Was Adam A Gardener?

A querist asks, “In Genesis 2:15 KJV, the text reads: ‘And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.’ What does the phrase dress it mean? Was Adam a gardener?”

In Genesis 2:15, the word for “dress” in the Hebrew is ‘abad (Strong's 5647). The word means “to labour, work, do work; to work for another, serve another by labour; to serve as subjects; to serve [God].”

The answer then is “yes” — Adam was indeed the first gardener (employee) working for God, the first employer.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets