Genesis 2 Footnotes

2:2-3 “Rested” (Hb shabat) does not imply fatigue but means only “ceased.” God stopped because his work of creation was complete.

2:4-26 Chapter 2 is a second creation account only in the sense that it gives a more detailed accounting than chap. 1, not a contradictory one. While chap. 1 provides a general description, chap. 2 is specific. Twofold accounts were common in ancient theories of creation (e.g., the Babylonian story of Atrahasis). The differences in the order of creation events are due to each narrative’s distinct purposes. The first gives a loosely chronological account, gathering creation events into a discernible pattern to show the symmetry of creation’s purpose. The second is topical, focusing on the sixth day by expanding on the creation of man and woman. Gn 2 presupposes chapter 1 and does not duplicate all the creation events.

2:7,21-22 The creation of the first man and woman is not myth. The author of the account intends to portray a historical event. The first man (Hb adam) is treated in genealogies as a historical individual named “Adam” (5:1; Lk 3:38). Since the name Adam means “man(kind),” the author also intends him to represent humanity in general (Gn 3:17-18; see Rm 5:12-21). The account of the man and woman’s creation views them as special creations, not merely types of humans. The concept of evolution of humans from lower forms is inconsistent with the author’s purpose in this narrative.

2:10-14 The lack of archaeological evidence for the garden of Eden does not mean that it existed only in myth. Despite advances in archaeology, what has been discovered of the ancient Near East is only a small percentage of what might one day be found. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates exist today in modern Iraq. The identities of the Gihon and Pishon are uncertain but may have been local streams or canals. Floods, climatic changes, and land shifts since ancient times may well have brought about significant changes in topography.