(BA) Genesis 3:24

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1 August 2022 Navigate 'up to the Genesis index: index-genesis.

And he expelled the human, and he placed eastward of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of the turning sword, to guard the path to the tree of life.

Why are the celestial guards placed at the east of the garden? I am not sure, except to say that the direction east, or more specifically Mesopotamia, features prominently in Genesis 1-11 as the original abode of humans, both of the garden and of the post-flood population, and the original home of Abraham.

In the Masoretic Text, it is the Cherubim who are east of the garden. But in the Septuagint, it is Adam who is east of the garden. Here's the Septuagint's 3:24, mostly copied from Brenton, but with just a couple tweaks of my own.

And he cast out Adam and caused him to dwell opposite the garden of Delight, and stationed the Cherubim and the fiery sword that turns about to keep the way of the tree of life.

The idea that guards could be posted along only one side of the garden suggests that the garden, as elsewhere in the Bible, is a walled area.

It has been suggested that the flame of the turning sword simply refers to a gleaming unsheathed sword, as light shines off a sword when it is turned. Another suggestion, as found in the entry "Flame" in the Dictionary of Deities and Demons, is that "Flame" is a "lesser deity subservient to Yahweh".

Finally, the reader should put out of her mind any notion of the "cherubs" depicted as little naked winged babies. Cherubim are depicted in Exodus as winged beings depicted in statue form around the ark of the covenant. Psalm 18:10 depicts Yahweh as riding a cherub. They make many appearances in Ezekiel, including the elaborate scene in chapter 10.