How many times was man created according to the Bible as Genesis 1 says man and woman were created together but Genesis 2 says man was created alone and woman much later?

Answer 1

Only once as is grammatically correct for the phrase 'created man.' Some have attempted to read the accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 as two separate accounts - it is not 2 but 1. It is simply because Genesis 1 is an outline of the renewing of the Earth and the flora and fauna for the 'reign of man' which would begin with Adam and Eve. Genesis 2 is a complementary and supplementary continuance of the event mainly from Adam's perspective.


Some people have come to believe that the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 contradict each other. These people believe there is more than one creation account and point to Genesis 1 describing animals being created before Adam, while Genesis 2:19 'could be read' as if Adam had been created before the animals. But The Bible never contradicts itself, because it was inspired by God. Genesis 2:19 doesn't mean that God created Adam first and then the animals. The correct chronological (day-to-day) sequence of events is stated in chapter 1 but not in chapter 2. The content of chapter 2 is a complement and supplement to chapter 1. God means for us to combine the content of the two chapters to get a more complete picture of what happened and why.

Answer 2

This is because there are two different creation stories in Genesis. The first one (Genesis 1:1-2:4a) was written by the anonymous source now known as the Priestly source, while the second creation story (2:4b-2:20) was written by the Yahwist several centuries earlier. They should not be considered to be in any way related.

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