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Genesis

About this book

The Seventh Day

Chapter 2

1 The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them.⁠ 2 By the seventh day God finished the work⁠ that he had been doing,⁠ and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.⁠ 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.⁠

The Garden and the First Humans

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.⁠ 5 Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.⁠ 7 The Lord God formed the man⁠ from the soil of the ground⁠ and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,⁠ and the man became a living being.⁠ 8 The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden;⁠ and there he placed the man he had formed.⁠ 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food.⁠ (Now the tree of life⁠ and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil⁠ were in the middle of the orchard.)⁠ 10 Now a river flows from Eden⁠ to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams. 11 The name of the first is Pishon;⁠ it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is Gihon;⁠ it runs through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.⁠ 16 Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”⁠ 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.⁠ I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”⁠ 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air.⁠ He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field,⁠ but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found.⁠ 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man’s side and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man,⁠ and he brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;⁠ this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”⁠ 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife,⁠ and they become one family.⁠ 25 The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 5:5 and Isaiah 65:20–22 and Revelation 20:4–6 and Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 81.3–4

Hebrew Bible · New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

In Isaiah, God promises long lives in a renewed Jerusalem. In Dialogue with Trypho, Justin connects this promise with a thousand-year day and the lifespan of Adam to explain the thousand-year reign described in Revelation.

Passages

Genesis 2:17

Hebrew Bible
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. 16 Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Genesis 5:5

Hebrew Bible
3 When Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth. 4 The length of time Adam lived after he became the father of Seth was 800 years; during this time he had other sons and daughters. 5 The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Isaiah 65:20–22

Hebrew Bible
17 For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore. 18 But be happy and rejoice forever moreover what I am about to create! For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy, and her people to be a source of happiness. 19 Jerusalem will bring me joy, and my people will bring me happiness. The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow will never be heard in her again. 20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days or an old man die before his time. Indeed, no one will die before the age of one hundred; anyone who fails to reach the age of one hundred will be considered cursed. 21 They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, for my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. 23 They will not work in vain or give birth to children that will experience disaster. For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants. 24 Before they even call out, I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, and a snake’s food will be dirt. They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain,” says the Lord.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Revelation 20:4–6

New Testament
4 Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 81.3–4

Early Christian
1 “For Isaiah spoke this way about this period of a thousand years: ‘For there shall be the new heaven and the new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind; but they shall find joy and gladness in it, in the things I create. For look, I am making Jerusalem a rejoicing and My people a joy; and I will rejoice over Jerusalem and be glad over My people. And the sound of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, or the sound of crying. And there shall no longer be anyone there who dies young, or an old man who does not live out his days. For the young man shall be a hundred years old; but the sinner who dies at a hundred years old shall be accursed. 2 And they shall build houses and live in them themselves; and they shall plant vineyards and eat their produce themselves, and drink the wine. They shall not build for others to live in; they shall not plant for others to eat. For according to the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound. My chosen ones shall not toil in vain or bear children to be cursed; for they shall be a seed righteous and blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will say, What is it? Then the wolves and the lambs shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent [shall eat] earth as bread. They shall not hurt or harm each other on the holy mountain, says the Lord.’ 3 Now we have understood that the phrase among these words, ‘According to the days of the tree [of life] shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound,’ points in a hidden way to a thousand years. For as Adam was told that on the day he ate from the tree he would die, we know that he did not live a full thousand years. We have also understood that the saying, ‘The day of the Lord is as a thousand years,’ bears on this. 4 And further, there was a man among us named John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied in a revelation given to him that those who believed in our Christ would spend a thousand years in Jerusalem, and that after that the general, and in short the eternal, resurrection and judgment of all people together would take place. As our Lord also said, ‘They will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be equal to the angels, being children of the God of the resurrection.’
155–160 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho

References

“... This impression is strengthened when one studies his argument more closely. In the long quotation of the Isaiah text in Dial. 81:1-2, Justin follows his habit of quoting directly from a rather standard Septuagint text. In this text, Isa 65:22 reads: "For as the days of the tree of life, so shall be the days of my people." When he singles out this phrase for special comment in Dial. 81:3, however, he quotes it in a different reading, corresponding exactly to the Hebrew text: "For as the days of the tree, so shall be the days of my people." In Justin's Greek text, as in the Hebrew, it says simply "tree," not "tree of life". This is more significant than it seems, because it is essential to Justin's argument that the tree in question is the tree of knowledge, not the tree of life. This is how Justin exploits this point: Now, by the words, "For as the days of the tree, so shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall be multiplied," [Isa 65:22] we understand that a period of one thousand years is indicated in symbolic language. When it is said of Adam that "in the day that he eats of the tree [of knowledge], in that he shall die," [Gen 2:17], we knew he was not a thousand years old. We also believe that the words, "The day of the Lord is as a thousand years," [Ps 90:4] also led to the same conclusion. (Dial Sie) This argument is entirely Jewish, set forward for the first time in Jubilees 4:30, frequent in rabbinic literature. 9 1 Adam reached the age of 930, which means he actually died on the very "day" he ate of the tree, since this day was one of the Lord's days lasting one thousand years. It is only after Justin has argued for the existence of a millennium along these lines, apparently in close touch with a Jewish Christian tradition attested in Papias, that he also introduces the book of Revelation as supplementing evidence: "Moreover, a man among us named John, one of Christ's apostles, received a revelation and foretold that followers of Christ would dwell in Jerusalem "for a thousand years" [Rev 20:4,6], and that afterwards the universal and, in short, ev­ erlasting resurrection and judgment would take place" [Rev 20:11-15] (Dial 81.4). 9 2 Justin simply leaps over Rev 20:7-10, the Gog Magog episode, because for him the transition from millennium to eternal life is only one of gradation within continuity. He may indicate one difference between the two stages, however. After the general resurrection human beings shall no longer marry [Luke 20:35-36], Dial 81.4. This probably means they did so in the millennium, as the biblical prophecies indeed indicate they would. ...”
Oskar Skarsaune, “Jewish Christian Sources Used by Justin Martyr and Some Other Greek and Latin Fathers,” in Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries, ed. Oskar Skarsaune and Reidar Hvalvik (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007), 409–410.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 5:5 and Isaiah 65:20–22 and Revelation 20:4–6 and Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 81.3–4

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