The scale of the tree plantation and the size of its trees

Numerous textual indicators in Gen. 2:4b–3:24 intimate the scale of the tree plantation created by Yhwh, though the specific size of this plantation and the dimensions of the many trees in the garden of Yhwh is not explicitly stated. This lack of information serves to diminish the presence of trees within the narrated world of the text somewhat. Textual descriptors relating to the scale of this plantation and the size of its trees are as follows.

(1) The first man is placed amongst the trees by Yhwh, who instructs that he may eat from any tree, with the exception of the tree of knowledge (Gen.

2:8–9, 16–17). Similarly, the first woman is created amongst the trees and is sustained by their food (Gen. 2:25; 3:2–3). These textual indicators suggest that the trees are both individually mature enough and collectively numerous enough to provide a perennial (more on seasonal availability below) and sustainable crop of edible produce from which the two humans can survive indefinitely. That is to say that this plantation covers a vast area, and is full of

4. Matter in Text

161 productive trees. To calculate the minimum size of this plantation would require making assumptions about the calorific and nutritional needs of the two humans alongside the precise types of tree species planted (which collectively would have to yield edible food all year round), and the productivity of the trees. In short, there are simply too many variables for this calculation to be done in a way that would produce a meaningful estimation of the minimum size of the garden.¹¹ Further textual indicators point to the enormity of the garden, and the size of its trees, however.

(2) The trees are watered by a river, which splits into four distributaries within the plantation (Gen. 2:10). The identification of two rivers emerging from the garden as the Tigris and Euphrates suggests a large scale of the garden; as Zevit acknowledges, these two rivers were well known in ancient Western Asia for their size and their connection to arable fecundity.¹² As I argued in

‘Garden and "Wilderness"’, however, these rivers are employed here symbolically rather than as an indicator of precise geographical location;

alongside the motif of a river splitting into four distributaries they serve to connote arable fecundity figuratively rather than literally.¹³

(3) Every ‘animal of the field and every bird of the air’ is brought to the first human within his dwelling place in the trees (Gen. 2:19 NRSV). The accommodation of all these animals within the garden at this narrative juncture again points to its vast scale. Related to this point, with the

11 Cf. the assumptions and calculations of Zevit; Zevit, Garden of Eden, p. 289.

12 Zevit, Garden of Eden, pp. 98-101.

13 Hamon, ‘Garden and "Wilderness"’, p. 72.

Trees and Text

162

exception of the snake in Genesis 3, the text does not state whether the animals remain in the garden or whether they move outside this space after they are deemed unsuitable counterparts. If the animals do remain in the garden, at least some of them will have herbivorous diets (perhaps like the humans, all of them will), and so they will also rely upon the trees for food;

this also testifies to the scale of the garden.

(4) The trees are mature enough and numerous enough to provide a hiding place for the two humans (Gen. 3:8). Indeed, the hiding place is so successful that Yhwh cannot find the humans, and their whereabouts is revealed by their speech (Gen. 3:9).

(5) Amidst the trees, running from the exterior of the plantation to somewhere within it is the ‘way to the tree of life’ (Gen. 3:24). It is unclear how wide this passage is, but the very suggestion that a passage runs through the plantation of trees and that this tree is hidden from those external to the garden intimates something of the density of trees and their height and spread.

4.4.1 Summary

The scale of the tree plantation created by Yhwh and the size of its trees are not explicitly detailed in Gen. 2:4b–3:24, but are intimated by the following textual indicators. (1) The trees act as an exclusive food source for the two human inhabitants of the garden, suggesting that this plantation of trees is

4. Matter in Text

163 both collectively mature and collectively numerous enough to provide a sustainable crop of perennially available food for the humans. (2) The scale of the garden is intimated by the presence of the river, which splits into four large distributaries. (3) The accommodation of all wild animals and all birds in the garden (Gen. 2:19) attests to its scale, especially if these animals remain in the garden and are sustained by its trees. (4) The trees are mature enough and numerous enough to provide a hiding place for the two humans.

(5) The guarding of the ‘way to the tree of life’ (Gen. 3:24) suggests that that this tree is hidden from those external to the garden, intimating the density of trees and their height and spread. The lack of explicit detail relating to the scale of the garden and the size of its trees serves to diminish the presence of trees within the narrated world of the text.