Biblical Creation Stories
anthropomorphism
Adam and Eve
covenant
Yaweh / Elohim
Yahwist or Jehovist writer
Elohist writer
Priestly writer
Garden of Eden
immanent god
Israelites
Leviathan
Moses
paratactic
syncretism
polytheism
puns
Rationalization
transcendent god
tree of knowledge
Crum’s Genesis
Altdorfer
Biblical Creation Stories
Cover
Chapters 1-3
Examples of Paratactic Storytelling
• Genesis: two accounts of creation, one after the
other
Genesis I-2:3 (God as Elohim) PRIESTLY
Genesis 2 (God as Yahweh)
COMPARE
• Two accounts of creation of Pyramid Texts
paratactic = placed side by side
Authors of Genesis, 1
•
950 B.C.E. The Yahwist
or Jehovist (often referred to as
Y or J). This writer referred to
God by the Hebrew word
“Yahweh,” which was sometimes
rendered “Jahweh.” To help in
identifying this source, the
translation used here always
renders “Yahweh” as “Lord.”
Origin: Judaea, South Israel.
Authors of Genesis, 2
•
850 B.C.E. The Elohist
(often referred to as E). This
writer referred to God by the
Hebrew word “Elohim.”
Origin: Ephraim, North
Israel.
Authors of Genesis, 3
•
721 B.C.E.
Yahwist-Elohist
version (often referred to as J-E).
Origin: After the fall of the Northern
Kingdom, Judaean editors combined parts
of the J and E traditions. In parts of
Genesis they were so effective in weaving
these sources together, that we can no
longer separate them.
Authors of Genesis, 4
•
550 B.C.E.
The Priestly writer (often referred to as P).
This writer also referred to God by the Hebrew word “Elohim,” but
his account can be distinguished from the Elohist by what he writes
about. He demonstrates the concerns of a priest: he writes about
how Jewish rituals and holy days began, and he keeps track of the
generations – the so-called "begats." This is because a person's
ancestry determines eligibility for religious functions. To help in
identifying this source, the translation used here always renders
“Elohim” as “God.”
Origin: In 587 B.C.E, the Jews were captured by Nebuchadnezzar
and carried off to Babylon. This is known as the Babylonian Exile.
It ended in 538, when Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their
homeland, Israel. In his creation story, the Priestly writer is largely
concerned with refuting the Babylonian religion, so we can tell he
wrote after the Exile, expressing ideas that were current during it.
Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo Buonarotti
(b. 1475, Caprese, d. 1564, Roma)
For more information on the ceiling
paintings, see
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/tours/sistin
a/index1.html
The Priestly Version of Creation
Day
1
1: 1 In the beginning God
Day
2
1: 6 And God said, "Let there be
created the heavens and the
earth. … 1: 3 And God said, "Let
there be light"; and there was
light. And there was evening and
there was morning, one day.
a firmament in the midst of the
waters, and let it separate the
waters from the waters." …
The Priestly Version of Creation (2)
Day 3
Day 4
1: 9 And God said, "Let the waters under
the heavens be gathered together into
one place, and let the dry land appear."
…
1: 14 And God said, "Let there be lights
in the firmament of the heavens to
separate the day from the night; and let
them be for signs and for seasons and
for days and years…
The Priestly Version of Creation (3)
Day 5
1: 21 So God created the great sea
monsters and every living creature that
moves, with which the waters swarm,
according to their kinds, and every
winged bird according to its kind. …
The Priestly Version of Creation (4)
Day 6
1: 24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living
creatures according to their kinds: cattle and
creeping things and beasts of the earth according to
their kinds." …
1: 26 Then 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 birds
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and female
he created them.
God as Immanent or Transcendent?
The Priestly Version of Creation (5)
Day 7
2: 2 And on the seventh day God
finished his work which he had done,
and he rested on the seventh day from
all his work which he had done. 3 So
God blessed the seventh day and
hallowed it, because on it God rested
from all his work which he had done in
creation.
Creation of humans in the Bible: P
1: 1 In the beginning [when] God created the heavens and
the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and
darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit
of God was moving over the face of the waters.
1: 24 Then 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 birds of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
Creation of Humans in the Bible: J-E
2: 4b
In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb
of the field had yet sprung up-for the LORD God had not
caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till
the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered
the whole face of the ground– then the LORD God formed
man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 And the
LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there
he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground
the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the
sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The J-E Version of Creation
2: 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and
were not ashamed.…
3: 6 … when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the
tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its
fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband,
and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened and
they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons.…
3: 20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she
was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God
made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and
clothed them.
Comparison of the J-E writer
and the Priestly writer
Priestly
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Landscape Wet. Originates in
Mesopotamia, a fertile
land irrigated by the
Tigris and Euphrates
rivers.
This account begins
with the Spirit of God
"moving over the face
of the waters."
J-E
Genesis 2:4b-3:24
Dry. Originates in the
deserts of Palestine.
This account
describes the planting
of a garden, an
important event in a
desert.
Man is made from
dust.
Comparison of the J-E writer
and the Priestly writer (2)
Priestly
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
J-E
Genesis 2:4b-3:24
Order of
creation
Man is made last,
showing his importance
to God. The world is
prepared for him before
his creation.
Man is made first,
showing his importance to
God. After man's creation,
everything else is created
for his use.
Nature of
humans
Created male and female The man is created first.
from the first
The woman is created
Does not sin against god. later, after all other
creatures. Sins against
god.
Comparison of the J-E writer
and the Priestly writer (3)
View of
God
Priestly
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Aloof from his creation.
Seems to delegate his
work: "Let there be
light."
TRANSCENDENT
J-E
Genesis 2:4b-3:24
Involved with humans,
and the act of
creation: forms man of
dust, breathes life into
his nostrils; walks in
garden (Genesis 3:8)
IMMANENT
Comparison of the J-E writer
and the Priestly writer (4)
Priestly
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Concerns Explains the reason
behind religious
ceremonies like the
Sabbath day.
J-E
Genesis 2:4b-3:24
Focuses on the
relationship between God
and Israel.
Similarities Between P and J-E
• Human beings matter to God
• Covenant appears in both:
– A covenant, like a contract, binds both God and his
people Israel. Under it, God, functions as a patron &
promises to take care of his people, who also promise
to be loyal to him.
– P: Implied in the relationship between man and God,
as represented by the Sabbath
– J-E: And the LORD God made for Adam and for his
wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
Puns in Hebrew Genesis
• 2:7 ‘adham (“man”) is created from
‘adhamah’ (“ground”) and is named Adam
at 3:17
• 2:23 ishash (“woman) incorporates the rib
of ish (man)
• 3:30 hawwa = Eve (“mother of all living”)
sounds like hay (“life”)
Babylonian Captivity
• Babylonians took over the entire Assyrian Empire, and
its army reached Jerusalem, the capital of Juda, the
southern Kingdom of the Jews, in 597 BCE
• The prominent citizens of Judah -- anyone who had
influence to exert, money to invest, valuable skills to
employ, or the ability to read and write -- were deported
to live together in Babylon. When the deportations were
finished in 587 BCE, the city of Jerusalem, with its
Palace and Temple, was demolished completely.
• The Babylonian captivity came to an end in 538 BCE
when the Persian leader Cyrus (who had captured
Babylon) released the Jews
Priestly Creation Story Refutes the
Cosmogony of Babylon
• Priestly version of Genesis shows, by describing each
aspect of creation as coming from the God of Israel, that
it is not Marduk who is responsible for the creation of the
world
• “darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit
of God was moving over the face of the waters.”
Hebrew 'tehom.' is the equivalent of the Babylonian word
“Tiamat.” Tiamat was the Babylonian deity identified with
salt water and killed by the head god Marduk. Here the
Priestly writer is showing that Yahweh, not Marduk,
prevailed over the deep.
• The heavenly bodies are not gods but lights produced by
God on the fourth day
Babylonian Ishtar
• Goddess of animal and
human fertility
• Her influence was felt
throughout the world
• Worshipped by recourse
to temple prostitutes
In Genesis it is not the fertility of Ishtar
which causes animal fertility but God, on
the sixth day.
http://www.astroconsulting.com/FAQs/goddesses.htm
Workshop of Albrecht Altdorfer
The Rule of Bacchus, c. 1535
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Samuel H. Kress Collection
1952.5.31.a
SYNCRETISM
Biblical Creation Stories
anthropomorphism
Adam and Eve
covenant
Yaweh / Elohim
Yahwist or Jehovist writer
Elohist writer
Priestly writer
Garden of Eden
immanent god
Israelites
Leviathan
Moses
paratactic
syncretism
polytheism
puns
Rationalization
transcendent god
tree of knowledge
Crum’s Genesis
Altdorfer