Genesis 2 - A recall of Genesis 1?
The general consensus of Genesis 2, whether one be atheist or Young Earther, is that the creation account in Genesis 2 generally recounts the creation described in Genesis 1. This is mostly because Genesis 2 appears to describe creation of the very same items described in the 6 days of Creation of Genesis 1. Other observations are the sudden change in style, and the similarities to creation myths from contemporary cultures that Moses would have known about when he wrote Genesis. However, some people treat Genesis 2 as sequential with Genesis 1. For me, I see a combination of the two.
In my opinion, Genesis 2 contains both a summary of Genesis 1, and then continues beyond it. However, I don’t see the summary in the same way that some might think.
 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
      When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
To parse this passage, notice the verses 5 to 7. They basically elaborate on the time period referred to by verse 4. Remove that description, and we are left with this:
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Here is the same passage in the New King James…
4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
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 being.
…and here is that passage again without the description from verses 5 to 7:
This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 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 being.
I show this in two different translations to demonstrate that I am not relying on the trick of cherry-picking my favorite translation. Basically, the summary of Creation reads to me like this: “In the day that God made the earth and the heavens, He formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” That’s how it reads to me. A setting, and followed by a sequence of 3 events. For more on the setting, we can refer to the verses I cut out above. According to verse 4, this is a point in time when the earth and heavens existed, but according to verses 5 and 6:
- There were no shrubs
- There were no plants
- It had never rained
- Mankind did not exist
- Streams or mist came up from the earth and watered its entire surface
Now, I write about this more in Genesis 2:4-7 - Moses Recorded the Evolution of Man (Part 1), Genesis 2:4-7 - Moses Recorded the Evolution of Man (Part 2), and Genesis 2:4-7 - Moses Recorded the Evolution of Man (Part 3). So, you can re-read those if you want a spoiler. However, notice something back in Genesis 1. According to Day 3, God created only seeded plants, but we all read this as if He created all plants… the reason for this peculiarity in scripture is because seeded plants are at the end of the evolutionary chain; creating seeded plants from nothing implies creating all of the other plants that come before them. Applying the same understanding to Genesis 2 above, we generally understand verse 5 to mean all plants, too. However, now it isn’t saying seeded plants, but plants shrubs and plants of the field… why the field? Because mankind plows fields! Day 6 does not lead up to the creation of Adam, but Homo Sapiens, and while there were no “fields” being farmed in the first 6 days, there were seeded plants; so Genesis 1 refers to the end of the evolutionary plant chain for Days 1 to Day 6… seeded plants. Genesis 2 however leads to Adam, who was punished with his immersion into agriculture… created fields of shrubs and plants, and so Genesis 2 refers to the end of the chain for Days 1 through 7, and on to Adam.Â
In both Genesis 1 and 2, they start with a world with no plants. However, Genesis 2 goes a little bit further in its description. While Genesis 1 begins at a time when there was a deep for the Holy Spirit to hover over, a time when the world was covered in water, Genesis 2 begins when there was no deep. There were streams or mist emitted from the earth, and covering all of the ground… a time before the deep! And this is our setting for verse 7!
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 being.
God did three things, and he did them in sequence. First, He formed man of the dust of the ground. This occurred across Days 1 to 6, from 4.5 billion years ago all the way to 200,000 years ago… the entirety of the evolutionary chain, from the the time when God started working until the time He rested. Then, He breathed into his nostrils “the breath of life”. Because man already existed physically, this breathing of life must have been a breathing of something else into him besides physical life. Most people would say that it is a spirit. Personally, I believe mankind already had spirits. However, what mankind did not have was righteousness. God breathed into Adam righteousness… by introducing Himself. As we studied on this blog for over a year, righteousness is believing God and obeying him. God gave Adam something to believe… later in Genesis 2 He would give Adam something to obey… and man became a living being.
Personally, as a Christian, I embrace this interpretation, because Christian doctrine tells us that true life begins when we give our life over to God… and I believe it is exactly the case with Adam. He accepted Christ… or a Christophony in any case, but God certainly. After being God’s right-hand man throughout creation, Jesus came to give Adam life and life abundantly… and man became a living being.