NOTES for Gen 2:4-25
On careful reading of the account of the creation of the human being that we find in the second chapter of Genesis, it is not hard to notice that it is a kind of commentary and explanation of the description of the sixth "day of creation" as we see it in the first chapter. Indeed, the very appearance of the Garden of Eden (vv. 8-14) on the site of what had previously been a barren wilderness (vv. 4-6) reminds us that on the same day as the human being God created for him an entire world in which he was to live, including domestic animals (Gen. 1:24-25; in the Hebrew text the matter is not simply "cattle" as animals, but "cattle" precisely as domestic animals, originally intended for the human being). These, obviously, are the very animals to which the human being later gives "names," that is, designations (vv. 19-20). And the story of the creation of woman, or more precisely of man and woman (vv. 21-25), only unfolds the meaning of the short phrase ("male and female He created them") that we find in the account of the creation of the world (Gen. 1:27). Before us is a description of a whole sequence of events that took place simultaneously or almost simultaneously, in biblical language, "in one day." And at the center of these events stands the human being (v. 7). Here, above all, what stands out is that the human being created by God is not distinguished by some special nature. In this respect the human being does not stand out at all; like everything else, he is created from dust. And "dust" in the Bible denotes the primary elements of which the universe consists (Prov. 8:26), so here the human being is not unique. His "soul" is not unique either; animals have the same "soul" (v. 19; compare Gen. 1:20-21; 9:4, 5, 10, 12, 15-16), which is not surprising, because the corresponding Hebrew word simply means "life," in the sense of the life principle or life force present in every living being. If "dust" connects the human being with all nature in general, then "soul" connects him with all living nature. The uniqueness of the human being as a creature made "in the image and likeness of God" (Gen. 1:24-25) lies in the "breath of life" given to him by God (v. 7). But this "breath" does not belong to the human being; it is not part of human nature. It is given to him while remaining at the same time something completely unlike his own nature. Strictly speaking, it is not nature at all, because it is from God, from the One who, having created all nature, is Himself not nature. In a certain sense, the human being was created from the very beginning as a "supernatural" being, that is, one who goes beyond the limits of nature. And only by going beyond its limits can he remain himself, as God intended him to be. The will that makes a person free and gives him the possibility of choosing; reason and the creative principle that raise him above natural instincts; and even simply self-awareness, which allows a person to say of himself, "I exist" - all these are gifts given by God to everyone who comes into the world. And this is the most wonderful gift: God gives the human being his humanity.