PARADISO TERRESTRE. – A most fertile garden, cradle of the human race, prepared by the Creator so that Adam and Eve might lead there, in familiarity with him, a life free from fear and suffering (Gen. 2:5–3:24).
The Hebrew term pardēs appears only in post-exilic literature (Neh. 2:8; Eccle. 2:5; Cant. 4:13); it is of Persian origin: pairi daeza, “enclosure, hedge,” and hence “enclosed garden,” or “reserve.” The Septuagint (παράδεισος), followed by the Latin versions and by s. Girolamo, used it to translate the Hebr. gan (Gen. 2:8–10.15 f.; 3:1–3.8.10.23 f.), from the Sumerian gan, “orchard,” an irrigated terrain rich in plants and crops.
Genesis describes the p. t. east of Palestine, in a region suitable for cultivation (= 'ēdhēn, Sumerian edinu, “countryside”), rich in fruitful trees, tree of life (v.) and the other of evil (v.). Abundant waters nourish its extraordinary vegetation.
A river coming from the ēdhēn flows through it and, leaving the p. t., divides into 4 branches or rivers (Gen. 2:10–14): the Phison (Pīlān), which skirts the region of Hevilath (Hāwīlāh), rich in gold; the Gehon (Gīhān), which traverses the land of Chus (Kāt); the Tigris (Hebr. Hiddegēl, Akkadian I-di-ik-lat); and the Euphrates (Hebr. Pērāth, Akkadian Pu-rat-tu). Because of sin (Gen. 3:1–13; V. PECCATO ORIGINALE), man is driven out of the p. t., whose entrance is guarded by the Cherubim, so that guilty humanity may no longer approach it (ibid. 3:14–24).
In the inspired narrative, the essential historical fact must be distinguished from the descriptive elements (or “literary dress”), corresponding to the conceptions of the much later period in which it was written. The historicity of the p. t., of the full happiness of the first human couple, with the preternatural gifts of immortality and immunity from concupiscence, with work as occupation and delight, in filial intimacy with God, stands out from the entire immediate context: the creation of the universe, of man, the first transgression, and punishment.
The whole teaching of the Old and New Testaments echoes this (Apoc. 2:7; Prov. 3:18; 11:30; etc.; Sap. 2:23 f.; Io. 8:44; Rom. 5:12.14; I Cor. 15:21 f., etc.). This is also indicated by the very tenor of the text (B. Brodmann [V. BIBLICA.], pp. 213–36) and by the universal belief, widespread among all the peoples of the earth, in a primitive happiness that was lost (J. Feldmann [V. BIBLICA.], pp. 55–484; P. Heinisch, Problemi ... [V. BIBLICA.], pp. 105–12). The attempted symbolic explanations (Filone, L. A., I, 45–97; II, 64; Op., 154–57; Origene; K. Barth), or, worse, mythical ones (E. Kant, F. Schiller, E. Böhlen), arbitrary and fanciful, are unproven and unprovable (P. Heinisch, Problemi [V. BIBLICA.], pp. 67–73).
Modern exegetes recognize in the geographical picture a descriptive element and rightly hold that it is impossible—and in any event of entirely secondary importance—to determine the actual location of the p. t. (A. Bea, P. Heinisch, J. Coppens, F. Ceuppens).
Of Chus (Kāt), the Bible (Gen. 10:7 f. 29) knows two, one African and the other Asian; the diversity of explanations (ca. 80) is therefore unsurprising. From the text it may be inferred that the author had in mind the region of Lakes Wan and Urmia, north of Mesopotamia (cf. Gen. 8:4), where the Tigris and Euphrates have their sources; the Phison would be the Phasis (the present-day Rion) or the Čoroch (Hevilath = Colchis); GIHON (v.) would be the Araxes, and Chus the Akkadian Kaš, northeast of Babel (so E. Kalt, A. Šanda, H. Gressmann, etc.). The p. t. has also been sought in central and southern Mesopotamia: the last two rivers would be merely canals (Fr. Delitzsch, J. Theis, A. Deimel). Entirely improbable hypotheses were proposed, culminating in those that posit a syncretism of Akkadian and Egyptian elements; finally, A. Ungnad identifies the p. t. with the Sumerian gū-ediu-na, not on earth but in the constellation Pegasus (A. Bea [V. BIBLICA.], p. 152; P. Heinisch, Problemi, p. 73 ff.).
The memory of the p. t.’s extraordinary vegetation recurs in the Bible as a term of hyperbolic comparison: Gen. 13:10; Is. 51:3; Ez. 28:13; 31:8 ff.; 36:35; Ioel 2:3; Eccli. 40:17.