Two distinct accounts of the creation of the first man in Judeo-Christianity
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In the Book of Genesis, the presence of two distinct accounts of the creation of the first man (or couple) is noted.
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Genesis 1:27
The first account says male and female [God] created them, implying simultaneous creation, whereas the second account states that God created Eve subsequent to the creation of Adam. The Midrash Rabbah - Genesis VIII:1 reconciled the two by stating that Genesis 1, "male and female He created them", indicates that God originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite, bodily and spiritually both male and female, before creating the separate beings of Adam and Eve.
Genesis 2:22
Genesis 2:22 describes God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib.
Results of dual creation accounts
Some rabbis have suggested that Eve and the woman of the first account were two separate individuals, the first being identified as Lilith, a figure elsewhere described as a night demon.
The Alphabet of Ben Sira text places Lilith's creation after God's words in Genesis 2:18 that "it is not good for man to be alone"; in this text God forms Lilith out of the clay from which he made Adam but she and Adam bicker. Lilith claims that since she and Adam were created in the same way they were equal and she refuses to submit to him.
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