Board index ‹ Creation and Evolution

[Olivia]

Why are there two stories of the creation of Adam and Eve in Genesis?

[jimwalton]

They are not two stories about the creation of Adam and Eve. Chapter 1, as explained in the last email, is the record of God establishing his Temple, which were the heavens and the earth, and giving them their roles and functions, taking up his residence in his temple, and the role of the man and the woman were to serve as priests in his temple. That's what chapter 1 is about.

Chapter 2 begins (v. 4) with "the account of..." (Hebrew: toledoth). This is the first of 10 appearances of this word and formula in the book, each one describing the generations that follow that were brought forth by the progenitor. In this case, oddly enough, the heavens and the earth are set up as the progenitors. What chapter 2 is telling us, then, is that the heavens and the earth brings forth the provision of God for the people he created, and the plan of God in history.

In other words, simply put, Gen. 1 is God giving humans their role and purpose in life; chapter 2 is about God, via the heavens and the earth, providing for the people he has put there and describing his plan for them. Another way of saying it: In chapter 1 God made the cosmos operational. In chapter 2 he makes the blessings of chapter 1operational, providing the means for it to happen.