The Creation and Adam & Eve
• Genesis
– Chapter 1(Creation—version 1)
– Chapter 2(Creation—version 2)
– Chapter 3(Original Sin)
“These are the generations of the heavens and
the earth when they were created.” (Gen. 2:4)
Like the Greeks?
• Polytheism?
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Other “Spirits” (Gen. 1:2)
Night and Day akin to Greek Chaos and Dawn? (Gen. 1:5)
Plural pronouns (Gen. 1:26, 27, 3:22)
Angel hierarchy (Gen. 3:24)
• Use of formulae.
• Amoral or immoral god? (Gen. 2:9, 3:1)
• Humans made after animals get other gifts (Prometheus
story).
• Consistent light/dark motif.
• “Formless void” ala Plato? (Gen. 1:2)
Engendering Creation
Two creation stories—the first (Gen. 1-2:3) is from the P
author and the second (Gen. 2:5-3:24) is from J.
• P story
– Humans (Man?) are a culmination of creation in the first story
placed within a strict hierarchy.
– Dominion and vertical hierarchies established.
• J story
– Humans are created first, to help create a cultivated garden
(Gen. 2:5) and charged to “till it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15).
– Humans given the power to name (Gen. 2:18-20)
– Eve is derivative of Adam (Gen. 2:21-23).
Theodicy—the problem of evil
• The god in Genesis seems omnipotent.
– Power to create (Gen. 1, 2)
– Power to punish (Gen. 3:14-19)
• The god in Genesis seems either to allow evil or
is powerless/too disinterested to stop the
characters of Adam and Eve from being
overtaken by evil.
– The presence of the Serpent (Gen. 3:1)
– The argument of the Serpent (Gen. 3:4)
Additional questions
1. Why does Adam hide from his god? Why does
an omnipotent god go walking through the
Garden of Eden calling for Adam?
2. Is Eve to blame for introducing evil? If so, what
in the text supports such a reading? If not, why
has this passage been used effectively to
justify sexist beliefs?
3. Why do Adam and Eve get embarrassed and
hide their nakedness?
Cain & Abel
• Genesis
– Chapter 4 (Cain & Abel)
Cain’s name is derived from qyn “ to forge” or qana “to acquire”
Abel’s name is derived from hevel “to breathe”
Other names for Cain’s descendents in Gen. 4: If we substitute
English equivalents for proper names, Gen. 4:19-22 reads:
“God’s servant took two wives, the name of the one was Dawn
and the name of the other Shade. And Dawn brought forth
Shepherd, the father of dwellers in tents and herdsmen and his
brother's name was Musician, the father of harp- and pipeplayers. But Shade brought forth Blacksmith, the forger of brass
and iron, and Blacksmith's sister's name was Beautiful." This
leads some to believe the narrative records under a figure of
speech the spread of civilization.
Social Values
• Agriculture and domestication of animals.
• Self-control. Gen. 4:7 “… you must
master it” further defines sin as something
that can be controlled, unlike the
unalterable will of the gods in Greek
mythology.
• Individual choice. “Thou mayest” argument
of Steinbeck.
Moral Behavior
Community
– Gen. 4:9: Cain says, “…am I my brother’s keeper?”
Vengeance
– Gen. 4:10-11: the LORD says, “The voice of your
brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And
now your are cursed from the ground, which has
opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from
your hand.
Justice
– Gen. 4:15 is sentenced to live and not die; “If any one
slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him
sevenfold.”
Additional questions
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The meaning of Cain’s name is under debate. Which meaning makes
more sense to you in the context of the story?
Reread Gen. 4:3-5. Why does Cain get angry? What does Steinbeck
say in East of Eden? Do you agree?
How will Cain remove his mark? How will his descendents? Do you
agree with Steinbeck that the mark (and the theme) is guilt? Do you
agree with Quinn that the mark is a Caucasian’s “maggot-colored” face?
If you agree with the theory that Cain symbolizes the root of civilization
(cities, domestication of animals, culture), then does that mean the story
shows civilization as flawed?
Is Cain’s action really just a repercussion of Original Sin, as Quinn
suggests in Ishmael; “’I have eaten at the gods’ own tree of knowledge
and therefore know as well as they how to rule the world. I may do as I
will’” (162). Isn’t this hubris?
Is Cain a tragic hero?
Quinn suggests the story’s original message has been transformed from
its initial message; more specifically, this is a story about the inevitable
conflict between agriculturalists and herders. Do you agree?
Who’s Cain afraid will kill him?
Noah’s Ark
• Genesis 6-9
– Etiology (Greek aitologia, aitia = “cause,” logia
= “study of, description”) of floods and
destructive natural events
– Cycle of creation reiterated: chaos, judgment,
(re-)creation, blessing
The vulnerability of God
• Gen. 6:6-7 “And the LORD was sorry that he
had made humankind on the earth, and it
grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, ‘I
will blot out from the earth the human beings I
have created—people together with animals and
creeping things and birds of the air, for I am
sorry that I have made them.’”
– Does this section suggest a vulnerability in their God?
– Either way, how does this conception of God differ
from the Greeks’ conception of Zeus?
The Covenant—Gen. 8,9
• Gen. 8:21-22 “The LORD said, ‘I will never again curse the ground
because of humankind, for the imagination of the human heart is evil
from youth.’”
– What would Shlain say about this quote?
– Is this quote reminiscent of the Oresteia?
– Does this suggest humans are not born evil, but become evil at some
point in their lives? Is the word “youth” to be interpreted literally or
figuratively?
• Gen. 9:13 “I set my bow (keshet “bow, as in a weapon” or “rainbow”)
in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and
the earth.”
– How does the interpretation of keshet change the meaning of this
quote?
– What is God promising to do? Not to do?
Additional questions
• Who are the Nephilim (Gen. 6:1-4)?
• What wicked things were humans doing in Gen.
6? Is this story meant to instruct against doing
wicked things. If so, what things? If not, then
what is the story’s purpose?
• Most biblical scholars see similarities with the
Hebrew story of universal deluge and other
prebiblical societies’ stories of floods. Can you
identify any?
• What can account for the differences in the
numbers of animals Noah takes on the ark
(seven pairs or pairs)?
Abraham & Isaac
• Abraham’s two sons: Ishmael (Egyptian
mother; Egyptian wife; “great nation for
him” is…?), Isaac (Hebrew mother; “I will
make a nation of him also”—Israel).
• What does Abraham’s God require of him
that Agamemnon’s Zeus also requires?
Critical differences?
• Etiological interpretations?
Jephthah and his daughter
• If Jephthah is considered a tragic hero, like
Agamemnon, then what is his tragic flaw?
• If this is a tragedy with a tragic hero, then what is
the catharsis (“cleansing”) the author intends in
the audience?
• Consider, in the Iron Age it would have been
common for people to cohabit with their
livestock. So, does Jephthah always intend to
kill a person, or might he just be promising to
make a sacrifice?
Additional questions
• What do Abraham, Jephthah and Agamemnon
have in common? How do they differ? Looking
at their differences, how do these similar stories
illustrate differences between these two
cultures?
• What important details does the story provide
about Jephthah’s daughter? What is the
significance of these details (compare to
Iphegenia)?
• Why does Jephthah become an outlaw?
Sodom & Gomorrah—Gen. 18:1619:29
Condemnation of Homosexuality
or
Confirmation of Hospitality?
• What happens to Sodom and Gomorrah? Judges Ch.
19? Why?
• What happens in Judges 20? How does this influence
your reading of the previous chapter, Judges 19?
• What are the similarities in these stories (Genesis and
Judges)?
• Do they reflect consistent rules of hospitality? Are they
both condemnations of immoral sexual behavior? Are
the lessons and values similar to those of the Greeks?
Critical differences?
Additional questions
• Gen. 18:25 reads “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
what is just?” What value does this rhetorical question
reveal?
• What is the discussion between Abraham and his God
all about in Gen. 18:20-33?
• What etiological interpretation can be made of Gen. 19
and Judges 19 with regard to cities?
• Does Gen. 11 (Babel) confirm such a reading? Does
this make sense given the cultural context? What do the
people in Babel fear most? What do they do to allay
their fears?
• What etiological reading can be made of Gen. 11?