lpetrich

As "spin" pointed out early in "Defending the Genesis creation account", Genesis 1 has a very schematic account of creation:

Day 1: Day and night
Day 2: Sky and sea
Day 3: Land

Day 4: Sun and Moon
Day 5: Birds and fish/sea-monsters
Day 6: Land-animals/humanity

Day 7: The first Sabbath in the history of the Universe, celebrated by a very satisfied Deity

Notice the correspondence -- the first three days are the creation of environments, while the second three days are the creation of their inhabitants. Yes, Gen 1:16 pictures the Sun as an inhabitant of the day, and the Moon an inhabitant of the night.

Turning to other creations, plants are created as environment rather than as inhabitants. They are created in Day 3, with the Earth being commanded to produce them, and they are made available for various inhabitants in Day 6.

And the stars are viewed as inhabitants. Being celestial, they are created in Day 4, almost as an afterthought.


This explains such oddities as plants before Sun and birds before land animals. And the lack of fit with the G2 creation story is nowhere changed.


There are other schematic numbers and arrangements in the Bible; has anyone collected them?