A common misinterpretation of Genesis 2:15 is viewing the command to 'dress it and keep it' solely as burdensome manual labor or a prelude to the curse of toil after the fall in Genesis 3, ignoring its pre-fall context as a joyful, dignified calling; others twist it to justify environmental exploitation by equating stewardship with ownership and domination rather than protective care, or reduce it to mere gardening without recognizing its broader implications for human responsibility over all creation.
Genesis 2:15
King James Version (1769)
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Genesis 2:15 reveals the core truth that God intentionally placed humanity in the Garden of Eden with a purposeful vocation: to cultivate and guard it, establishing work as a divine gift and humans as responsible stewards of creation before the fall, emphasizing harmonious partnership with the earth under God's authority to tend, protect, and develop its potential.