ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Genesis 2.18

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV (ASV)

"16. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17. but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

"18. And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him."

"19. And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20. And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him." (Genesis 2:16-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"16. Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17. but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”"

"18. Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”"

"19. Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20. The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him." (Genesis 2:16-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: thou: Heb. eating thou shalt eat 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. thou shalt surely: Heb. dying thou shalt die"

"18. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. meet: Heb. as before him"

"19. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. Adam: or, the man 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. gave: Heb. called" (Genesis 2:16-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"16. And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat; 17. and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it, dying thou dost die.'"

"18. And Jehovah God saith, 'Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper, as his counterpart.'"

"19. And Jehovah God formeth from the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and bringeth in unto the man, to see what he doth call it; and whatever the man calleth a living creature, that [is] its name. 20. And the man calleth names to all the cattle, and to fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; and to man hath not been found an helper, as his counterpart." (Genesis 2:16-20, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: Moses (traditional authorship) / narrator
  • Audience: Israelite congregation post-Exodus
  • Location: various ANE settings (Eden → Mesopotamia → Canaan → Egypt)
  • Time period: events c. creation-c. 1800 BC; composed c. 1446-1406 BC

Theological reading

Key words

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.