EXEGISIS ON GENESIS CREATION ACCOUNTS
In the book of
Genesis, there are several references to the creation of man by God and the ‘elohiym. The main
ones are found in the first couple of chapters, specifically:
Gen. 1:27 So God created this particular man in his [own] image, in the image of God (‘elohiym) created he him; male and female created he them. This is referring to the
creation of “this particular man” (or these particular men or types of people, prototypes).
2:7 And the LORD
GOD (YaHoVeH ‘elohiym) formed this particular man [of] the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. This is referring to the forming
of one particular type of man, i.e. those with the breath of life in
them or God’s spirit indwelling in them at birth.
NOTE: Use of the words "mankind" and "this particular man" in the above verses is based on the interpretations of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The differences between make/made, create and form are:p
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Make/Made – ‘asah 1) to do, fashion, accomplish, make a) (Qal) 1) to do, work, make, produce a) to do b) to work c) to deal (with) d) to act, act with effect, effect 2) to make a) to make b) to produce c) to prepare d) to make (an offering) e) to attend to, put in order f) to observe, celebrate g) to acquire (property) h) to appoint, ordain, institute i) to bring about j) to use k) to spend, pass b) (Niphal) 1) to be done 2) to be made 3) to be produced 4) to be offered 5) to be observed 6) to be used c) (Pual) to be made 2) (Piel) to press, squeeze |
Create – bara’ 1) to create, shape, form a) (Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as
subject) 1) of heaven and earth 2) of individual man 3) of new conditions and circumstances 4) of transformations b) (Niphal) to be created 1) of heaven and earth 2) of birth 3) of something new 4) of miracles c) (Piel) 1) to cut down 2) to cut out 2) to be fat a) (Hiphil) to make yourselves fat
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Form – yatsar ) to form, fashion, frame a) (Qal) to form, fashion 1) of human activity 2) of divine activity a) of creation 1) of original creation 2) of individuals at conception 3) of
b) to frame, pre-ordain, plan (fig. of divine) purpose
of a situation) b) (Niphal) to be formed, be created c) (Pual)
to be predetermined, be pre-ordained d) (Hophal) to be formed |
All of these words
refer to the creation of adamic (white) people, but the word “form” is the only one that refers to the people
Mankind (אָדַם ʼâdam, aw-dam'; from H119; ruddy [complected & to blush, show blood in the face] i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
refers to ALL of the adamic creation. In
In
The making of mankind and the creating
of this particular man
(or these particular men or prototypes) are both done by the ‘elohiym and in
the image of ‘elohiym. ALL of mankind resembles the ‘elohiym,
i.e., man looks similar to the ‘elohiym, in that they have heads, torsos, arms,
legs, etc. This making and creating of
mankind and this particular man
(or these particular men or prototypes) were done on the 6th
day. Moreover, all the Adamic people
made/created on the 6th day, were good. These would have been blondes, brunettes, redheads, and black haired white people, both straight, wavy, and/or curly haired,
with the ability to blush. Gen 2:1 tells us, “Thus the heavens and the
earth were finished, and all the host of them.”
The word “host” means a mass of
persons.
The ‘elohiym ended
their work and then rested on the 7th day. After the 7th day, we find that “The
Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was]
not a man to till the ground.” For this
reason, The
Lord God formed this particular man (or
prototype) AFTER THE PARTICULAR
MEN OF GEN. 1:26,7 WERE CREATED – the second phase if you will. They
are distinct creation events occurring at different times, in different
sequences, and even performed by different entities (the ‘elohiym versus The
Lord God).
As we noted, the
word “formed” refers to
Gen. 5:1-2 also refers to the creation event.
Gen. 5:1 This [is]
the book of the generations of Adam. In
the day that God ('elohiym) created man, in the likeness of God ('elohiym) made he him;
This chapter
concerns the genealogy of the individual named Adam, as well as a brief rehash
of the Gen. 1:26 & 27 creation event. It affirms that all man/mankind were created by and in the image of the 'elohiym.
Gen. 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed
them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
This verse seems to
refer to the creation of both male and female as found in Gen. 1:27. This deviates from the Gen. 2:7 account in
that God formed only the male and then later created the female but this
deviation is not significant since the end result was the same. God ultimately made a female helpmeet for
Adam.
In Gen. 1:28, God
blessed the creation and told them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth.” In contrast, Adam and Eve
were not instructed to procreate. It
wasn’t until after the fall that Adam and Eve began procreating. Therefore, the purpose of the forming of the particular man in Gen. 2:7 was different than
the purpose of the making/creating
of the particular man in
Gen. 1:26 & 27 but more on the purpose later.
Also consider Gen
9:6, Whoso sheddeth man's (‘adam) blood (dam), by man (‘adam) shall his blood
(dam) be shed: for in the image of God
(‘elohiym) made he man.
This
verse states that the ‘elohiym made this particular man in the image of the ‘elohiym
consistent with Gen. 1:27. The word made (‘asah) is the same word as make in Gen 1:26. Again, Gen 9:6 is consistent with Gen. 1:27,
i.e., this particular man
(or these particular men or prototypes) were made by and in the image of the ‘elohiym. Therefore, Gen. 9:6 proves nothing more than this fact. Based on Gen. 1:26 we know that ALL of mankind was created in the image of the ‘elohiym.
For
several reasons, Gen. 9:6 does NOT
prove that Gen:
Oh
but you might quote the apostle Paul to show that Adam was the first man:
1
Cor
Is
the subject of 1 Corinthians 15 creation?
No silly, it is the resurrection of the dead. If the subject Paul was addressing was
creation then perhaps a case could be made that this scripture is
controlling. Since its not, it
can’t. Otherwise, v. 47 would mean that
there are only two men that ever lived, the first and the second. “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the
second man is the Lord from Heaven.”
Common sense dictates us that there are more than just 2 men who have ever lived. Paul is merely distinguishing the difference
between celestial/spiritual and natural/earthy bodies, the mortal and the immortal,
the corrupt and the incorrupt. It has
nothing to do with creation. But let’s
look at the phrase “the first man Adam” anyway. Here’s how it breaks down,
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protos 1) first in time or place a) in any succession of things or persons 2) first in rank a) influence, honour b) chief c) principal 3) first, at the first |
anthropos 1) a human being, whether male or female a) generically, to include all human individuals b) to distinguish man from beings of a different
order 1) of animals and plants 2) of from God and Christ 3) of the angels c) with the added notion of weakness, by which man
is led into a mistake or prompted to sin d) with the adjunct notion of contempt or
disdainful pity e) with reference to two fold nature of man, body
and soul f) with reference to the two fold nature of man,
the corrupt and the truly Christian man, conformed to the nature of God g) with reference to sex, a male 2) indefinitely, someone, a man, one 3) in the plural, people 4) joined with other words, merchantman |
Adam Adam = "the red earth" 1) Adam, the first man, the parent of the whole human family |
The
Greek word protos
is where we get the word proto, which means first
in time <protohistory>, beginning :
giving rise to <protoplanet>,
first formed : primary <protoxylem>. And indeed Adam was a prototype or 1 : an original model on which something is
patterned : ARCHETYPE; 2
: an individual that exhibits the essential features of a later
type. Therefore, Adam was the first
man of his type, which was also earthly and not necessarily the first earthly type, and Jesus Christ
was the last man of his type, God
incarnate, the Lord from heaven.
Therefore, 1 Cor. 15:35 by no means proves that Adam was the first to be created but only that
he was the first of his type. J