
You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.

Psalm 65:10
You soak its furrows and level its ridges; You soften it with showers and bless its growth.

Jeremiah 10:12
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

Jeremiah 10:13
When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.


Treasury of Scripture

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

plant.

Genesis 1:12
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Psalm 104:14
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

had not.

Job 5:10
Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:

Job 38:26-28
To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; …

Psalm 65:9-11
Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it…

to till.

Genesis 3:23
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Genesis 4:2,12
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground…

Jump to Previous
Appeared Caused Cultivate Earth Field Grass Grew Ground Heaven Herb Plant Plants Rain Shrub Sprouted Sprung
Jump to Next
Appeared Caused Cultivate Earth Field Grass Grew Ground Heaven Herb Plant Plants Rain Shrub Sprouted Sprung
Genesis 2
1. The first Sabbath.
4. Further details concerning the manner of creation.
8. The planting of the garden of Eden, and its situation;
15. man is placed in it; and the tree of knowledge forbidden.
18. The animals are named by Adam.
21. The making of woman, and the institution of marriage.














(5)And every plant . . . --The Authorised Version follows the LXX. in so translating this as to make it simply mean that God created vegetation. The more correct rendering is, "There was no shrub of the field (no wild shrub) as yet on the earth, and no herb of the field had as yet sprung up." The purpose of the writer is to prepare for the planting of the paradise, though geology teaches us the literal truth of his words. When the earth was so hot that water existed only in the form of vapour, there could be no vegetation. Rain began on the second day; on the third the vapours were so largely condensed as for the waters to form seas; and on the same day vegetation began to clothe the cool, dry surface of the ground. To understand these opening words, we must bear in mind that the object of the narrative is not now the formation of the world, but man's relation to Jehovah, and thus the long stages of creation appear but as one day's work.

Verse 5. - And every plant of the field before it was (literally, not yet) in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew (literally, had not yet sprouted). Following the LXX., the English Version suggests an intention on the writer's part to emphasize the fact that the vegetation of the globe - here comprehended under the general terms, shiah, shrub, and eseb, herb - was not a natural production, but, equally with the great earth and heavens, was the creation of Jehovah Elohim - a rendering which has the sanction of Taylor Lewis; whereas the writer's object clearly is to depict the appearance of the earth at the time when the man-ward development of the heavens and the earth began. Then not a single plant was in the ground, not a green blade was visible. The land, newly sprung from the waters, was one desolate region of bleak, bare lava-hills and extensive mud-fiats. Up to that point the absence of vegetation is accounted for by the circumstance that the presently existing atmospheric conditions of the globe had not then been established, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and the ordinary agricultural operations on which its production was afterwards to depend had not then been begun, and there was not a man to till the ground.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now
וְכֹ֣ל ׀ (wə·ḵōl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

[no] shrub
שִׂ֣יחַ (śî·aḥ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7880: A bush, shrub, plant

of the field
הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה (haś·śā·ḏeh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land

had yet
טֶ֚רֶם (ṭe·rem)
Adverb
Strong's 2962: Non-occurrence, not yet, before

appeared
יִֽהְיֶ֣ה (yih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

on the earth,
בָאָ֔רֶץ (ḇā·’ā·reṣ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

nor had any
וְכָל־ (wə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

plant
עֵ֥שֶׂב (‘ê·śeḇ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6212: Herb, herbage

of the field
הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה (haś·śā·ḏeh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land

sprouted;
יִצְמָ֑ח (yiṣ·māḥ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6779: To sprout, spring up

for
כִּי֩ (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the LORD
יְהוָ֤ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

God
אֱלֹהִים֙ (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

had not [yet]
לֹ֨א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

sent rain
הִמְטִ֜יר (him·ṭîr)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4305: To rain

upon
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the earth,
הָאָ֔רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

and [there was] no
אַ֔יִן (’a·yin)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

man
וְאָדָ֣ם (wə·’ā·ḏām)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

to cultivate
לַֽעֲבֹ֖ד (la·‘ă·ḇōḏ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

the ground.
הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃ (hā·’ă·ḏā·māh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 127: Ground, land


Links
Genesis 2:5 NIV
Genesis 2:5 NLT
Genesis 2:5 ESV
Genesis 2:5 NASB
Genesis 2:5 KJV

Genesis 2:5 BibleApps.com
Genesis 2:5 Biblia Paralela
Genesis 2:5 Chinese Bible
Genesis 2:5 French Bible
Genesis 2:5 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Genesis 2:5 No plant of the field was yet (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 2:4
Top of Page
Top of Page