Chapter XXIV.—The Beauty of Paradise.

God, then, caused to spring out of the earth every tree that is beautiful in appearance, or good for food. For at first there were only those things which were produced on the third day,—plants, and seeds, and herbs; but the things which were in Paradise were made of a superior loveliness and beauty, since in it the plants were said to have been planted by God. As to the rest of the plants, indeed, the world contained plants like them; but the two trees,—the tree of life and the tree of knowledge,—the rest of the earth possessed not, but only Paradise. And that Paradise is earth, and is planted on the earth, the Scripture states, saying:75    Gen. ii. 8. “And the Lord God planted Paradise in Eden eastwards, and placed man there; and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” By the expressions, therefore, “out of the ground,” and “eastwards,” the holy writing clearly teaches us that Paradise is under this heaven, under which the east and the earth are. And the Hebrew word Eden signifies “delight.” And it was signified that a river flowed out of Eden to water Paradise, and after that divides into four heads; of which the two called Pison and Gihon water the eastern parts, especially Gihon, which encompasses the whole land of Ethiopia, and which, they say, reappears in Egypt under the name of Nile. And the other two rivers are manifestly recognisable by us—those called Tigris and Euphrates—for these border on our own regions. And God having placed man in Paradise, as has been said, to till and keep it, commanded him to eat of all the trees,—manifestly of the tree of life also; but only of the tree of knowledge He commanded him not to taste. And God transferred him from the earth, out of which he had been produced, into Paradise, giving him means of advancement, in order that, maturing and becoming perfect, and being even declared a god, he might thus ascend into heaven in possession of immortality. For man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, Paradise, was made in respect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And by the expression, “till it,”76    In the Greek the word is, “work” or “labour,” as we also speak of working land. no other kind of labour is implied than the observance of God’s command, lest, disobeying, he should destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself, by sin.

Ἐξανατείλας οὖν ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἔτι πᾶν ξύλον, ὡραῖον εἰς ὅρασιν καὶ καλὸν εἰς βρῶσιν. ἐν γὰρ πρώτοις μόνα ἦν τὰ ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ γεγενημένα, φυτὰ καὶ σπέρματα καὶ χλόαι· τὰ δὲ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ἐγενήθη διαφόρῳ καλλονῇ καὶ ὡραιότητι, ὅπου γε καὶ φυτεία ὠνόμασται ὑπὸ θεοῦ πεφυτευμένη. καὶ τὰ μὲν λοιπὰ φυτὰ ὅμοια καὶ ὁ κόσμος ἔσχηκεν· τὰ δὲ δύο ξύλα, τὸ τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τὸ τῆς γνώσεως, οὐκ ἔσχηκεν ἑτέρα γῆ ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ παραδείσῳ. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὁ παράδεισος γῆ ἐστιν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς πεφύτευται, ἡ γραφὴ λέγει· “Καὶ ἐφύτευσεν ὁ θεὸς παράδεισον ἐν Ἐδὲμ κατὰ ἀνατολάς, καὶ ἔθετο ἐκεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ ἐξανέτειλεν ὁ θεὸς ἔτι ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς πᾶν ξύλον ὡραῖον εἰς ὅρασιν καὶ καλὸν εἰς βρῶσιν.” τὸ οὖν ἔτι ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ κατὰ ἀνατολὰς σαφῶς διδάσκει ἡμᾶς ἡ θεία γραφὴ τὸν παράδεισον ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν οὐρανόν, ὑφ' ὃν καὶ ἀνατολαὶ καὶ γῆ εἰσιν. Ἐδὲμ δὲ ἑβραϊστὶ τὸ εἰρημένον ἑρμηνεύεται τρυφή. Ποταμὸν δὲ σεσήμακεν ἐκπορεύεσθαι ἐξ Ἐδὲμ ποτίζειν τὸν παράδεισον, κἀκεῖθεν διαχωρίζεσθαι εἰς τέσσαρας ἀρχάς· ὧν δύο οἱ καλούμενοι Φεισὼν καὶ Γεὼν ποτίζουσιν τὰ ἀνατολικὰ μέρη, μάλιστα ὁ Γεών, ὁ κυκλῶν πᾶσαν γῆν Aἰθιοπίας, ὅν φασιν ἐν τῇ Aἰγύπτῳ ἀποφαίνεσθαι τὸν καλούμενον Νεῖλον. οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι δύο ποταμοὶ φανερῶς γινώσκονται παρ' ἡμῖν, οἱ καλούμενοι Τίγρις καὶ Eὐφράτης· οὗτοι γὰρ γειτνιῶσιν ἕως τῶν ἡμετέρων κλιμάτων. Θεὶς δὲ ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καθὼς προειρήκαμεν, ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ εἰς τὸ ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ φυλάσσειν αὐτόν, ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν καρπῶν ἐσθίειν, δηλονότι καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς, μόνον δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς γνώσεως ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ μὴ γεύσασθαι. μετέθηκεν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῆς γῆς, ἐξ ἧς ἐγεγόνει, εἰς τὸν παράδεισον, διδοὺς αὐτῷ ἀφορμὴν προκοπῆς, ὅπως αὐξάνων καὶ τέλειος γενόμενος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ θεὸς ἀναδειχθείς, οὕτως καὶ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀναβῇ (μέσος γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐγεγόνει, οὔτε θνητὸς ὁλοσχερῶς οὔτε ἀθάνατος τὸ καθόλου, δεκτικὸς δὲ ἑκατέρων· οὕτως καὶ τὸ χωρίον ὁ παράδεισος, ὡς πρὸς καλλονήν, μέσος τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ γεγένηται), ἔχων ἀϊδιότητα. τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν ἐργάζεσθαι οὐκ ἄλλην τινὰ ἐργασίαν δηλοῖ ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ φυλάσσειν τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅπως μὴ παρακούσας ἀπολέσῃ ἑαυτόν, καθὼς καὶ ἀπώλεσεν διὰ ἁμαρτίας.