Genesis 2:22

The scientific record: Approximately 2 million species have been formally described, with millions more estimated. (NIH)

Genesis 1:25-27 places the creation of humans (male and female, simultaneously, in the image of God) after the animals as the climax of a structured six-day sequence. Genesis 2:18-22 has the man formed first and alone, animals then formed as a failed attempt to find him a helper, and the woman finally built from his rib.

Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.

Parallel accounts (distinct sources)

Genesis 1:27 and Jesus' citation of it in Matthew 19:4 state that God made humans 'male and female' from the beginning, as a simultaneous creation. Genesis 2:7, 2:18-20, and 2:21-22 instead describe the man being formed first, followed by a failed attempt to find him a helper among the animals, and only afterward the woman being built from his rib.

Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.

Parallel accounts (distinct sources)

Genesis 2:18-24 presents marriage as a divine solution to the problem that 'it is not good that man should be alone.' 1 Corinthians 7:1 and 7:7 have Paul declaring that 'it is good for a man not to touch a woman' and wishing that all men were unmarried like himself.

Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.

Theology

Genesis 1:27 has God creating male and female simultaneously on day six, in the divine image. Genesis 2:20-22 has Eve created separately, after Adam has already named all the animals, by YHWH taking one of Adam's ribs and fashioning her from it.

Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.

Parallel accounts (distinct sources)

This one is a three-way tangle. The Hebrew Bible narrates polygamy without condemnation across patriarchs, judges, and kings — Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, David, Solomon, Rehoboam all pile up wives.

Critical scholarship: Leans toward reconciliation.

Law & ethics