Blog 1

The two creation accounts at the beginning of Genesis seem to be just that, a creation account. But upon closer examination one can see that the two accounts are actually differing. In the first account there is not much detail of how women and men are created as it is just stated that “God created man in his own image… male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27). Both the man and woman appear to be created at the same time as they were both created in God’s image. In this account God says to both of “them” to “rule over the fish… and the birds… and over every living creature…” (Gen 1:28). God wanted both of them to rule over creatures, he was not just talking to the man, and this appears to make the man and the woman more equal. There is less of a differentiation between the two sexes in this first account. All that is mentioned is that they were created. They seemed to be created at the same time and are more equal to one another. The only distinction that I can see is that they do not have the same name, they are just man and woman. This first account is more about the creation of the earth and everything on it. The woman’s role specifically from what I got from it was that she was to rule with her husband, as one, as they were both created in God’s own image.

In the second account there is much more detail on the creation of man and woman as account is specifically about Adam and Eve, hence the title of the chapter. Man is created first and woman is created only after God sees that the man needs a helper. The fact that the woman is created from the rib of a man gives a submissive view of the woman right away, and even the word “woman” come from “man” because she was “taken out of man” (Gen 2:23). The beginning of this account the man and woman are joined together but the mentioning of the curse on the woman and man comes later. The snake deliberately came to Eve and not Adam, this shows that Eve may have appeared to be more weak and impressionable than Adam was. she was the one that got tricked and then shared the shame with her husband. He was simply following along with his wife and had no idea that she got the food from a tree that she was not suppose to. This account places the blame on the woman, when not all of it should have been placed on her. When the woman is deceived she is punished with painful childbirth and this is when God states that the husband “will rule over” the wife (Gen 3:16). The woman’s punishment is more severe than the man’s. Not only will she have great pain during childbirth but she is also ruled by her husband. This account portrays the woman as more submissive and almost like a servant to her husband. This second account is much more detailed about the differences between the man and the woman, making sure that the reader is aware of what each gender has caused.