When Was Eve Created?

by
Jason Dulle
JasonDulle@yahoo.com

Question:

When was Eve created—during the creation week or after? I have always thought that Eve was created during the creation week, but someone told me that Eve was created after the seven day creation period. Where do they get this idea from, and are they right?

  


Answer:

Some have postulated that Eve was created as an after-thought, after the creation week was complete. Such a view is based on the fact that the account of Eve’s creation appears in Genesis 2:18-25, which follows the seventh and final day of creation (2:1-3). The creation of man occurred in Genesis 1:26-27 on the sixth day. Does this mean, then, that Eve was created after the creation week was over, at some later date, while Adam was created on the sixth day? It does not appear so for the following reasons:

1. Genesis 1:27 says that God created man male and female. Some have interpreted this to mean that God only made Adam, but inherent within Adam lay the necessary "materials" to construct female, thus both male and female are mentioned as being present on day six. It seems, however, that there were indeed two persons present, not just the inherent pattern for a female within Adam. The pronouns used in verse 28 are plural, not singular, indicating that God was speaking to more than one person. If it is argued that God was speaking prophetically to Adam’s inherent "femaleness," then one must be able to explain how Adam could have been expected to multiply himself as God had commanded (v. 28). It would have been a meaningless command had Eve not already existed at that point in time.

2. The account is clearly sequential, as indicated by the sequential numbering of the days. Day seven appears last, indicating the last of the sequence, and on this day we find the author stating that on the seventh day God had had finished making the heavens and earth and all that is in them (Genesis 2:1). There was no more to be created. From that point on everything would continue to bring forth after its own kind. God had ceased from all His creation works (Genesis 2:1-3). If we understand the account of Eve’s creation in Genesis 2:18-25 to be after the creation week, we must find a way to explain how God could create after it is clearly said that He had already completed all that was in the heavens and the earth.

It would seem that Genesis 2:4-25 offers an explanatory window to Genesis 1:26-27, further elaborating upon it. This is a common Hebrew literary style.

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