Continuing the question posed in chapter 1, chapter 2 looks like a rehashing of the creation
story. Many of the things created in chapter one, seem to be created here as well, but in
different order and with different details. If chapter one, as explained there, is the creation
of the programming, chapter two is the physical manifestation of that programming. As
opposed to chapter 1, chapter 2 is filled with actual physical verbs. In chapter one, God
creates man “And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them” (1:27). In chapter two, however, God forms man
and blows life into his nostrils: “the LORD God formed man from the dust of the earth. He
blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” (2:7). In chapter 1,
“And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every
kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so” (1:11). In chapter 2, God
also plants the garden and places man into the garden: “The LORD God planted a garden
in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed” (2:8). In chapter one,
God says that the sky and sea should bring forth birds and fish (1:20), and the land should
bring forth animals (1:25). In chapter 2, God forms the animals and birds: “And the
LORD God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and
brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each
living creature, that would be its name” (2:19). The programming that God created in
chapter one, is now physically placed into the world. The abstract has now become reality.
