V. 2. On either side of the river the tree of life. The word tree is used generically, — many trees of the species, on either side of the river. In Eden there was a "tree of life" from which man was excluded for his sin, a cherubim and a flaming sword guarding the way to it. Here in the last chapter of the Scriptures, when the story of redemption is completed, and the last act in the drama staged, we come again to that tree of life. Thus Genesis is linked with Revelation, and Eden with heaven, and the unity of the Biblical story disclosed.