Genesis 2

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

Read Genesis 2 from your preferred translation. Mine is Young's Literal Translation (YLT) because it preserves the present-tense of the original Hebrew.

The first three verses of Genesis 2 seem to complete what was written in Genesis 1.(One can't help but notice that the 7-day creation process is what we call a week.) In verse 4 comes a seemingly different story of the creation of man by "Jehovah God."  Other translations, completed by committees of scholars, typically say "LORD God" with Lord in all capitals. 

"Jehovah" was, at the time the YLT was published in 1862, in common usage for the four-consonant word YHWH of Hebrew. "Yahweh" is now more commonly used than Jehovah, but most translations now say the LORD.

In any case, I found it striking that Chapter 1 through the third verse of Chapter 2 mentions "God," then suddenly in verse 4 the name "Jehovah God" begins appearing. It's commonly translated "the LORD God." But because in our culture "Lord" and "God" are often used interchangeably, it's easy to overlook that "the LORD God" is never mentioned in Genesis 1. The difference is more noticeable if you're reading a translation that says "Jehovah" instead of "the LORD."

The sequence of events of Chapter 2 don't really fit what's written in Chapter 1. But one thing I may have to push aside in both accounts is what I normally think when I read the word "earth." What instantly comes to mind is a picture of the planet Earth taken from outer space. But what I think the authors mean by "earth" is "dry ground" and only dry ground. They're not talking about a planet.

So in Chapter 1 we may have a general account of how dry ground in general came to be, and how humanity in general was created. Beginning in verse 4 of Chapter 2 we have a story of a specific part of the earth that was seemingly barren, and here Jehovah God created a man, and turned the place into a garden, and brought in the animals, and created the woman from the man.

Imagine a book that starts with "In the beginning the human built the automobile." Then starts with how the human built the wheel, then the wagon, then engines, etc.in a way that implies a general anthropological summary of thousands of years up to the 19th Century Then, in Chapter 2, we get a story, not of how the Human built the car, but how Karl Benz, a Human, built a car. Is it "contradictory" even when all the details are different? Far from it. 

Remember in Genesis 1 that God speaks in the first-person plural of "us" and 'our?" In Chapter 2 we seem to have a personalized God, Jehovah God, and a specific patch of earth, the Garden of Eden, for the story.

Perhaps in the same way that Karl Benz is an individualized human, Jehovah God is an individualized form, manifestation, or personality of God. Maybe?

One thing I noticed is that in Chapter I God calls every thing spoken into existence "good." In Chapter 2 Jehovah God causes to "sprout from the ground… the tree of knowledge of good and evil." 

But what is "evil?" Perhaps the coldness and darkness in Chapter 1 that prompted God to bring forth light to begin with? We don't have any clues yet what else "evil" might be.

Notice that the Man and Woman are naked and "are not ashamed of themselves." 

What does clothing do? Hide some part of yourself so others can't see. And, that part of yourself is covered in darkness.

Unlike Chapter 1, we now have either a specific God or name for God, a specific place, and specific people, although as of now the people are nameless. We also have geographic details including, for instance, the location of gold. So apparently gold is important in some way. But often in a story you don't know which details the storyteller uses only to describe the setting, and which play a role later on.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: Ivoronwik)