God’s Word for You
Genesis 2:19 Names
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, August 27, 2026
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
In the translation, I have used the phrase “had formed.” This is known as the past perfect or pluperfect tense. It shows that the action described happened in the past and was completed in the past. The creation of the animals was finished before God created the man (and then the woman) on the sixth day of creation.
It might be easy for some to think that here the account of the creation of the woman has been interrupted or “temporarily pushed aside for another topic.” But there is no break in the Hebrew text. This is not a new paragraph. Verses 19-20 are simply a part of the account of the making of Eve.
Verses 19-20 show the way that God carried out his will to provide the man with the idea of a woman; a wife. He wanted the man to desire the helper that he needed. So while God had simply made all of the animals at once, this did not please him with regard to the man and the woman. Human beings are the crown of his creation, and he would not hand the man a fait accompli. God wanted the man to come to the understanding that a mate for him was God’s will, and that even in the animal kingdom this was clearly the will of God.
Therefore God had the man name the creatures; a task that would permit the thought process to expand the man’s understanding of God’s holy will. Our verse says that God brought certain creatures to the man: the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field. Now, according to Moses’ way of describing the animals, the Lord brought only some of the creatures to Adam for naming, the birds and also “the beasts of the field” which seems to be equivalent to the “wild animals.” He does not mention the domestic animals until verse 20, but not in the context of “bringing them” to the man. Why? Perhaps because those creatures were naturally in the company of the man already, and only the others needed to be brought.
The Bible does not record any of the names that Adam gave to any of the animals with only the possible exception of nahash, “serpent,” since that word occurs many times in chapter 3. But we don’t really know if that was Adam’s name for that creature, or a later word used by Moses.
Let’s return to the idea of God bringing animals to Adam to show him the need for a wife. Doesn’t God still do such things with us, training us for life, teaching us lessons in advance? Certainly he does this with many of the crosses we carry. But he may also do this with the other kinds of training he brings, to prepare us for life in the world he has made for us. The thirtieth chapter of Proverbs presents several lessons from the animal kingdom that are good to remember. They are little lessons in being prepared, resilience, teamwork, persistence, and even bravery. Many of us have a tendency to get down on ourselves and to give up or give in, and yet God would have us “be strong and courageous” when things get tough (Deuteronomy 31:6). He teaches us to use the resources we have, and sometimes even the animal kingdom can teach this.
Our Lord Jesus also uses animals to teach lessons to mankind. The birds of the air “do not sow or reap or store away in barns,” but God the Father feeds them what they need (Matthew 6:26). And dogs and hogs do not treat sacred things sacredly; we must be different from them (Matthew 7:6). But more than these, the belly of a huge fish teaches a lesson about death, the grave, the resurrection, and the rescue God provides for us from sin, death, and the power of the devil (Matthew 12:4).
This passage preaches the law to us through the superior wisdom, knowledge and insight of Adam. Simply through the excellence of his nature, Adam was able to give ideal names to all of the animals brought before him by God. This was a part of his rule over the animals. We show our authority over what we name, but our ability to do this in a godly way is ruined by sin. Adam needed no books, no advice, no time to study or scarcely even observe the animals very closely. He understood them on account of his sinless perfection and the command of God. When we name a thing today, there is invariably rebellion and resistance, since we wrap the naming in selfishness and sin, even, quite often when we name our own children.
But there is forgiveness for our selfishness and sin. We lay all of our sins at the feet of Jesus our Savior. And what did he do? “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). All of that was done, completed, in the past. He has nothing more that he needs to do. He has given you a new name, “Christian,” and there is no flaw at all in that name. We are delighted and overwhelmed to have it!
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.