Genesis 2:8,9 - The tree of life was in the midst of the garden

2:8

“The Lord God planted a garden”. And He placed the man in the garden.  One of the problems in reading Genesis 1-3 is deciding what is “picture language”, and what is specific, with the biggest debating point being whether Adam and Eve were real people, or are merely used as representative figures. The “in Eden, in the east” does indicate a specific place. 

2:9

The Lord made the trees spring out of the ground (presumably this applies to vegetables and other plants as well). These were “pleasing to the eye” and “good for food”. The Lord was making a place suitable for man to live in. The whole picture of creation is of a designed process (this does not mean that what to us seems like randomness could not have been used as part of the process). We should also note that something “pleasing to the eye” is bad. Later on we will read about the fall and sometimes a lot is made of the fruit being “pleasing to the eye”. Something being pleasing to the eye is not the problem, as here it is used in a positive sense. “The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. There are some who see this as a single tree, but that is a rather silly suggestion, and there being two trees is the natural reading, and the more sensible one. A more pertinent question is whether these are literal trees or figurative. Personally I think the metaphorical interpretation makes the most sense and will fit better (in my opinion) with what we will encounter in chapter 3. Even if they are literal trees it is what they represent that counts. The problem with the metaphorical line is that the immediate context favours a literal interpretation.