Genesis 2

Gn 2.1Igitur perfectī sunt caelī et terra, et omnis ōrnātus eōrum.

Therefore the skies and the earth were completed, and all their adornment.

Note. caelī: here masculine plural, 'the heavens'; caelum has a plural caelī in Biblical Latin. ōrnātus: 'adornment, array', translating a Hebrew word for 'host'.

Gn 2.2Complēvitque Deus diē septimō opus suum quod fēcerat: et requiēvit diē septimō ab ūniversō opere quod patrārat.

And God completed on the seventh day his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had accomplished.

Note. patrārat: shortened pluperfect of patrō (= patrāverat). The Hebrew word for 'rested' (shabath) is the root of 'sabbath'.

Gn 2.3Et benedīxit diēī septimō, et sānctificāvit illum, quia in ipsō cessāverat ab omnī opere suō quod creāvit Deus ut faceret.

And he blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because on it he had ceased from all his work which God created so that he might make (it).

Note. benedīxit diēī septimō: benedīcō takes the dative in Classical Latin; the Vulgate uses both dative and accusative. creāvit … ut faceret: a literal rendering of a Hebrew idiom, 'which God created by making'.

Gn 2.4Istae sunt generātiōnēs caelī et terrae, quandō creāta sunt, in diē quō fēcit Dominus Deus caelum et terram,

These are the generations of the sky and the earth, when they were created, on the day in which the Lord God made sky and earth,

Note. Istae sunt generātiōnēs: 'these are the generations', a heading formula that recurs in Genesis. Here the second account of creation begins, using the name Dominus Deus ('the Lord God').

Gn 2.5et omne virgultum agrī antequam orīrētur in terrā, omnemque herbam regiōnis priusquam germināret: nōn enim pluerat Dominus Deus super terram, et homō nōn erat quī operārētur terram:

and every shrub of the field before it rose up on the earth, and every grass of the region before it sprouted: for the Lord God had not rained over the earth, and (there) was not a man who would work the earth:

Gn 2.6sed fōns ascendēbat ē terrā, irrigāns ūniversam superficiem terrae.

but a spring was going up from the earth, watering the whole surface of the earth.

Gn 2.7Fōrmāvit igitur Dominus Deus hominem dē līmō terrae, et īnspīrāvit in faciem eius spīrāculum vītae, et factus est homō in animam vīventem.

The Lord God therefore formed man from the mud of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man was made into a living soul.

Note. Fōrmāvit: 'shaped' like a potter. dē līmō terrae: 'from the mud of the earth'. In Hebrew there is wordplay between adam ('human') and adamah ('ground'). factus est … in animam vīventem: 'became a living being', in + accusative of result.

Gn 2.8Plantāverat autem Dominus Deus paradīsum voluptātis ā prīncipiō, in quō posuit hominem quem fōrmāverat.

The Lord God, however, had planted a park of pleasure from the beginning, in which he placed the man whom he had formed.

Note. paradīsum: a Persian loanword (through Greek) meaning an enclosed park or garden. voluptātis translates Eden, which Hebrew readers connected with 'delight'.

Gn 2.9Prōdūxitque Dominus Deus dē humō omne lignum pulchrum vīsū, et ad vēscendum suāve lignum etiam vītae in mediō paradīsī, lignumque scientiae bonī et malī.

And the Lord God brought forth from the soil every tree beautiful to see, and pleasant for eating, the tree also of life in the middle of the park, and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

Note. pulchrum vīsū: supine in -ū after an adjective, 'lovely to see'. ad vēscendum suāve: 'pleasant for eating'. scientiae bonī et malī: bonum and malum are neuter adjectives used as nouns, 'good and evil'.

Gn 2.10Et fluvius ēgrediēbātur dē locō voluptātis ad irrigandum paradīsum, quī inde dīviditur in quatuor capita.

And a river was going out from the place of pleasure for watering the park, which from there is divided into four heads.

Note. quī inde dīviditur: the present tense describes what the geography is 'still' like. quatuor is the Clementine spelling of quattuor.

Gn 2.11Nōmen ūnī Phīsōn: ipse est quī circuit omnem terram Hevīlath, ubi nāscitur aurum:

The name to one (is) Phison: it is (the one) which goes around all the land of Hevilath, where gold is born:

Note. Nōmen ūnī Phīsōn: understand est, 'the name to one (is) Pishon'; a dative of possession. Hebrew names like Phīsōn and Hevīlath are indeclinable.

Gn 2.12et aurum terrae illīus optimum est; ibi invenītur bdellium, et lapis onychinus.

and the gold of that land is the best; there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.

Gn 2.13Et nōmen fluviī secundī Gehōn; ipse est quī circumit omnem terram Aethiopiae.

And the name of the second river (is) Gehon; it is (the one) which goes around all the land of Ethiopia.

Gn 2.14Nōmen vērō flūminis tertiī, Tigris: ipse vādit contrā Assyriōs. Fluvius autem quārtus, ipse est Euphrātēs.

The name, however, of the third river (is) Tigris: it goes against the Assyrians. The fourth river, moreover, it is the Euphrates.

Gn 2.15Tulit ergō Dominus Deus hominem, et posuit eum in paradīsō voluptātis, ut operārētur, et custōdīret illum:

The Lord God therefore took the man, and placed him in the park of pleasure, so that he might work (it), and guard it:

Gn 2.16praecēpitque eī, dīcēns: Ex omnī lignō paradīsī comede;

and he instructed him, saying: From every tree of the park eat;

Gn 2.17dē lignō autem scientiae bonī et malī nē comedās: in quōcumque enim diē comēderis ex eō, morte moriēris.

from the tree, however, of the knowledge of good and bad do not eat: for on whatever day you (will have) eaten from it, by death you will die.

Note. morte moriēris: 'you will die by death', an ablative copying a Hebrew emphatic construction (the verb repeated); it means 'you will certainly die'. comēderis: future perfect, 'you will have eaten'.

Gn 2.18Dīxit quoque Dominus Deus: Nōn est bonum esse hominem sōlum: faciāmus eī adiūtōrium simile sibi.

The Lord God said also: It is not good (for) the man to be alone: let us make for him a help like to himself.

Note. Nōn est bonum esse hominem sōlum: impersonal est with an accusative and infinitive subject. simile sibi: 'like himself'.

Gn 2.19Fōrmātīs igitur Dominus Deus dē humō cūnctīs animantibus terrae, et ūniversīs volātilibus caelī, addūxit ea ad Adam, ut vidēret quid vocāret ea: omne enim quod vocāvit Adam animae vīventis, ipsum est nōmen eius.

The animate things of the earth, therefore, and all the flying things of the sky having been formed by the Lord God from the soil, he led them to Adam, so that he might see what he would call them: for every (name) which Adam called a living soul, that very (thing) is its name.

Note. Fōrmātīs … animantibus: ablative absolute, 'when the creatures had been formed'. ut vidēret quid vocāret ea: an indirect question in the subjunctive.

Gn 2.20Appellāvitque Adam nōminibus suīs cūncta animantia, et ūniversa volātilia caelī, et omnēs bestiās terrae: Adae vērō nōn inveniēbātur adiūtor similis eius.

And Adam called by their names all the animate things, and all the flying things of the sky, and all the wild animals of the earth: for Adam, however, was not found a helper like to him.

Gn 2.21Immīsit ergō Dominus Deus sopōrem in Adam: cumque obdormisset, tulit ūnam dē costīs eius, et replēvit carnem prō eā.

The Lord God therefore sent a deep sleep into Adam: and when he had fallen asleep, he took one from his ribs, and filled up flesh in place of it.

Note. sopōrem: a deep, heavy sleep. cumque obdormisset: cum + pluperfect subjunctive, 'when he had fallen asleep'.

Gn 2.22Et aedificāvit Dominus Deus costam, quam tulerat dē Adam, in mulierem: et addūxit eam ad Adam.

And the Lord God built the rib, which he had taken from Adam, into a woman: and he led her to Adam.

Gn 2.23Dīxitque Adam: Hoc nunc ōs ex ossibus meīs, et carō dē carne meā: haec vocābitur Virāgō, quoniam dē virō sūmpta est.

And Adam said: This now (is) bone out of my bones, and flesh from my flesh: this (one) will be called Virago, since she was taken from a man (vir).

Note. Virāgō: a word coined from vir, imitating the Hebrew play ishshah ('woman') from ish ('man'). Jerome chose it so the pun would survive in Latin; English sometimes says 'woman … from man'.

Gn 2.24Quam ob rem relinquet homō patrem suum, et mātrem, et adhaerēbit uxōrī suae: et erunt duo in carne ūnā.

On account of which thing a man will leave his father, and mother, and will stick to his wife: and they will be two in one flesh.

Note. Quam ob rem: 'for which reason, therefore', relative pronoun used to link to the previous sentence. erunt duo in carne ūnā: in + ablative here translates a Hebrew phrase 'become one flesh'.

Gn 2.25Erat autem uterque nūdus, Adam scīlicet et uxor eius: et nōn ērubēscēbant.

Each of the two, however, was naked, Adam, that is, and his wife: and they were not blushing.