The Torah tells the creation of the human being twice, and the two accounts do not match. Before we ask why, we read them side by side and see exactly what is different.
How to study
1Read the sourceEach text shows the key lines. Tap “Read the full text” for the whole passage in Hebrew and English.
2Follow the steps“Step by step” walks you through what it says and why it matters.
3See the commentatorsTap “What the commentators say” for Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra and others.
4Think it throughAnswer the questions, then open the discussion notes.
Every source is labeled: Primary Source (the exact words of Torah, Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud or Midrash), Classical Commentary (Rashi, Ramban, Tosafot and the classical commentators), Halachic Ruling (Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, Shulchan Aruch, Rema, Mishnah Berurah), Later / Mystical Tradition (Zohar, Arizal, Chassidut, Tanya), and Mitzvah Movement Synthesis (our own interpretation or application). When we summarize rather than quote, the label says Summary — only text in quotation marks is quoted.
The texts
1Text 1Primary Source
“In Our image”
Bereishit 1:26–28
“And God said: Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness… And God created man in His image… male and female He created them. And God blessed them… fill the earth and master it.”
Step by step
Read the verses in full below. The human is the last thing created on the sixth day, made by a word: “Let us make man.”
Made in God’s image. Of all creation, only the human is described this way. Rashi (below) explains the plural “Let us make” as God consulting the heavenly court — a lesson in humility, even for the Creator.
The job. “Fill the earth and master it.” The first human is a builder, given power over the world.
The verdict. After the human is made, the Torah says everything was “very good” (1:31).
2Text 2Primary Source
“He blew into his nostrils”
Bereishit 2:7
“And the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.”
Step by step
A new beginning. At Genesis 2:4 the story starts again, this time in a garden, with one human being up close.
Formed by hand. Not by a word — God “formed” the man from dust and blew His own breath into him.
A speaking spirit. Onkelos, the ancient Aramaic translation (below), renders “a living soul” as “a speaking spirit”: what makes a human different is thought expressed in words.
The job. In chapter 2 the human is placed in the garden “to work it and to guard it” (2:15) — not to master it.
Idea
Source
In plain words
Name of God
Genesis 1:1 · 2:4
“God” in chapter 1; “the Lord God” from 2:4
How the human is made
Genesis 1:26 · 2:7
By a word, in God’s image — or by hand, from dust, with God’s breath
Man and woman
Genesis 1:27 · 2:21–22
Created together — or the man first, the woman from his side
The human’s job
Genesis 1:28 · 2:15
Fill the earth and master it — or work the garden and guard it
The verdict
Genesis 1:31 · 2:18
“Very good” — or “not good for the man to be alone”
It ends with
Genesis 2:1–3 · 2:25
Shabbat — or two people, together
Think it through
What is different about the two descriptions of how the first human was made? List as many differences as you can.Think about it first — then tap for discussion notes
In chapter 1 the human is made by a word, in God’s image, male and female together, as the last step of a perfect world, and told to master it. In chapter 2 the human is formed by hand from dust, receives God’s own breath, is placed in a garden to work and guard it, is alone, and needs someone. Chapter 1 is about greatness. Chapter 2 is about need. The tradition reads them as two truths about the same person.
Key takeaways
The Torah tells the creation of the human twice.
Chapter 1: made by a word, in God’s image, to master the world.
Chapter 2: formed from dust, with God’s breath, to work and guard the garden.