The writing of the Scripture, particularly its wording, is very definitive, but elusive in nature. It establishes God as the primary character who creates, orders and names throughout day one through five, later handing off these duties to humans in day six : an interesting parallel. God creates light and land, separates water and makes plant and animal life. However, on day six, He creates humans in his likeness and commands them to do what he has been doing: make, order and have dominion. The seventh day acts as a reflection on the acts of creation that have occurred in the past week. It emphasizes the importance of these previous days as something to be revered. This day will go on to be Sabbath and as a day of worship. The text tells us that “God said, ‘Let there be light”; and there was light” but it does not go into detail about the process by which God creates. Additionally, we see repetition in phrasing throughout Genesis with “And God said” and “And it was so” and many more. These repetitions establish a sense of calm and order, heightened by the chronology of the days. Looking at these aspects of the Scripture, it can be deemed that it may have been intended as some sort of narrative or explanation for the past. Looking at it from a logical perspective there are some seeming discrepancies in flow of events with days and nights coming before the sun, so we must remain content with holding the Scripture as a somewhat mystical text and that which cannot be fully explained. So a narrative? Perhaps. But maybe the Scripture holds its own genre. Something that cannot quite be labeled as one thing or another, but simply as itself. Like all religious texts, there are those that believe and follow the words and those that do not. Therefore, a universal understanding and categorization of the Scripture in my opinion is unreasonable.

Knowledge is emphasized, particularly the knowledge of good and evil. This wording is quite important as it establishes that being able to distinguish and make judgements about human behavior and what is “good.” By eating of the fruit, Adam and Eve become somewhat like God in the sense that now they too place value on things, but they lack the context and perception. Additionally, eating the fruit, the physical act of consuming–instead of touching or sniffing or licking–brings to light the dependency of man on nourishment from the earth, which are given to man by God. The verb given used in this way implies that eating is not just a biological necessity but “a relationship in which there is a giver, a gift and a recipient” (Legaspi 8). Trees are used as the vessel for the food which perhaps is due to the nature of the garden or as a precursor the cross. Adam and Eve were not only disobedient but they obtained God-like qualities… to an extent. Yes they can now make subjective judgements about good and bad, but they lack a deeper understanding. By banishing them from the garden, God prevents them from potentially eating from the tree of life, starting Adam and Eve’s mortal lives and humanity as we know it. This, in a sense was merciful so that they did not have to live forever with their sin.