An enclosed, cultivated plot — a garden planted with trees, herbs, and flowers, typically walled or hedged for protection. Distinguished from open fields or wilderness, the gan is a place of intentional cultivation, beauty, and provision. The word derives from a root meaning to defend or protect, emphasizing the garden as a guarded space.
The biblical story begins and ends in a garden. Eden (gan-ʿēden) was the paradise of God's presence, where humanity walked with their Creator in the cool of the day (Gen 2:8; 3:8). The fall turned the garden into a place of exile — cherubim and a flaming sword barred re-entry (Gen 3:24). Yet the garden motif persists as a symbol of restoration: the beloved in Song of Solomon is a 'garden enclosed' (4:12), Israel restored is 'like a watered garden' (Isa 58:11; Jer 31:12), and Jesus' arrest and resurrection both occur in a garden (John 18:1; 19:41). The arc from Eden lost to Eden restored — the tree of life reappearing in Revelation 22 — makes the garden the Bible's master image of paradise: God's presence, provision, and protection.