BIBLICAL+ACCOUNTS+OF+CREATION

There are two creation accounts in the Bible i.e. Genesis 1:1-2:4a the Priestly account and Gen 2:4b which is a Yahwist account. In fact it is said to be much older than the 1st one.How? **THE 1ST CREATION ACCOUNT GEN 1:1-2:4.** There are two creation accounts in the book of Genesis coming from two different traditions i.e. the Yahwist and Priestly. (a) The first thus comes from the Priestly account written between the 5th and 6th century BC. (b) It is a poetic presentation (c) The 8 works of works of creations are presented within a 6 day flame and they consist of the works of division and the works ornamentation. **The works of division thtrjkabaslab** **Day one** Light and darkness. This is the 1st of God’s creative work. This light is the cosmic light. The property element of the deity (God) in both the Old Testament and the ANE mythology in general. The light in 1st day in Gen 1 is to expel darkness the element of chaos and evil. It is different from the light given by the sun and the moon work will appear after the creation of bodies on the 4th day. **2nd day** The upper and the lower waters. This division is made by the sky an inverted ball called the firmament. **3rd day** Land and sea. Here land is obtained by the division of the waters of the ocean. On land there is vegetation. **N.B** (1) This supposes the same picture of the visible world in the ANE (Ancient Near East) mythology in general including Enuma – Elish. It is indeed a primitive picture. (2) The order of presentation is systematic – poetic and it doesn’t refer to a chronological development of the world of which the author of Genesis 1 had no knowledge of. (3) The idea of “creation out of nothing” does not arise. What the author teaches in Genesis 1 is the divine productive action. **The 2nd creation Account Gen 2:4b-4** This is a Yahwist account, hence more primitive than the priestly account of Gen 1. It is not properly concerned with the creation it’s self, for instance the creation of the universe (the world) is not described. The picture of the world is not that the primeval abyss of Gen.1 rather it is desert. Creation is affected by the irrigation of the desert by the streams that God sends out over the earth Gen. 2:10. The 1st of God’s creative action is man (Gen 2:7). Compare this with Gen 1 where the human being is creative on the 6th and the last day. Here creation is by work. The man is made out of clay (Soil) into work God breathes his own breath. I.e. the divine element by which man loves and is able to communicate with God.
 * CREATION**