How does the second Creation story in Genesis vary from the first account?

Answer 1

The second creation story (Genesis 2:4b-20) is almost as different from the first creation story (Genesis 1:1-2:4a) as is possible. The second story is older in Judaism and is attributed to the anonymous author now known as the Yahwist, writing around the ninth century BCE. Scholars have noted that the opening emphasis on the need for rain means that it was probably developed in an arid environment. The first story is attributed to the anonymous author now known as the Priestly Source, writing during the babylonian Exile. Scholars have noted that the opening emphasis the pre-existing waters means that it was probably developed in a maritime culture.

In the first (but later) creation story, God is all-powerful and can simply speak things into existence. He makes man (both male and female) in his own image and gives them dominion over all living things. In the second story, God is less powerful, needing dust to create Adam, and a rib to create Eve. Man is the servant of the earth and does not become god-like until he eats the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of course, man and woman are created together in the first story, on the sixth day and after all other living creatures. In the second story, Adam is the first creation, followed by all other living creatures, then finally Eve.

By the time of the Priestly Source, Judaism was becoming monotheistic, and the emphasis on the creation of the sun, moon and stars means that the gods they had formerly been associated with no longer had their symbolism. The Yahwist lived in a time when the sun god, the moon god and the hosts of heaven were very much living gods and goddesses.

Leon R. Kass (The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis) says that in recognising the independence of the two creation stories, we must scrupulously avoid reading into the second story any facts or notions taken from the first, and vice versa.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation

Answer 2

According to tradition, there is only one Genesis creation-narrative. Genesis ch.2 serves as a detailed expansion of the brevity of ch.1, not a separate set of events (Rashi commentary, Gen.2:8).The same literary devices which the Torah employs to enrich its text, have been seized upon by "Bible-critics" in their ongoing attempts to undermine it. The Jewish sages, based on ancient tradition, identified many of these devices, which include:

recapping earlier brief passages to elucidate,

employing different names of God to signify His various attributes,

using apparent changes or redundancies to allude to additional unstated details,

speaking in the vernacular that was current during each era,

and many more. While Judaism has always seen the Torah as an intricate tapestry that nonetheless had one Divine source, some modern authors such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) have suggested artificially chopping up the narrative and attributing it to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). This need not concern believers, since his claims have been debunked one by one, as Archaeology and other disciplines have demonstrated the integrity of the Torah. No fragments have ever been found that would support his Documentary Hypothesis, which remains nothing more than an arbitrary claim, whose falsehood has been pointed out:

http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=1131(a Christian author)

http://www.whoreallywrotethebible.com/excerpts/chapter4-1.php

http://www.pearlmancta.com/BiblicalcriticswrongRShlomoCohen.htm

And see also the wider picture:

http://judaism.answers.com/hebrew/does-archaeology-support-the-hebrew-bible