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Genesis creation narrative

Alternative biblical accounts (Creation by word and creation by combat)
Not in article yet: Alternative creation accounts are provided in Proverbs 8:22–31 and Job 38–42.

Six days of Creation: Genesis 1:3–2:3
Removed from article but might still be useful God's first act was the creation of undifferentiated light; dark and light were then separated into night and day, their order (evening before morning) signifying that this was the liturgical day; and then the Sun, Moon and stars were created to mark the proper times for the festivals of the week and year. Only when this is done does God create man and woman and the means to sustain them (plants and animals).

Fifth day
On day five, God creates animals of the sea and air. In Genesis 1:20, the Hebrew term nepeš ḥayya (living creatures) is first used. They are of higher status than all that has been created before this, and they receive God's blessing.

The Hebrew word tannin (translated as "sea creatures" or "sea monsters") in Genesis 1:21 is used elsewhere in the Bible in reference to chaos-monsters named Rahab and Leviathan (Psalm 74:13, Isaiah 27:1 and 51:9). In Egyptian and Mesopotamian mythologies (Instruction of Merikare and Enuma Elish), the creator-god has to do battle with the sea-monsters before he can make heaven and earth. In Genesis, however, there is no hint of combat, and the tannin are simply creatures created by God. The Genesis account, therefore, is an explicit polemic against the mythologies of the ancient world.

Sixth day
On day six, God creates land animals and humans. Like the animals of the sea and air, the land animals are designated nepeš ḥayya (living creatures). They are divided into three categories: domesticated animals (behema), whild herd animals that serve as prey (remeś), and wild predators (ḥayya). The earth "brings forth" animals in the same way that it brought forth vegetation on day three.

In Genesis 1:26, God says "Let us make man..." This has given rise to several theories, of which the two most important are that "us" is majestic plural, or that it reflects a setting in a divine council with God enthroned as king and proposing the creation of mankind to the lesser divine beings.

The creation of mankind is the climax of the creation account and God's implied purpose for creating the world. Everything created up to this point was made for humanity's use. Man was created in the "image of God". The meaning of this is unclear but suggestions include:
 * 1) Having the spiritual qualities of God such as intellect, will, etc.;
 * 2) Having the physical form of God;
 * 3) A combination of these two;
 * 4) Being God's counterpart on Earth and able to enter into a relationship with him;
 * 5) Being God's representative or viceroy on Earth.

When in Genesis 1:26 God says "Let us make man", the Hebrew word used is adam; in this form it is a generic noun, "mankind", and does not imply that this creation is male. After this first mention the word always appears as ha-adam, "the man", but as Genesis 1:27 shows ("So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them."), the word is still not exclusively male.

God blesses humanity, commanding them to reproduce. He also commands mankind to "subdue" (kbš) the earth and "rule" (rdh) over it. This would include animal domestication and using natural resources. God tells the animals and humans that he has given them "the green plants for food" – creation is to be vegetarian. Only later, after the Flood, is man given permission to eat flesh. The Priestly author of Genesis appears to look back to an ideal past in which mankind lived at peace both with itself and with the animal kingdom, and which could be re-achieved through a proper sacrificial life in harmony with God.

Upon completion, God sees that "every thing that He had made ... was very good". This implies that the materials that existed before the Creation ("tohu wa-bohu," "darkness", "tehom") were not "very good". Israel Knohl hypothesized that the Priestly source set up this dichotomy to mitigate the problem of evil.

Second narrative: Genesis 2:4–2:25
The second creation narrative concerns the creation of man and his placement in the Garden of Eden. It concludes with the creation of woman.

Man is made from a combination of elements: the dust of the ground and the breath of God. This teaches that human beings are connected to the earth and part of the created order, while also highlighting man's special relationship to God.