From: simon@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Simon Clippingdale)
Subject: Re: Differing accounts of creation in Genesis
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Warwick University, England
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 17:56:17 GMT

In article <1992Sep24.151622.7188@medtron.medtronic.com> ds0007@buhao (Dale Skiba) writes:
>
> There does not have to be a conflict, at least in the English
> translations.  Please note that they have two different styles:
>
> 1st account:                |  2nd account
>                             |
> 1st this occurred           |  this occurred
> 2nd then this occurred      |  this occurred
>  ..                         |  ...
> 7th lastly this occurrred.  |  this occurred
>
> [...]


Sorry, but in the KJV at least there is a clear contradiction because the
order of events *is* unambiguously specified in *each* account. (I note
Weemba's post re. tenses in biblical Hebrew, but did the KJV translators
really invent *all* the implied ordering?)

One mo' taaam with highlights:

#  1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle
#  after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after
#  his kind: and God saw that it was good.
#
#  1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
#                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
#  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
#  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
#  of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
#  every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

This clearly implies that the beasts were made first, *unless*:

(i) in verse 26, God is *proposing* to let man have dominion over the beasts
    before He has actually made them,

*and*

(ii) verse 25 should have come later (certainly after 26), with the creation
     of man somewhere in between.

No way could you read these two verses and come to this conclusion unless
you were determined to deny a contradiction and already knew what was coming
in 2:18 and 2:19, whereupon this is the place to start jumping through hoops,
the latter verses being even less ambiguous:

#  2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be
#  alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
#
#  2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the
#  field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see
#                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
#  what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living
#  creature, that was the name thereof.

Adam clearly exists [2:19] before the beasts are made.

Accepting provisionally (I don't know the Hebrew) Weemba's contention that
no contradiction might exist in the Hebrew, I am nevertheless utterly at a
loss to see how it is possible to interpret the above as written (no moving
verse 1:25 around, now!) such that no contradiction exists. Unless you totally
abandon your brains of course.

Ah! Hmmm, yes, that's better.... I'll post the theory of Creation soon.

> Dale Skiba

Cheers

Simon
-- 
Simon Clippingdale                simon@dcs.warwick.ac.uk
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University of Warwick             FAX (+44) 203 525714
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Newsgroups: talk.origins