The name of the one is Pison that is it which surrounds the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is.
The Pishon — spelled Pison in some translations — is the first of the four streams that flowed out of Eden's river. Two questions follow: is this real geography, and why does the story of paradise stop to point out gold?
One writer sets the geography question aside for the thing that does matter:
This is only a side point. Where the rivers ran is of no great importance in itself. What matters is that we should hold the entire account of Paradise to be historical in the strictest and fullest sense.
Genesis names the Tigris and the Euphrates and moves on. Pishon and Gihon each get a description of the land they encircle. That difference is itself a clue:
It is remarkable that the two less well-known rivers get a fuller description than the rivers everyone knows. This shows that the Spirit of God takes an interest and gives us a thread to help us. We are therefore justified in supposing that Scripture describes them just because they might have been harder to recognise.
Some are content to leave the question open:
Land encircled by the river Pison, where there was fine gold and precious stones. No one has identified it.
Others point to a region long known for gold:
Reland has given strong reasons for concluding that the Pison is the Phasis, though Colonel Chesney argues for the Halys. Reland even held that Colchis, the region the Phasis runs through, is simply the Greek form of Havilah. Ancient sources link gold and precious stones with that land more clearly than with the land the Halys skirts.
One writer notes which metal Genesis names first, and where in the story it appears:
Scripture speaks of copper very early (Genesis 4:22), where it calls Tubal-cain a teacher of those who worked in brass. Tellingly, Genesis names gold first, and before the fall: "the gold of that land is good." God's glory comes first. It may also mean something that copper appears in connection with the family of Cain.
Later Scripture shows what gold stands for:
Gold is a figure of the glory of God, of His attributes of righteousness, holiness, wisdom, power, goodness and truth — everything suggested by the purity, brightness and value of the metal. This is not guesswork. Under God's direction, gold was used wherever these great facts were to be shown. Solomon's temple, as God's earthly dwelling, was overlaid with gold, even its floor (1 Kings 6:21-22, 30). And in the book of Revelation the heavenly city is described as "having the glory of God"; "and the city was pure gold, like clear glass."
Some writers read the names themselves as a picture. The stream does not just pass Havilah; it wraps right around it.
Pison, "increase," is first; it encircles the land of Havilah, "anguish" or "travail," where the gold is that is good. Gold is the symbol of God's glory. Christ has won increase for eternity by encircling the land of anguish — the birth-pains of the new creation, of which He is the Beginning. There, all the same, the glory of God has been found in all its wealth. And if faith can say now, "the gold of that land is good," how much more in the eternal day!
Another writer reads the same river as a picture of God's providence:
Leaving Eden, the river parted into four heads, marking the beginning of God's ways worldwide. The first head became the river Pison, which encircled the land of Havilah, a land that spoke of the richness, fragrance and glory of God's providence in its gold, bdellium and onyx stones.
The last book of the Bible shows another river, in another paradise:
In the earthly paradise there was a river, and with it the riches of the earth, the gold and precious stones (Genesis 2:10-12). In the Paradise of God the seer is shown "the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1). God and the Lamb are the source of divine life and heavenly freshness. Everything flows from the throne that orders all for His glory and the blessing of His own.
- Source. One unnamed river left Eden and split into four named heads — the start of God's ways reaching out over the whole earth.
- Stream. Pishon gets a fuller description than the famous Tigris and Euphrates — a thread left for readers who would need help finding it.
- Land. Where Havilah stood is disputed; some say it has never been identified, others place it at Colchis, long famous for gold.
- Gold. Gold is named before copper, and before the fall — God's glory comes first in the record.
- Glory. The earthly paradise had a river with gold and precious stones; the Paradise of God has the river of the water of life, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
Genesis 2 stops in the middle of the garden story to name a land, its gold, and two other treasures. Why does Scripture record where the good gold lies, and what do writers make of a verse that looks like plain geography?
The names in this verse were already obscure to later readers. One writer admits the difficulty, using the Hebrew forms of the words for bdellium and onyx:
The account has the difficulties that come from countries obscure to later generations, both in their own names and in the names of their products. People have debated Havilah and Cush nearly as much as Pison and Gihon, and they have debated just as much what B'dolach and Shoham exactly mean.
Commentators differ over where Havilah was. Some argue confidently for particular rivers and regions; others hold back. One writer states the caution plainly:
No opinion has been clearly proved, because the text itself presents serious difficulties as to its meaning.
This is the Bible's first mention of gold, and one writer notes where it falls in the story:
Suggestively, gold is mentioned first and before the fall: "The gold of that land is good" (Gen. 2:11-12). God's glory is first.
The same writer explains what gold stands for, and answers the objection that gold is the stuff of idols:
Any of God's creatures becomes a source of evil only when man puts it to evil uses. Gold is the most precious thing man has, so it makes a fitting emblem of the rights that belong to God alone — the rights man wrongly hands to his idol. Gold, then, is a figure of the glory of God, of His righteousness, holiness, wisdom, power, goodness and truth. It stands for everything the purity, brightness and value of the metal suggest... Solomon's temple was God's home on earth, and gold covered it, even its floor (1 Kings 6:21-22, 30). And in the book of Revelation the heavenly city has "the glory of God", and "the city was pure gold, like clear glass."
Bdellium is a rare word, and writers weigh two meanings for it:
People have taken the word bedolach to mean both a clear white oily gum and a white pearl. The description of the manna refers to its colour in Numbers 11:7, and in Genesis 2:12 it stands with gold and onyx stones as a mark of the land of Havilah. The white pearl seems the more likely picture, since Exodus 16:14 also compares the manna to frost.
One writer traces both stones to Christ, holding together His greatness and His lowliness:
His glory as the Firstborn in Creation may be shown in the first precious stone named in the Bible, the onyx (Gen. 2:12). It is also the first in the group in Job 28:16-19, and there it is called the "precious onyx" — the only single stone given that title, except where Christ is spoken of as the Stone, chosen and precious. The onyx stones were on the shoulders of the High Priest... Genesis 2:12 names the bdellium with it alone, and bdellium is named only once more in Scripture, in Numbers 11:7, where it describes the manna. This confirms what we have said. If we have the glory of Christ as the Firstborn of all Creation in the onyx, we are reminded that when He came into His Creation He came in lowly grace as the Manna, whose appearance was like bdellium.
One writer reads the Hebrew names themselves as a small parable — riches found in a place of pain:
Pison, which means "increase," comes first. It winds round the land of Havilah, which means "anguish" or "travail," and the gold there is good... The Hebrew word for bdellium means "in trouble," and the word for onyx-stone means "their recompense." Here we may get a hint of how faith is joined to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that follow. Those who find their increase through the anguish of Christ are given not only to believe but to suffer for Him. Suffering leads to being glorified with Him, so there is both the trouble and the recompense.
The Bible's last picture of heaven brings back gold and jewels:
Scripture describes heaven as a city of gold and jewels, just as here we have the gold of the land of Havilah, which is "good", and bdellium and the onyx stone, precious jewels. They foreshadow that final display, when God at last will be free to let all the brightness of His glory shine out to His ransomed creatures.
- Good place. The verse names a real land with real treasure. Where Havilah lay is debated, and writers admit the text is hard to pin down.
- Good gold. Gold enters the Bible here, before the fall, and God calls it good — it is only misuse that ever made it a snare.
- Gold as glory. Because of its purity, brightness and worth, gold stands for the glory of God: the temple floor, and the city of pure gold.
- Gold at cost. The names read as suffering and reward — increase found by way of anguish, trouble paired with recompense.
- Gold at the end. What lay scattered in Havilah's soil fills the city of gold and jewels at the end, when God's glory shines out to His ransomed creatures.