Differing Creation Events in Genesis?
Genesis 2:7 - And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 1
12 Grass, Trees, and Herb brought forth from earth
20 Whales and Winged Fowl created from water
24 Cattle, Creeping thing, and Beast created from earth
27 Male and Female created
Genesis 2
07 Man (Only one) formed from the dust of the ground
09 Trees created out of ground
19 Beast of field, Cattle, and Fowl of air created from the ground
22 Woman created from Man
The "obvious" contradiction is that Genesis 1, and Genesis 2, both record distinctly different and very disagreeing, creation accounts. While Genesis 1 records Man and Woman being created after Winged Fowl, Genesis 2 states that the Fowl were created after man, but before woman. While Genesis 2 states that the Fowl were created from the ground, Genesis 1 states that they were created from the water, with the Whales. Genesis 1 seems to teach that Man and Woman were created simultaneously, whereas Genesis 2 show that Man was created first, and woman only arrived on the scene after man had watched Beast, Cattle, and Fowl, and vegetation created.
Solution
|
Agree (13) Disagree (3) |
|
81% |
Notice at the start of Chapter 2, verse 4 states "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created..." indicating that it is speaking of something that HAS taken place previously. This pre-conditions the following text to expand on Chapter 1.
Under this light, Genesis 1 is demonstrated to be an overview of the entire Creation event, whereas Genesis 2 serves as a more detailed list of events which took place around the creation of man, on day 6. Note also that the material in Genesis 2 is recorded following verse 8, which begins the sequence of events within the Garden planted eastward in Eden.
So, in closing, the sequence went something like the following. God created the grass, trees, and vegetation. Then, God created the whales and winged fowl from the water, then God created the cattle, beasts, and creeping things from the earth, then God created man, placed him in a newly created Garden, and then within the Garden God created trees, beasts, cattle, and more fowl all from the ground. After all this, God created woman, from the rib of man.
No contradiction.