Abstract
Oriental and Hebrew material confirms that Gen. 2.5 is to be read as a narrative 'program' for the basic plot of the subsequent story (Gen. 2-3). Careful reading indicates that the narrative nucleus in Gen. 2-3 is the account of how (wild and culti vated) vegetation appeared in the land, by provision of irrigation and a tilling man. Analysing the story according to a Greimasian actant scheme, it appears that YHWH himself only 'accidentally' and even 'unwillingly' supported that plot. His concern was with the garden, not with the land. The aims of the basic plot were not fulfilled until YHWH was forced to expel the human couple and issue curses upon the ground.
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