There are actually two stories of creation at the beginning of the Hebrew Bible – the opening account of the creation of the universe in six days with God resting on the seventh day (Genesis 1, 1 – 2, 3), and the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2, 4 – 3, 24). I want to discuss the relationship between these two stories, which are not only contradictory but complementary constituting a literary unit.
As background, I want to point out that there are two main terms for God in the Bible that are reflected in the two opening accounts of creation – the name YHVH (usually translated as the Lord) and the term Elohim (usually translated as God). The distinction between these terms is a fundamental distinction of the Bible and a key to understanding the Bible and Jewish tradition. In the Biblical conception, Elohim is the transcendent God of nature and power – “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1, 1). YHVH, by contrast, is the God of revelation and redemption who demands morality, as reflected in the revelation to Moses at the burning bush – “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, the Lord (YHVH) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this is My name for ever…I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt” (Exodus 3, 15-16). YHVH, in the verse here, is depicted as having seen the oppression and persecution that the people Israel have suffered in Egypt, and the mentioning that YHVH is the name of God in the verse signifies God’s moral opposition to such oppression and persecution.
The main evidence that the two Biblical stories of creation constitute a literary unit is in the opening verse of the second story (Genesis 2, 4) – “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord (YHVH) God (Elohim) made the earth and the heavens“. The verse contains two parts – the first part reflecting the opening story of creation of the Bible, and the second part reflecting the second story of Adam and Eve, and the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In the first part of the verse (“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created”), reflecting the opening account of creation, the heavens precede the earth because the opening story of creation is a chronological account of the creation of the entire universe in which the creation of the heavens precedes that of the earth as in the opening verse of the story (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth“). In addition, the term created is used here (in the opening verse of the second story of creation) since in the opening account of creation the term is used – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1, 1). In the first story, Elohim is depicted as the transcendent God of creation – as a God of power who has created the entire universe through the use of reason in imposing rational order upon chaos. In the following account of the creation of the primordial human being (Adam) and the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2, 4 – 3, 24) YHVH, the great unpronounceable name of God, is depicted as a source of morality, in which the terms are joined YHVH Elohim, as reflected in the opening verse of the second story (Genesis 2, 4) – “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day the Lord God (YHVH Elohim) made the earth and the heavens”.
I want to suggest that the absence of the term God (Elohim) in the first part of the opening verse of the second story of creation (“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created“) indicates two related things. First, the opening story of creation is not an independent story standing on its own, but rather part of a larger literary unit together with the second story of creation (and included within the second story). Second, the term God (Elohim) reflects only one aspect (power) of the nature of God as the Creator, and the complete nature of God consists of two aspects (power and morality) – reflected in the joining of the two terms for God, “the Lord (YHVH) God (Elohim)”, as used in the second part of the opening verse of the second story of creation and as used in the second story as a whole.
In the second part of the opening verse of the second story of creation (“in the day that the Lord (YHVH) God (Elohim) made the earth and the heavens“), reflecting the second story of creation (the story of Adam and Eve, and the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil), the earth precedes the heavens in importance because the second story of creation is not a chronological account of the creation of the universe. The second story is actually not an account of the creation of the universe at all, but is an account of the creation of the human being. The focus of the story is the human being and the earth as the abode of the human being; therefore, the earth precedes the heavens in terms of importance in the second part of the opening verse of the second story of creation. Also, the term made (rather than the term created) is used since the second story is not an account of the creation of the universe by God (Elohim), the Creator of the universe. Furthermore, the two terms for God are joined here, “the Lord (YHVH) God (Elohim)”, indicating that the second story incorporates the first story within it as a larger literary unit, and that the complete nature of God is revealed only in the integration of the aspects of power and morality reflected in the two terms for God being joined together.
Moreover, the literary structure of the opening verse of the second story is one in which there is a reciprocal relationship between the heavens and the earth in terms of their order in the verse (“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created“, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens) – heavens, earth, earth, heavens. The literary structure is A, B, B, A indicating a reciprocal relationship, and serving to create a feeling that the two stories are interrelated and part of a larger literary unit.
I want to suggest that the joining of the two terms for God – YHVH and Elohim – in the second story constitutes additional evidence (besides the opening verse of the second story) that the two stories of creation are complementary (in spite of contradictions) and part of a larger literary unit. The joining of the terms for God in the second story indicates that the first story is actually included within the second story, as also reflected in the opening verse of the second story that I just discussed – “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord (YHVH) God (Elohim) made the earth and the heavens”.
The first story represents a rationalistic mentality in which contradictions from a logical point of view are “either-or” – one true and one false, either front or back. The first story stands on its own and does not know of a second story due to the contradictions between the stories. The second story represents an intuitive mentality in which contradictions are viewed as complementary – “no this without that”, just as there can be no front without back, and no back without front. The second story then incorporates the first story within it in spite of contradictions between them.
The different aspects of God (power and morality) reflected in the terms for God, YHVH and Elohim, are in turn reflected in the differing conceptions in the two stories regarding the relationship of the human being and nature, and the relationship of man and woman. Regarding the relationship of the human being and nature, in the first story of creation, just as God is the Creator of the universe and has dominion over the universe; so, too, the human being created in the image of God is given by God dominion over the universe – “Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1, 28). Just as God is Master and Ruler of the universe who uses reason to give rational form and order to primordial chaos in fashioning the universe; so, too, the human being created in the image of God is to use reason in subduing and further fashioning the world in order to gain mastery and have dominion over nature. A main theme regarding the relationship of the human being and nature is the power of the human being created in the image of God (Elohim) and the use of human reason as an instrument of power in subduing the world – just as God (Elohim) is characterized by power and the use of Divine reason in creating the entire universe by imposing rational form and order upon the chaos of creation.
A fundamental idea in the Jewish tradition, which is deeply rooted in the spirit of the Hebrew Bible, is “Tikkun Olam” (תיקון עולם) – literally, the repair of the world. The concept of repair of the world implies an image of a world of broken glass, and that we, as human beings, must repair the broken glass of the world (and the concept especially implies the use of scientific knowledge and technology in order to improve the world in a physical or material sense). In my eyes, the most important message of the opening account of creation is this idea of the repair of the world. After God creates the universe, God says “behold, it is very good” (Genesis 1, 31). Strikingly, God does not proclaim that the world is perfect or even excellent but merely very good – meaning less than perfect, or imperfect in need of repair and improvement. The human being created in the image of God is the only animal who has the creative power to take what is God given such as wheat and to transform it into something even better, bread – and, the concept of the repair of the world implies a moral obligation not only to overcome hatred, injustice, violence and cruelty in the world but a moral obligation to use scientific knowledge and its practical application of technology in order to improve the quality of human life. After God creates the entire universe according to the Biblical account, God says (Genesis 2, 3) “because on it (the 7th day) He ceased from all His work which God created to do” – God creates a world then that is imperfect in need of repair in which there is what to do for the human being (to repair the world and improve the quality of human life).
I emphasize that the idea of the repair of the world as reflected in the opening account of creation flows from the image of God as a Creator – and, from the image of the human being (created in the image of God) who has the creative power to repair and improve nature. The emphasis is upon the power of the human being in using reason to transform nature in having dominion over nature.
In the second story, Adam, the first human being, is not given dominion over his environment, the garden of Eden. Rather, he is to work and guard it – “And the Lord (YHVH) God (Elohim) took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to work (לעבדה) it and guard (לשמרה) it” (Genesis 2, 15). The purpose for which the human being is put in the garden of Eden implies a moral obligation of guarding and preserving the garden, and not to subdue and have dominion over the garden. It is also possible to understand the verse as meaning that the human being is to work the garden in order to guard and preserve it. The main theme is not the power of the human being over the environment but the moral responsibility of the human being to guard and preserve the environment.
Regarding the relationship of man and woman, in the first story of creation, the human being is blessed by God who tells him to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1, 28). The first story of creation is absent of any moral demand from God regarding human behavior. Rather, the theme of the blessing to be fruitful and multiply in the first story of creation is in the context of the verse one of power in that the human being is to continue the human species biologically and to have dominion over the earth – “Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue it”.
In the second story, the relationship between the man and the woman is to be a moral and social relationship of companionship in order to overcome the existential loneliness of the human condition – “And the Lord (YHVH) God (Elohim) said, it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make a help mate for him” (Genesis 2, 18). Furthermore, sexual relations are not for the biological purpose of continuing the human species, but as an expression of companionship – “That is why a man leaves his father and his mother, and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2, 24). The love and companionship that is spoken of here is obviously not Platonic in nature as the husband and wife are to become one flesh, meaning that they are to join in sexual union. However, the purpose of such sexual union is not to continue the human species, but to overcome the existential loneliness that characterizes the human condition. The main theme is not the power of the human being but the weakness of the human being in experiencing existential loneliness; the theme is one of moral responsibility of the man and woman to help each other as mates and companions in overcoming their loneliness.