Endnote 3 – Genesis as Rashomon

I do not agree with traditional interpreters of the Creation accounts, although they also defend the single authorship of Genesis. Traditionalists, who believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, interpret the second Creation story as an expansion and clarification of the first. They assert that Genesis 1 provides the general outline of the Creation and Genesis 2 supplies the specifics. This interpretation, however, does not explain the inconsistencies between the two accounts. For example, man is clearly the last creature made in the first account, but in the second he is formed before the other animals. Nor does the traditional explanation elucidate the change in style from the majestic, balanced cadences of Genesis 1 to the pedestrian, even choppy, asymmetrical structure of Genesis 2.