Genesis: The Primeval History
 

The Bible begins with Genesis, a name that means 'beginning' or 'birth.' Appropriate, since:

• Gen. describes the origins of humanity, & the origins of  peoples w/ whom the Israelites had contact.

• also contains genealogies describing the interrelationship of different races and peoples.

Genesis 1-11 = Israel's "prehistory"-

• the primeval history is history before recorded time.

• how can this be?

• The PH is essentially mythological. Meaning?

  • the term 'myth' (Gk: muqoj) is complicated:

  • to us, it typically means 'false.'

  • but in antiquity, myths were stories intended to relate timeless truths in narrative form.

    • They were ahistorical-

    • transcending any specific context, b/c they were seen as true for all peoples at all times.

    • Still, these stories are inspired by and respond to specific situations
       

• The PH provides the cosmic framework in which Israel's chosen status is to be understood:

  • Because 'the world is the way it is,' Abraham is chosen.
     

• The PH is the product of two sources:

  • The Yahwist (J) and Priestly (P)
     

• The Priestly Creation:

  • Gen 1:1-2:4a, opens Genesis.

  • First verse is usually trans. "In the beginning..."- but this reflects the Christian influence of GJohn.

  • Hebrew may mean "When God began creating..."

    • creation 'ex nihilo'?
       

  • the order of creation does not appear to make sense in light of science/natural history:
     

    • Day 1:
      Light, called "day" and darkness, called "night."
       

    • Day 2:
      A dome to separate the waters above and below, called "the sky"
       

    • Day 3:
      Water under the sky gathered into a basin, revealing dry land. The water is called "the sea" the land is called "the earth."
       

    • Day 4:
      The two great lights (both unnamed), one governs the day and the other governs the night.
       

    • Day 5:
      sea creatures to fill the waters and birds to fill the sky under the dome.
       

    • Day 6:
      Land animals, including "man," to whom all plants and animals are given.
       

    • Day 7:
      Institution of Sabbath, or day of rest.
       

  • By this account, plants are created before the sun, which is needed to grow them. "Light" is also created before the sun, but its source is not described.
     

    • The Priestly Cosmology
       

  • Is there logic behind the sequence? See for yourself. Do you see the relationship between the six days?
     

  • The story is symmetrical:

    • Day 1, day and night are created,

      • day 4, sources of light are created (they "occupy" the light).

    • Day 2, sky and water are separated (no earth yet),

      • day 5 animals that occupy the sky and the water are created.

    • Day 3, the earth is created,

      • day 6 animals that occupy the earth and mankind are created.
         

    • The main point: In creating, God brought order and harmony to chaos.
       

• This story also has parallels to the creation myths of other Ancient Near eastern cultures, esp. the Babylonian myth Enuma Elish ('when on high'):

  • Versions of this myth predate the P account by several centuries.

  • The god Marduk is the focus of the story:

    • 1200 BC, the Assyrians captured Babylon and carried off a statue of Marduk,

      • the city's patron god and protector.

    • A century later, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar recaptured the statue.

    • Enuma Elish was written to celebrate this event.

    • At annual celebrations of the event, it was read publicly.

      • Jews living in Babylon during the exile would have been forced to listen to these readings.
         

  • [Enuma Elish recounts Marduk's defeat of an older generation of ANE gods.

    • the god Apsu and the goddess Tiamat were the parents of all the other gods.

    • When Apsu is killed by Ea, Tiamat seeks revenge for the death of her lover.

    • Ea turns to his father Anshar for advice, and Anshar decides to send Marduk to kill Tiamat.

    • Marduk agrees to do so only if he is placed first among the gods.

    • Marduk takes the 4 winds with him to face Tiamat, and she comes out to meet him with her mouth open to devour him.

    • He sends the winds into her mouth, blowing her up like a balloon, then he slices her in half.

    • Marduk makes a dome for the heavens out of the upper half of her body, and the earth out of the lower half.

    • Marduk also kills Tiamat's new lover Kingu, and makes man from his blood.]
       

• Genesis is not the only place in the OT where creation is mentioned,

  • some of the other references sound much like the "battle" imagery of Enuma Elish.
     

  • Psalms: 74, 89, 104

  • Remember that the P account was composed during or the Babylonian exile or after the return,

    • so this story is probably both influenced by the Babylonian creation myth

    • and written in response to it.
       

• This may be why the author is careful not to use the Hebrew word for the sun on day 3, shamesh,

  • which is almost identical to the Babylonian word Shamash,

    • the name of their sun god.
      
       

• This may also explain why creation of the sun is after vegetation-

  • all things are dependent on God to live,

  • not on the sun, which is itself dependent on God.
    
     

• The story also serves the function of explaining the purpose of the Sabbath:

  • Mankind is to rest every seven days, as God rested on the 7th day of creation-

    • but note the explanation In Deut 5:12-15.

     

• The Yahwist Creation:

  • Gen 2:4b-3:24
     

  • written in a different setting:

    • P assumes water, J assumes an arid land in need of irrigation.
       

  • different order

    • In P, man and woman are created last, in the "image of God,"

    • In J, man is created first from the "clay of the ground."
      Animals are created later as 'helpers' for man;
      when they are not satisfactory woman is created.

  • diff. view of God

    • In P, God's transcendence is emphasized-

      • he pre-exists creation.

    • In J, God's immediate, personal presence is emphasized. He:

      • Breathes life into man

        • [Associates life with respiration.]

      • plants a garden and walks in it

    • He is both angry and compassionate:

      • punishes Adam and Eve for disobedience,

      • makes clothes for them before expelling them.

     

  • Story is best known in Christian theology (esp. Augustine's concept of 'original sin') for its description of "The Fall"-

    • Adam & Eve's choice to disobey God and expulsion from "paradise."
       

    • but recognize:

      • no refs to the Fall in the rest of the Hebrew Bible

        • [although occasional references to Eden.]

      • Adam & Eve not referred to again until the Hellenistic Period, in Ben Sirach.

      • At no point in this story -nor throughout the Hebrew Bible- is the serpent considered to be Satan.
         

  • Key points:

  • 'eden' is from Babylonian 'edinu,' means "plain" or "desert."

    • v.10-15 locates garden in relation to Tigris and Euphrates.

    • translated as 'paradeisoj' ('garden' or 'garden of happiness') in the septuagint, hence English 'paradise.'
       

  • 'adam' can mean 'mankind,' or 'the first man'

    • Later in the story, it is used as a personal name.

    • Probably a pun on 'adamah' meaning 'clay,' 'earth,' or 'ground.'

  • 'Eve' (chavvah) means 'life.'

    • The 2 are archetypal humans,

    • representing 'everyman' and 'everywoman.'
       

  • Man is given responsibility for the garden, to till it and care for it.

  • carries over a theme from P:

    • In P, man is created in 'the image of God,' told to 'fill the earth and subdue it,' and to have dominion over all living things.

    • In J, man is told to care for the garden, just as God had done when he first created it.
       

    • In both, man is unique above all other creatures, in that man is capable of acting like God.

    • But...
       

  • humankind oversteps and seeks not just to be like God, but to be equal to God.

    • The 'Fall' demonstrates the Biblical concept of sin as:

    • an act of disobedience to or denial of God that results in separation:
       

      • From one another
        Adam and Eve recognize their sexual difference and (out of shame) conceal themselves from one another. (Origin of suspicion between the sexes)
         

      • From God
        Out of fear, Adam & Eve hide from God in the garden.
        (Origin of our sense of alienation from the divine)
         

      • From Self (conscience)
        When confronted, Adam denies responsibility for his own actions, blaming Eve. Eve blames the serpent for 'tricking' her.
        (The inclination to rationalize rather than reason)
         

  • Some questions:

    • How does Eve know about the prohibition to eat from the tree of knowledge?

    • God tells it to Adam before Eve is created.

      • God: 'You shall not eat...the moment you eat you are surely doomed to die' (2:17)

      • Eve: 'You shall not eat or even touch it, lest you die.' (3:3)

      • Does she understand it correctly, or has she distorted it? read into it? Been misinformed by Adam?
         

    • Does the serpent lie?

      • the diff. between the two statements of the prohibition:

        • Adam & Eve do not die the moment they eat the fruit- but is that what God had claimed?

        • The serpent appears to be honest, technically speaking.
           

  • Punishment & Consequences (3:14-18)-

    • Some of this material is punishment for sin, some of it is a description of the consequences of the Fall:
       

      • the serpent is cursed by being 'banned from all the animals' and made to crawl on its belly.

        • v.15 has been understood as the first messianic promise in the OT:
          'He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.'
           

      • Woman is cursed with painful childbirth,

        • and told that her 'urge will be for her husband,' who will be her 'master.'
           

      • Because of Man, the ground is cursed,

        • only brings forth food with great difficulty.

        • Man will 'return to the dust,' i.e., he will die.
           

      • Humanity is expelled from Eden

        • before man or woman can eat from the Tree of Life

          • and become immortal. (were they not already? See the curse above.)
             

      • Theses stories are etiological- they explain the origins of things. (Gk. ai0tia, 'cause, reason')

        • Genesis is filled with etiological material, most of it not intended as history. [more to come]

     

Cain & Abel: The Pattern Repeats & Intensifies

• The pattern of the Fall is repeated:

  • Like Adam & Eve:

  • Cain sins against God (murders his brother).

    • an attempt to be = to God in giving and taking life.

  • Cain denies this when confronted by God.

  • Cain is cursed by God,

    • curse is related to his use of the soil for survival.

  • Cain is banished from his land, sent to settle 'east of Eden.'

    • God shows compassion by marking him, so that he will not be killed.
       

• Story introduces rivalry between brothers:  

  • The eldest brother should be privileged over the younger,

    • but God prefers Abel's contribution to Cain's.

    • brother is jealous of brother; fratricide results.

  • The theme of the younger brother being chosen over the older (the 'rightful heir') repeats throughout the OT:

    • Isaac

    • Jacob

    • Joseph

    • David
       

• After Cain's sin, human wickedness increases with each generation:

  • his descendent, Lamech, murders a boy for 'bruising' him out of vengeance.
     

• A strange story:

  • Gen 6 begins w/ the Origin of the Nephilim.

    • Offspring of the "sons of heaven" (lit. "of the gods")and the "daughters of man."

    • Nephilim means "Giants"

      • trans here as a proper name for a race.
         

    • How is the story to be understood?

    • 2 possibilities:

      • Could be a negative critique of polytheism-

        • might be parallel to other myths (like the Greek titans)
           

      • But, the word nephilim is used again in Numbers to describe the Philistines-

        • most famous is Goliath, slain by David.
           

      • Either way, the story is placed before the Flood,

        • it is peak of human wickedness & corruption- the reason for the flood.
           

      • also parallels the Tower of Babel after the flood-

        • the nephilim are the result of the gods transgressing the human/divine boundary.

        • the tower is the result of humans trying to do the same thing.

The Flood Narratives

• Like the Creation accounts,

  • the Flood narratives are from J and P.

• Unlike them, the material from J & P is woven together in the flood,

  • but recognizable when common themes and vocabulary are identified
     

• The P account:

  • best understood as an un-Creation and Re-Creation,

  • w/language || to the 1st Creation story:

    • A wind sweeps over the waters at creation & end of the flood.

    • The 'fountains of the abyss' and 'floodgates' in both stories reflect the P cosmology.

    • both stories have commands to 'be fruitful and multiply,'

    • in each, God gives permission to use part of creation for food:

      • plants in creation story

      • animals in flood

    • In essence, God 'wipes the slate clean'
       

    • P's genealogies:

      • antediluvian (pre-flood) ages are much longer than post-flood ages

        • This is || in other ancient mythology, always associated with a flood.

      • God limits human life spans to limit human wickedness.
         

• The J account:

  • God is anthropomorphic:

    • closes the ark

    • smells Noah's sacrifice
       

  • best understood as a || to the Fall:

    • After the flood, Noah plants a vineyard and gets drunk from the fruit-

      • || to Adam eating fruit of tree of knowledge in garden.

    • Noah has 3 sons (Shem, Ham, & Japheth)

      • || to Cain, Abel, Seth

    • Noah's son Ham sees his nakedness and shames his father

      • || to Adam & Eve becoming aware & ashamed of their nakedness

    • Ham/Canaan is cursed by Noah

      • || to God's curses in Eden
         

    • The point: the flood did not end human sinfulness,

      • instead, the cycle began again.

      • Also illustrated w/Tower of Babel, || to the Nephilim:

        • Except at Babel, it is humans who try to transgress the divine/human boundary.

        • Both stories also point out the wickedness of races with whom the Israelites had conflict:

          • Nephilim/Philistines

          • Tower of Babel= Babylonian Ziggurat
            
             

• Noah & The Gilgamesh Epic:

  • like creation & Enuma Elish, the Flood has || in other ancient myths

  • most important is the Epic of Gilgamesh,

    • myth that developed as early as the Early Bronze Period (3000-2000 BC):
       

  • [Summary:

  • Gilgamesh is king of Uruk

  • Enkidu is created as his companion

    • he must be tamed- he becomes a man through sexual knowledge from a 'wise woman'.

    • but this weakens & civilizes him, so he cannot return to the wild

    • the woman clothes him, and he goes with Gilgamesh
       

  • He is killed, & G. becomes aware of his own mortality.

  • He seeks out Utnapishtim,

    • who was made immortal by the gods when he survived a flood intended to wipe out all of humanity.

    • U. is warned by the god Ea about the flood, and told

      • to build a boat

        • (caulked with bitumen)

      • and take his family and animals aboard.
         

    • Ea shuts him into the ark

    • the world is flooded, but U. & his family survive.

    • 6 days later, the ark runs aground on a mountain.

    • U. sends out 3 birds to see if they find a place to rest.

    • When U. leaves the boat, he offers a sacrifice to the gods, who find the aroma pleasing.

    • Enlil realizes that a mortal has survived the flood and is enraged-

      • but he makes U. & his wife immortal, so that, technically, all 'mortals' die in the flood.

      • he then sends them to Dilmun, at 'the mouth of the rivers' (=Eden)
         

  • U. tells G. that the secret to immortality is a plant found at the bottom of the sea

  • G. recovers the plant, only to have it stolen from him by a serpent.]
     

  • A historical flood...?

    • no archaeological evidence of a worldwide flood,

    • but there is evidence of one in the biblical world:

      • In 1997, 2 Columbia U. scholars proposed the Black Sea flood theory-

      • at the end of the last ice age (c. 5600 BC),

      • massive glacial melt caused the Mediterranean Sea to spill over into the Black Sea,

        • causing a sudden, drastic, disastrous inland flood

        • wiping out civilizations along the shores of the Black Sea,

        • imprinting itself on the collective cultural memories of those who escaped and resettle elsewhere,

        • explaining the prevalence of flood narratives in ANE cultures- and possibly even Plato's myth of Atlantis.
           

      • Concluding Point: God created humanity with freedom to choose-

        • for that freedom to be authentic, the consequences of bad choices must be permitted

        • along with those of good choices.
           

        • The Primeval History ends with a dilemma:

          • How can God encourage virtue in mankind without making it meaningless by restricting free will?