In this post, I will be focusing more on the question of when water was made available for plant growth, relative to the creation of man, rather than on the order of creation of plants and man, though they are in fact closely connected.
Before I begin, I will point out that there is almost undeniable evidence that the first two chapters of Genesis contain two stories of creation taken from two different cultures and traditions.
The first story is found in Genesis 1:1-2:3; the second one is in Genesis 2:4-25. It is sufficient here to offer just part of the evidence that two different authors from different times were at work here.
The author of the first creation story refers to the deity thirty-five times, always as “God,” while the author of the second creation story refers to the deity nine times, always as “Lord God.” It is almost certainly not coincidental that a second account of creation begins at the exact place in Genesis (Genesis 2:4) where the name used for the deity abruptly changes after a long stretch of thirty-five “Gods,” to nine of “Lord Gods.”
It also does not seem coincidental that the two authors differ in their understanding of which came first: man, or water for vegetation.
The Second Creation Story
The author of the second creation story tells us that there was no water available for vegetation on the whole earth before man was created. Here is the evidence:
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens (Genesis 2:4)
Note that the “earth” in the “heavens and the earth” phrase above is obviously the
whole earth, not the Garden of Eden, or some other limited land area. Keep this fact firmly in mind: the Genesis 2 author is talking about the
whole earth. The very next verse tells us that one of the reasons there were no shrubs or plants on that earth was that there was
not yet the water needed for plant growth. Here is the verse:
and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth (Genesis 2:5a)
It is evident that the author above is telling the reader that the reason the plants hadn't grown is that there was no water available anywhere on the land; there was no water
from any source available to grow plants. The author mentions only rain water, but it's evident that if there had been underground water, or river or lake water, he would have never told us that the plants had not yet grown because there was no rain water; why would that have mattered if there was another source of water for the growth of vegetation?
What else had not yet been brought to the earth, besides water for the plants, according to the Genesis 2 author?
and there was no man (Genesis 2:5b)
Thus, according to Genesis 2:4-5, there was
no water available for vegetation on the whole earth before man was created. However, as you will see below, the author of Genesis 1 contradicts this. Here is the evidence:
The First Creation Story
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it...[on] the second day. And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." (Genesis 1:1-10)
Note that the earth is now divided into two parts: “land” and “seas.” We’re not talking about a limited land area, such as the Garden of Eden; the land we’re talking about is
all of the earth not covered by water. This is the land on which vegetation will now grow:
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds...[on] the third day. (Genesis 1:11-12)
Now, since the other creation story author made it clear to his readers that vegetation growth requires water, we should also assume that the Genesis 1 author likewise expected his readers to understand that vegetation growth does not take place without water. Thus, when we learn from the Genesis 1 writer that water is created on the second day, and vegetation grows on the third day, it is clear that he expects us to understand that some of the water created on the second day was used for plant growth on the third day.
After making it clear that water permitted vegetation growth by the third day, the Genesis 1 author tells that man was then created three days later:
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him...And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day. (Genesis 1:27)
Let me summarize the evidence I presented above:
1. Water was not used to grow vegetation anywhere on the whole earth before man was created. (According to the author of the second creation story.)
2. Water was used to grow vegetation before man was created. (According to the author of the first creation story.)
The conclusion seems inescapable: The creation stories are contradictory.
Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"
http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html
