This is the history of the heavens and the earth when
they were created, in the day that the Lord God made
the earth and the heavens,
before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any
herb of the field had grown, For the Lord God had not caused
it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
but a mist went up from the earth and watered the ground.
Genesis 2:4-6
In Geneses 2:5 continues the humanity centered narrative that was begun in our last post by telling us that the plants that needed tending and care from humanity had not yet appeared because God had not yet created a man that could care for these plants of the field. The plants of the field mentioned here in chapter 2 are distinct from the plants that the earth brought forth mentioned in chapter 1. Yes, chapter 1 tells us that the general plants that grew in the earth were created before the creation of the man but the plants of the field that man was to cultivate in verse 5 of chapter 2 had not yet appeared on the earth.
The underlying original language makes a distinction between the wild plants that the earth brought forth that grew for an indeterminate amount of time before the man was created and the plants of the “field” that were to be cultivated by the man after he was created. This subtle distinction of the original phraseology is crucial to understanding the narrative of the text. The plants that the earth brought forth could have existed thousands or even millions of years before humanity was created.
A mist went up from the ground to water the plants that the earth brought forth because the canopy of water above the firmament had not yet began to release its water as rain that might necessitate human irrigation. The guiding and controlling of the powerful flows and swells of water that would be created by rain would be left to humanity as part of its subduing of the earth. There was no rain yet nor had the plants of the field appeared yet because humanity was not yet on the scene. All of creation has been prepared and was waiting for humanity to be introduced as the summation and steward of creation.
What was the nature of man that He could inherit such a responsibility and position?