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Grand Human Prospects in a Paradise of PleasantnessThe Watchtower—1989 | August 1
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2 “Now Jehovah God was forming from the ground every wild beast of the field and every flying creature of the heavens, and he began bringing them to the man to see what he would call each one; and whatever the man would call it, each living soul, that was its name. So the man was calling the names of all the domestic animals and of the flying creatures of the heavens and of every wild beast of the field.”—Genesis 2:19, 20.
3. Why was there no fear on the part of Adam and the animal creation?
3 The man called the horse sus, the bull shohr, the sheep seh, the goat ʽez, a bird ʽohph, the dove yoh·nahʹ, the peacock tuk·kiʹ, the lion ʼar·yehʹ or ʼariʹ, the bear dov, the ape qohph, the dog keʹlev, the serpent na·chashʹ, and so on.a When he went over to the river that flowed out of the garden of Eden, he saw fish. To fish he gave the name da·gahʹ. The unarmed man felt no fear of these animals, domestic and wild, or of the birds, and they felt no fear of him, whom they instinctively recognized as their superior, of a higher kind of life. They were God’s creatures, gifted with life by Him, and the man had no desire or inclination to hurt them or take their life away from them.
4. What might we surmise regarding Adam’s naming of all the animals and birds, and what kind of experience must this have been?
4 Just how long the man was being shown the domestic and wild animals and the flying creatures of the heavens, the account does not tell us. It was all under divine guidance and arrangement. Adam likely took time to study each different animal, observing its distinctive habits and makeup; then he would select a name that would be especially fitting for it. This could mean the passing of a considerable amount of time. It was a most interesting experience for Adam thus to get acquainted with the creature life of this earth in its many kinds, and it called for great mental ability and powers of speech for him to distinguish each of these kinds of living creatures with a suitable name.
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Grand Human Prospects in a Paradise of PleasantnessThe Watchtower—1989 | August 1
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7 For that thrilling account of creation, Adam would be very grateful. It explained many things. From the way it was worded, he understood that there were three long periods of time that God called days according to His way of measuring time, before the fourth creative period in which God made the two great luminaries appear in the expanse of the heavens to mark man’s much shorter 24-hour day. This shorter human day on earth was the time from the going down of the greater luminary to its next descent. Adam also became aware that there were to be years of time for him, and he no doubt immediately began to count his years of life. The greater luminary in the expanse of the heavens would enable him to do this. But as for God’s longer days of creation, the first man realized that he was then living in the sixth day of God’s earthly creative work. No end had yet been mentioned to him of that sixth day for creating all those land animals and then for creating man separately. Now he would understand the order of the creating of vegetable life, marine life, bird life, and land animals. But by himself in the garden of Eden, Adam was not the full, complete expression of God’s loving purpose for man in his earthly Paradise.
Creating the First Woman
8, 9. (a) What did the perfect man observe regarding the animal creation, but what did he conclude with regard to himself? (b) Why was it fitting that the perfect man did not ask God for a mate? (c) How does the Bible account describe the creating of the first human wife?
8 The first man, with his perfect mind and powers of observation, saw that in the bird and animal realm, there were male and female and that between them they reproduced their kind. But with the man himself, it was not then so. If this observation inclined him to have the thought of enjoying a companion, he found no suitable mate among any of the animal realm, not even among the apes. Adam would conclude that there was no mate for him because if there had been one, would not God have brought this mate to him? Man had been created separate from all those animal kinds, and he was meant to be different! He was not inclined to decide matters for himself and become impudent and ask God his Creator for a mate. It was fitting that the perfect man let the entire matter rest with God, for shortly afterward he found that God had drawn His own conclusions about the situation. About this and what now took place, the account tells us:
9 “But for man there was found no helper as a complement of him. Hence Jehovah God had a deep sleep fall upon the man and, while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and then closed up the flesh over its place. And Jehovah God proceeded to build the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and to bring her to the man. Then the man said: ‘This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman, because from man this one was taken.’ That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh. And both of them continued to be naked, the man and his wife, and yet they did not become ashamed.”—Genesis 2:20-25.
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