Biblical creation account

The God claimed by the Bible to have created the world is represented by the plural word Elohim ('the spirits', or 'the gods') in the original Hebrew text of the book of Genesis.

The text at Genesis 1:1 to 2:1 (the chapter- and verse-divisions are purely arbitrary, and of medieval origin) relates how this God created light and darkness, heaven and earth, the seas and plants, the sun, moon and stars, the fishes and birds, the animals and finally man over the course of six 'days' (Hebrew yom), before resting on the seventh. However, this six-day Creation account, in which man is created after the animals (I: 26-27), is contradicted by the version reported in the rest of chapter 2, in which Creation takes only one 'day' (once again, Hebrew yom), and man is created before the animals (II: 18-19).

Sources

• Cruden, A., Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments (Lutterworth, 1930)
• The Holy Bible (King James Version)
• The New English Bible (Oxford & Cambridge University Presses, 1970)
• The New Jerusalem Bible (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1990)
• Young, R., Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible (Lutterworth, 1939)

The Creator God of the Bible is represented by the plural word Elohim, implying the Three-in-One God, i.e. the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the six-day Creation account of Genesis 1, man is created on the same day as the land animals, Day 6, i.e. after the sea creatures and birds on Day 5. Genesis 2 does not contradict this account, but instead gives a more in-depth view of the creation of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve.