In the Old Testament The creation of Universe is described so also in Manusmriti(Refer). Both have been compared sentence by sentence and they are more or less similar. Some differences are
Genesis says god created; but Manusmriti says Brahman (Then the divine Self-existent (Svayambhu, himself) indiscernible, (but) making (all) this, the great elements and the rest, discernible, appeared with irresistible (creative) power, dispelling the darkness.)created this universe and disappeared within himself. Of course he created everything from elements. This is not described in Testament. Brahman also created the Vedas and Gods ( demigods) and also created Yakshas (the servants of Kubera, the demons called) Rakshasas and Pisakas, Gandharvas (or musicians of the gods), Apsarases (the dancers of the gods), Asuras, (the snake-deities called) Nagas and Sarpas, (the bird-deities called) Suparnas and the several classes of the manes. This is not said in genesis. And he created men by their castes Brahmins, Kshatriya,Vysyas, and shudras. Then he created their qualities and Dharmas which are explained in Manusmriti in detail. Thus we are controlled by Dharmas created by Brahman and there is no scope for miracles. But of course Devas and Asuras and Gandharvas other than men are capable of extraordinary powers according to their capacities, which human also can achieve by tapsya and penance. But for these major differences, surprisingly the creation of universe is sentence by sentence similar probably according to the knowledge available probably around 1st century BC. This comparison is given below for your judgment. You can also refer to Manusmriti(Refer).
| GENESIS | MANUSMRITI |
| 1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. | 1.13. And out of those two halves he formed heaven and earth, between them the middle sphere, the eight points of the horizon, and the eternal abode of the waters. |
| 2: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. | 1.5. This (universe) existed in the shape of Darkness, unperceived, destitute of distinctive marks, unattainable by reasoning, unknowable, wholly immersed, as it were, in deep sleep. |
| 3: And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. | 1.6. Then the divine Self-existent (Svayambhu, himself) indiscernible, (but) making (all) this, the great elements and the rest, discernible, appeared with irresistible (creative) power, dispelling the darkness. |
| 4: And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. | | 1.7. He who can be perceived by the internal organ (alone), who is subtile, indiscernible, and eternal, who contains all created beings and is inconceivable, shone forth of his own (will).9. That (seed) became a golden egg, in brilliancy equal to the sun; in that (egg) he himself was born as Brahman, the progenitor of the whole world. |
| 5: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. | 1.64. Eighteen nimeshas (twinklings of the eye, are one kashtha), thirty kashthas one kala, thirty kalas one muhurta, and as many (muhurtas) one day and night. |
| 6: And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. | .8. He, desiring to produce beings of many kinds from his own body, first with a thought created the waters, and placed his seed in them. |
| 7: And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. | 1.24. Time and the divisions of time, the lunar mansions and the planets, the rivers, the oceans, the mountains, plains, and uneven ground. |
| 8: And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. | 1.38. Lightnings, thunderbolts and clouds, imperfect (rohita) and perfect rainbows, falling meteors, supernatural noises, comets, and heavenly lights of many kinds, |
| 9: And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. | 1.8. He, desiring to produce beings of many kinds from his own body, first with a thought created the waters, and placed his seed in them. |
| 10: And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. | 2.17. That land, created by the gods, which lies between the two divine rivers Sarasvati and Drishadvati, the (sages) call Brahmavarta. |
| 11: And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. | 1.48. But the various plants with many stalks, growing from one or several roots, the different kinds of grasses, the climbing plants and the creepers spring all from seed or from slips. |
| 12: And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. | 1.46. All plants, propagated by seed or by slips, grow from shoots; annual plants (are those) which, bearing many flowers and fruits, perish after the ripening of their fruit; |
| 13: And the evening and the morning were the third day. | |
| 14: And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: | 1.30. As at the change of the seasons each season of its own accord assumes its distinctive marks, even so corporeal beings (resume in new births) their (appointed) course of action |
| 15: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. | |
| 16: And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. | 1.65. The sun divides days and nights, both human and divine, the night (being intended) for the repose of created beings and the day for exertion. |
| 17: And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, | |
| 18: And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. | |
| 19: And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. | |
| 20: And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. | 1.44. From eggs are born birds, snakes, crocodiles, fishes, tortoises, as well as similar terrestrial and aquatic (animals). |
| 21: And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. |
1.39 (Horse-faced) Kinnaras, monkeys, fishes, birds of many kinds, cattle, deer, men, and carnivorous beasts with two rows of teeth, 1.40. Small and large worms and beetles, moths, lice, flies, bugs, all stinging and biting insects and the several kinds of immovable things. |
| 22: And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. | 1.41. Thus was this whole (creation), both the immovable and the movable, produced by those high-minded ones by means of austerities and at my command, (each being) according to (the results of) its actions |
| 23: And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. | |
| 24: And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. | 1.43. Cattle, deer, carnivorous beasts with two rows of teeth, Rakshasas, Pisakas, and men are born from the womb. |
| 25: And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. | |
| 26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. | 1.31. But for the sake of the prosperity of the worlds he caused the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Shudra to proceed from his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet. |
| 27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. | 1.32. Dividing his own body, the Lord became half male and half female; with that (female) he produced Virag. |
| 28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. | 1.50. The (various) conditions in this always terrible and constantly changing circle of births and deaths to which created beings are subject, are stated to begin with (that of) Brahman, and to end with (that of) these (just mentioned immovable creatures). |
| 29: And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. | 1.46. All plants, propagated by seed or by slips, grow from shoots; annual plants (are those) which, bearing many flowers and fruits, perish after the ripening of their fruit; |
| 30: And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. | 1.43. Cattle, deer, carnivorous beasts with two rows of teeth, Rakshasas, Pisakas, and men are born from the womb. |
| 31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. | 1.51. When he whose power is incomprehensible, had thus produced the universe and men, he disappeared in himself, repeatedly suppressing one period by means of the other |
All Sloka Translations are from the site Valmiki Ramayana
Understanding Ramayana 