Some scholars
object to the idea that Genesis 1.26 implies a divine council was present at
the creation because the idea that God would consult with other divine beings
at the creation because the idea that God would consult with other divine
beings at the creation conflicts with the major thrust of the creation account
in Genesis 1, which is that God created the world by Himself (so Cassuto, Genesis,
55-6). In fact, God is not described as consulting them but simply as informing
them of his decision. Indeed, the next verse pointedly states that God crated
humanity—and whatever beings God addressed in 1.26 have no role. These verses do
not portray any group efforts or deliberation. Verse 26 deliberately emphasizes
the contrast to the polytheistic (especially Mesopotamian) creation stories
that serve as the backdrop and foil for Genesis 1. By alluding in 1.26 to the
motif of group action more acutely than it would have done by leaving out mention
of it altogether. (The same logic underlies the reference in 1.21 to God’s
creating the התנינים [as opposed to God’s fight with Tanin]; it may also
underlie the description in 1.9-10 of God’s creation of הימים [as opposed to a
fight with Yam{, and the reference in 1.2 to God’s wind hovering over the
impersonal תהום [as opposed to a fight with Tiamat in which winds are wielded
against her as a weapon]. For more, Garr, Image, 203-4, points out that
in verse 26, God says to the angels, “Let עשׂה a human,” using a less restricted
word for creation. But in verse 27 God makes humanity on God’s own—and the verb
is ברא now, a verb used exclusively with the subject God in the Hebrew Bible
(as noted already by Melammed, “Linguistic,” 1 n. 1). Further, Garr points out
that though God says “Let’s make humanity in our image (בצלמנו)” in 26,
God makes the humans “in His image (בצלמו)” in 27. (the last point is
also made by Bird, “male and Female,” 144 n. 51). (Benjamin D. Sommer, The
Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel [Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2009], 269 n. 92)
