Genesis 2:4 | 27
1:26 v Ps 100:3 w Ge 9:6; Jas 3:9
x Ps 8:6‐8
1:27 y 1Co 11:7 z Ge 5:2; Mt 19:4 *; Mk 10:6 *
1:28 a Ge 9:1, 7; Lev 26:9
1:29 b Ps 104:14
1:30 c Ps 104:14, 27; 145:15
1:31 d Ps 104:24 e 1Ti 4:4
2:2 f Ex 20:11; 31:17; Heb 4:4 *
2:3 g Lev 23:3; Isa 58:13
2
26 Then God said,“ Let us v make man kind in our im age, w in our like ness, so that they may rule x over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the live stock and all the wild animals, a and over all the crea tures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, y in the image of God he created them; male and female z he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them,“ Be fruit ful and in crease in num ber; fill the earth a and sub due it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over ev ery liv ing crea ture that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said,“ I give you ev ery seed-bear ing plant on the face of the whole earth and ev ery tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. b 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the crea tures that move along the ground— ev ery thing that has the breath of life in it— I give ev ery green plant for food. c” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, d and it was very good. e And there was eve ning, and there was morning— the sixth day.
Thus the heav ens and the earth were com pleted in all their vast ar ray.
2 By the sev enth day God had fin ished the work he had been do ing; so on the sev enth day he rested from all his work. f 3 Then God blessed the sev enth day and made it holy, g be cause on it he rested from all the work of cre at ing that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the ac count of the heav ens and the earth when they were cre ated, when the Lord God made the earth and the heav ens.
a 26 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text( see Syriac); Masoretic Text the earth
1:26 – 27 This last act of God’ s creative work is the climax. 1:26 us... our... our.“ Us” portrays God deliberating in the midst of his court just as a king might have a court and discuss his plans among them( 2 Kgs 22; Job 1 – 2; Ps 82; Isa 6). But“ our” cannot be so easily explained in the context of the ancient world. No evidence exists for the creation of people in both the image of God and the image of his angels. Only the image of God appears in v. 27. It seems more likely that“ us” and“ our” imply a greater complexity to God’ s nature as already suggested by the Spirit of God( v. 2; see note on 11:7). mankind. Hebrew ʾādām. This is used in ch. 1 for the human species just as every other creature( except“ the great creatures of the sea” in v. 21; see note there) created in ch. 1 appears in the Hebrew singular and describes a class of animals( e. g.,“ bird” translated“ birds,”“ wild animal” translated“ wild animals”). In ch. 2, ʾādām appears with a definite article(“ the man”) to describe the man placed in the garden. The personal name, Adam, has the same spelling. Ch. 1 does not focus on a single male( see the parallel“ male and female” in 1:27) nor even on the first couple, but it focuses on the whole human race. image... likeness. These are synonyms. Daniel 3:1 describes the statue of Nebuchadnezzar with the same Hebrew term for image; the statue represents the authority and power of the king and elicits obedience and worship from the multitude. Elsewhere in the ancient world, the same is true of this word“ image,” which appears alongside“ likeness.” A text from ancient Gozan contains both words,“ image” and“ likeness,” and translates them into Assyrian by using the same word, meaning“ statue” or a symbol of authority. Thus, in this context to be made in the image of God means to rule over the life in the three domains that God created. This rulership is a stewardship. It is illustrated in ch. 2, where the man takes care of the garden( 2:15) and names the animals( 2:20). In this context God placed humanity on earth to continue his rulership after he finished the work of creation. With the coming of Jesus Christ as the perfect image of God( Col 1:15), Christians are re-created( 2 Cor 5:17) and become conformed to Christ as an expression of his image( Rom 8:29), with righteousness, holiness, and knowledge( Eph 4:24; Col 3:10). 1:28 Be fruitful... increase... fill. God also commanded the animals to do this( v. 22), so it represents the creaturely basis of humanity. subdue... Rule over. God commanded only humans to do this because only they are made in the image of God. The repetition of this idea( v. 26) underlines its importance. 1:29 – 30 God gives plants“ for food”( v. 29) to sustain human and animal life. Vegetables and fruits form the foundation of the food chain for both herbivores and carnivores. Ch. 1 emphasizes abundant life; God provides abundant food, whose seeds guarantee that food will continue throughout the history of the world. 1:31 With the work of creation finished on the sixth day, all is now in perfect harmony with God’ s will. The result is more than good; it is“ very good.”
2:1 This verse concludes what the summary statement of 1:1 envisions. The same expressions for the heavens and for the earth appear in both verses, now adding all the elements(“ all their vast array”) that have been added since 1:1. 2:2 The creation“ week” of seven days has been leading up to this point. The repeated phrases identifying the evening, morning, and ordinal number of each day finish and climax at“ the seventh day.” God had finished the work. Of creation. It is a day of rest, not one of further creative work. finished. The same Hebrew verb as the passive form translated“ were completed” in v. 1. rested. God does not require rest because he is tired; he chooses to stop working because his creation is complete. The Hebrew root of“ rested” forms the noun“ Sabbath,” and it carries the sense of stopping or ceasing. 2:3 made it holy. God’ s rest on the seventh day makes it different from the other days of the week. Although the law requiring Israel to observe the Sabbath comes later, the week is built into creation from the beginning. The seventh day as a time of rest climaxes God’ s work in ch. 1. All creation moves toward it. Both accounts of the Ten Commandments require Israel to observe the Sabbath( Exod 20:8 – 11; Deut 5:12 – 15), and Exod 20:11 explicitly relates it to the seven days of creation and indeed to all special days and years in Israel’ s sacred calendars. If the Sabbath is the climax of creation, it is also the goal of the redeemed community and cosmos( Heb 4:9 – 11). Remembering the Sabbath every week contributes to the idea that seven days, not months or years, describe the creation account. 2:4 – 25 Adam and Eve. The rest of ch. 2 reviews all that happens with the creation of the man and his home, his tasks, and his companion. The account contrasts with ch. 1 by focusing on the people rather than the cosmos. 2:4 This verse moves from the previous account and introduces the creation story of ch. 2. The creation of the heavens and the earth is explicitly described in 1:1— 2:1, but the ongoing life of humanity in the world that God created begins its history in 2:4 and continues through the rest of Genesis. account. This term that stands between the two creation accounts also introduces the family lines of Seth( 5:1,3), of Noah( 6:9), and of Shem( 11:10), where it refers to a family history or