“For the man is not of the woman…”
A further Biblical proof that Genesis 1 and 2 should be considered to relate to the same creative event is found in 1 Corinthians 11:7-9: “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man”. In this scripture the apostle Paul, guided by the Spirit, utilises references from both Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 to substantiate his argument that men are made in the image and glory of God, and therefore ought not to cover their heads. This is demonstrated in the table below:
| 1 Corinthians 11 | Genesis 1 and 2 |
| 1 Corinthians 11:7 “man… he is the image and glory of God” | Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”
Genesis 1:27 “in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” |
| 1 Corinthians 11:8 “For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” | Genesis 2:20 “…for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.”
Genesis 2:22-23 “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” |
These quotations illustrate the apostolic understanding of Genesis 1 and 2, that they are part of the same account and should be read together. The apostle Paul elsewhere declares, “I think also that I have the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 7:40). His writings were the product of Divine inspiration, and are authoritative as scripture, as is also the book of Genesis (see 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 3:16; Galatians 3:8; James 2:23). It is right that we should expect consistency in the teaching of scripture from Genesis all the way through to the end of the New Testament, since the true Author, the God of the Bible, is a “God of truth” (Deuteronomy 32:4), a Being that “cannot
lie” (Titus 1:2).
