The book of Genesis is the first of "the five books of Moses" called the Pentateuch (Greek) or Torah (Hebrew). It is assumed by most Christians and Jews that Moses was the author of these five books. There is contextual evidence within these five books that suggest that more than one author recorded the events of "the five books of Moses". At some point in history, possibly during the time of Ezra, these separate recorded events were combined into one cohesive narrative giving us the books we know today as "the five books of Moses".

Most Christians and Jews believe that the Bible is inspired by God meaning that the words of the Bible were given to the author by God. If this were true we can assume that the text would be without error or contradiction. While I believe that the Bible is inspired I see it as an author being inspired by his relationship with God much like a painter is inspired to paint a painting of something that he sees. While the majority of the Christian and Jewish communities will disagree with me, there are passages in the Bible which contradict each other because of the multiple authors of the text. The same would be true if several eyewitness witnessed an accident, there accounts of the same event would differ in some areas due to their differing viewpoints.

There appears to be two separate creation narratives recorded in the book of Genesis. The first is found in Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3. The second narrative is found in Genesis 2:4 to Genesis 2:25. There are some literary differences between these two accounts. In the first account God is always referred to as simply "elohiym" (God) while in the second he is referred to as "Yahweh elohiym". Another notable difference between the two narratives is that the first account centers on the creation of the heavens and the earth while the second is on the creation of man.

When we read Genesis chapter one we usually see only one story there, but there are actually many stories. Why don't we see these multiple stories? Because we read the Hebrew Bible from a Modern Western thinkers point of view and not from an Ancient Eastern thinkers such as the Hebrews who wrote it. The Hebrews style of writing is prolific with a style of poetry unfamiliar to most readers of the Bible. This poetry is nothing like the poetry we are used to reading today and therefore it is invisible to us.

The most common form of Hebrew poetry is called parallelism. Parallelism is when the writer says one thing in two or more different ways. The Psalms and Proverbs are filled with these such as the examples below.

• "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Psalms 119:105). The first part of this verse is paralleled with the second part. This verse is not saying two different things, rather, one thing in two different ways.

• "My son, do not forget my teaching, and keep my commands in your heart" (Proverbs 3:1). Again the first part is paralleled with the second part.

• "Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me and a young man for injuring me" (Genesis 4:23). Let's break down what Lamech says; [Adah and Zillah, listen to me] = [wives of Lamech, hear my words] then he says; I have killed [a man for wounding me] = [a young man for injuring me]. Lamech did not wound one and injure another, but killed one person and says it two different ways.

Contained within the Creation narrative of Genesis chapter one is this parallel style of poetry. The parallels are often hard to recognize as they are layered on top of each other. Each layer is a story unto itself but, when combined together they form the "Song of Creation".

• "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1.1). This verse is about the creation of all things, not just the heavens and the earth. It is a type of summary placed at the beginning of the narrative.

• "And the earth was unfilled and empty and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Wind of God was hovering over the waters" (Genesis 1.2). The use of the word "and" at the beginning of this verse may cause some confusion due to a mis-understanding of how this word is used in Hebrew. In English, the word "and" indicates a progression of events. It is assumed that the events of verse two follow the events of verse one. In Hebrew, the word "and" is used in standard Hebrew poetry to link two statements together as one. In other words, verse two is a parallel to verse one. The earth was empty and the Wind of God hovered over the waters of the earth, the creative action of God.

• "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light and God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness and God called the light day', and the darkness he called night and there was evening, and there was morning, the first day" (Genesis 1.3-5). Hebrew, like English, has a word for one and a different word for first. The same is true for the words two and second, three and third, etc. As an example the Hebrew word for "three" is "shelosh", and the Hebrew word for "third" is "sheliyshiy". Days 2 - 7 use the Hebrew words for second, third, fourth, etc. We would assume that the "first" day would use the Hebrew word "reshon" meaning "first" in order to be consistent with the other six days, but instead we have the word "echad" meaning "one" or " in unity". The author is making a parallel between the "first" day and with all the days of creation. All seven days of creation are being united together in this verse. Again, this verse is a parallel to the first two verses.

• The fourth creation story is found in Genesis 1.3-13. In these passages we have the first three days of creation. These are the days of separating. On the first day God separated light and darkness. On the second day God separated the waters above from the waters below forming the sky and the seas. On the third day God separated the land from the water forming dry land. This story is the three acts of the creation of the heavens (sky) and earth (land and sea).

• The fifth creation story is found in Genesis 1.14-31. In these passages we have the second set of three days of creation. On the fourth day God created the sun to rule the light and the moon to rule the darkness. On the fifth day God created the birds to fill the air and the fish to fill the sea. On the sixth day God created the plants and animals to fill the land. Notice the correlation between the first set of three days with the second set of three days. On the first day God created light and darkness and on the fourth day he created the sun and moon. On the second day God created the sky and the land and on the fifth day he created the birds and fish. On the third day God created the land and on sixth day he created the plants and animals. Also notice the re-occuring theme of "threes" which is commonly used in Hebrew poetry. The first three stories paralleling each other and the two sets of three in the fourth and fifth stories paralleling each other.

• The sixth story is the whole of Genesis chapter one. Though we have looked at five different stories of creation, they are all combined together to form one complete story of creation.