Genesis creation narrative

The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth^[a] of Judaism and Christianity,^[1] found in chapters 1 and 2 of the Book of Genesis. While both faith traditions have historically understood the account as a single unified story,^[2][3] modern scholars of biblical criticism have identified it as being a composite of two stories drawn from different sources expressing distinct views about the nature of God and creation.^[b]

According to the documentary hypothesis, the first account – which begins with Genesis 1:1 and ends with the first sentence of Genesis 2:4^[4][c] – is from the later Priestly source (P), possibly composed during the 6th century BC.^[5] In this story, God (referred to with the title Elohim, a term related to the generic Hebrew word for 'god') creates the heavens and the Earth in six days, solely by issuing commands for it to be so – and then rests on, blesses, and sanctifies the seventh day (i.e., the Biblical Sabbath). The second account, which consists of the remainder of Genesis 2,^[6][c] is from an earlier non-Priestly source, traditionally the Jahwist source (J)^[7][8] dated to the 10th or 9th century BC.^[5] In this story, God (referred to by the personal name Yahweh) creates Adam, the first man, by "forming" him from dust – and places him in the Garden of Eden where he is given dominion over the animals. The first woman, "built" from a rib taken from Adam's side, is created to be his matching companion; after the couple are expelled from the Garden in Genesis 3 for disobeying God, Adam names the woman Eve.

The first major comprehensive draft of the Torah – the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy – theorized as being the J source, is thought to have been composed in either the late 7th or the 6th century BC, and was later expanded by other authors (the P source) into a work appreciably resembling the received text of Genesis.^[9] The authors of the text were influenced by Mesopotamian mythology and ancient Near Eastern cosmology, and borrowed several themes from them, adapting and integrating them with their unique belief in one God.^[10][11][d] The combined narrative is a critique of the Mesopotamian theology of creation: Genesis affirms monotheism and denies polytheism.^[12]

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