1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. 5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Moses penned the biblical account of creation in Gen 1:1-2:3 in a stylistically well-structured framework. After the conclusive statement of the universe as God's creative work in Gen 1:1, Moses laid out the non-existent condition of the universe in use of the terms "void" and "darkness" in Gen 1:2. Then, Moses repeatedly introduced God's creative commands in this fashion, "And God said, 'Let there be . . . '" (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14-15, 20, 24, 25, 26). He then summarized the fulfillment of God's commands with this clause, "and it was so" (1:3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30). Finally, God approved of His own accomplishments in Gen 1:31, "God saw it was good" (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).
In use of this highly stylistic structure Moses clarified that God created ex nihilo (Latin for "created out of nothing"). Within this framework Moses tactfully employed the Hebrew word "bara" (trans. created) to set forth that the subject of the creation was God (Gen 1:1, 24, 27, 2:3). Of all the Hebrew verbs denoting an act of creation, ancient Hebrew writers only used the verb "bara" in reference to divinity as the subject of the verb. The divine name "Elohim" used here bears the connotation of God's majestic power.
Umberto Cassuto's analysis of the creation account helps modern readers understand the order of God's creation. In the first three days of creation, God created certain structures such as light, sky and ocean, and land. In the corresponding three days (fourth, fifth and sixth days), He filled in the structures with substances such as the sun, moon and stars, birds and fish, and animals and human beings (Cassuto).
What is most distinctive in this creation account is God's intention for the creation, "Let us make man . . . and let them have dominion . . . ." (Gen 1:26). God also blessed the humans (v. 28a), installed them as caretakers of God's creation (v. 29b) and provided for them (vv. 29-30). Finally, God was very pleased with His creation because everything was perfectly arranged as He purposed (Gen 1:31). The biblical creation account overcomes the pivotal weakness of the modern theory of evolution and the ancient Near Eastern creation myths. The biblical creation account clearly spells out God's intention and purpose for creation. Conversely, the modern theory of evolution and ancient Near Eastern creation myths state that the universe, including human life, came into existence merely by chance and thus there is no sense of dignity and purpose in its existence.