Readers have highlighted the differences between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. Among the differences are the creation account of Adam and Eve. Genesis 1 recorded that God made man and woman simultaneously (vs. 27), while Genesis 2 recorded that God made man before He made the woman (vs. 18). Both accounts can’t be correct. Are the two creation account of man and woman contradictory or complimentary? Which viewpoint is correct?
To address that question, I have cited the relevant verses of the creation of man and woman from Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. The reason is that one must observe the broader context as well as the content of the verse. The broader context may clarify the content of Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:18.
The verses are based on the NIV of the Bible.
Genesis 1:24–28 states creation of man and woman by God: “And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good. 26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 2:5–23 states the creation of man and woman by God: “5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a manfrom the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
I. Here are three general observations on Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 on the creation of man and woman.
A. Genesis 1 composes of fewer verses in comparison to Genesis 2 on the creation of man and
woman.
B. Genesis 1 uses the name, God, (Elohim) in the creation of man and woman in contrast to Genesis
2 which uses the name, LORD God (YHWH Elohim).
C. Genesis 1 gives the orderly creation with God commanding man and woman to rule over the
creatures of the world in contrast to Genesis 2 by God allowing the man to rule over the creatures
by naming them.
II. Observations in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 on the creation of man and woman.
A. Observations about the purpose of God for man.
In Genesis 1:26 God declares His purpose for man. God states His purpose before He creates man. In Genesis 2:15, 18-19 God reveals His purpose to man AFTER He created man. The purpose of God in creating man is care for the Garden and to rule over the living creatures on Earth.
Genesis 1 reveals and states God’s plan for creating man. It is important to note that this is before God created the man. 26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 2 reveals when God told man His purpose for him. Man was to care for the Garden and rule
over the creatures on earth. Verse 15 says this, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the
Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Later it says, “Now the LORD God had formed out of
the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
The importance of this point is that God has a plan for man and the earth. In Genesis 1 and 2, God
reveals how He fulfilled His plan. The plan is realized through the creation of man.
B. Observations about the creation of man.
In Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, we have the creation account of God making man and woman. Careful observation of the context and text may or will help determine whether the two accounts are contradictory or complimentary.
Genesis 1:26 says that God created man first before He created the woman. Verse 26 says this, “Let us make man…” The noun, man, is singular, not plural. God didn’t create men, but a singular man. This is confirm in Genesis 1:27a: “27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;…”. God uses the word, man, singular and states that He created him. The pronoun, him, is singular, not plural. There is the absence of mentioning a woman.
Can one interpret the word, man, as meaning mankind? Although that is a possible interpretation, the usage of man and him would be exegetically incorrect to infer mankind or man and woman. The verses states that God created man without mentioning the creation of woman.
If God wanted to state that He created man and woman together or simultaneously in verse 26, He could have said, “Let us make man and woman” and “So God created man and woman in his own image, in the image of God He created them.” The textdoes not state it as such. Thus Genesis 1:27a states that God created man before the woman was created.
Genesis 2:8, 16-17 say that God created man before He created the woman. Verse 8 says this, “8Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed… The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
As one reads the above verses, the emphasis is on man. The LORD God formed the man and took the man and put him in the Garden. God gives the command to him, “You are free to eat…but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
The text states that God made, took, place the man in the Garden. It is singular. The pronoun, you, is also singular, not plural. Thus the text states that the man was alone with the animals. The man was one of its kind with no other creature like himself.
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 state that God created man before He created the woman. The woman didn’t exist at the same time when God created the man.
C. Observation about the creation of man and woman.
In Genesis 1:26b, God also reveals the addition of other human being or beings to the world. In the plan of God he uses the word, them. The text says this, “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea…” There is a shift from man/him to them.
The word, them, is a plural pronoun. The text doesn’t identify who are the “them” in verse 26. God sees that there will another person or persons who will come into existence. He didn’t state how these individuals will come into existence at this point of the text.
As God looked at the creatures on the earth and size of the planet, He knew that one man could not possible care for the Garden and the Earth by himself. It would be impossible task. The man will need help from others to fulfill the command to care for the Garden and the living creatures.
Thus God introduces the “them” of persons to rule over the living creatures. In verse 27, God made the “them” as he planned from 1:26b. “…male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God introduces the “them” as male and female. The word, “male” is a nominative masculine singular and word, “female” is a nominative feminine singular. The “them” is limited to the male and female. There are not plural males and females. The male and female are connected with a conjunction, and, linking them together.
He states their gender: male and female. The biological composition is that each of them need each other to procreate and fill the earth. They will have children who will help them to rule over the creatures on earth. The text does not state how God created the female in verse 26b, except that He was the Creator of both of them.
The Hebrew grammatical of verse 27 says this, “So (And) God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them.” The inclusion of commas and semicolon in the text are by the NIV translators. The oldest Hebrew texts are without punctuation marks.
As one looks and reads the Hebrew text, it seems reasonable to see two sentences in verse 27. Depending on one’s interpretation, it appears that the first sentence is this: So (And) God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him” with a period or semicolon. The reason is the object of God’s creation is man and him. Those two words are singular.
The next thought is the object of God’s creation is male and female with the word them. The words are plural in form. Thus one can say the sentence is this: “Male and female he created them.” If one wants to reorder the words to subject, verb, and object are singular, the sentence would be this: “He created them male and female.”
The male and female placed before the subject-verb is to show that God is the Creator of male and female. The word order is important that God states the male and then the female. The object, them, would refer to the male and female. Thus God fulfilled His plan in verse 26 of man and introducing the “them” as found in verse 27 of the male and female.
Thus Genesis 1 states that God created man with the purpose to care for the Garden and Earth with God intending that male and female with their descendants will to fulfill the command of God. If a person just views 27b without considering 26-27a, one may or can conclude that God made male and female simultaneously which would contradict Genesis 2 of God creating man before the woman.
In Genesis 2:18-22 God reveals the detail of the circumstances for the creation of the woman. “18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”
Genesis 2:18 states that man was alone. There was no one like him. All the animals looked differently from himself with his limited interaction of those animals. No animal had the same ability of thinking, feeling, and choosing, being in the image of God. There was no suitable helper for the man. Man saw and named all the animals. He was one of a kind and all alone.
The intention of God is to make a helper suitable for him was to meet his need of companionship and a helper in caring for the Garden. God took a rib out of the man and from that rib created a woman. God brought the woman. The man saw the woman as a near mirror of himself, being like himself. He was no longer alone. He had a companion and she was not along for she had him.
CONCLUSION
I believe Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are complementary, not contradictory. Genesis 1 gives a broad view of the days of creation while Genesis 2 focuses on creation of man on the sixth day. The context and the content shows that God created man before He created the woman in both chapters.
-Kingston