Discovery BoxGenesis 2:10 
Context2:10 Now 1 a river flows 2 from Eden 3 to
water the orchard, and from there it divides 4 into four headstreams. 5
Genesis 18:4
Context18:4 Let a little water be brought so that 6 you may all 7 wash your feet and rest under the tree.
Genesis 21:15
Context21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved 8 the child under one of the shrubs.
Genesis 24:17
Context24:17 Abraham’s servant 9 ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.”
Genesis 26:19
Context26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing 10 water there,
1 tn The disjunctive clause (note the construction conjunction + subject + predicate) introduces an entire paragraph about the richness of the region in the east.
2 tn The Hebrew active participle may be translated here as indicating past durative action, “was flowing,” or as a present durative, “flows.” Since this river was the source of the rivers mentioned in vv. 11-14, which appear to describe a situation contemporary with the narrator, it is preferable to translate the participle in v. 10 with the present tense. This suggests that Eden and its orchard still existed in the narrator’s time. According to ancient Jewish tradition, Enoch was taken to the Garden of Eden, where his presence insulated the garden from the destructive waters of Noah’s flood. See Jub. 4:23-24.
3 sn Eden is portrayed here as a source of life-giving rivers (that is, perennial streams). This is no surprise because its orchard is where the tree of life is located. Eden is a source of life, but tragically its orchard is no longer accessible to humankind. The river flowing out of Eden is a tantalizing reminder of this. God continues to provide life-giving water to sustain physical existence on the earth, but immortality has been lost.
4 tn The imperfect verb form has the same nuance as the preceding participle. (If the participle is taken as past durative, then the imperfect would be translated “was dividing.”)
5 tn Or “branches”; Heb “heads.” Cf. NEB “streams”; NASB “rivers.”
6 tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.
7 tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.
8 tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.
9 tn Heb “and the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
10 tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).
