1. This is the history of heaven and earth. (The NKJV, KJV, and ESV reads: These are the generations of the heavens and the earth). History (ESV: generations) is the translation of the Hebrew word toledoth in Genesis 2:4. This word is used here in an expression which is a strong structural element in the book Genesis. This expression appears as follows: “This is the toledoth” and it is usually followed by the name of a person. The word history can suggest that we are looking backwards on history, as if Genesis 2:4 closes the section of Genesis 1:1–2:3 (the history of creation of heaven and earth and all the creatures in it). But on the contrary, the striking accent of toledoth focuses our attention on the future, on the outcome of the making of heaven and earth with all those creatures. At the same time toledoth connects the following story with the preceding events.  

So the toledoth expression has a twofold function. Firstly, it links the following history to what was told in the preceding story (Genesis 1). It takes a step back in this story and, in the case of Genesis 2, tells in a new way about the creation of Adam, the animals, and Eve. But secondly the emphasis lies on what happened with the beautiful and perfect world that God had created. How is the generation, how is the development of heaven and earth? So the toledoth expression is a strong structural element. It links Genesis 2:4 and the following with what precedes and indicates the beginning of a new story to put our attention forward. It relates the new story as a result to what precedes. Therefore Genesis 2:4 is the heading of a new section.

2. The toledoth expression is a strong structural element in the whole book of Genesis, and it functions like a framework. Five times it introduces the list of descendants of the man named in the toledoth expression (Genesis 5:1; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 25:12; and Genesis 36:1). Another five times it introduces the events that happen with the descendants of the man mentioned in the expression (Genesis 6:9; Genesis 11:27; Genesis 25:19; Genesis 37:2). (Toledoth is not an introducing expression in Genesis 10:32; Genesis 25:13; and Genesis 36:9. In the last case toledoth is just a repetition of Genesis 36:1).

In all these cases, the section introduced with the toledoth expression does not go back into the history of the ancestor. But he is the starting point of the following story. What happens to his descendants? The biggest part does not talk about this ancestor, but about the people who have him to thank for their existence. In some way Genesis 6:9 forms an exception by introducing an exceptional event such as the great flood, giving a lot of attention to the circumstances in which the flood came and the outcome thereof.

3. By using the toledoth expression, Genesis tells the history in a kaleidoscopic way. In the first instance in Genesis (Genesis 2:4), the expression does not use the name of a person, because there was no history of men at that time. All the history that follows proceeded from God’s creation of heaven and earth. The focus is narrowing by each new toledoth expression. It ends in the history of Jacob and so the beginning arises of the people of Israel. To give an outline:

a.       The history of heaven and earth: Genesis 2:4–4:26

b.       The history (in the sense of genealogy) of Adam: Genesis 5:1–6:8

c.       The history of Noah: Genesis 6:9–9:29

d.       The history (for a large part in the sense of genealogy) of Shem, Ham and Japheth: Genesis 10:1–11:9

e.       The history (in the sense of genealogy) of Shem: Genesis 11:10–26

f.        The history of Terah: Genesis 11:27–25:11

g.       The history (in the sense of genealogy) of Ishmael: Genesis 25:12–18

h.       The history of Isaac: Genesis 25:19–35:29

i.         The history (for a large part in the sense of genealogy) of Esau: Genesis 36:1–37:1

j.         The history of Jacob: Genesis 37:2–50:26

4. Twice a history introduced by the toledoth expression had a dead end: the history of Ishmael (g) and the history of Esau (i). They have no position in the rise of Israel. These stories were told first before the line continued. The history of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (d) only continues with the history of Shem (e).

Besides Genesis we also find the toledoth expression in Numbers 3:1: the history of Moses and Aaron. The following chapters describe the rules in and around the tabernacle and the rules for the priests and Levites. Furthermore, they describe some events in the wilderness on the way to Canaan. We also find the toledoth expression in Ruth 4:18 at the heading of the genealogy of Perez, and in 1 Chronicles 1:29 at the beginning of the genealogy of Ishmael and Isaac.   

5. The new section that begins with Genesis 2:4 continues up until Genesis 4:26. Genesis 2 has a different character and focus than Genesis 1:1–2:3. Firstly, it differs in literary style. Genesis 1 has an elevated tone, clearly structured by repetition in expressions and in demarcating the different days, in a nearly poetic type of prose. Genesis 2 has a more common narrative style like the narratives in the rest of Genesis—human and vivid. There is also a difference in the place of action. Genesis 1 focuses our attention on the earth from the whole of the cosmos. In Genesis 2 the earth is the starting point and the only place where the events take place. A third aspect is the characters. In Genesis 1 only God acts. In Genesis 2–4 people as God’s creatures who reacts on him and his creatures, stand with him in the center of action.

6. Something that marks the different focus is the fact that the verb to create (‘asah and bara’) is dominating in Genesis 1. However, in Genesis 2:4-25 the verb bara’ is totally absent, while ‘asah appears only once (Genesis 2:18). Striking also is the different usages of the word God. In Genesis 1 the Hebrew word ‘elohim is used. It emphasizes the greatness, uniqueness, and the great power and wisdom of the almighty God, who created heaven and earth. In Genesis 2 the designation changes consistently in the description Lord God (yhwh ‘elohim). It typifies the Almighty as the God who connects himself with the people he created, by making an alliance with them. He reveals himself as the God who lives with them in a very personal way in a covenant he made (Hosea 6:7). He loves them and gives them instructions on how to live in a beautiful and perfect dwelling on earth (Genesis 2:15–17).   

7. The theme and purpose of Genesis 1 is different from the purpose of Genesis 2. In Genesis 1 God creates a perfect and harmonious place to live for the people he had created on the sixth day. In the creation of the man and woman God reaches the goal, the finishing touch of his work of creation. Now what he has made is not just good but very good (Genesis 1:31). Man is the crown of creation. In Genesis 2 man is the centre of creation, like a stone which is thrown into the water. The focus lies on his mission, that is, how he lives with the creatures God had made, in obedient love toward him.    

Conclusion: Sometimes Genesis 2 is characterized as a second account of creation. In accordance with what is said above, this characterization is incorrect. As the beginning of Genesis 2–4, chapter 2 has its own perspective, and its intention is not to repeat the account of creation. Genesis 2–4 recounts what became of the perfect world that God had created in Genesis 1. What arise from heaven and earth after they were created? Within this section Genesis 2:4-25 describes how things were before the fall into sin. According to the function of the toledoth expression, it takes us a step back in time focusing on what happened before, especially on the sixth day of creation—the formation of Adam, his calling in the garden of Eden, and the creation of Eve. God gave them their place on earth and the life with him in the covenant.