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NASB | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. [Heb 11:3] |
Subject: Did God created people before Adam |
Bible Note: The Berean: Perhaps it is verse 19 of Genesis 2 that is leading you to conclude that the creation order is reversed between Chapters 1 and 2. There was really only one creation and the account of Genesis 2 is a continuum of the account in Genesis 1. Genesis 2:19 says, "Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them...." So a casual reading, out of context, WOULD seem to indicate in this passage that man was created before the animals. But we know that if this is so Chapter 1 is wrong. So how is one to exegete this troublesome verse, i.e., 2:19? Here is one way suggested by the Believer's Bible Commentary, Art Farstad, ed., (Thomas Nelson): "Hebrew has only two tenses (plus participles): perfect and imperfect. Context determines the precise verb form that is best in translating into English. Verse 19 is clearer with the English pluperfect tense: 'The Lord God HAD formed...every beast,' i.e., before He made man." A number of other commentaries agree essentially on this exegesis of the verse also. Has this helped you in your understanding of the [so-called] two creation accounts? Hank |