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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.

Comparison and Contrast of Biblical and Babylonian Creation Accounts

Comparison and Contrast of Biblical and Babylonian Creation Accounts

Topical Study | Gen 2:2 | Hershel Wayne House

Points of Comparison of Biblical and Babylonian Creation Accounts

  1. 1. Whereas God is viewed in Genesis 1 as the one who is eternal (Gen 1.1). At the beginning of God creating the world, he took a void of structure and habitation (formless and void), after which He brought into existence all of creation by simply a word (Gen 1:3), creating form and habitation (see The Literary Framework of the Days of Creation (1:1-26), the Enuma Elish has the gods performing magical incantations as their source of power. In fact, the gods are subject to nature. See Enuma Elish III. 101; IV 1-26, 91* for these observations.
  2. The Seven Tablets of Creation, Leonard William King, (last visited 7.13.2023).
  3. Also see Enuma Elish, The Epic of Creation, L. W. King, Translator (The Seven Tablets of Creation, London 1902) (last visited 7.13.23).

Joshua J. Mark, Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text, World History Encyclopedia, 

See The Polemical Nature of the Genesis Account of Creation.

Genesis Account

Enuma Elish

God is seen as the ultimate source of power; transcends creation.Magic incantations are the ultimate source of power; the gods are subject to nature.   III. 101; Iv. 1-26, 91*
Organized coverage of creation; systematically includes general realms of nature.Does not include creation of vegetation, animals or light—the existence of these is assumed. Moon and stars created, but not sun. V.2-22
Purpose: Praise to God as Lord of creation; acknowledging Him as such. A tribute to God's ultimacy and authority.Purpose: Hymn of praise to Marduk as champion and mightiest of the gods. Creation is incidental. VI. 100ff.
Begins before things as we know them existed (Gen. 1:1); as God created, He gave names. Gen. 1:5, 8, 10Begins before heaven and earth were named; cannot imagine situation before they existed. I. 1-2
Starts with primeval deep. Hebrew: tehom Gen. 1:2Starts with the deep—fresh water (Apsu) and salt water (Tiamat—cognate of tehom). I. 3-4
Creation given time sequence; set in blocks by "days." Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, etc.No chronological structure of "days."
Creation by speech. Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 20Creation from formerly existing matter. IV. 137-140; VI. 33
Waters separted above and below by firmament. Gen. 1:6-8Corpse of Tiamat divided in two and set up as waters above and below. IV. 137-140
Man created to rule creation. Gen. 1:28Man created to do the service of the gods so the gods wouldn't have to work so hard. VI, 8, 34
Man created from the soil. Gen. 2:7Man created from blood of slain hero (Kingu). VI.33