Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth. The particular form of the Hebrew verb implies ejectment and dismissal, under the influence of moral displeasure, and is equivalent to the word used in the first clause of Genesis 3:24.
To till the ground from whence he was taken - literally, to labour in servile work on the ground. "Whence he was taken;" i:e., denoting either the original substance of his body, which was formed from the ground, or the place from which he had been removed on his introduction into the garden.