What Does Genesis 2:16 Mean?

Whatever the man calls every living creature, that is its name. The authority of the naming is complete: the man's word defines the creature's identity in the human-animal relationship. The names given in the garden are not labels that slide off things; they are the words that give things their place in the human world of meaning and relationship. To name a creature is to know it, relate to it, and give it a position in the ordered world that the image-bearer governs.

The man names the livestock, the birds of the heavens, and every beast of the field. The scope matches the scope of the dominion given in 1:26-28. The man does not name the sea creatures, he is on land, and their naming falls within the sphere of governance appropriate to the land-creature he is. The naming is an act of governance: to define is to establish the terms of relationship, and the man's naming of the animals is the first exercise of the stewardship to which he was commissioned.

Naming in the ancient Near Eastern world was an act of power and intimacy: to name something was to know it in a way that implied authority and relationship. Adam's naming of the animals is a priestly/royal act, he stands before the creatures brought to him and speaks their identities into the human world. The same capacity will be exercised in 2:23 when he names the woman, though with a completely different character. The first naming establishes what exists; the second naming celebrates what corresponds.