Matthew Henry Commentary Genesis 2:4-7

"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven. And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground; but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." — Genesis 2:4-7 (ASV)

Here is a name given to the Creator, “Jehovah.” When the word “LORD” is printed in capital letters in our English Bibles, in the original it is “Jehovah.” Jehovah is that name of God which denotes that He alone has His being of Himself, and that He gives being to all creatures and things. Further notice is taken of plants and herbs, because they were made and appointed to be food for man. The earth did not bring forth its fruits of itself: this was done by Almighty power.

Thus grace in the soul does not grow of itself in nature's soil, but is the work of God. Rain also is the gift of God; it did not come until the Lord God caused it. Though God works by means, yet when He pleases He can do His own work without them; and though we must not tempt God by neglecting means, we must trust God, both in the use and in the absence of means. Some way or other, God will water the plants of His own planting.

Man was made of the small dust, such as is on the surface of the earth. The soul was not made of the earth, as the body is: it is a pity then that it should cling to the earth and be concerned with earthly things. To God we must soon give an account of how we have employed these souls; and if it is found that we have lost them, even if it were to gain the world, we are undone forever!

Fools despise their own souls by caring for their bodies before their souls.