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Genesis 2:4b-7 (NLT)
Adam and Eve in Eden
[4aThis is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.] 4b When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. The Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6 Instead, springs [2] came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

[2]
Or, mist.

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Unspecified in the Bible narrative.

LIGHTING NOTES:
The sun (unseen, above left) illuminates this scene, casting shadows below & to the right of objects.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
The man: Adam.

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
I noticed that in verse 5 the Bible states that there were no wild plants or grains growing on the earth, which is why I have illustrated a sandy, rocky desert scene, devoid of any plant growth.

I like earth science & geology in particular, so saw an opportunity to illustrate some large crystal masses in the picture… in addition, one of the crystals maintains Adam’s modesty!

The divine breath of life can be seen coming down from heaven and entering the man, thus instantly imbuing him with life. I didn’t draw the springs (or mist) mentioned in verse 6. Adam Clarke’s Commentary provides some interesting observations on the subject (see below commentary).

Here is the scene without the figure in the foreground.

Background of Genesis 02 – Adam and Eve – Scene 01 – God makes man

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Background of Genesis 02 – Adam and Eve – Scene 01 – God makes man

“There went up a mist—This passage appears to have greatly embarrassed many commentators. The plain meaning seems to be this, that the aqueous vapours, ascending from the earth, and becoming condensed in the colder regions of the atmosphere, fell back upon the earth in the form of dews, and by this means an equal portion of moisture was distributed to the roots of plants, etc. As Moses had said, Genesis 2:5, that the Lord had not caused it to rain upon the earth, he probably designed to teach us, in Genesis 2:6, how rain is produced, viz., by the condensation of the aqueous vapours, which are generally through the heat of the sun and other causes raised to a considerable height in the atmosphere, where, meeting with cold air, the watery particles which were before so small and light that they could float in the air, becoming condensed, i.e., many drops being driven into one, become too heavy to be any longer suspended, and then, through their own gravity, fall down in the form which we term rain.”
[Source: Adam Clarke’s Commentary]