Genesis 2:15

And the Lord God took the man from the mountain of worship, where he had been created, and made him dwell in the garden of Eden, to do service in the law, and to keep its commandments.

The meaning of "to work it"is to provide water for the garden. "To guard it" from animals and to ensure that they do not enter the garden and sully it. Some explain that "to work it" means "to fulfill the command [no to eat from the tree], but this cannot be correct because a 'command' is not called 'work'.

לעבדה, a reference to perfecting his own personality, that which was supplied by G’d in an as yet unrefined state, the one called נשמת חיים. [the author searched to justify the use of the feminine mode in the word לעבדה and related it to נשמה, soul, a noun which is feminine and requires further refinement, just like שיר and שירה which both mean song, the latter, in the feminine mode being unrefined when compared to the former. Compare its use in the haggadah shel Pessach. Ed.]

ולשמרה, eating the fruit of the garden would ensure that man’s natural juices would not dry up. Man is equipped with natural heat, and if not supplied with the proper kind of nourishment he may dehydrate. The excellent fruit of the trees of the garden would replenish loss of moisture through evaporation on the skin in the heat of the sun.

ויקח ה' אלוקים, even though we have been told already in verse 8 that G’d placed Adam in Gan Eden, the Torah repeats this by stating that “G’d took man etc.,” because at this point the Torah wanted to inform us of the commandment which accompanied Adam’s taking up residence in that idyllic place. Our verse also spells out something that had not been mentioned previously, i.e. that Adam was not to treat Gan Eden as a retreat, but that he was made responsible for maintaining it in good order.

לעבדה ולשמרה, to work it and to preserve it intact. The verse makes plain that G’d removed Adam from a nearby location where he had been created, depositing him in Gan Eden The question is why G’d had not created Adam in Gan Eden in the first place, seeing He was going to transfer him there anyway? The reason is that He wanted him to appreciate the quality of that garden. Had he been created there, he would not have had any means of comparing it to another region on earth, and would not have cherished its excellence. By transferring him to Gan Eden, G’d demonstrated to Adam that He had his best interests at heart. The word ויקח may be understood as similar to G’d saying about Avraham ואקח את אביכם את אברהם מעבר הנהר, “I took your father Avraham from beyond the river Euphrates.” (Joshua 24,3)
לעבדה ולשמרה, although the noun גן is masculine, the Torah treats it here as if it were in the feminine mode. The reason is that the work would be performed on the soil, אדמה of the garden, and the word אדמה is a feminine noun. Alternatively, the word “garden” appears in the Bible both in a masculine mode, גן and in a feminine mode גנה, when the letter ה is added at the end. An example of this is found in Isaiah 61,11 וכגנה זרעויה תצמיח, “and its seeds will sprout like those in a garden.” The word לעבדה refers to constructive labour, furthering the growth and fruit-bearing capability of the trees, whereas the word ולשמרה refers to the taking of preventive measures to counter invasion of the garden by predators, and other measures to prevent its deterioration. Our sages, reading into this expression also a moral/ethical teaching, understand the word לעבדה as the dedication to study of G’d’s commandments, whereas the expression לשמרה refers to the carrying out of these commandments in practice. (Sifri Eykev 21)