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Genesis: The Stumbling Block

by

R.N. Phillips (B.Sc.)

Printed: April 1982. Errata: June 1991. Updated: December 1996. Reformatted: December 2001. Minor edits: January 2011, April 2015.

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1. The Stumbling Block

Every discussion about the Bible sooner or later comes back to the story of Genesis. On this tough nut the Bible protagonist usually begins grasping at straws and the Bible antagonist just watches the other drown. Why? Because very few people have been able to unravel the complexities of Genesis and the creation of mankind. Without a sound working knowledge of Genesis Chapter I and Chapter 2 much of the Bible will remain a mystery.

The first step in unravelling these two chapters is to make a simple verse by verse comparison:

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. 1. In the beginning ... the heavens and the earth 4. In the age ... earth and heavens 3. light --- 5. day and night --- 6. atmosphere --- 9. land --- 10. seas --- 11. grass 5. plants of the (cultivated) field not yet in the

earth and green herbs not yet growing 12. herb yielding seed --- 13. fruit of the trees --- 14. stars --- 16. sun and moon --- 20. marine life, birds --- 21. animal life, "beasts" of the earth --- 26. mankind --- 27. male and female... created 7. formed... man 29. diet prescribed for humans and animals --- (Continues in Chapter 2:1-3 and includes the Age

of Rest.) ---

8. Eden 9. trees pleasant of appearance, tree of the

lives, tree of the knowledge good and evil 16. Man's diet prescribed 19. "beasts" of the (cultivated) field 21. woman (singular) (No rest period mentioned anywhere.)

Before progressing beyond this point several interesting ‘oddities’ can be observed. Notice the word by word difference between Gen 1:1 and Gen 2:4. Observe how in Chapter 1 the sun is not created until sometime after the creation of green grass, herbs and trees (where are the evolutionists?). “Male” and “female” refer to a number of people because they refer to mankind in Chapter 1, whereas “man” and “woman” are very specific in their meaning in Chapter 2. In Chapter 2 man and woman come before the vegetation is established. Chapter 1 carefully defines a different diet for different orders of creation. Finally, Chapter 1 contains a rest period, but Chapter 2 makes no reference to a rest period.

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To uncover any more information in Genesis, we need to go to the lexicons and the Hebrew text to check the precise meanings of the words. Needless to say, this is not everybody’s cup of tea. Some of the words can be clarified using Strong’s Concordance BUT this is not a reliable method of determining the true meaning of the word concerned. (If you are checking someone’s translation using Strong’s or Young’s you will often see the meaning included in the list but this does not endorse or nullify the word you are checking.)

The following five sections consist of commentaries on special points of interest from Genesis 1 and 2. Each section is cross-referenced to the appropriate verse. Section 2 contains a translation of Genesis 1 and 2 which is reasonably accurate.

1.1. The heavens and the earth: Gen 1:1

The heavens and the earth were created by the Creators (see Section 1.4), but the Lord God Himself made earth and heavens in Chapter 2. The use of the Definite Article (the) in Hebrew is much more sparing than in English and its appearance shows that some special or important point is being made. In this case the presence of the Definite Article, together with the order of the words heavens and earth, highlights the differences between the two accounts. Chapter 1 discusses the whole of the heavens and the whole earth whereas Chapter 2 deals with a very special part of the earth and its environment (see the translation notes for Chapter 2 in Section 2).

If Genesis is a full and true account of creation, then what of dinosaurs and cavemen? Dr. Bullinger has attempted to indicate that some life existed on the Earth in the period of Gen 1:1 and was subsequently destroyed before the time of Gen 1:2. However, close scrutiny of his references does not provide solid support for his suggestion.

Something frequently overlooked in studying the Bible is that Time was not important and was unrecorded prior to the pronouncement of Gen 3:15. We do not know how much time elapsed between the work of Genesis l and the new work of Genesis 2. We do not know how long Adam and Eve were in Eden before the Fall. There could well have been plenty of “time” for dinosaurs to have come and gone. Does anyone doubt that Dodo birds, Moas and Tasmanian Tigers ever existed? But even in these days it is not easy to find the proof of their co-existence with man – children born 500 years from now will probably view a large number of our quadruped and biped contemporaries in much as we view dinosaurs today.

What about gas clouds condensing to form the earth? It is possible, if one wished to follow the “poetical” possibilities of the words used in Gen 1:2, to see something consistent with disorganized gases as astronomers see it. However one should consider:

a. The gas cloud produced the earth first – the sun and moon did not come into existence until Gen 1:16 and

b. Why does there need to be such an involved process? What is so wrong with “instant creation” – where is there any proof of anything to the contrary?

Dr. Bullinger takes great care in his work to pick out each figure of speech as it occurs in the text. None of the words such as deep, waters, without form and void are associated with figures of speech that suggest poetic use of the words to convey another meaning. On the other hand, it is not unusual to find that the Hebrew word can often convey a more specific meaning than the English translation. The meaning of the Hebrew word is often more illuminating, and once it is discovered, the meaning may then be seen in the English translation although it is unnoticed beforehand.

Why should there be water above the earth? There are three good reasons:

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a. The water for forty days and nights of rain had to be “stored” somewhere

b. The canopy of water would provide the evenness of temperature all over the earth which enabled mammoths to roam where ice caps now exist

c. The ancient Adamic race had fantastic astronomical and astrological knowledge which they were able to use to their advantage – if the stars were as difficult to see in the sky as they are today, how would Adam and his descendants have gained that knowledge? Why would some of Noah’s descendants have thought that the Tower of Babel would reach the Heavens? A water canopy around the earth may well have acted like a lens to make the stars and constellations much easier to see because they would have seemed closer. After the flood when the lens was gone, building the tower may have seemed to some people a logical way of getting close to the stars again, in order to try to recapture the power and long life that existed before the flood.

1.2. Let there be light: Gen 1:3

The work of Chapter 1 is truly creative because photosynthetic plants were created before the Sun was in existence. Nevertheless, there was some form of light and darkness present. In Chapter 2, on the other hand, the higher order of plants were established in the presence of the Sun.

1.3. The Beasts (Heb: living) of the Earth: Gen 1:24

Chapter 1 talks of the living of the earth while in Chapter 2 the phrase is living of the cultivated field (Gen 2:19). The question arises as to who or what are these living? In both Chapters the difference between the order of the animals and the order of the living is carefully and deliberately highlighted.

In Chapter 1:25 the living of the earth were made after its kind, the large beast after its kind and the creeping creature after its kind. In the Hebrew, the repetition of after its kind, is the means of emphasizing the distinctiveness of each group. Each of the three groups were separate unto themselves. In Chapter 2, Adam was placed in the garden which was also known as the cultivated field. Later the living of the cultivated field were made and also the birds of the air. In verse 20 Adam named “all the cattle", “the birds of the heavens” and every living of the cultivated field. If “the cattle” and the living of the cultivated field were the same, it seems very strange that they should be presented in the text as two different groups. The living of the earth and the cultivated field are indeed different from the cattle and the beasts – but the question remains: who or what are they?

In Genesis 3:1 the translators have helped to perpetrate one of the greatest misconceptions of the Bible:

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman ...

All the confusion has arisen from taking literally what is expressed as a Figure of Speech. A Figure of Speech is never used except for the purpose of calling attention to or emphasizing and intensifying the reality of the literal sense and the truth of the historical facts. But for the figurative language of verses 14 and 15, no one would have thought of referring to verse 1 as pertaining to a literal snake. No one reads Rev 20:2 where Satan is referred to as the “old serpent” as being a literal relationship. However the association of the Figure immediately carries the mind back to the serpent of Genesis 3.

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In 2 Cor 11:14 we are told that Satan often presents himself as an angel of light and in Ezek 28:11-19, Satan is identified as having “been in the garden of God” and being “perfect in beauty”. We cannot accept Eve holding conversation with a snake, but we can understand her being fascinated by someone, who is an angel of light, perfect in beauty and possessing superior and supernatural knowledge (which is the broad interpretation of “more subtil”). So Satan (the serpent), is spoken of as being wiser or more knowledgeable than any living of the cultivated field which the Lord God had made. Clearly any human is more knowledgeable than any beast and so the living of the cultivated field could not be beasts or animals but human beings. The purpose of the phrase the cultivated field is to identify these people as different from the living of the earth in Chapter 1. (For some compelling reading on Gen 3, see the Companion Bible, Appendix 19.)

It is particularly significant that none of the people of the cultivated field were found to be suitable as Adam's partner (Gen 2:20, 23).

1.4. In (the) beginning, God: Gen 1:1 There are a number of Hebrew words used in connection with God and His heavenly hosts which are translated by a variety of English words. It is not intended here to delve into all the names for God Himself and their significance, but in order to understand Genesis 1 and 2 properly, it is important to know the meaning of the Hebrew word Elohim. Before attempting to translate the word, it is necessary to recognize how it is used and what contrasts or comparisons can be made about the usage of this word and the words that are used to describe God Himself.

Elohim appears in the Hebrew text:

a. On its own,

b. With the definite article – The Elohim or

c. In conjunction with another word such as Jehovah Elohim.

Research in other areas will indicate that the term Jehovah Elohim refers to the Supreme Deity Himself.

In Hebrew the use of the Definite Article gives the word Elohim a special significance. In this case the Elohim indicates the one of the Elohim and is best rendered as in the AV – God Himself (Isa 45:18).

In order to attempt a translation of the word Elohim when used on its own it is first worth looking at the context of its usage. For example:

a. Elohim is a plural collective noun, but is translated as God from Gen 1:1 to Gen 2:3. In that chapter, the Elohim have created the heavens and the earth and all the people in it. In Gen 2:2 it says the Elohim rested from the work of the previous 6 days. But the Lord who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps 121:4).

b. It was the Lord God who told Adam he could not eat of the tree of The Knowledge Good and Evil, but Satan said hath Elohim said ye shall not eat (Gen 3:1). Satan goes on to say that Adam and Eve will be as Elohim if they eat of the tree. Satan does not say they will be as the Lord God.

c. In Gen 6:9,11, the Hebrew text says that Noah walked with The Elohim (God Himself) and that the Earth was corrupt before The Elohim (God Himself). Then in the next verse it says and Elohim looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt and it is Elohim who tell Noah of the intention to flood the earth. The Bible does not waste time in unnecessary repetition and the direct contrast of verses 11 and 12 tells us that The Elohim and Elohim are different. Furthermore, it is Elohim who give the instructions to build the ark and to take the animals in

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by two, but it is Jehovah who tells Noah to take the clean animals by sevens. In Chapter 7:11 it says that Noah had done all (the) Elohim commanded him, and Jehovah shut Noah in. As shall be seen below, it is significant that Noah built an altar to Jehovah after the flood (Gen 8:20) but it is Elohim who set the covenant of the rainbow (Gen 9:12).

d. In Gen 12:1-3, Jehovah tells Abram to leave Ur and makes His great announcement about Abram’s future and later, in verses 6-8, Jehovah shows Abram the promised land and promises it to Abram’s descendants. In Chapter 17:1,2, Jehovah appears again to Abram and says He will make His covenant with him. Then Elohim speak with Abram and give all the details of how things will be and how his and Sarai’s names will be changed (note: it doesn’t say that Elohim made the change – they simply told him about it). When Abraham made an appeal on Ishmael’s behalf he appealed to The Elohim – not Elohim; but Elohim gave him the answer.

e. In Gen 32:30, after Jacob had wrestled with the Heavenly being, he says that he has seen Elohim face to face and lived. This is in direct contrast to Ex 33 where Moses asks to see Jehovah but Jehovah says no man can see His face and live (verse 20).

After examining these occurrences of Elohim it is clear that Elohim is very different from:

a. The Elohim (God Himself)

b. Jehovah (the Lord) and

c. Jehovah Elohim (the Lord God).

The Hebrew usage also indicates that although Elohim is a collective noun, it is used with a plural or singular meaning, depending on its context – like the English word ‘sheep’. A more detailed study of the contexts in which Elohim is used appears to show that the Elohim are associated with the Earth itself – they appear to be responsible for looking after it and all that actually occurs or goes on in the Earth. It was the Elohim who created the Earth, Sun, Moon and stars and so on. It was the Elohim who populated the Earth. It was the Elohim who executed the Flood and took responsibility for Noah. It was the Elohim who blessed Noah and ensured his prosperity.

The difficulty in translating Elohim lies in trying to find an English collective noun that has the connotation of creating and caretaking but which also has singular and plural applications! As such a word does not seem to exist in English. The best approximation is the term Creators for the plural meaning and Creator for the singular meanings. A check of the above instances and all the other occurrences of Elohim will show that Creators/Creator gives a consistently sensible translation and identification of the word Elohim in this Book of beginnings.

In the translation of Genesis Chapter 1 in Section 2, the term Creators has been used consistently. The pronouns are expressed in the plural when this is consistent with the usage of Elohim as a collective noun. In the expression I am the Lord thy God (Elohim) when the Lord is speaking to Israel, for example, the singular meaning of Elohim is clearly necessary and so would read I am the Lord thy Creator (which He is, where Israel is concerned).

1.5. In our image after our likeness: Gen 1:26.

Genesis 1:26 in the AV states that the Elohim (translated God) made mankind in our image, after our likeness. The meaning of this verse has always been obscured by misunderstanding Elohim as God Himself, leading to the belief that man has been made to look just like God Himself. A close examination of the Hebrew of this verse reveals quite a different meaning and one which fits better with the overall scheme of the Bible.

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As with all the words in the Bible, each one of them has a particular reason for being used and is precisely chosen because no other word would have been suitable in that context. The first step in understanding the true meanings of the chosen words is to see how these words are used elsewhere in the Bible. The most striking contrast in this particular case is in Gen 5:3:

Adam … begat a son in his own likeness, after his image and called his name Seth.

What is the significance of the reversal of the prepositions and nouns? At this point in Adam’s life, we know he has been shut out of the Garden and so no longer has access to the Tree of Lives. So Adam now has only mortal life and one day he must die. Abel is already dead and Cain has left the family and at this stage we do not know how long he will live. So the question arises, will Seth have eternal life as Adam had originally or mortal life as Adam now has? It seems reasonable therefore that one of the words in this verse, image or likeness, may give a clue to establish the point. (Remember that although one Hebrew word can sometimes have several English meanings, the meaning is always constant within the same context.)

The word image in Hebrew has the primary meaning of shade or shadow and is used metaphorically in the Bible to indicate the phantom-like or passing, dream-like existence of something (and hence it is also used to indicate an illusion). The usage of the word is best illustrated in Ps 39:6 where ever man that walks, is only a shadow (Jerusalem Bible) and the context indicates that the length of David’s life and man’s is nothing before the Lord’s eternal life. Similarly, in Ps 73:20, David says that God disposes of the wicked as you shrug off the phantoms of a morning dream (Jerusalem Bible) – that is, something passing and transient.

Returning to Gen 1:26, the Creators were about to create mankind, but they did not have the power to bestow eternal life. The preposition in thus directs our attention to the fact that life such as the Elohim possessed was to be given to mankind also, but it could only be a limited life span, that is, a shadow of their own eternal life. To emphasize the point quite clearly, the phrase is repeated twice more in Gen 1:27 in order to draw our attention to the importance of the statement being made. (There is an interesting and perhaps indirect confirmation of this in the Hebrew text of Wisdom 2:23 for the Creators ... made man to be an image of their own eternity/everlastingness).

This interpretation of in our image in Gen 1:26 explains why in Gen 5:3 the sequence of the prepositions relative to likeness and image is reversed. Seth was to have a life similar to that which his father now had, that is, Seth was to be mortal as Adam was since the Fall. Therefore Seth was begotten according to (or after) the life (or shadow) of Adam. If Seth had been born in Adam’s image, Seth’s life would have been much shorter than Adam’s.

Gen 1:26 specifically states that the Creators (Elohim) proposed making mankind after their likeness, not in their likeness as was the case with the image. The difference demanded by this change of the preposition from in to after indicates that we are not to look for something that is an exact replica or photocopy but something which is similar in its characteristics or qualities. The first step then is to look at the primary meaning of the word likeness.

Likeness comes from a Hebrew root with meanings to be like, to become like, to liken in one’s mind, to imagine, to think, to purpose, to meditate, to plan something and to remember. These are all mental functions of a high order. The Bible uses the word likeness to make both metaphorical and literal (or physical) comparisons between things. For example, Ps 58:4 – their poison is like (according to the likeness of ) of a serpent. This verse is speaking about the lies of the wicked people and how their lies are like the poison of the snake. Similarly in Ezek 23:15 – all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea. Here again the comparison is one of similar characteristics between those being spoken of and those of another time. (The use of the word to indicate physical similarities is well illustrated in 2 Kings 16:10 – and the pattern (or model) of it ... and Ezek 1:5 – the likeness of four living creatures ... they had the likeness of a man.)

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We should note that in Gen 1:26 the Creators are about to take a great step in creating a new order of life – human beings – with:

a. A life essence similar to the Elohim (although very much shorter) and

b. Possessing higher mental functions than the birds and animals created up to this point.

It is the broad similarity between the mental capacity given to man and that possessed by the Creators that is being revealed in Gen 1:26. Mankind was being given the ability to develop technical and organisational skills after the manner of the Creators.

In Gen 5:3, Seth was begotten in Adam’s likeness not after his likeness because Seth would begin his life as a baby and so would not have similar mental attributes to Adam until he reached adulthood. (If Seth had been begotten after Adam’s likeness he would have had Adam’s full mental attributes at birth.)

In summary, the clue to the interpretation of the phrases in our image and after our likeness in Gen 1:26 lies in the use of the prepositions in contrast to each other. Without such contrasting use, either preposition can be used on its own as shown in Gen 5:1. In this case the phrase in the likeness of the Creators indicates that mankind was created able to think intelligently like the Creators and not in the simple manner of the animals (and the living of the earth) which were not created in the likeness of the Creators. It is only the ability to think, that distinguishes mankind from the animals. Both animals and man have short lifespans in comparison to the Creators – hence the choice of in the likeness of the Creators rather than in the image of Creators.

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2. In (the) beginning: A translation of Genesis 1 and 2

1. In the beginning B’reshith – the ‘b’ is a preposition and should be translated as IN, BY or WITH (in this instance the Hebrew combines the proposition with the Definite Article, the). Reshith (singular) translated beginning 18 times, first fruits 11 times, first 9 times, chief 8 times. It has no meaning with time – this is before time was measured. See also note on verse 5.

(the) Creators This is a masculine, collective noun and in this sense it can be used like the word council and be addressed in the third person (it or they). In Hebrew there is no neuter and Elohim must always be he or they in order to agree with the masculine noun. Throughout the AV this word is used in many ways – it is used of God Himself, of idols, angels, angels of Satan, Judges, Kings and even a goddess. As Section 1.4 indicates, Creators is a suitable translation of this word in this context.

created Barah – to create, to make for the first time in perfection and beautiful. Not necessarily to make out of nothing but to make for the first time. It is used in Jer 31:22 the Lord has created a new thing in the earth.

the When the Definite Article is present in the Hebrew text, it is shown in the left hand column in bold type. The other occurrences of (the) are for English readability only.

heavens Heaven(s) in Hebrew is a plural word without a singular form.

and the earth Erets – it means earth, but also land or country. It is used in a variety of ways

(A). It does have a plural form which also

appears in scripture and is usually translated ‘countries’.

2. and the earth was Was – see Section 1.1.

empty and desolate Ellicott says both words are substantives and signify wasteness and emptiness. No translator seems to translate these words with any consistency. The intention seems to be to emphasize that no life existed (see Section 1.1).

and darkness was upon (the) surface

Face (in the AV) – is a plural word in Hebrew and does not have a singular form although it is commonly translated so in the AV. The word surface is not listed in Strong’s Concordance. This meaning is given by Davidson and Gesenius.

of (the) deep (abyss) There is little given about the possible meanings of this phrase in this verse. It might refer only to the fact that darkness was on the surface of the water surrounding the earth. However, in the LXX the Greek word used here is the same as the one used in Revelation for bottomless in connection with the bottomless pit.

and (the) power of (the) Creators brooded over the waters

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3. and (the) Creators said let light come and light came

Gesenius: let there be light and there was (came into existence) light. The Definite Article is not used in this verse because here it is proposed the light should be made and then brought into existence. In verse 4 the Definite Article is used because it defines the light as being that same light that was pronounced earlier in verse 3.

4. and (the) Creators saw the light was beautiful and (the) Creators

caused division In verse 18 the light and darkness are divided by the sun and moon.

between the light and the darkness

5. and (the) Creators called to the light day and to the darkness

they called As explained in verse 1, the verb used in connection with Elohim is often singular. In Hebrew this would allow us to say the equivalent of it when referring to the collective noun Elohim. As the decision is to translate Elohim as Creators (Section 1.4), the third person plural is used to keep the English sense for the sake of the translation.

night evening was and dawn was

a first age Hebrew text has age one which, in reference to time, can be translated as first age. As the sun and moon are not yet present, this cannot be a 24 hour day. The Hebrew word is yom and comes from the same root word as or meaning light. In other words it has the meaning of heat and light and we are told that the evening and the morning were one yom. Evening in Hebrew means to go in, to draw towards the day’s close. Morning means breaking forth. This combination makes a cycle which is made up of a breaking forth from darkness (or later, a period of consolidation) into a period of intense activity and followed again by consolidation for maturity and growth. This cycle is a yom or age. The 24 hour day, according to the Bible, begins with the preceding evening (For example, Lev 23:32) and perhaps reflects this same cycle.

6. and (the) Creators said let there be a

firmament The footnote in the Jerusalem Bible says to form an annulus. The Hebrew word is rakia – and its purpose was to divide the waters. It is our atmosphere. It means something expanding, an expanse, something unending – a perfect definition of a gas and its properties.

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in (the) midst of the waters and let it be dividing waters to waters

7. and (the) Creators

made Primary meaning to labour, to work about anything, to work upon anything (like an artisan on gold and silver).

the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament

8. and (the) Creators called to the firmament heavens; dusk was and dawn was a second age

9. and (the) Creators said let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place and let the dry land appear and it was so

10. and (the) Creators called to the dry land earth and to the collection of the waters seas and (the) Creators saw that it was beautiful

11. and (the) Creators said let the earth bring

forth grass and herb yielding seed and fruit trees yielding fruit with its seed inside it

Notice that these photosynthetic plants were present before the Sun. The plant life is described in three sections:

The tender grass – deshe – it does not seem to mean grass as we know it, but rather tender greenness, mosses and young growth. This word is not in the second chapter of Genesis.

Herb yielding seed – our grasses seem to fall into this class. Although herbs are mentioned in the second chapter, they are qualified as of the field.

Trees yielding fruit – in the botanical sense – all trees produce fruit, although not necessarily edible.

and it was so

12. and the earth brought forth grass herb yielding seed

In the absence of sunshine, but not necessarily in the absence of light.

after its kind These things remained in their species.

and trees yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after its kind and (the) Creators saw that it was beautiful

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13. dusk was and dawn was a third age

14. and (the) Creators said let there be luminaries in (the) firmament of the heavens to divide between the day and the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years

15. and let them be for luminaries in (the) expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth and it was so

16. and (the) Creators made the two great the luminaries the greater to rule the day and the lessor luminary to rule the night and the stars

17. and (the) Creators put them in (the) expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth

18. and to rule the day and the night and to divide between the light and the darkness and (the) Creators saw that it was good

19. and dusk was and dawn was a fourth age

20. and (the) Creators said let the waters abound with small aquatic animals with

living In Hebrew this is a feminine adjective meaning living or that which lives.

natural life From the Hebrew meaning ‘to respire’ or ‘take breath’.

and let birds fly upon the earth and in the heavens

21. and (the) Creators created the great sea-monsters (whales) and all the living natural life with which the waters abound after their kinds and every bird of (the) wing after

its kind This indicates the creation of animals according to their habitat and does not link them in an evolutionary spectrum.

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and (the) Creators saw that it was beautiful

22. and (the) Creators

blessed them Blessed them ‘thoroughly’ which caused them to prosper.

saying produce offspring and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and let the birds multiply in the earth

23. and dusk was and dawn was a fifth age

24. and (the) Creators said let the earth produce living natural life after its kind large beasts and

that which moves and Usually any land animal, in opposition to fowls (used once of water animals); usually translated as creeping things but also has the meaning of reptiles.

living of the earth Beast (in the AV) – in the Hebrew this word is a feminine adjective meaning living or that which lives (see Section 1.3). This is a different life form from all others in this Chapter. The difference is highlighted in verse 25 with emphasis of after its kind after each distinct group.

after its kind and it was so

25. and (the) Creators

made To produce by labour, to work upon anything.

the The Definite Article in this instance indicates the objects made as being those mentioned in the previous verse. However the use of the Definite Article in the phrase living of the earth indicates that life associated with the earth – compare living of the cultivated field in Chapter 2.

living of the earth after its kind and the large beast after its kind and every that which moves of the ground after its kind and (the) Creators saw that it was beautiful

26. and (the) Creators said we will make

mankind Mankind is the best word as it is a collective noun which includes the male and female components mentioned in verse 27.

in our image With mortal life – see Section 1.5.

after our likeness With similar mental attributes – see Section 1.5.

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and they will rule over (the) fish of the sea and over (the) birds of the heavens over (the) cattle and over all the earth and over all the (ones) that which move which move upon the earth

27. and (the) Creators

created Created is repeated three times to emphasize this as original, made for the first time. As noted before, the word Elohim can be used like the word council and so can take a singular verb to indicate it created. The difference is quite clear in the Hebrew, but for the English translation the plural pronoun they is in order to convey the sense of the Hebrew.

the mankind in their image, in (the) image of (the) Creators they created

it Refers to mankind.

male and female Zakar and nequebah – these words are not related by gender, that is nequebah is not the female form of zakar – compare note on Gen 2:23. Male and female are created separately here and are not of one flesh as in Gen 2:22. Furthermore, male and female are not used here as synonyms for man and woman.

they created them

28. and (the) Creators

blessed them Blessed them ‘thoroughly’ which caused them to prosper.

and (the) Creators said to them produce offspring and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over (the) fish of the sea and over birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth

29. and (the) Creators said Behold I give to

you Second person plural masculine – again confirming that it was mankind and not man singular.

every herb yielding seed which is upon (the) faces of all the earth and every the tree which is a fruit tree yielding seed and it will be for

food Not for meat as the AV has it.

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30. and to every

living of the earth Notice that living of the earth and all the animals are denied fruit as a food. They were restricted to the herbs only.

and to all (the) birds of the heavens and to every creature with living natural life that moves upon the earth every green herb for

food Not “meat” as in the A. V.

and it was so

31. and (the) Creators saw all which they had

made To make, to produce by labour, to work upon anything.

and behold it was exceedingly beautiful and dusk was and dawn was the sixth age

Chapter 2

1. The heavens and the earth

were made ready Gesenius says finished means to be completed, finished, hence to be prepared, made ready for someone, by anyone.

and (the) whole host of them In the Septuagint and all the kosmos the same. This suggests the heavens and the earth were made ready and the whole system/order (which governs the heavens and the earth) was also made ready.

2. and (the) Creators

finished Same word as in verse 1 above. Implies the work was made ready for someone or something.

in the seventh age Berry says that the texts of Septuagint, Samaritan and Peshitto indicate sixth age.

their work The Hebrew word comes from the root meaning to order, to execute; from an unused root to depute, to send as a messenger. Work, business or labour. The normal manual work of 6 days. The same word describes the work of the 6 days from which we must desist. It is service, the work of organization, hence work prescribed by anyone. Repeated 3 times in these two verses which highlights its importance – work prescribed by the Lord God to the Elohim. The phrase, up to this point, is a complete thought – the work was made ready for someone.

which they had worked upon and

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they desisted The Elohim rested – God neither slumbers nor sleeps. And they desisted in the seventh age from all work (of the earth) they had worked upon.

in the seventh age from all their work which they had made

3. and (the) Creators blessed the seventh age and

sanctified From the Hebrew – sanctify, hallow, to consecrate, to set aside for sacred use.

it because in it

they desisted to cease from labour.

from all their work (the) Creators had created to make

Compare F. Fenton: He rested from all the work that He had arranged to do,

and the Jerusalem Bible (JB): He rested after all the work of his creating.

Ellicott says: Elohim created the world in order to make and form and fashion it.

4. these are (the)

origins family histories, origins.

of the heavens and the earth when they were

created. The full stop here is indicated also in the JB, Ellicott and Berry. In Old Testament times the titles were always at the end of the work. Therefore Chapter 2 correctly begins at this point. (Chapters and verses are man’s invention.)

In the age The particular age in which God did His work. This is a new cycle of activity and is not the 24 hour day as time has not yet been counted. JB says at the time of.

(the) Lord God made earth and heavens

Note the reversal of earth and heavens compared with Gen 1:1.

5. and plants plant, shrub, bush.

of the cultivated field were not yet in

the earth That is, there were no cultivated plants anywhere in the whole world. This verse, in addition to the second half of verse 4, clearly indicates this is a different story.

and

green herbs Collectively, herbs and vegetables.

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of (the) cultivated field were not yet growing because (the) Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was

no man to cultivate Same word as mankind – (a collective noun) but with a singular application, here showing that agriculture, as such, was not a skill of mankind.

the ground

6. and vapour vapour, mist.

came up from the earth and

irrigated watered

(the) whole of

the ground The scene which the Lord God set prior to forming Adam is made abundantly clear by the detailed description – a piece of earth and its environment were sculptured by the Lord God, but there were no cultivated plants here or anywhere else and there was no rain here, only the vapour rising out of the ground. (Presumably there were the trees and bushes as made by the Elohim.) The vapour need not have returned to the earth to cause irrigation – if the area was above an underground reservoir, the water could move up by osmosis and then the warm atmosphere (remember that Adam was naked) would simply evaporate the water as vapour out of the ground. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes an area in the supposed region of the Flood where there is geological evidence of a thin land shelf above a large subterranean reservoir. The cracking open of this shelf would explain the waters of the deep and the need for the huge size of the Ark. This also fits with a river rising within Eden (see verse 10).

7. (the) Lord God

formed Moulded as a potter forms a vessel.

the man Eth ha adam – the man, Adam. In Gen 1:27 this word was translated mankind because it was associated with plural pronouns. Here the word is intended as a Proper name but will continue to be translated as the man so as to highlight the Definite Article.

of dust of the ground and

breathed in his the nostrils breath of lives

Lives (plural); this is eternal life bestowed by the Lord God only. The breath of lives is the capacity for replenishing life by access to the Tree of Lives. The Elohim have no such power – see Section 1.5.

and the man became as if he were a

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natural life A living being but with the breath of lives in his nostrils thus differing from all natural life mentioned in Chapters 1 and 2 (including Gen 1:24 and 2:20). The preposition, le, in this context means: as if it were, as if it was. That is, to all intents and purposes the same, but not actually the same at all.

8. and (the) Lord God planted

a garden The root meaning is from a verb to cover, to cover over, to protect. The noun has the meaning of something fenced, something hedged in. In other words a protected and separated place. The Greek word used means paradise.

in Eden The root of this word is to be soft, lax, pliant, to live luxuriously and as a noun it has the meaning of delight, pleasure.

on (the) east ‘Side’ being understood.

and put there

the man Not the men.

whom He had formed

9. and (the) Lord God caused to grow up from the ground every tree pleasant for appearance and good for food and

tree of the lives In the Hebrew the plural is often used to suggest something continuous, going on, unending. After his sin, Adam had to leave the garden, otherwise he would have continued to have access to the tree of lives and would have lived forever (Gen 3:22).

in (the) midst of the garden and (the) tree of

the knowledge The knowledge refers to the ability to perceive or distinguish good from evil. In their original innocence Adam and Eve did not and could not have any knowledge of good and evil because they had neither seen nor experienced any act that could teach this to them. It is only by the breach of God’s specific command that this knowledge was acquired, together with the responsibilities that go with such knowledge.

good and evil

(Verses 10-14 not translated Notice in particular that there was a river going out from Eden and in the Hebrew (according to Ellicott) has the connotation of a river rising in Eden.

15. and (the) Lord God took the man

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and caused him to remain This is a different word from verse 8 – Adam was placed in the Garden in verse 8, but here the word has the root meaning of to rest, to abide, to remain.

in (the) garden of Eden to cultivate and

to keep it From the root meaning to keep, to watch, to guard. The Garden was God’s own work and so Satan would be determined to corrupt it any way he could. The difficulty and danger would arise only if Adam failed to obey God’s instructions.

16. and (the) Lord God commanded the man saying from every tree of (the) garden

thou may freely eat Eating thou mayest eat is a Hebrew method of emphasis and in this context emphasizes that of every tree may food be taken, except for one tree, as the next verse indicates.

17. but from (the) tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat for

in the day This would appear to indicate that at the moment of the event, something would occur – in this instance the sequence of events (described in Chapter 3) which led ultimately to physical death and the need for resurrection.

of thy eating from it thou shalt

surely die “Dying thou shalt die” – Hebrew emphasis of the certainty of the death.

18. and (the) Lord God said is not good the man being alone I will make for him a helper

as one like him Corresponding to him, his perfect counterpart.

19. then formed Again, as in verse 7, emphasizing that these are a different order of animals to those of Chap. 1.

(the) Lord God from the ground every

living of the cultivated field beast = living = noun feminine singular.

and every bird of the heavens Notice that in this chapter, only three things are made from the ground: * Adam * the living of the cultivated field * the birds of the heavens.

The cattle mentioned in the next verse are not mentioned as being formed in this chapter.

and brought or led

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to the man to see what he would name it and whatever the man would name a

creature creature = living natural life.

that was its name

20. and the man named names for all the cattle and for (the) bird of the heavens and for every

living of the cultivated field

and for the man he did not find a helper as one like him

This would be rather obvious if Adam had in fact only been dealing with cattle, birds and beasts. However, if the “beasts” were people, this highlights the difference between the two orders of people – see Section 1.3.

21. and (the) Lord God caused to fall a deep sleep upon the man and he slept and He took one

of his cells This word is translated rib only in these two verses. Its other translations are – side, chamber, beams, side chambers. These are all the structural elements of the entity described – beams are the structural elements of a room, chambers are the structural elements of a house. Cells are the structural elements of a body. The concept of taking a chamber (or cell) from Adam’s body is very much in line with what is known of body cells today. Every body cell has the genetic material necessary to reproduce the whole body. By using one of Adam’s body cells, there was no need to breathe the breath of lives into Eve’s nostrils. Adam’s body cells would harbour that breath. The only additional work needed to be done to the cell was to alter the sex chromosomes to produce a female.

and closed the flesh in

place of it Instead of it, that is, healed it – because suitable somatic cells are located inside the body, below the skin surface.

22. and (the) Lord God built the cell which he had taken from the man into

woman See man in verse 23.

and brought her to the man

23. and the man said this

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at last More literally, this time. This is spoken by an individual – it is the proof that this is a particular man, versus mankind, as in Gen 1. The expression indicates that Adam had been looking at other people to find a partner, but he realized they were not bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh; they were not “ish”. It is not a valid argument to suggest the same statement could have been made if Adam had been looking among beasts of the field and cattle for his partner. Adam was obviously not stupid – he was put in the Garden as its gardener, so he would have known animals were animals. However he would have searched among the living of the cultivated field in the hope of finding a suitable companion, but found none like unto himself, until this time.

bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh to this it will be named

woman because from man Gen 1:27 spoke of male and female – zakar and nequebah – as the two components of mankind. Here it is ish and ishshah. Ish and ishshah are words derived from a common root word and ishshah indicates the female form of ish. The word ish and its related Hebrew words are often used to identify the descendants of this formation by the Lord God. The distinction is clearly made in Ps 49.2 (Both low and high – literally, the sons of mankind and the sons of ish). A study of the use of zakar / nequebah and ish / ishshah throughout the Bible is enough in itself to show the contrast between Genesis 1 and 2 and the uniqueness of Adam and his seed.

this was taken.

–––––––––– –––––––––– References A.* Phillips, R.K. and Phillips, R.N., Study Notes: Heavens, Heaven, Earths, Earth and Ground, Sydney, April, 1992. B. Berry, G.R., The Interlinear Hebrew Old Testament, (Gensis and Exodus) Kregek Publications, Michigan, 1974 C. Bullinger, E.W, The Companion Bible, Samuel Bagster and Sons Limited, London, 1972. D. Davidson, B., The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, Samuel Bagster and Sons Limited, London, 1966. E. Ellicott, C.J., Editor, A Bible Commentary for English Readers, Cassell and Company, London, circa 1900. F. Fenton, F., The Holy Bible in Modern English, Destiny Publishers, Massachusetts, 1966. G. Gesenius Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon (with additions by Furst), Samuel Bagster and Sons Ltd, London, date

unknown. H. Jones, A. (Editor), The Jerusalem Bible, Popular Edition, Darton, Longman & Todd, London, 1974 I. The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, Samuel Bagster and Sons Limited, London. K. Strong, J., The Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible, Abingdon Press, New York, 1970. * Papers available by request or via some British-Israel World Federation bookshops.