My Journey to Life, Step 12—God’s Creation

2. Are Genesis 1 and 2 two separate and contradictory Creation accounts?

Some scholars and commentators believe that the differences in the tone and story of Genesis 1 and 2 provide evidence that the Creation narrative is a myth, not a historical account of earth origins. However, the two reports of Creation—one in Genesis 1:1 through to 2:3 and the other in Genesis 2:2-25—both harmonize. JTL12 2.5

The first narrative recounts the creation of all things in chronological order of literal 24-hour periods. The Hebrew word translated “day” in Genesis 1 is yowm. When yowm is accompanied by a definite number, it always means a literal, 24-hour day—which is another indication that the Creation account speaks of literal 24-hour days. JTL12 2.6

The second narrative begins with the words, “These are the generations of…” (KJV), an expression that, in Genesis, introduces a family history. This narrative describes man’s place in Creation. It is not strictly chronological but reveals that everything served to prepare the environment for humanity. It gives more details on Adam and Eve’s creation and the setting God provided in the garden of Eden than does the first narrative of Genesis 1. Additionally, it informs us of the nature of humanity and of divine government. Only if these two Creation accounts are accepted as literal and historical do they harmonize with the rest of Scripture. JTL12 2.7

The divine name Elohim is used in Genesis 1, a more generic name for God. In Genesis 2, God is called Yahweh Elohim, a more personal and specific identification of God used to describe the creation of man and woman. Adam and Eve were personal human beings and could therefore respond to God’s love and interact with Him in a trusting, cognitive relationship that no other part of His creation could. While the use of different divine names in Genesis 1 and 2 is thus theologically important, it does not mean the narratives come from two different sources. JTL12 2.8

Repetitive parallelism is a basic literary device of the Old Testament, used to emphasize a point or underscore its importance. Parallelism does not repeat the exact words of what has been given before, but rather states the subject matter in a different but complementary way. This is what Genesis 2 does with Genesis 1. It expands on what was done before, but it does not negate or contradict it. Each Bible Discovery text below is an example of repetitive parallelism. JTL12 3.1