The book of Genesis gives a detailed record of two versions of how the world and everything in it came into their present form. The first version is explained in Chapter 1 and the second version in Chapter 2.

The first creation account

(Genesis 1:1-30)

In Genesis 1, God is presented as having been in existence before He decided to make everything appear as He wished so through using a command of "Let there be" This suggests the pre- existence of God.         

The acts of creation followed the sequence of days, which are recorded up to seven beginning from the first. This is in line with the seven days we have in a week as of today.

Each day of creation marked a particular work being completed in totality and with perfection before the creator finally rested on the seventh day.

The fact that God accomplished only a task in a particular day seems to suggest that He had planned His work properly for he knew what to do on that day.

God, the creator is presented as being pleased with His own work which He completed in totality and with perfection.

Before His acts of creation, the world is presented as being formless and desolate. Therefore, this meant the world gained its form through the creative work of God.

Besides, the raging ocean that had covered everything was in total darkness and the spirit of God was moving over the water.

God created light on the first day of His work by commanding it to be there for He said "Let there be light." and it appeared. He went on to separate light from darkness and named the light as "Day" and darkness as "Night". All this gave Him pleasure.

On the second day, God created a dome purposely to divide water and keep it in two separate places. He named this dome as "sky". He was pleased by this and this marked the end of the second day.

God proceeded to create water bodies on the third day of His work by commanding the water below the sky to come together in one place. He named the land as "Earth" and the collected water as "Sea".

THE SECOND CREATION ACCOUNT

(Genesis 2:1-25)

God is presented as having created the universe but without plants on the earth because he had not sent any rain and there was no one to cultivate the land.

He took some soil from the ground, formed a man out of it and breathed a life-giving breath into his nostrils thus he began to live. Here, God is presented as physical being who holds power over life and someone working.

God went on to plant a garden east of Eden and put the man He had formed from the soil in it to cultivate and guard it. This meant that God had intended to see man work.

Besides, He made all kinds of beautiful trees to grow and produce good fruits in the Garden of Eden and in the middle it was a tree that gave life and knowledge of what was good and bad.

God permitted the man to eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden of Eden except from the one that gave knowledge of what was good and was bad for he would die on the same day if he did so. This was a call for obedience on the side of man.

However, God realized that it was not good for man to live alone and promised to make a suitable companion to help him. This showed God as being all knowing.

God went on to command the earth to produce all kinds of plants specifically those that could bear grain and fruit.

On the fourth day, God created the heavenly bodies (Homilies) including the Sun, the moon, and the Stars purposely to separate day from night and to show time for the beginning of the years and religious festival. He placed in the scythe sun to rule day and the moon and the stars to rule over night.

On the fifth day, God commanded all kinds of water creatures and all kinds of birds to be there and they appeared. He told them to reproduce and fill their habitat

On the same day, God commanded the earth to produce all kinds of animal life both domestic and wild and large and small.

On the sixth day, God reached the climax of his work. He created human beings, both male and female at the same time using the phrase "And now, Let us make human beings; they will like us and resemble us (Genesis 1:26).

The creator went on to give the human beings power over the fish, the birds and all animals both domestic and wild. This suggests the supremacy of the human beings over other creatures.

Besides, God blessed the human beings, male and female to have many children so that their descendants would live all over the world and bring it under their control.

God also provided human beings with all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruits for them to eat. However, He provided grass and leafy plants as food for all the wild animals and birds. This meant that God cared for the wellbeing of human beings.

As God completed His creational activities, He rested on the seventh day, blessed it and set it apart as special day.

As He had done when making the man, God took some soil from the ground, formed all the animals and all the birds and brought them to the man to name them.

Never the less, none of the animals and the birds the man had made was a suitable companion to help. This showed that man can only find companionship in another.

God responded to the man's lack of companionship by making him fall into a deep sleep after which he took out one of his ribs and closed up the flesh.

He went on to form a woman out of the rib He had taken from the man's rib and brought her to him to his delight as summed up in his own words "At last, here is one of my own kind-. Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. Woman is her name ...”

For making them as man and woman, a man would leave his father and mother and gets united to his wife for them to become one. This implied that God had initiated marriage and unity in it.

However, the man and the woman were both naked but were not embarrassed. This probably was because they were of the same kind and made for each other.

Comparison between the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2

Similarities

In both creation stories, God pre-existed before the universe. Genesis 1 showed that God created the universe when the earth was formless which is in agreement with the assertion in Genesis 2 that He made the universe when there were no plants and no one to cultivate the land. Therefore, this implied that the origin of God remains unknown (Genesis 1:1-2 and 2:5-6).

God is a source of life to all living things in both creation accounts. In Genesis 1, He gave life to the animals, birds and human beings. This vividly corresponds to the explanation in Genesis 2 that He breathed a life-giving breath into the man's nostrils and he began to live.

In both chapters, God's creations were completed in totality and with perfection. A task was done once and for all and in Genesis 1, he took the pleasure to admire his own work after completing it.

God designed each creature in its unique way in both accounts of creation for the animals; birds and human beings appeared differently.

Human beings are presented as responsible beings and masters of all other creatures in both accounts of creation. In Genesis 1, God gave them power over other creatures and had to bring the world under control. In a similar way, God made man to name other creatures (Genesis 1:26- 27 and 2: 19).

God's love for human race is portrayed in both Genesis 1 and 2 for He made them in own image to show His love in chapter 1:26 and made a suitable companion for the man after having realized His loneliness in chapter 2:20-23.

God is the creator of everything in the universe in both accounts of creation. He took the initiative to make everything in the way He wanted.

God is very a powerful being as shown in both account stories. In Genesis 1, He used the command of "Let there be" it could happen as He had said. In a similar way, He showed His power by breathing a life-giving breath into the nostrils of man and he began to live.

God initiated marriage as a social institution in both creation stories. In Genesis 1, He created human beings as male and female and blessed them to have many children just as in Genesis 2 where He made a woman from one of the man's ribs after He had realized that none of the other creatures was a suitable companion.

In both accounts of creation, there existed harmony between God and His creatures and among the creatures themselves. This is evident in Genesis 1 where human beings were put in charge of all other living creatures and in Genesis 2 where the man freely interacted with the other creatures (Genesis 1:28 and 2: 19).

In both Genesis 1 and 2, God catered for the welfare of the human race. In Genesis 1, He provided human beings with all kinds of grain and fruits as food and went on to care about the man's loneliness in chapter 2 by making a suitable companion (Genesis 1:29 and 2:20-22).

In both accounts of creation human race is given a special status. In Genesis 1, God made human beings in their likeness and Genesis 2, the man was given the task of naming other creatures (Genesis 1:26 and 2: 19).

In both stories, God initiated family life for He created the living things as male and female and commanded them to reproduce.

Differences

In Genesis 1, God used a divine command of "Let there be" to create the universe but in Genesis 2, He participated physically in the work of creation by taking the soil from the ground and making whatever creature he wanted out of it.

In Genesis 1, God first began by creating other creatures like animals and birds before finally creating human beings. However, in Genesis 2, He began by making the human race before proceeding to create the other living things.

In Genesis 1 human beings, both male and female were created at the same time but in Genesis 2, God the man and the woman were created at different times with the man being the first followed by woman from his rib.

In Genesis 1, God worked together with other beings not identified in the creation of the universe for he said "And now we will make human beings" but in Genesis 2 God is pictured as having done His work alone proved by such phrase as "I will make a suitable companion to help him". Therefore, Genesis 1 highlights the importance of trinity while chapter 2 God as the one almighty (Genesis 1:26 and 2:18).

God is portrayed as an invisible being in chapter 1 that his spirit moved over water contrary to chapter 2 where He is presented as a visible being picking soil and using it for making His creatures (Genesis 1:2 and 2:7 and 19).

In Genesis 1, marriage is presented as being for procreation, when God commanded Adam and Eve to multiply and fill the world while in Genesis 2 marriage is for companionship for God created woman after having realized that man was lonely.

In Genesis 1, God gave the human beings the freedom of eating all kinds of grain and fruit contrary to Genesis 2 where He forbade the man from eating the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden of Eden (Genesis 1:29 and 2:16-17).

In Genesis I, God worked for six days before completing his work contrary to Genesis 2 where appeared to have completed all his work of creation on the same day.

In Genesis 1 human beings were created in a special way as they were made in God's likeness. However, in Genesis 2, man appeared to have been created in the same way as other creatures for they were all made out of soil.

In Genesis 1 both male and female were created as human beings at the same time contrary to Genesis 2 where God clearly distinguished between the man and the woman who was even made last from the man's rib.

In Genesis 1, God was more concerned about the welfare of all His creatures. He provided the human beings as well for animals and birds. However, in Genesis 2, he was only concerned about the welfare of the man whom he realized was lonely.

In Genesis 1, water appeared to be more hostile than in chapter 2. In Genesis 1 :2, the water was described as raging contrary to Genesis 2 where it would come up from beneath the surface (Genesis 2:6).

In Genesis 1, God ended at creating human beings without giving them any responsibility to take part in the creational activities. However, in Genesis 2, He involved man in His work of creation by giving him responsibility of naming other creatures in Genesis 2.

In Genesis 1, God created the heavenly bodies including the sun, the moon and the stars, but in Genesis 2 talks mostly about the earthly creatures.

Revision Questions

1.    Compare the creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2

2.    "There is no connection between Genesis 1 and 2" Discuss

3.    To what extent are Genesis 1 and 2 complementary?

Possible Reasons for the differences between Genesis 1 and 2

The writers could have used different sources of information. The first creation account was written by the priestly source while the second creation account was written by a Yahweist source.

They were written in different periods of time implying that the time interval could have led to distortion of some key facts.

Probably, they had different purposes or aims. Genesis 1 looks more at instilling faith while Genesis 2 developing people's attitude towards work.

They could have been written by two different people. Genesis 1 appeared to have been written by Ezra, while Genesis 2 could have been written by Ezekiel.

Besides, they could have been written in two different geographical locations. In Genesis 1 the environment appeared to have been spiritual or invisible while in Genesis 2, it could have been a visible setting.

The writers of both accounts had different understanding of God. In Genesis 1, God is portrayed as spiritual, all powerful and three in one God while in Genesis 2, He is all knowing and invisible.

The two accounts could have been written during different periods in the history of Israel. One was probably a pre-exilic account and the other a post exilic account. Genesis 1 appeared to have been written before Israel was taken into exile in Babylon while Genesis 2 appeared to have been written thereafter.