Genesis 1 to 2:3 has the introduction of the creation of heaven and earth followed by 6 days of creating, followed by the conclusion of the seventh day of rest. There is debate whether Genesis 2:4a is the end of the first pericope or the beginning of the second.
These are the generations of heaven and earth when they were created. (Gen 2:4a)Doukhan includes this phrase with pericope starting in Genesis 1, not the second creation pericope. He calls the creation account in Genesis 1 C and the account in Genesis 2 C'. He has several arguments for including verse 2:4a with C based around the parallels he identifies between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. More convincing is that the word "create" appears 7 times in C if we include Genesis 2:4a. Further the word earth occurs 7 times in C' if we exclude Genesis 2:4a (both words "create" and "earth" are included in Genesis 2:4a). Thus dividing the pericopes after 2:4a gives 7 occurrences of each word and 7 is a common symbol in these passages.
I currently place Genesis 2:4a with what follows based on my understanding of the toledoth phrases throughout Genesis. If the other toledoth are introductory then it seems unusual that Genesis 2:4a would be a conclusion or colophon for the preceding verses.
Doukhan has the following passages parallel.
| Creation C | Creation C' | |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Genesis 1:1-2 | Genesis 2:4b-6 |
| Section 1 | Genesis 1:3-5 | Genesis 2:7 |
| Section 2 | Genesis 1:6-8 | Genesis 2:8 |
| Section 3 | Genesis 1:9-13 | Genesis 2:9-15 |
| Section 4 | Genesis 1:14-19 | Genesis 2:16-17 |
| Section 5 | Genesis 1:20-23 | Genesis 2:18 |
| Section 6 | Genesis 1:24-31 | Genesis 2:19-22 |
| Conclusion | Genesis 2:1-3; 4a | Genesis 2:23-24 |
He finds parallels between the first 3 sections and the second 3 sections of C' (this has been previously noted in C).
| First half | Second half | |
|---|---|---|
| C | ||
| 1. Light | 4. Luminaries | |
| 2. Firmament | 5. Birds | |
| 3. Plants | 6. Plants as food | |
| C' | ||
| 1. Dust | 4. Death | |
| 2. Garden for man | 5. Companion for man | |
| 3. Dominion over garden | 6. Dominion over animals |
And he contrasts the introductions
| C | C' | |
|---|---|---|
| In the beginning | In the day | |
| created | made | |
| God | Yahweh God | |
| Heavens and the earth. | earth and heavens, | |
| And the earth was formless and empty, | and not yet any plant of the field was on the earth, | |
| and darkness was upon the face of the deep. | and not yet any herb of the field had sprung up (because Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not yet a man to till the ground). | |
| And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. | And a mist would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground. |
His comparison of the conclusions is less convincing.
Part of the reason for seeing a similarity between the two pericopes is the use of a similar phrase in both. During the 6 days of creation the term "And God said" appears 9 times. Each time the word Elohim is used for God. And the construction of the phrase is a waw (or vav) consecutive. This is the use of the letter waw (or vav) in Hebrew, which means "and", before a verb; in this case the verb "to speak".The verb is grammatically in the imperfect (which makes the action perfect with a waw-consecutive, and following the previous phrase temporally). Thus the phrase: And spoke Elohim. As mentioned, this phrase occurs 9 times in Genesis 1. Doukhan notes that in Genesis 2 a similar phrase occurs 9 times. The waw-consecutive with an imperfect verb (different verbs) and the name Yahweh God. Example: And planted Yahweh God (Gen 2:8).
This phrase in Genesis 1 only occurs during the days of creation, it does not occur in the introduction or the conclusion, though the word "God" occurs in them. Because Genesis 1 is highly structured, it is clear when the days start, and especially when they finish. The phrase, "And spoke Elohim" occurs once each on days 1 and 2 and twice on day 3; it occurs once each on days 4 and 5, and thrice on day 6; the pattern being 1,1,2,1,1,3.
Doukhan claims this same pattern occurs in Genesis 2 with the 9 occurrences of, "And verb Yahweh Elohim". Which is why he states that Genesis 2 has 6 sections like Genesis 1 does. We will review this in the next post.
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