Who are the people in Genesis 1 verse 26 and why are Adam and Eve in chapter 2 if they were the first on earth?

Answer 1

There are actually two different creation stories in Genesis, the first one by the author now known as the Priestly Source and the second by an author now known as the Yahwist.

Adam and Eve were certainly the first people on earth in the second creation story but, as Leon R. Kass (The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis) says, we must scrupulously avoid reading into the second story any facts or notions taken from the first, and vice versa. Thus, the first people from Genesis 1:26 have no place in the second creation story, while Adam and Eve have no place in the first creation story.

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

Answer 2

Genesis ch.2 is not a separate creation; its a recap of chapter 1 to provide further detail. The people of Genesis ch.1 and 2 are the same. Rashi commentary (2:8) explains that Genesis ch.1 and 2 form a single set of events, as chapter 2 expands the brief verses of ch.1 with further detail.

An attempt to split the text artificially has been perpetrated by people such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) who suggested attributing the narrative to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). Wellhausen's 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