Part 1 #2 - In the Beginning
Welcome back to the Free Thinkers guide to the bible. I created this series so that ‘anyone’ can explore and understand the bible. You don’t need to be a biblical scholar; all you need is a desire to see what is written. I will present to you several biblical examples and demonstrate the process of sifting the accounts to reveal the hidden. This process is very similar to archeology, where the layers are excavated and analyzed. Just not the dirty part, though you will be digging up some dirt along the way.
Warning:
The series unfolds like a story in a book. Please study the content in the order it is presented in order to have the best experience.
In the Beginning – Two accounts
Preface
Have you ever read the Creation account and got the feeling that there was an awful lot of repetition, and you just shrugged it off?
This study will be an examination of the well known story of Creation.
If you are like me, you had a few questions in the back of your mind after reading it.
Let’s begin the process of revealing the hidden.
Before beginning, read Genesis chapters 1:1 – 2:25 Look for anything out of the ordinary and Jot down any questions that come to mind.
We will go through the biblical account and identify areas that should be investigated. This exercise will give you practice in spotting anomalies in future studies and when you read portions of the bible that are not covered in this series. Also look for word and subject repetitions.
I will use the King James Bible for our studies. I do not prefer this version, but I use it since it is the bible most people use, or are familiar with.
One story, two accounts (Genesis) In the Beginning
In the book of Genesis we seem to have two similar, yet differing accounts of creation. We will look at the two accounts and attempt to answer the questions: Are there two distinct accounts of Creation? And if so why”?
The Creation of the World (Genesis 1) “A”
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God (אלהים) (Elohim) created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (אלהים) (Elohim) moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) saw the light, that it was good: and God (אלהים) (Elohim) divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God (אלהים) (Elohim) saw that it was good. 11 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God (אלהים) (Elohim) saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God (אלהים) (Elohim) saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God (אלהים) (Elohim) saw that it was good. 22 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said; Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God (אלהים) (Elohim) saw that it was good. 26 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said; Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God (אלהים) (Elohim) created man in his own image, in the image of God (אלהים) (Elohim) created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) blessed them, and God (אלהים) (Elohim) said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God (אלהים) (Elohim) ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God (אלהים) (Elohim) blessed the seventh day, and sanctified (קדשׁ - qâdash) it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God (אלהים) (Elohim) created and made.
The Creation of the World (Genesis 2) “B”
Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 18 And The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which The Lord (יהוה) God (אלהים) (Elohim) had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Comparison and Examination
After reading through the account(s) you hopefully found two distinct and separate versions of the story, each with its own style and differences.
The Genesis “A” account seems to be structured like a formula or sermon. The formula is a repetition of: God (אלהים) (Elohim) said “let there be” it became, and it was good. The seven-day pattern is emphasized, along with resting on the seventh day. The account refers to the Creator by the Hebrew word Elohim which translates as mighty one. The focus is on Creator and creation. The creation sequence is: Plants, animals, man and woman.
The Genesis “B” account reads more as a story, with no defined structure. The account refers to the Creator as Yehovah Elohim which is the divine Name and the title “Mighty one” together. The focus is on man. The creation sequence is: Man, plants, animals and woman.
Summary
The two accounts vary. One is structured, the other told more as a story. The accounts refer to the Creator with a different Name/Title throughout. And the sequence of creation varies.
Conclusion
It appears that the two creation accounts are quite different from each other. We do not have enough information to deduce who wrote each account, or why there are two differing accounts. To find the answers we seek we need to continue analyzing similar accounts to see if a pattern will develop.
Conclusion
We now see a distinct pattern. One writer uses Yehovah and performs offerings to seal covenants. The other uses Elohim almost exclusively and uses physical signs to seal the covenants. We see that it is extremely likely that a redactor skillfully wove accounts from at least two writers with quite different writing styles and possibly objectives into the cohesive book/scroll we call Genesis/Bereshith.
As a critical thinker you must answer questions such as: Biblical inerrancy? Were the first five books written by Moses? Why were multiple accounts that potentially conflict kept together? Why didn’t the Redactor remove one account instead of weaving them together or having them in different places? Are there underlying objectives in the writer’s accounts?