> Assuming that that passage is talking about human agriculture is a very generous interpretation - it is specifically saying that plants had no reason to exist

> Assuming that that passage is talking about human agriculture is a very generous interpretation - it is specifically saying that plants had no reason to exist prior to human beings, Since earlier in Genesis it is made clear that plants were created before animals, I think it is the only consistent interpretation. Also, maybe "Agriculture" was not the best word to use; I meant any deliberate human action on the flora, not necessarily to produce food. > Again, I think you're reading in some assumptions into the text - I've actually always read that passage to imply that the world was essentially an unformed wasteland prior to the creation of the garden of eden - that the "made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground" was a sort of spontaneous creation of life. All the plants in the garden were already existing; that expression "made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground" apparently means the garden was a showcase of the wonderful variety of plant life existing.