1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2On the seventh day, having finished his task, God rested from all his work. 3And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation.
4This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
The Man and Woman in Eden
When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, 5there were no plants or grain growing on the earth, for the LORD God had not sent any rain. And no one was there to cultivate the soil. 6But water came up out of the ground and watered all the land. 7And the LORD God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person.
8Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had created. 9And the LORD God planted all sorts of trees in the garden--beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11One of these branches is the Pishon, which flows around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13The second branch is the Gihon, which flows around the entire land of Cush. 14The third branch is the Tigris, which flows to the east of Asshur. The fourth branch is the Euphrates.
15The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. 16But the LORD God gave him this warning: "You may freely eat any fruit in the garden 17except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die."
18And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him." 19So the LORD God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam[a] to see what he would call them, and Adam chose a name for each one. 20He gave names to all the livestock, birds, and wild animals. But still there was no companion suitable for him. 21So the LORD God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam's ribs[b] and closed up the place from which he had taken it. 22Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam.
23"At last!" Adam exclaimed. "She is part of my own flesh and bone! She will be called `woman,' because she was taken out of a man." 24This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25Now, although Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any shame.
Dig Deeper
Some people criticize the Bible because of this very chapter in Genesis. They say that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are two different accounts of creation that contradict one other. That of course, is not the case. Genesis 2 is not just another creation account because it does not mention the creation of the heavens and the earth, the atmosphere, the seas, the land, the sun, the stars, the moon, the sea creatures, etc. Chapter 2 mentions only things directly relevant to the creation of Adam and Eve and their life in the garden God prepared specially for them. In truth, chapter 1 is creation from God’s perspective , an overview of the whole creation, while chapter 2 views the more important aspects from man’s perspective.
The word translated "account" in verse 3, actually means generations. It records an account or record of events and is used at the end of each section in Genesis identifying the patriarch to whom it primarily referred, and possibly who recorded the information. There are ten of these generational accounts in Genesis.
These generational statements indicate that 1:1 - 2:4 is a separate account of the universe, while 2:5 – 5:1 is the account of Adam. Genesis 2, then focuses on the creation in the Garden of Eden that was directly important to Adam. It refers to the plants and grains of the Field which needed Adam to cultivate them. In the same way, verse 9 mentions trees but only the trees in the Garden, not trees in general.
Genesis was written like many historical accounts with an overview or summary of events leading up to the events of most interest first, followed by a detailed account which often recaps relevant events in the overview in greater detail. Genesis 1, the ‘big picture’ is clearly concerned with the sequence of events. The events are in chronological sequence, with day 1, day 2, evening and morning, etc. The order of events is not the major concern of Genesis 2. In recapping events they are not necessarily mentioned in chronological order, but in the order which makes most sense to the focus of the account. For example, the animals are mentioned in verse 19, after Adam was created, because it was after Adam was created that he was shown the animals, not that they were created after Adam.
Genesis chapters 1 and 2 are not therefore separate contradictory accounts of creation. Chapter 1 is the ‘big picture’ and Chapter 2 is a more detailed account of the creation of Adam and Eve and day six of creation.
Through this passage we see purposes three and four in the creation of mankind. The third is that God created man to have an intimate relationship with man. We also see that God created humans to have pure and helping relationships with other humans. In the following chapters we will see what happened to those purposes for which God made humans.
Devotional Thought
God gave everything in the Garden to Adam and Eve. There was one thing that they were not capable of controlling yet, and that was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For their own good, God tells them not to eat of it. When you consider the things that the Bible tells us to stay away from, do you see them as restrictive limits, or caring boundaries set up for are own good? How would the way you views God’s commands impact the way you follow them?
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