Pastor John,
I know this is a basic, fundamental question. I have known that God created man on the 6th day before He rested. But in chapter 2, after He has finalized everything for creation, it says he made man to till the ground.
Is there any particular reason why it would say that God created man in chapter 2 as well as chapter 1?
Genesis 1:
- And God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness, and let them rule over the creature that swims in the sea, and the creature that flies in the sky, and the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every living thing that moves about on the land.
- And so, God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him. He created them male and female.
- And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. And have dominion over the creature that swims in the sea, and the creature that flies in the sky, and every creature that creeps about on the land.”
- And God said, “Behold, I have given to you every seed-bearing plant that is on the face of the whole earth, and every tree whose fruit bears the seed of a tree, for your food.
- And to every creature on land, to every creature that flies in the sky, and to everything that creeps on the ground in which is a living soul, I have given every green plant for food.” And so it was.
- And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. So, there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 2:
- And no plant of the field was yet on the earth, and no herbage of the field had yet sprouted, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the ground.
- But a mist went up from the earth, and it watered all of the ground.
- And Jehovah God formed the man from dirt of the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.
Steven W.
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Hi Steven.
I have always read chapter 2 as giving us a little more detail about man’s creation, nothing more than that. There is nothing in chapter 1 which lets us know that God created Adam from dirt, or that he breathed life into Adam’s nostrils, or that to till the ground was Adam’s work. And there is nothing in chapter 2 that tells us that Adam was created in God’s own image or that God created male and female. The details of Eve’s creation are added later in chapter 2.
Genesis 2:
- Then Jehovah God said, “It is not good for the man to live by himself. I will make a helper fit for him.”
. . . .
- And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. Then He took one of his ribs, and He closed up the flesh in its place.
- And Jehovah God made the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman. And He brought her to the man.
Hope that helps.
Pastor John