Genesis

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Genesis

• HUMA 3810 6.0

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Provocative Quote of the Day

• Granting a Bachelor of Arts degree on someone
  who never heard of Cain and Abel and never heard
  a Haydn symphony is a fraud.
• Dennis Prager

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Franz Josef Haydn

• Austrian composer
• 1732-1809
• Father of the Symphony
• Wrote 104 symphonies
• Surprise, Farewell
• Father of the String Quartet
• Teacher of Mozart and Beethoven
• Oratorio The Creation (1798)

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Outline of Genesis

• Genesis 1-11 Primeval (His)Story
• Genesis 12-50 Patriarchal/Ancestral Narratives
• Genesis 121-2518 Abraham
• Genesis 2519-3643 Jacob
• Genesis 37-50 Joseph

Franz von Stuck, The Fiery Angel
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Pentateuchal Criticism in a Nutshell

• Jean Astruc, physician to Louis XV
• Moses sources J E
• J E P
• De Wette D
• Graf, Wellhausen JEDP
• Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel
• Gunkel Sitz-im-Leben
• The Legends of Genesis
• Attacks on previous consensus

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Creation

• Two accounts of creation in Genesis
• The second is the older (Gen 24b-24)
• A J (Yahwistic) text dating to 9th century BCE
  reflective of a rural highland culture?
• Or a 6th century narrative of exile?
• The first is later (Gen 11-24a)
• A P (Priestly) text dating to the 6th (or 5th)
  century BCE
• An answer to Mesopotamian cosmology
• ? Lets read the second one first

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The Eden Narrative Part 1

• In the day that the LORD God made the earth and
  the heavens, 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 one to till
  the ground but a stream would rise from the
  earth, and water the whole face of the
  ground--then the LORD God formed man from the
  dust of the ground, and breathed into his
  nostrils the breath of life and the man became a
  living being. And the LORD God planted a garden
  in Eden, in the east and there he put the man
  whom he had formed. 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. (Gen 24b-9
  according to the NRSV)

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Points to Consider

• Earth preexists creation
• First act the creation of humanity
• Then the planting of a garden and the creation of
  plants (including the tree of the knowledge of
  good and evil)

Michelangelo, The Creation of Man
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The Eden Narrative Part 2

• Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the
  man should be alone I will make him a helper as
  his partner." So out of the ground the LORD God
  formed every animal of the field and every bird
  of the air, and brought them to the man to see
  what he would call them and whatever the man
  called every living creature, that was its
  name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to
  the birds of the air, and to every animal of the
  field but for the man there was not found a
  helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a
  deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept
  then he took one of his ribs and closed up its
  place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God
  had taken from the man he made into a woman and
  brought her to the man.  (Gen 218-22)

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Points to Consider

• Order of creation
• Man/Human
• Plants
• Animals
• Woman
• God depicted anthropomorphically
• Planted, put, took, formed, breathed
• In Chapter 3 walked

Lukas Cranach, Adam and Eve
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The Eden Narrative Part 3

• After they ate of the fruit of the tree of
  knowledge of good and evil
• To the woman he God said,     "I will greatly
  increase your pangs in childbearing         in
  pain you shall bring forth children,     yet
  your desire shall be for your husband,         an
  d he shall rule over you."And to the man he
  said,     "Because you have listened to the
  voice of your wife,         and have eaten of
  the tree     about which I commanded
  you,         'You shall not eat of
  it,'     cursed is the ground because of
  you         in toil you shall eat of it all the
  days of your life    thorns and thistles it
  shall bring forth for you         and you shall
  eat the plants of the field.    By the sweat of
  your face         you shall eat bread     until
  you return to the ground,         for out of it
  you were taken     you are dust,         and
  to dust you shall return." (Gen 316-19)

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Points to Consider

• The necessity of pregnancy and births for the
  preservation of the community
• The tough tilling of the soil ? life is short,
  brutal, and filled with toil
• Reflective of the experience of early Israelites
  living in the rugged hill country?

Michelangelo, The Expulsion
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Paradise Lost

• Eden delight (? Edna)
• aetiological narrative (why things are the way
  they are, cf. Hesiod) snakes, man/woman ?
  patriarchal society, world as a whole
• puns arûmmîm/arûm îsh/ishah adam/adamah
• snake source of temptation, not evil
  personified (snakified?) ? no duality
• knowledge sexuality
• Gilgamesh Epic Enkidu the prostitute death
• eating forbidden fruit sexual act
• woman as active/ man as passive
• punishment explains human misery justifies
  patriarchal society
• only after loss of paradise, man names woman
  Eve

Franz von Stuck, Adam and Eve
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The P Creation Account

• In the beginning when God created or When God
  began to create the heavens and the earth, the
  earth was a formless void and darkness covered
  the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept
  over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let
  there be light" and there was light. And God saw
  that the light was good and God separated the
  light from the darkness. God called the light
  Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there
  was evening and there was morning, the first day.
  (Gen 11-5)

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Points to Consider

• The raw material of the earth preexists creation
• If so, then there is no creatio ex nihilo
  creation consists of the imposition of order on
  chaos
• First act of creation is light
• God creates by speaking/thinking ? avoidance of
  active anthropomorphisms

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Order of the P Account

• Light
• Firmament
• Dry land and vegetation

• Sun, moon, and stars
• Sea creatures and birds
• Animals and humans

7. The Sabbath
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The Creation of Humanity according to P

• Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our
  image, according to 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 wild animals of the earth, and over
  every creeping thing that creeps upon the
  earth."    So God created humankind in his
  image,         in the image of God he created
  them         male and female he created
  them.God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be
  fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and
  subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the
  sea and over the birds of the air and over every
  living thing that moves upon the earth."  (Gen
  126-28)

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Points to Consider

• Human beings created as the culmination of
  material creation
• Both male and female created simultaneously
• Humans created in the image of God to have
  dominion over creation ? God universe humans
  created world

Salvador Dali, The Likeness of God
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Mesopotamian and Biblical Cosmologies Compared
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Creation in Babylon

• According to the Enuma Elish
• Result of conflict myth in which Marduk (storm
  god) defeats Tiamat (saltwater).
• Humankind created as slave to the gods.
• Human society as a reflection of divine order ?
  gods created in human image.

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Points of Comparison to Consider

• Process of demythologization in Genesis 1?
• Deep (Tehom) vs. Tiamat
• Wind vs. Marduk
• Greater light, lesser light, and stars vs.
  Shamash, Sin, and Ishtar
• Sabbath vs. unlucky 7th day
• These are the generations of the heavens and the
  earth when they were created. (Gen 24a) vs.
  divine couplings

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Anti-Babylonian Motif Frames Genesis 1-11
Breughel, The Tower of Babel
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Creation in Ugarit

• Late Bronze Age city in which our only primary
  textual evidence for Canaanite mythology
  discovered
• Before creation, Baal, the storm god, must defeat
  both Sea (Yam) and Death (Mot) ? another conflict
  myth

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Conflict Myths in the Hebrew Bible Isaiah

• Awake, awake, put on strength,         O arm of
  the LORD!     Awake, as in days of
  old,         the generations of long
  ago!     Was it not you who cut Rahab in
  pieces,         who pierced the dragon? Was it
  not you who dried up the sea,         the waters
  of the great deep     who made the depths of
  the sea a way         for the redeemed to cross
  over? So the ransomed of the LORD shall
  return,         and come to Zion with
  singing     everlasting joy shall be upon their
  heads         they shall obtain joy and
  gladness,         and sorrow and sighing shall
  flee away.
• (Isa 519-11)

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Conflict Myths in the Hebrew BiblePsalms

• O LORD God of hosts,         who is as mighty as
  you, O LORD?         Your faithfulness surrounds
  you. You rule the raging of the
  sea         when its waves rise, you still
  them. You crushed Rahab like a
  carcass         you scattered your enemies with
  your mighty arm. The heavens are yours, the
  earth also is yours         the world and all
  that is in it--you have founded
  them. The north and
  the south--you created them         Tabor and
  Hermon joyously praise your name. You have a
  mighty arm         strong is your hand, high
  your right hand.
• (Ps 898-13)

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Conflict Myths in the Hebrew BibleJob

• The shades below tremble,         the waters and
  their inhabitants. Sheol is naked before
  God,         and Abaddon has no covering. He
  stretches out Zaphon over the void,         and
  hangs the earth upon nothing. He binds up the
  waters in his thick clouds,         and the
  cloud is not torn open by them. He covers the
  face of the full moon,         and spreads over
  it his cloud. He has described a circle on the
  face of the waters,         at the boundary
  between light and darkness. The pillars of
  heaven tremble,         and are astounded at his
  rebuke. By his power he stilled the
  Sea         by his understanding he struck down
  Rahab. By his wind the heavens were made
  fair         his hand pierced the fleeing
  serpent. (Job 265-13)

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Summary thus far

• Biblical myths of creation anchored in their
  broader cultural context
• Differing views of creation in the Hebrew Bible
• Pastoral (Gen 2)
• Rigidly structured and demythologized (Gen 1) ?
  anti-Babylonian polemic
• Fragments of conflict myths in which God must
  defeat the forces of chaos before creation can
  begin (Second Isaiah, Psalms, Job)

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A Musical Prelude

• Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
• Arguably the most influential composer of the
  19th century
• Wrote operas/music dramas (Gesamtkunstwerk/
  Leitmotif)
• An absolute bastard and anti-Semite

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Artur Szyk (1894-1951)
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Richard Wagner (1813-1883)Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg 1

• Jerum! Jerum!
• Hallahallohe!
• Als Eva aus dem Paradies
• von Gott dem Herrn verstoßen,
• gar schuf ihr Schmerz der harte Kies
• an ihrem Fuß, dem bloßen.
• Das jammerte den Herrn
• ihr Füßchen hatt er gern,
• und seinem Engel rief er zu
• Da, mach der armen Sünd'rin Schuh'
• und da der Adam, wie ich seh,
• an Steinen dort sich stößt die Zeh,
• daß recht fortan
• er wandeln kann,
• so miß dem auch Stiefeln an!

• Jerum! Jerum! Hallahallohe!
• When Eve was thrown out of Paradise by the Lord
  God, the gravel hurt her foot, the bare one.
• This pained the Lord, since he liked her little
  foot, so he called to his angel Make that poor
  sinner some shoes and since Adam, as I see, just
  stubbed his toe on a stone, measure him for a
  pair of boots, so he can continue walking!

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Richard WagnerDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg 2

• Jerum! Jerum! Hallahallohe!
• O ho! Tralalei! Tralalei! O he!
• O Eve! Eve! You wicked woman, its your fault
  that angels now have to cobble shoes for human
  feet!
• If only you had remained in Paradise, where there
  is no gravel
• On account of your youthful transgression, I have
  to work with awl and wire, and because of Mr.
  Adams weakness, I have to put soles on shoes and
  work with tar!
• If I werent such an angel, the Devil could be a
  cobbler!

• Jerum! Jerum!
• Hallahallohe!
• O ho! Tralalei! Tralalei! O he!
• O Eva! Eva! Schlimmes Weib,
• das hast du am Gewissen,
• daß ob der Füß am Menschenleib
• jetzt Engel schustern müssen!
• Bliebst du im Paradies,
• da gab es keinen Kies
• um deiner jungen Missetat
• hantier ich jetzt mit Ahl und Draht,
• und ob Herrn Adams übler Schwäch'
• versohl ich Schuh und streiche Pech!
• Wär ich nicht fein
• ein Engel rein,
• der Teufel möchte Schuster sein!

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Richard WagnerDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg 3

• Jerum! Jerum! Hallahallohe!
• O ho! Tralalei! Tralalei! O he!
• O Eve! Hear my complaint, my need, and dismay!
• The work of art that a cobbler makes is walked
  all over by everyone.
• If there werent a comforting angel, who saves
  people from such work, how I would abandon shoes
  and boots!
• Yet, when the one in Heaven takes me up, the
  world lies at my feet, and I can happily be Hans
  Sachs, a shoemaker and a poet too!

• Jerum! Jerum!
• Hallahallohe!
• O ho! Tralalei! Tralalei! O he!
• O Eva! Hör mein Klageruf,
• mein Not und schwer Verdrüssen!
• Die Kunstwerk', die ein Schuster schuf,
• sie tritt die Welt mit Füßen.
• Gäb nicht ein Engel Trost,
• der gleiches Werk erlost,
• und rief mich oft ins Paradies,
• wie ich da Schuh und Stiefel ließ!
• Doch wenn mich der im Himmel hält,
• dann liegt zu Füßen mir die Welt,
• und bin in Ruh
• Hans Sachs, ein Schuh-
• macher und Poet dazu!

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(No Transcript)
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The Flood
Joseph Anton Koch, Noahs Offering of Thanks (ca.
1803)
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The Flood

• combined from two traditions
• 40 days nights (74) vs. 150 days (724)
• 7 pairs clean, 1 unclean (72) vs. 1 pair of each
  (619)
• reversal of creation ? waters of chaos inundate
  the earth
• Mesopotamian setting
• floods not characteristic of Canaan
• parallels Ziusudra/ Atrahasis/ Utnapishtim
• ethical reason for flood in Genesis (noise vs.
  evil)
• Noah righteous in his generation ? saved
• in Mesopotamian stories rescue arbitrary
• ante- and post-diluvian life spans in Bible
  Sumerian King List

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The End of the Primeval Story

• Table of Nations (Gen 10) ? ethnic relations as
  family relations
• Tower of Babel (Gen 111-9) as anti-Babylonian
  satire (É.SAG.ILA) Etemenanki

Lodewyk Toeput, Tower of Babel 1583-1587
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The Ancestral (Patriarchal) Narratives (Gen
12-50 )

• scope of work
• Abraham Gen 121-2518
• Jacob/Israel Gen 2519-3643
• Isaac a shadowy transitional figure son of
  father, father of son
• Joseph Gen 37-50

Sacrifice of Isaac from Beth Alpha Synagogue,
early 5th century
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Historicity?

• long search for extra-biblical evidence
• Mari (MB tribal structures Hammurabi/Shamshi-A
  dad/Zimri-Lim)
• Nuzi (LB social customs)
• Ebla (EB)
• J (exilic)
• anachronisms camels, Philistines

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Stories about self-understanding of the
relationship between Israelite tribes

• Abraham (Hebron Jerusalem ? Judah)
• Issac (Beersheba northern Negev)
• Jacob (Shechem/Nablus Bethel ? Ephraim/Israel)
• Benjamin as southernmost tribe (indicated by
  name)
• each tribe had its ancestral legends
• ? tribes took on common father (Jacob/Israel)
• Judah most important (from biblical perspective)
  later
• ? its patriarch the oldest ancestor
• ? Isaac an attempt to bind the traditions?
• relationship to other nations also conceived in
  familial terms
• Arabs lt Hagar (Gen 16 1718-21 211-21
  2512-18)
• Edomites lt Esau (Gen 36)
• Ammonites Moabites lt Lot his daughters
  (1930-38)

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Historical Memories?

• Hab/piru (Apiru) gt Hebrew (????)
• Amarna Letters ? Amenophis IV Akhenaten ca.
  1350
• found in 1887 by Bedouin woman
• Hyksos period Dynasty 15 ( 16), ca. 1630-1550
• hekau-khasut rulers of foreign lands
• 2nd Intermediate Period

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Major Themes

• (unconditional) covenant (????)
• land descendants blessing (Abrahamic vs.
  Noahide)
• Noahide covenant Gen 91-17
• Abrahamic covenant Gen 121-3 15
• dangers to promise
• Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel barren (maidservants
  Hagar, Bilhah, Zilpah)
• ancestress in trouble (Gen 12 20 26)
• Gen 22 ultimate test of faith ? Akedah (Eliezer,
  Ishmael etc. not inheritors of promise
• ? no land at the end of book!

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More Themes

• older son not the one who inherits
• Isaac not Ishmael
• Jacob not Esau
• Judah and Joseph not Reuben
• Ephraim not Manasseh
• renaming as symbolic of new relationship with
  divine (rebirth)
• Abram ? Abraham, Sarai ? Sarah, Jacob ? Israel
• Ordeals Akedah (Gen 22), Jacobs struggle with
  the angel/God at the river (Gen 3223-33)
• end of Genesis leaves us hanging
• promise far from fulfillment (Israel in Egypt)

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Texts

• Gen 121-9 ? blessings of progeny and land (
  Canaanites then in Land)
• Gen 18 ? how many men? Vv 7-8 the question of
  kashrut
• Gen 38 ? Judah Tamar
• Gen 39 ? Potiphars wife Anubis (older)/Bata
  (younger)