What’s Going on in Genesis 2-3?
The point of Genesis 2-3 is dignity, equality, and justice.
Introduction to Genesis 2-3
While Genesis 1 tells the story of creation in poetry, Genesis 2-3 tells the story in a narrative fashion. Some people have tried to integrate Genesis 1 with chapters 2-3 into a single coherent narrative. Others have simply called them “two different creation stories.”
I think they were written for two different purposes.
Genesis 1 was a point-by-point refutation of the Babylonian creation account. This material was written down and codified while the people of Judah were being held captive in Babylon.
Genesis 2 and 3 appears to be a borrowed myth from the Babylonians. The borrowing of stories from another culture was a common practice in the ancient world. But for the writers of the Bible, they never just copied the myth and pasted it as it was. They always tweaked the story to teach us something about God or our interactions with God. So here’s the backstory, and the important reason why it’s in the Bible.
The Babylonian “Fall from Utopia” Story
In the Bible, the story of the creation of the world comes immediately prior to the story of the fall from perfection (the Garden of Eden) So the creation story and the story of our fall from perfection are connected. In the Babylonian mythology, the stories are separate.
The Babylonian creation account is a family of gods who can’t get along, so they try to kill each other, leading to terrible wars and mountains of dead god bodies. After that, people were created to clean up the mess that the gods had made.
In the Babylonian fall from perfection story, Gilgamesh is in the Garden of the Gods. The Garden of the Gods was a beautiful place, in a confluence of rivers, where he lived and communed with all nature and all the animals. Gilgamesh has a plant that gives him immortality. But he is lonely, so the gods create a companion for him—a man named Enkidu. A devious woman convinces Gilgamesh to eat from the tree of knowledge, and he does. At that point, he realizes he is naked. Gilgamesh also becomes, according to the narrative, “like God.” A snake steals the plant of immortality. Gilgamesh must leave the Garden of the Gods and never return.
Cultures build their mythology to support and extend the ideas that they believe are important. One of the ideas that the Babylonians were trying to achieve in this Garden of the Gods story is that women are untrustworthy. This tragic misogyny sadly stuck with cultures of the world through the present day.
There’s another idea that the Babylonians wanted to support through the creation and the Garden of the Gods stories: and that is life is uncertain. A person could die at any time from a variety of causes. War could break out. Friends could stab you in the back. You could lose your job. So, life is difficult and uncertain—you never know what is going to happen next. But why? Why is life uncertain? And the answer that the Babylonians gave was: it’s the fault of the gods. The gods were capricious, subject to temper tantrums and vendettas, and had unpredictable behavior, which, in turn, makes our life uncertain.
For the Babylonians, this idea helped them get through the day. It gave meaning to their uncertain day-to-day living. Life was no longer just a random string of events—just one fool thing after another. Crises and struggles had meaning. The uncertainties of life weren’t our fault; it was the fault of the ornery gods.
The Writers of Genesis Tweak the Babylonian Story
During the Babylonian Exile, the people of Judah heard the story of Gilgamesh’s fall from his utopian existence. So the writers of Genesis borrowed the Babylonian story (a few stories in Genesis and Exodus were borrowed from Babylonian mythology, including creation, the flood, and Moses’ birth). But the writers of Genesis put their own spin on it. The material that they changed from the Babylonian account tell us what they really wanted to teach the people.
I think there are at least six things that Genesis chapters 2 and 3 is trying to tell us.
Both men and women were rebellious, not just women. The Babylonians tried to blame women for everything. But in the Genesis account of the Fall, Eve blames the serpent. And then Adam blames Eve and God. So, the blame of the Fall rested on both male and female, not just female.
In Genesis 4:1, the King James Version says “Adam knew Eve, his wife.” When I read that as a teenager, I thought that the Bible was too embarrassed to say “They had sex.” But, the Hebrew word really truly does mean “know.” To know physically, to know spiritually, to know emotionally—it means to be intimate. In Genesis 2:24, the text uses the phrase “one flesh.” It’s an intimate relationship built on love and equality. That’s God’s plan. Intimacy rather than suspicion. Unity rather than division. Love rather than hate. The Babylonian account had little interest in the closeness of relationships. But Scripture always does.
In Genesis 3:8, it says that God walked in the garden, and Adam knew it was God. How intimate do you have to be with someone in order to recognize the sound of their walking? As it turns out, God wants a close relationship with us! Again, the Babylonian account has no interest in a relationship with the gods. But Scripture always does.
In Genesis 3: 14-19, several things happen as a result of the sins in the Garden of Eden. Theologians call this passage “the curse.” One of those passages says that men will rule over women. Throughout the ages, the church has used this passage to make women second-class citizens. But… It’s the curse. The curse is oppression, pecking orders, and separation. And here’s the thing: The church has never been called to live out the curse! The church is called to live out the promise. And the promise—the plan—is one flesh. The churches call is to live out relationships built on love and equality.
Genesis 2-3 tells us something about what we all know about the human condition. We live in a world engorged on the curse. Oppression. Hate. Violence. Inequality. But our call as people of God is to live into the promise of love, one flesh, and relationships that matter. The Babylonian account stopped at, “life is full of violence.” The scriptural account goes on to give another way. Treating each other with dignity and equality—not just in the family setting, but in every interaction we have in our life.
And that’s our identity as people of God. Relationships built on equality and generosity. To leave behind pettiness, to hate injustice, and to ferment places that are full of love, compassion, and integrity. That’s the plan. That’s the call.
If you liked this article, you might enjoy Read the Bible in a Year, a chronological guide to reading the Bible. It has 52 introductions for each week’s readings. The introductions include the history and of the book you’re reading, important passages, and faith insights.
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More Bible and Church Resources
Read the Bible in a Year: 52 Introductions for a Chronological Journey through the Bible
Help! I Want to Read the Bible: A Beginner’s Quick Start Guide
Understanding Genesis: The Beginning of the Promise. A Bible Study
Youth Ministry: Ten Non-Group Models
Conversations at the Pearly Gates: Six Dramas for Lent
Holy Week at the Jerusalem Café: Six Dramas for Lent