If you haven’t already read “The Toledoth or ‘Book Titles’ in Genesis” and “Chiasm in Scriptures,” please read those two articles first. They lay an important foundation to understanding just how Genesis 1-3 is organized, from a literary standpoint.
By this time, you’re no doubt aware that the articles on this site are anything but reductionist or minimalist interpretations. Even so, it’s a common belief among such minimalist scholars that Genesis wasn’t written down until very late in Israel’s history, perhaps even during the Babylonian Captivity. When it was finally composed, two earlier, somewhat inconsistent creation stories were pasted together – the “Priestly” source (consisting of all of Genesis 1) and the “Yahwist” source (consisting of Genesis 2-3).
As you’ve seen in my article on the Toledoth or “Book Titles” in Genesis, the section of Genesis consisting of verses 1:1-2:4a was originally authored by God Himself, while Genesis 2:4ff through 5:1 was authored by Adam. So it’s actually true that two different creation stories were pasted together…only that happened deliberately, and certainly not long after the fact. Sometimes there’s truth to the minimalist views, but there’s also very often a bigger picture.
Let’s ask the important question, though – why did the Creation need two different perspectives? What was the point of that?
Before we dive into the text itself, I invite you to consider the theme we’ve been exploring – the covenants that God has made with mankind. Keep that theme in mind as we begin exploring these two different perspectives, looking for answers.
Now, we already know that the Creation story has two separate sections. What do we know about those two sections? Can we learn anything by comparing them with each other?
Interestingly enough, those two sections are deliberately structured to form one very highly complex chiasmus! As you may recall, chiasm are often of the form A – B – A’, with repeated phrases or concepts surrounding a central focus of importance. That’s exactly what’s going on, here. Let’s summarize the different sections, and then dive into a few of them to better understand what we’re supposed to learn.
| A – Gen. 1:1 | Heaven and earth created, separate from each other | A’ – Gen. 3:23-24 | Man exiled from Eden, separated from God |
|---|---|---|---|
| B – Gen. 1:2 | Earth is empty and desolate | B’ – Gen. 3:22 | Man’s enlightenment precludes partaking of the Tree of Life |
| C – Gen. 1:3-5 | First day – creation of light out of darkness | C’ – Gen. 3:21 | God made coats of skins for Adam and Eve |
| D – Gen. 1:6-8 | Second day – waters of heaven separated from waters of earth | D’ – Gen. 3:14-20 | Separation (of man from God, of husband/wife mutual trust, by the wife’s name instead of her function) |
| E – Gen. 1:9-13 | Third day – earth brings forth after its kind in harmony | E’ – Gen. 3:8-13 | Man, woman, and beast no longer in harmony |
| F – Gen. 1:14-19 | Fourth day – lights in the heavens for signs | F’ – Gen. 3:5-7 | Man and woman eat the fruit of the forbidden tree and are falsely enlightened |
| G – Gen. 1:20-23 | Fifth day – Great sea creatures (Heb. tannin) created | G’ – Gen. 3:1-4 | Serpent deceives man |
| H – Gen. 1:24-25 | Creation of beasts | H’ – Gen. 2:18-25 | Beasts brought to Adam to name; God creates a suitable helper for Adam |
| I – Gen. 1:26-28 | Creation of man; man given dominion over the earth | I’ – Gen. 2:7-17 | Creation of man; man given a specific, geographically-located dominion containing the tree of life and the tree of knowledge |
| J – Gen. 1:29-30 | Man’s responsibility | J’ – Gen. 2:2-6 | World prepared for man to take care of it |
| K – Gen. 1:31-2:1 | Creation’s pedigree – God created it “very good” | K’ – Gen. 2:4 | Creation’s pedigree |
| L – Gen. 2:2-2:3 | Creation finished on the Sabbath | ||
Seeing the Creation story organized this way is probably quite a surprise to you, isn’t it? It doesn’t seem obvious when first reading it, that there’s this complex, organizing structure, and yet there it is. But once again…why? What’s the point?
The overall point is that God ordered and established creation, from a state of primordial chaos. That order was “very good.” Some of the parallel elements in Adam’s section neatly complement that order, but some contrast against that order. In other words…the realm of man is an imperfect mirror of the perfection of God’s creation. God sets a standard and sometimes, man fails to live up to that standard. Hence the need for a plan of redemption, even though it isn’t explicitly called out in the text, here.
With that overarching view established, there are some remarkable insights to be gained by analyzing the parallel sections. A key insight comes from the parallel F elements. Whereas God ordained the lights in the heavens for signs…the “tree of knowledge, of good and of evil” (all three mixed together!) actually has to do with a corruption of those heavenly signs!
We’ve already explored this to some degree, in the article, “The Constellations in the Scriptures.” We’ll explore this even further when we discuss what the Tower of Babel really was.
Next, let’s look at the parallel section for the serpent in the Garden. Why are the “great sea creatures” important?
They’re important enough, apparently, that God used a very special term to denote their creation – a term elsewhere only used regarding the heavens and the earth, and man himself. That’s the Hebrew word bara.
What’s the difference between that word for “created,” and the other Hebrew word used in Genesis 1-3 – asah? The only notable difference is God’s direct involvement. God formed and fashioned man, but often spoke other elements of creation into existence, or allowed other elements to propagate after their own kinds.
That would mean that God specifically formed and fashioned the “great sea creatures.” We’re not told why here, and we’ll wait to delve further into this subject in a future article.
In addition, the very first covenant that God made with man is found in Genesis 2:16-17, regarding allowing man to freely eat of every tree in the Garden of Eden, save for the Tree of Knowledge. That covenant is made to serve maintaining God’s ordered and established Creation, by man himself. In other words, man is a partaker with God in Creation, by way of keeping covenants!
And what’s the goal of this? The Sabbath day, when Creation is finished. Jewish tradition reckons that the age of man will span seven thousand years, with the final thousand years being akin to a millennial Sabbath when God dwells with mankind.
The final element that I’d like to review is section C. Why is the first light of creation in parallel with God creating “coats of skins” for Adam and Eve?
This actually hints at a plan of redemption. You see, interestingly enough, the Hebrew word for light is aleph-vav-resh, or “uwr.” The Hebrew word for “skins,” on the other hand, is ayin-vav-resh, or “uwr.” The two words sound exactly the same, but they’re spelled with a different initial letter. In other words, God is metaphorically clothing Adam and Eve in the “light” of Creation. And Jesus is the “light” of the world, as it were. They’re metaphorically clothed in His righteousness.
Lastly, I’d like to bring out another, literary aspect of this. Consider WHEN these two sections would have been composed. If they were deliberately integrated together, then Adam was in close communion with God at this time. On the other hand, Adam would’ve already been exiled from the Garden of Eden. Therefore, Adam had already repented, and God had forgiven him, even if Adam still wasn’t allowed back into the Garden.
Note that Adam’s section consisted of Genesis 2:4 through 5:1, including mention of Seth’s son Enos. That would’ve been at least 235 years after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, according to the genealogy given in Genesis 5. Quite a significant period of time, and certainly enough time to get a good deal of perspective on what had transpired in the Garden.
In essence, Adam took what God had composed, and directly participated in framing a powerful, yet very obscure message concerning God’s relationship to man. It wasn’t intended to be understood by just anyone, but rather by those who had a grasp of the covenant of dominion that God had made with Adam, and just what it entailed. In addition, it wasn’t meant as a message of military conquest, or even one of more compelling beliefs. Instead, the message consisted of how God had established a primordial order, only for man to be the one to fall short of God.
Adam’s own family line preserved that message for posterity. As time went on, the understanding of the literary structure of Genesis 1-3, and of the “toledoth” or book titles in Genesis, eventually disappeared. The understanding of the meanings of the heavenly signs continued, but in corrupted fashion that culminated in the Tower of Babel. Then that, too, disappeared.
Thousands of years later, here we are, trying to reach back through thousands of years of history and understand that combined message that God and Adam composed together. It’s quite amazing that we’re able to recover as much as we are…and there’s more to come.
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