Genesis 1-11, Part 4: Genesis 1c

Monday, 23 June 2008

Elohim said, “Land, bring out Living Souls,
according to their kind
Beasts and Creepers

and Animals of the Land
according to their kind.

And it was so.

And Elohim made the Animals of the Land
    according to their kind
        and the Beasts
            according to their kind
                all the Creeping of the Ground
                    according to their kind.

And Elohim saw that it was good.

Elohim said, “We will make Earthling in our image,
    in our likeness.
        And they will rule the Fish of the Sea,
            and the Flying of the Skies,
                and the Beasts
                    and all the Land,
                        and all the Creepers creeping upon the Land.

And Elohim created Earthling in His image,
in the image of Elohim He created him
male and female He created them

And Elohim blessed them
    and Elohim said to them,
        “Be fruitful, become many, and fill the Land,
            And subdue and dominate the Fish of the Sea,
                And the Flying of the Skies
                    and in all the Living Crawlers upon the Land.”

And Elohim said,

“Here, I have given to you every plant seeding seed

            that is on the face of all the Land,
                And every tree in it, fruit trees seeding seed,
                    to you it will be for food.

And to all the Living of the Earth
    to all the Flying of the Skies
        to every Creeping upon the Land which have in it a living soul
            I give every green plant for food.

And it was so.

And Elohim saw all that He made
and, look!
It was very good.

And there was evening
and there was morning
sixth day.

Land, bring out Living Souls - The Hebrew for living soul, nephesh chayah (נפש חיה), is often translated "living being". I have use "soul" to clarify that there is not a distinction between human beings and other creatures regarding the "soul" in the Hebrew Bible. In the Biblical view, the soul is not a distinction within, but represents the entirety of the being.

We will make Earthling in our image, in our likeness.- I have used "Earthling" in order to capture the later connection that is later expressed in Genesis 2 concerning the humanity with the ground/earth: Adam made from adamah, Earthling made from the earth. Of note, unlike the previous singular verbs associated with Elohim in this chapter, the verb here is plural. This has been variously interpreted as referring to the "council of gods", the angels, or (in later Christian interpretation) the Trinity. However, from an historical point of view, the Trinitarian understanding would not have entered the mind of the authors or audience of the text originally.

And Elohim created Earthling in His image, in the image of Elohim He created him, male and female He created them - Now the text returns to singular verb usages. In terms of the Hebrew canon, this is the first reference of anything being "in the image of God." The same term used for image here (selem) refers to the "images" used in reference to idols. Biblically, humanity is the only allowable image of God, only God can create in His own image. Earthling (Adam) in this passage should not be confused with a person as much as humanity in general. For example, Earthling/Adam here is both male and female.

Blessed them . . . Be fruitful, become many, and fill the Land, And subdue and dominate . . . - Again Elohim blessed his work and commands it to multiply upon the Land. In addition, He also commands humanity to "subdue" (lit. "stamp on") and "dominate" (lit. "tread down") the creatures of the Land. These may seem like harsh terms, but as we see later in Genesis 2 the Biblical view of humanity's role was to care for creation. The assumption here seems to be that all of creation is not necessarily ordered, and humanity as the pinnacle of the creation, being made in Elohim's image, is given ruling capacity which mirrors Elohim's ruling and ordering of creation. In later Jewish thought, this is a picture of humans being God's co-workers in His creative work.

to you it will be for food - Elohim is depicted as providing food from plants and not animals. It is not until after the flood account that humans (and other creatures) are depicted as eating meat.

and, look! It was very good. - The repeated refrain "it was good" has now become "very good" or "great" (tov meod, טוב מאד). Looking at the build to day 6, the twice declared goodness, and it's literary weight in terms of amount of content, it can be seen that this day receives significant focus. The implication is that humanity is the pinnacle of the created beings.

And they were finished

    the Skies
        the Land
            and all the army-like array.

And Elohim finished on the seventh day all His work which He had made
and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made.

And Elohim blessed the Seventh Day
and set it apart
for in it He rested from all his work which Elohim created to do.

"army-like array" - traditionally translated "hosts", but that doesn't carry the military overtones of the Hebrew ________.

"finished on the seventh day" - the rabbis recognized the difficulty with this phrase. Elohim did not finish on the 6th day but on the 7th, so it begs the questions: did Elohim work on the 7th day? What did he finish exactly? The Hebrew word "finish" also carries the same connotation as it would in wood-working today, and the concept may work here. The creating/putting together has been done, and now it is finished or polished off with the final touches. Elohim did not do the work of creation on the seventh day. In the tradiitonaly Jewish understanding of Sabbath "work" carries this connotation of creating, and labors in which something was created are prohibited.

"made" - could also be translated "done".

"set it apart" - I almost used "made it special". The Hebrew verb for "set apart" has the same root as the Hebrew word for "holy". Both "set apart" and "holy" no longer carry the implication in English of making special like the Hebrew kadosh does.

"rested" - I almost used "sabbathed". Shabat...the verb root that "rest".

Commentary

The structure of Genesis 1 has been poured over for centuries. The most obvious structural layout (besides the repeated refrains) is the relationship between the six days:

Unordered Creation
Days of Ordering and Creating
Day 1 - Light/Darkness/Day	Day 4 - lights in the Skies
Day 2 - Waters and Skies	Day 5 - Sea dwelling creatures and Flying creatures
Day 3 - Dry Land/Plants	Day 6 - Land dwelling creatures
Day of Finishing and Resting

As has been mentioned before, Genesis 1 presents us with the divine ruler, Elohim, ordering the chaos of the world and creating life within it. The pinnacle of this creation story is ha-adam in Elohim's image, serving as rulers who continue to subdue the creation--continuing and maintaining its ordr. It cannot be pointed out enough that in ancient cultures chaos (whether through flood, storm, drought, war, etc.) was seen as devastation, and quite literally death. Order allowed life to continue and be maintained. However, we must remember that this is a pre-industrial picture of order, and the idea of "rule" and "subdue" is not one of consuming the creation, rather more like keeping the chaos at bay so that ordered creation and life could be maintained. The ancients, as agrarian societies, maintained a closeness and respect for creation.

There are also clearly polemical aspects of the Genesis 1 creation story in regards to other ancient theologies. As has been pointed out, Elohim is not merely the conqueror of the great sea monsters, but is their creator. In addition, when Elohim creates the great "lights" of the sun and moon, which were worshipped broadly in the Near Easat, they are noticeably not called by name. All of the creatures of sea, sky, and land which might be worshipped as gods are created by Elohim, and He creates the only valid image of God--not a static form, but humanity with the breath of life in it.

Lastly, in light of humanity as the "image of God", it has been conjectured that the creation account follows the model of ancient temples: seas=washing basins, lights=candles/lamps, beasts=carved cherubim and creatures, the image of the god at the culmination.

Other Creation Accounts in the ANE

While there are some obvious comparative components of other Ancient Near Eastern creation accounts (primordial chaos, waters, sea monsters, creation of humans from clay, speaking into existance, rest for the gods), I have included the following in order to also see that there are also major differences in the biblical creation account and others.

Enuma Elish, Babylonian Creation Epic, 2nd milliennium B.C.E

Then the lord [Marduk] paused to view her [Tiamat's] dead body,
That he might divide the monster and do artful works.
He split her like a shellfish into two parts:
Half of her he set up and ceiled it as a sky,
Pulled down the bar and posted guards,
He bade them to allow not her waters to escape,
He crossed the heavens and purveyed its regions . . .
He constructed nations for the great gods,
Fixing their astral likenesses as constellations . . .
In her [Tiamat's] belly he established the zenith.
The moon he caused to shine, the night to him entrusting.

[Marduk reveals his plan to create man]
Blood I will mass and cause bones to be.
I will establish a savage, "man" shall be his name,
Verily, savage man will I create.
He shall be charged with the service of the gods that they might be at ease!

[In the image, Marduk conquers the dragon and the chaotic sea.]

(text from Documents from Old Testamant Times by D. W. Thomas.)

Stories of Atrahasis, Akkadian creation story

Episode 1
"Summon Nintu, the divine midwife!
   Let her create workers to labor for the divine assembly."
So, the divine assembly summoned Nintu-Mami.
     They asked the wise woman, "Will you midwife the lullu?"
Create workers to labor for us.
     Let the lullu bear the yoke,
Let them work for Enlil,
     Let them labor for the divine assembly . . ."

Nintu said to the divine assembly: "I cannot do Ea-Enki's work.
     Only Ea-Enki has the power to create.
     Let him give me clay to create."
Ea-Enki spoke: "I will bathe to mark my time . . .
     At the new moon, the seventh day, and the full moon, I will wash.
Let the divine assembly sacrifice We-ila.
     Let them bathe in his blood.
Let Nintu thin my clay with his blood.
     Let Nintu mix clay with blood, human with divine.
Let the drum mark off the days,
     Count down the time.
Let divine blood give these workers life,
     Let the spirit/breath within allow them to live."
The divine assembly agreed.
     The divine elders consented.

At the new moon, the seventh day, the full moon, Ea-Enki bathed.
     The divine assembly sacrificed We-ila the wise . . .
Nintu thinned the clay with his blood.
     The drum marked off the days . . . and counted down the time.
We-ila's blood gave the workers life,
     The life in the clay allowed them to live.

Episode 2
The divine assembly gave Nintu-Mami moisture to thin the clay.
     She wet it with saliva fromt eh divine elders and warriors.
Nintu-Mami sang: Praise to you who gave me this task,
     Praise to you who sacrificed We-ila to help me complete my work.
I have created workers to labor for the divine warriors . . .
     I have loosened your yoke, I have set you free."
The divine assembly heard the hymn that Nintu-Mami sang.
     The divine assembly kissed her feet.
"Yesterday, we called you 'Mami.'
     Today, you are 'Mother of the Divine Assembly.'"

Episode 3
Ea-Enki and Nintu-Mami entered their birthing room,
     She summoned her mid-wives, he worked her clay.
She sang the sacred song;
     He prayed a prayer for life.
When Nintu-Mami finished singing,
     She pulled off fourteen pieces of clay.
The clay was laid in parallel rows of seven;
     A birthing stool was placed between them . . .
The midwives shaped seven males
     Nintu-Mami's seven helpers shaped seven females from the clay.

Leave the birth stool in place for seven days,
     Honor Nintu-Mami, the wise, for seven days.
Let the midwife sing for joy in the labor room,
     Let the mother cry out when her child is born . . .

(Excerpted from Old Testament Parallels by V. H. Matthews and D. C. Benjamin)

Hymn of Atum, Egyptian creation story, 3rd-4th millennium B.C.E. (Old Kingdom)
Note the gritty (and disturbing to modern sensiblities) anthropormophisms of this story in contrast to the speaking and creating of Elohim in Gen. 1

At the moment of creation, Atum spoke:
      I alone am the creator.
When I came into being, all life began to develop.
     When the almighty speaks, all else comes to life.
There were no heavens and no earth,
     There was no dry land and there were no reptiles in the land . . .

When I first began to create,
     When I alone was planning and designing many creatures,
I had not sneezed Shu the wind,
     I had not spat Tefnut the rain,
     There was not a single living creature.
I planned many living creatures;
      All were in my heart, and their children and their grandchildren . . .

Then I copulated with my own fist.
     I masturbated with my own hand.
     I ejaculated into my own mouth.
I sneezed to create Shu the wind,
   I spat to create Tefnut the rain.
Old Man Nun the sea reared them;
     Eye the Overseer looked after them . . .

In the beginning I was alone,
     Then, there were three more.
I dawned over the land of Egypt.
     Shu the wind and Tefnut the rain played on Nun the sea . . .

With tears from my Eye, I wept and human beings appeared . . .
     I created the reptiles and their companions.
Shu and Tefnut gave birth to Geb the earth and Nut the sky.
     Geb and Nut gave birth to Osiris and Isis, to Seth and Nephthys.
Osiris and Isis gave birth to Horus.
     One was born right after another.
     These nine (ennead in Greek) gave birht to all the multitude of the land.

[In the image, Shu, the wind, holds up Nut, the sky, and Geb, the earth, is at Shu's feet.]

(Excerpted from Old Testament Parallels by V. H. Matthews and D. C. Benjamin)

Hymn to Ptah, Egyptian creation story, 2nd millennium B.C.E (19th Dynasty)
This Egyptian hymn comes later than the Hymn to Atum, and contains a good amount of politico-theological polemic concerning the Upper and Lower Nile regions and rejection of Atum (Ptah creates by speaking, Atum cannot do that...in fact, Ptah created Atum).

Geb the earth commanded the Ennead to assemble.
     Geb ended war by dividing Egypt between Horus and Seth.

Horus would rule over Lower Egypt in the north;
     Seth would rule over Upper Egypt in the south.

Geb gave the Land of Horus rule over the Land of Seth,
     Horus united Upper and Lower Egypt.

Osiris march throught the Gates of Death,
     Horus conquered the Land of the Living.

Isis proposed an end to wars,
   Nephthys decreed that Horus and Seth become brothers.

The ka-souls of all the living were created in the image of Ptah.
   All formed in his heart and by his tongue.

Horus was created from the thoughts of Ptah's heart.
   Thoth was formed by the words of Ptah's tongue.

Ptah's heart guies the Ennead,
   Ptah's tongue directs humans.

Ptah creates the Ennead with only teeth and lips,
   Atum must create with hands and semen.

Atum had to masturbate to bring forth the Ennead.
   Ptah had only to speak, and the Ennead came forth.

Ptah called the names of Shu and Tefnut,
   The wind and the rain gave birth to the Ennead.

Sight, hearing, and smell all report to the heart,
   the heart is the source of all knowledge.

The tongue speaks only what the heart thinks.
   Atum thinks only the thoughts of Ptah.

The Ennead speaks only the words of Ptah . . .

Ptah's heart grants the gift of life,
   Ptah's tongue organizes life's abundance.

Ptah's heart grants life to the steady heart,
   Ptah's tongue orders death for fools.

Ptah is the creator of all crafts and trades.
   Ptah is the ruler of the Ennead.

Ptah gave birth to the Ennead and all things.
   Ptah is the ruler of the Ennead.

Having done all these things,
   Ptah rested as was content with his work.

(Excerpted from Old Testament Parallels by V. H. Matthews and D. C. Benjamin)