Genesis Creation Narrative

The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. It is made up of two parts, roughly equivalent to the two first chapters of the Book of Genesis. In Genesis 1:1 through Genesis 2:3, God (Hebrew אֱלֹהִ֔ים Elohim) creates the world in six days, then rests on, blesses and sanctifies the seventh day. In Genesis 2:4–24 Yahweh, the personal name of God, forms the first man from dust, places him in the Garden of Eden, and creates the first woman, Eve, from the man's body.

In the first section God creates by spoken command ("Let there be..."), suggesting a comparison with a king, who has only to speak for things to happen; each command is followed by name-giving ("And he called..."). The characteristic Hebrew verb used to describe God's creative act in this chapter is ברא, bara, which throughout the bible is used only with God as its subject – that is, only God can bara. In the second part the word used when God forms the first man is יצר, yatsar, meaning "fashioned", a verb used in contexts such as a potter forming a pot from clay. God breathes his own breath into the man and he becomes נֶפֶש nephesh, a living being. Man shares nephesh with all creatures, but only of man is this life-giving act of God described.

A common hypothesis among biblical studies scholars is that the first major comprehensive draft of the Pentateuch (the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy) was composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BC (the Yahwist source) and that this was later expanded by other authors (the Priestly source) into a work very like the one we have today. In the creation narrative the two sources appear in reverse order: Genesis 1:1–2:3 is Priestly and Genesis 2:4–24 is Yahwistic. The over-riding purpose of the authors was to establish a monotheistic creation myth in opposition to the polytheistic myth of Israel's historic enemy, Babylon; they borrowed themes from Mesopotamian mythology, but adapted them to Israel's belief in one God. Robert Alter described the combined narrative as "compelling in its archetypal character, its adaptation of myth to monotheistic ends".