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Genesis 2:15

וַ יִּקַּח יְהוָה אֶלֹהִים אֶת הָ אָדָם וַ יַּנִּחֵהוּ בְ גַן עֵדֶן לְ עָבְדָהּ וּ לְ שָׁמְרָהּ

And Yahweh elohim is taking84 אֶת-the Red-one and is causing him to rest in the enclosure of Eden, to serve her, and to guard her.85


85

Strong’s #8104, shamar. To guard, watch, preserve. The idea of keep, as this word often gets translated, has come to invoke the idea of rote obedience, i.e. “keep my commandments” Ex. 16:28, “keep my covenant” Ex. 19:5. When this was never the intended idea. Rather we were supposed to pay attention to, watch, guard, and preserve his commandments and covenant which calls the mind to be awake and alert to serving the Law according to the Spirit and not according to the letter (Rom. 7:6).