Biblical Creation Stories

1. Biblical Creation Stories anthropomorphismAdam and EvecovenantYaweh / ElohimYahwist or Jehovist writerElohist writerPriestly writerGarden of Edenimmanent godIsraelitesLeviathanMoses paratactic syncretismpolytheismpunsRationalizationtranscendent godtree of knowledgeCrum’s GenesisAltdorfer

2. Biblical Creation Stories Cover Chapters 1-3

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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Sistine Chapel Michelangelo Buonarotti(b. 1475, Caprese, d. 1564, Roma) For more information on the ceiling paintings, see http://gallery.euroweb.hu/tours/sistina/index1.html

10. The Priestly Version of Creation

11. The Priestly Version of Creation (2)

12. The Priestly Version of Creation (3)

13. The Priestly Version of Creation (4)

15. God as Immanent or Transcendent?

16. The Priestly Version of Creation (5)

17. 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."

18. 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 theLORD 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.

21. 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.

26. Comparison of the J-E writer and the Priestly writer

27. Comparison of the J-E writer and the Priestly writer (2)

28. Comparison of the J-E writer and the Priestly writer (3)

29. Comparison of the J-E writer and the Priestly writer (4)

30. 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.

31. 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”)

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. Workshop of Albrecht AltdorferThe Rule of Bacchus, c. 1535National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Samuel H. Kress Collection1952.5.31.a SYNCRETISM

36. Biblical Creation Stories anthropomorphismAdam and EvecovenantYaweh / ElohimYahwist or Jehovist writerElohist writerPriestly writerGarden of Edenimmanent godIsraelitesLeviathanMoses paratactic syncretismpolytheismpunsRationalizationtranscendent godtree of knowledgeCrum’s GenesisAltdorfer