Genesis 2: The LORD God Formed Man and Woman

The Book of Genesis (The Generation)

Genesis 2:4 begins by saying:

This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were made, in the day in which the Lord God made the heaven and the earth, and every herb of the field before it was on the earth, and all the grass of the field before it sprang up, for God had not rained on the earth, and there was not a man to cultivate it. (Genesis 2:4-5 Brenton LXX)

The Greek word translated here as “generation” is genesis (G1078), which means source, origin. It comes from the word genos (G1085), which means kindred, coming from the verb ginomai (G1096), which primarily means: to become, ie. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being.

Based on what we read in Genesis 1, the above passage is saying the upcoming events in this second chapter of Genesis take place on the sixth day of creation.

Also, note the additional words concerning the Maker of the heaven and the earth. He is not just identified as God, but rather He is the Lord God.

The Lord God = the LORD God

In the Greek Septuagint, the Greek word translated in the above passage as “Lord” is “kurios” (G2962), which means, he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.

However, in the Hebrew Masoretic Text we find the Hebrew letters “yod-hey-vav-hey” or “YHVH” (H3068), where the English translations would say “LORD” written in ALLCAPS. This word is Yehovah, which is the proper name of the one true God, according to Brown-Driver-Briggs, and it means the existing One.

We see this name introduced to Moses in Exodus 3:13-15 at the burning bush on Mt. Horeb.

The parallel passage of these verses from the Hebrew Masoretic Text translated into English in the King James Version reads like this:

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (Exodus 3:13-15 KJV)

Please Note:

Just because the phrase, “the Lord”, is seen all throughout the English translations of the Greek Septuagint, this does not automatically equate to the title, “Yehovah” or “YHVH”, as seen in the Hebrew. Sometimes it could simply be referring to a “lord” or “master” as seen here:

A Psalm of David. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalms 110:1 Brenton)

A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalms 110:1 KJV)

The former mention of Lord is referring to the name, Yehovah (YHVH), whereas the latter mention is referring to another Lord (or Master), who is not YHVH.

However, when reading the KJV and other English translations of the Hebrew Masoretic, when the phrase “the LORD” appears with “LORD” in ALLCAPS, that is a translation for “YHVH”. And when it is not in ALLCAPS, it usually means “lord” or “master”, translated from various Hebrew words that carry similar meaning.

The Man Became a Living Soul

According to this second chapter of Genesis, it appears that the flesh and bone of man were formed from the dust of the earth, and the spirit of man was given him when God breathed into him the breath of life.

God Forms Each Man

While we see here that Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, we see other examples of mankind being formed by God, both figuratively and literally throughout the rest of the Septuagint.

Of Jacob we read…

Thus saith the Lord God that made thee, and he that formed thee from the womb; Thou shalt yet be helped: fear not, my servant Jacob; and beloved Israel, whom I have chosen. (Isaiah 44:2 Brenton)

Of Jeremiah we read…

And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee; I appointed thee a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:4-5 Brenton)

Notice Jeremiah was even sanctified and appointed for specific role before he came forth from the womb.

God Gives the Breath of Life

Job declares the life of all living things and the breath of every man is in YHVH’s hands…

Who then has not known in all these things, that the hand of the Lord has made them? Whereas the life of all living things is in his hand, and the breath of every man. (Job 12:9-10 Brenton)

He also speaks of the breath of God which remains to him in his nostrils…

And Job further continued and said in his parable, As God lives, who has thus judge me; and the Almighty, who has embittered my soul; verily, while my breath is yet in me, and the breath of God which remains to me is in my nostrils, my lips shall not speak evil words, neither shall my soul meditate unrighteous thoughts. (Job 27:1-4 Brenton)

In the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees we read a mother declaring she did not give breath or life to her children, nor was it she who formed their members in her womb. She credits the Creator who formed the generation of man.

But the mother was marvellous above all, and worthy of honourable memory: for when she saw her seven sons slain within the space of one day, she bare it with a good courage, because of the hope that she had in the Lord. Yea, she exhorted every one of them in her own language, filled with courageous spirits; and stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly stomach, she said unto them, I cannot tell how ye came into my womb: for I neither gave you breath nor life, neither was it I that formed the members of every one of you; But doubtless the Creator of the world, who formed the generation of man, and found out the beginning of all things, will also of his own mercy give you breath and life again, as ye now regard not your own selves for his laws’ sake. (2 Maccabees 7:20-23 Brenton)

God Gives Each Man a Spirit

Thus saith the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to them that tread on it: (Isaiah 42:5 Brenton)

…before the dust also return to the earth as it was, and the spirit return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7 Brenton)

In the apocryphal book, The Wisdom of Solomon, we read that it was understood that man borrows his own spirit.

For they counted all the idols of the heathen to be gods: which neither have the use of eyes to see, nor noses to draw breath, nor ears to hear, nor fingers of hands to handle; and as for their feet, they are slow to go. For man made them, and he that borrowed his own spirit fashioned them: but no man can make a god like unto himself. (Wisdom 15:15-16 Brenton)

Genesis 2 (verse 7 in the LXX and verse 8 in the KJV) tells us that the man became a living soul. This word translated as “became” is ginomai (G1096), which again, means: to become, ie. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being.

It appears that these texts are saying that God is very instrumental in the life of every man, not just Adam. He knows every man before he is conceived; He forms him in his mother’s womb; He gives him the breath of life, and to each one He gives a spirit.

A Help Suitable to Man

After Adam named the animals, the text states there was not found a help like to himself for Adam. So, God took one of Adam’s ribs while he slept, and filled up the flesh instead thereof, forming woman. And Adam called her, woman, saying, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.

Then we’re told, a man shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

On a very simplistic level, the concept of a male part and a female part is that the two are fashioned to physically fit together to form one whole unit.

This is the Natural Order for mankind. It is only through this union of a man and a woman that human procreation can take place.