from a literary, exegetical, historical, and theological point of view. The view taken here is that the account in Gen 1 begins with the universe as a whole (Gen 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) and then step by step unpacks the parts that make up the whole (Gen 1:2–2:3). The author (whether we have the divine or the human author in mind) shaped the story of creation around what was observable and understandable to the ancient Israelites. Like the text, we need to start