Eden and the Water of Life
Eden refers to a “plain, steppe, or open country”, but sounds like e-dan₂,₃,₄,₆ (“pure, clear water”) and e-din (“water of life”) in Sumerian:
eden = “plain, steppe, open country”
e-dan₂,₃,₄,₆ = “pure, clear water”
e = water
dan₂,₃,₄,₆ = to be pure, clear
e-din = “water of life”
e = water
din = tin = (n.) life; (v.) to cure; to be healthy; to live [din, tin, pages 36 and 39]
Notice that the image of Eden is filled with abundant fresh water from the four rivers and the subterranean spring water of the Dammam aquifer. The theological reason these ancient Mesopotamian peoples would have associated the “water of life” with God’s wisdom is that without water, life cannot exist. In other words, a mortal without water is “dust”. That may also explain why the Hebrew word for life, chay (ḥay, pronounced “khah’-ee”) sounds similar to “abundant water” in Sumerian (ḥa₂-e):
ḥa₂-e = “abundant water”
This association of God’s wisdom with the “water of life” does not remain confined to Genesis. The same imagery flows through the rest of Scripture and reaches its fulfillment in the final pages of Revelation, where the river of the water of life continues to flow from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1).
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