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What is The Location of The Garden of Eden
Where is the Garden of Eden located in the Bible? Is the garden of Eden on earth? We know that Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden in Genesis, so is it really possible to ascertain the location of the Garden once more? Was the Garden of Eden in Israel? Where would the Garden of Eden be located today?
Where some believe it is from across the Web:
- The Garden of Eden is in the Middle East.
- Others falsely believe it to be in South Africa around 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.
- It is said to be somewhere in the middle eastern area known today as the Tigris-Euphrates.
- At the head waters of four Rivers.
- Others believe it to be in Africa, but this is not accurate.
- The Location of the Garden is where the four named rivers in Genesis 2, the Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon, and Gihon, come close together.
More On The Garden of Eden's Location
If we look at majority scholarship on this topic, Mesopotamia seems like the consensus.
| Scholar / Years / Institution | Work | View on Location of Eden |
|---|---|---|
| St. Augustine (354–430), Hippo Regius | City of God | Interprets Eden allegorically; location is not literal. Believes it represents a spiritual state of innocence rather than a physical site. |
| Origen (c.184–253), Alexandria | Homilies on Genesis | Reads Eden as symbolic, not a physical geography. The rivers may be metaphorical for divine gifts. |
| John Lightfoot (1602–1675), Cambridge University | Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae | Places Eden near the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates, likely in Armenia or Mesopotamia. Uses biblical and Talmudic sources for geographic speculation. |
| Matthew Poole (1624–1679), England | Annotations on the Holy Bible | Suggests Eden was in Mesopotamia, possibly near Armenia; Pishon and Gihon identified with unknown rivers. |
| John Gill (1697–1771), England | Exposition of the Old and New Testament | Locates Eden in northern Mesopotamia, near the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates. Notes that Cush and Havilah are uncertain regions. |
| Richard Simon (1638–1712), Paris | Histoire critique du Vieux Testament | Treats Eden as historical, possibly in Mesopotamia, but emphasizes lack of precise evidence; questions literal geography. |
| Keil & Delitzsch (C.F. Keil 1807–1888; F. Delitzsch 1813–1890), Germany | Commentary on the Old Testament | Suggest Eden lay in Mesopotamia, with rivers representing literal or idealized waterways. Considered both literal and symbolic possibilities. |
| E.W. Hengstenberg (1802–1869), Germany | Christology of the Old Testament | Locates Eden in Mesopotamia, emphasizing its historical plausibility; interprets rivers literally but recognizes symbolic meaning. |
| Josephus (37–100, Rome / Jewish historian) | Antiquities of the Jews | Places Eden near Armenia and Mesopotamia; mentions Tigris and Euphrates, connecting biblical text to known geography. |
| Adam Clarke (1762–1832), Methodist Church, England | Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible | Suggests Armenia or northern Mesopotamia; Pishon and Gihon are uncertain; emphasizes symbolic meaning of the garden as well. |
| Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813–1875), England | Hebrew Text Commentary | Discusses Eden in Mesopotamia, noting textual uncertainties; the exact location cannot be identified with certainty. |
| Benjamin Kennicott (1718–1783), Oxford University | Dissertations on the Hebrew Bible | Notes geographic possibilities in Mesopotamia, but stresses textual gaps prevent precise location. |
| Philo of Alexandria (c.20 BCE–50 CE), Alexandria | On the Creation | Interprets Eden allegorically; location is spiritual rather than physical. |
| John Calvin (1509–1564), University of Geneva | Commentary on Genesis | Suggests Eden could have been in Mesopotamia, but stresses that its significance is theological, not geographic. |
| Martin Luther (1483–1546), University of Wittenberg | Lectures on Genesis | Considers Eden likely near the Tigris and Euphrates, but emphasizes moral and spiritual lessons over geography. |
But there is another location and that's the capital city of Jerusalem in Israel.
| Scholar / Years / Institution | Work | Position / View on Eden in Jerusalem |
|---|---|---|
| Origen (c.184–253), Catechetical School of Alexandria | Homilies on Genesis | Reads Eden allegorically; sometimes associates the “garden of God” with the spiritual center of the world, which he connects to Jerusalem in a symbolic sense. Physical location not insisted upon. |
| Augustine (354–430), Hippo Regius | City of God | While mainly allegorical, Augustine suggests that Eden could be thought of as the spiritual origin of humanity, sometimes interpreted as connected to the holy city Jerusalem in a typological sense. |
| Jerome (c.347–420), Bethlehem Monastery | Commentary on Genesis | Notes traditions among some Jewish sources that link Eden’s rivers to regions near the Holy Land, implying symbolic proximity to Jerusalem; emphasizes spiritual meaning over literal geography. |
| John Lightfoot (1602–1675), Cambridge University | Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae | Primarily places Eden in northern Mesopotamia, but records Jewish traditions suggesting the garden’s rivers flowed near the land of Canaan, which could include the area of Jerusalem. |
| Matthew Poole (1624–1679), England | Annotations on the Holy Bible | Mentions some commentators who speculate Eden might be near Jerusalem, largely reflecting Jewish mystical or allegorical readings; stresses it is uncertain. |
| John Calvin (1509–1564), University of Geneva | Commentary on Genesis | Notes that while Mesopotamia is more likely geographically, some allegorical interpretations connect Eden spiritually to Jerusalem, the future site of God’s temple and covenant presence. |
| Martin Luther (1483–1546), University of Wittenberg | Lectures on Genesis | Refers to traditional Jewish speculation that Eden’s rivers may be in the Holy Land; treats it as symbolic rather than literal geography. |
Where does the Bible say the Garden of Eden is?
- The similarities between Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden and God's preoccupation with Jerusalem and returning His people there all point to Jerusalem as the location of the Garden of Eden.
- The Lord Jesus was sacrificed just outside the city just as the Lord had to slay an animal to use its skin to cover Adam and Eve, as a result of their sin, in the garden. Not only that, but The Lord Jesus' return to crush the serpent's head is encapsulated by him putting his foot on the Mount of Olives, the site of the original sin according to many biblical scholars and splitting it (crushing the serpents head or rule) through a tremendous earthquake according to Zechariah 14:4 and Revelation 16:20.
- It's the site where it all began and it's the site where it will all end. It all follows the biblical pattern.
Is Jerusalem the Garden of Eden?
Scriptures About the garden of Eden
Where is the Biblical Garden of Eden located?
- "The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing." (Isaiah 51:3)
- "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God.'" (Ezekiel 28:12-13)
- "'I made it beautiful with abundant branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God.'" (Ezekiel 31:9)
- "They will say, 'This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.' " (Ezekiel 36:35)
- "Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them." (Joel 2:3)
- "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22:1-3)
The conclusive location of the garden of Eden is still to be determined, but all signs point to the Middle East region, around Mesopotamia, and possibly the city of Jerusalem.
