ʿēden

Semantic range

1. 1a place name
2. 2pleasure, delight (the common noun ʿēden)
3. 3possibly related to an Akkadian word for a plain or steppe

"A garden eastward in Eden" (Genesis 2:8) — the garden is in Eden, not identical with it. The name resonates with a Hebrew noun meaning delight, which the Septuagint felt when it rendered the phrase with paradeisos, a Persian loanword for a walled royal park, giving English "paradise."

Eden functions in scripture as a temple in garden form: it is entered from the east, guarded by cherubim, watered by a river, and it holds the tree of life at its centre. Ezekiel 28:13–14 calls it "the holy mountain of God." Latter-day Saints who have been to the temple will recognise the pattern, and the Doctrine and Covenants locates Adam-ondi-Ahman, where Adam blessed his posterity, in Daviess County, Missouri (D&C 107:53–57; 116).

See also

• נָחָשׁnāḥāš
• אָדָםʾādām
• קָדוֹשׁqādôš