Bible Strands
Genesis 2:13
The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the geography of Eden to the reader after detailing the garden's location and the first man's placement. This verse functions as a geographical marker within the primeval history narrative.
The words — The Hebrew term סוֹבֵב (so.Vev) literally means "the one which goes around," describing the river's winding course. The proper name גִּיחוֹן (gi.Chon) identifies the second river without further etymological explanation in the text.
The thread — The land of Cush appears later in Genesis 10:6 as a son of Ham and in Isaiah 11:11 as a distant region from which God will recover His people. These references treat Cush as a known geographical and ethnic boundary.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize the precise naming and boundaries of Eden's rivers as part of the created order. It establishes a geographical framework that grounds the subsequent narrative in a specific, named landscape.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
Cross-references
- Genesis 10:6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
- Isaiah 11:11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.