I'm new to this Bible thing but don't the first two chapters of Genisis contradict each other?

Question

in chapter 1 God created the animals on the fifth day and man on the sixth day. in chapter 2 man is there first and God makes the animals so he won't be lonely. Or am I just not reading that right?
Ch 1
25: And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Ch 2
18: And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19: And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20: And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

So it looks like first the animals were first then man followed and then man was first and the animals followed. Which is it?

people dont seem to really read...it says out of the land they were formed in both chapters not that they were all brought together but that they were formed

and yes this is KJV and it doesnt say man was created first but it does say that man shouldn't be alone so God created the animals which one can infer means that man came first then the animals

Answer 1

You are correct.

Another example is the story of Noah's Ark. One verse says a male and female of each species (Genesis 6:19). Another verse says seven pairs of each species (Genesis 7:2).

There are hundreds of other examples of contradictory details throughout the Torah aka Five Books of Moses aka Pentateuch. Also, there are several instances when the same story is repeated. The reason is explained by the documentary hypothesis.

The documentary hypothesis says that at least five people wrote these books. Scholars refer to them as J-E-P-D-R. In a nutshell, J & E each worked for a different kingdom and the writings reflect social norms and political propaganda for said kingdoms. They wrote the majority of Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers. P wrote the laws of the book of Leviticus and made some minor adjustments elsewhere. D put all the writings together into one book and added the book of Deuteronomy. R edited what D did and added some post-Babylonian exile writings of his own. For an easy to read description of the documentary hypothesis, read Richard Friedman's "Who Wrote the Bible?".

Answer 2

No... in Chapter 2 it is saying that he is just Continuing to make the animals... He started to make the animals in Chapter 1, then he made Adam, then he continued making the animals allowing Adam to experience that then he made Eve.

He was letting Adam help him find a companion... when God and Adam decided that non could be found among the animals he made Eve.

By the Way... how come every time there is a slight discrepancy in the Bible everyone cries "contradiction"??? There is always another explanation... there are no contradictions in the Bible...

Answer 3

It does appear that the order of creation is reversed, but that is not an issue that can determine our salvation. In CH 1, God made the animals and man on the 6th day. (The creation of the 5th day ends in verse 23.)

I see chapter 2 as a synopsis with different details than what is written in chapter 1.

Answer 4

Either you are confused or you are not reading from the Bible because chapter 2 does not say that man was created first but agrees with Chapter 1 even in your question you state the same words as conflicts yourself so what would be the logical conclusion, is only what I said that you are confusing yourself with your philosophical reasoning that is not even there!

Answer 5

Oh yes there are so many contradictions in the Bible. Among my chosen religion we call the Bible one of the greatest works of fiction the world has ever known...but if you think about it, the Bible is supposed to be the word of God, handed down to men who put it into their own words and then wrote it down. At this time, water was not safe to drink, so they drank wine...after a few cups of wine, they were interpreting and adding their own 2 cents worth...in other words just being simply human beings. What do you think?

Answer 6

yup, and there are a few other contradictions as well. He created all the plants before he made a place to put them. he made day and night before he made the sun or stars. Part of the reason for these contradictions is that the bible manages to roll at least five creation myths up together into one grand mix up.

Answer 7

The Bible is not contradicting itself, here is where God is explaining that the creatures weren't an equal for Adam so he put him to sleep and created woman from Adam.

Answer 8

Animals , then Adam, but God gave Adam dominion over the animals. I don't understand the misunderstanding.

Answer 9

Yes, it does.

That's only one of the contradictions of the Bible.

Go through each of the 4 gospels and notice how they each tell the same stories very differently. You can focus on the events following the resurrection to start.

Answer 10

Evolution