Water is necessary for life.  So for a vibrant garden to flourish, plenty of water was needed.  A single river (unnamed) went out of Eden to provide water for the plant and animal life there. 

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (Gen. 2:10-14)

This river split into four rivers, which went out to a larger land area.  There are names given to these rivers: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates.  Modern Bible teachers and scholars have tried to identify these with rivers seen today to try and locate the area of Garden of Eden.  Pison has had several suggested identities, but in general, it is believed to be a now dry riverbed stretching across the Arabian Peninsula.  Gihon is considered to be another name for the Nile.  Hiddekel is associated with the Tigris River and the Euphrates River is well-known.  There is only one problem with this–these rivers do not come together at any point.  While it is possible that at one point they did, there is a better explanation for this: the Flood of Noah. Continue reading →