Creation Rest: Genesis 2:1-3 and the First Creation Account

In this article, the nature of God’s rest in the first creation account is examined, describing what “rest” entailed for God. It suggests that God’s “rest” is from the creational activity of the first six days, that it continues into the present time, and serves as a counterpoint to the notions of rest presented by other cultures of the ANE. It also argues that, while God rests on the seventh day, humanity is busy about its appointed tasks of subduing the earth, exercising dominion, and expanding the borders of the garden as they multiply and fill the earth.