Make an exegetical analysis of Gen 1:1-2:3.Discuss the problem of the delimitation of this narrative.Describe the authorship and the historical context which produced this narrative. Analyze its structure and make necessary remarks on it.Comment on the important verses of this narrative. Bring out the theological function and meaning of this narrative.
1.
Author
and his time (Historical Context)
1.1 Four Sources
Pentateuch is said to have come from a
combination of four sources J, E, D, P.
1) ‘J’
(Yahwist) Source was the earliest source
originated between10thand9th century B.C.E. in the south.
2) Since
the north was destroyed they were in need of its own version of the national
epic, as ‘J’ explicitly focused on the South. So between 900-850 B.C.E. anElohist writer completed this work in
north.
3) Since
the bulk of this northern legislation and customs is
found in the
book of Deuteronomy, scholars
have designated it the
Deuteronomist source or D and that
was effaced in 722 B.C.E.
4) P is yet another
source which would have been written during Babylonian exile in 587-539 B.C.E
1.2 The author of Genesis 1-2:3
Though the combination of the four
sources J, E, D, and P are said to have formed the Pentateuch, genesis 1-2:3
belongs to priestly source. The authors are the priestly groups who have
written passage during the time of Babylonian exile.
1.3 The time of Priestly Source
Priestly author is said to be the author
of this narrative. During Babylonian exile in 587 - 539 B.C.E., as the
Jerusalem Temple was demolished, the focus of Israel’s identity thus shifted
from a national identity to an identity as a religious community. The priest
took up the responsibility to keep up the traditions and thus enacted
liturgical laws and rules for the community. The intent of the priestly source
is to preserve the older radiations and to emphasize Israel’s new identity as a
religious community. The author gives the message of hope in the exile, by
writing genesis (1-2:3) their message was the message of hope in the exile.
1.4 Situation of Exile
During the Babylonian exile, the people
of Israel had two important crises which marked a vital influence for the
priestly authors to write genesis 1-2:3.
The crises are as follows:
a) Identity Crisis
The
people of Israel during exile had no temple and no kings. Hence, their life was
in chaos.
b) TheologicalCrisis
It
deals with the question about the power of the God Yahweh. Because, during
exile in Babylon the people thought that they were defeated by other people and
this defeat was the consequence of the fight between marduck and Yahweh.
·
People thought that the reason for their
exile was Yahweh, who was weaker compared with God of marduck so, people raised a question about the powerfulness of
theirGod, Yahweh.
·
It was at the time (the crisis) the
priestly group wrote this message of hope and to have full confidence and trust
in their God Yahweh.
2.
Delimitation
The author of this chapter is commonly
called the Priestly writer. As regards the beginning of the first story of
creation, there is no problem. With regard to its end, debate continues in the
scholarly forum. Since the beginnings of the historical criticism, Gen 2:4a is
indicated as the end of the first story of creation. The second part of Gen 2:4
is considered to be the beginning of the second story of creation, which ends
in Gen 3:24. However, the entire verse 2:4 should be kept intact without
separation, because this verse has a toledot formula whose essential function
is always to be an introduction. Hence, the first story of creation ends in Gen
2:3 and the entire verse 2:4 begins the second story of creation.
3.
The Structure
1:1 -
Title Verse God created the heavens and the earth (1:1)
1:2 -
Introduction: disorder and turmoil
1:3-31 -
Creation in six days
§ day
1 Work 1 day and night (1:3-5)
§ day
2 Work 2 sky and sea (1:6-8)
§ day
3 Work 3 dry land (I :9-10)
§ Work
4 plants (l: 11-13)
§ day
4 Work 5 sun and moon (1:14-19) RULE
§ day
5 Work 6 birds and fish (1 :20-23)
§ day
6 Work 7 animals on the land
(I:24-25)
§ Work
8 the human being (l: 26-31) RULE
2: 1-3 -
Conclusion: order and peace
4.
Remarks on the Structure
1) The
expression “the heavens and the earth” and the verb “created” (bara‘) appear in
both the title and the closing verses.
2) The
body of the text (verses 3-31) deals with the six workdays of the week. Here,
two parts can clearly be distinguished, The first three days describe the
creation of the basic structure (verses 3-13) and the subsequent three days
describe the fittings that will fill this basic structure (verses 14- 31). Consequently it seems as if the body of the
creation narrative is very rigidly structured.
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Basic
Structure
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|
Its
Fittings
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|
|
Day
1 - work 1 - day and night - Time
Day
2 - work 2 - sky and sea- Space
Day
3- work 3- dry land
Work 4 plants
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1:3-5
1:6-8
1:11-13
1:9-10
|
Day
4 - work 5- sun and moon
Day
5- work 6 - birds and fish
Day
6 - work 7 - animals on the land
Work 8 the human being
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1:14-19
1:20-23
1:24-25
1:26-31
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3) Stereotypical Constructions:Each
creative act begins with an introductory formula: “And God said: “Let there be.” (Verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 15,
20, 24 and 26), Then, except for the fifth day, there - follows the effect: “And
it was so” -verses 3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 24 and 30)
a. Moreover,
with the exception of the second day, each creative act is evaluated (“And God
saw that it was good”- verses 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25 and 31= seven times).
b. Finally,
at the end of every day, there is a concluding formula (“And there was evening
and there was morning” - verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23 and 31).
4) God speaks ten times
(1:3, 6, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, and 29). The verb “create” is used seven times.
(1:1, 21, 27, 2:3, 4) God“creates” fish and the birds and humankind. Otherwise
he generally “makes”. God thrice “separates” (1:4, 6-7, and 14-15): he
separates light from darkness, the waters which are above the firmament from
the waters which are under the firmament, and day from the night. Thrice God
creates beings “according to their species”: the plants (1:11-12), the fish and
the birds (1:20-21), and the animals (1:24-25). There are three blessings: one
for the fish and the birds, one for the first human couple, and one for the
Sabbath (1:22, 28; 2:3). The divine name Elohim
is repeated 35 times.
5) There
are two main parts in the narrative just as there are two main kinds of works,
in the first part; God creates the conditions of life. He separates and gives
names (1:2-19).In the second part, he creates living beings and blesses them
(1:21-31). Each section finishes with the mention of a certain “power”. The
universe, in the first part of the narrative, is ruled by the heavenly bodies,
the sun, the moon, and the stars (1:18). In the second part, God gives
humankind power and authority over all the living beings which fill the
universe, the fish, the birds and all the animals (1:28). In both parts,
vegetation is mentioned. God creates the plants and the trees on the third day
(1: 11-13) and gives instructions about the food for all living beings on the
sixth day (1:29-30).
5.
Literary Problems
1) After
the first work of creation, the text concludes in verse 5, “And there was
evening and there was morning, the first day.” Likewise, after the second, work
of creation, we read in verse 8: “And there was evening and there was morning,
the second day” however, after (the third act of creation (verses 9 and 10) one
would expect to find a similar formula as a conclusion of the third day (“And
there was evening and there was morning, the third day”). This is missing,
however.
2) At
the production of the fifth work of creation (verses 14-15) we read, for
example, “And God said ‘Let there be lights (…).’And it was so.” Thus, one
concludes that at the end of verse 15there are the lights. Yet the text in
verse 16 goes on: “God made the two great lights.” If the lightsalready
appeared at God’s command, why then, according to verse 16, does God still have
to make them?
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·
God “said” - amaro(verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14~15, 20, 24
and 26)
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|
·
God “separated” - badal (verses 4 and 7)2
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|
·
God “called” - qarah (verses 5, 8 and 10),
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·
God “made” - asah (verses 7, 16 and 25),
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·
God “set” - natan (verse 17),
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|
·
God “created” - barah (verses21
and27)
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·
God “blessed” - barak (verses22 and28)
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The different kinds of verbs reveal
two differing concepts of creation:
a. Wortbericht
- In the stereotypical parts, God creates by means of his will to create. God
speaks and things appear.
b. Tatbericht
- In the variations, God must himself act: God separates, names, makes, creates
places and blesses.
6.
Comments
1) Verse
2 does not yet form part of the actual creation. It is, instead, an opening in
which the disorder and turmoil that precedes God’s intervention is evoked. This
verse has Genesis 2:1-3 asits counterpart. The seventh day is characterized by
complete and perfect order and peace. In contrast to this order and peace,
Genesis 1:2 emphasizes the chaos and turmoil. This is evident from the
construction of the verse, where, in three parts, the chaotic and disordered
state of the primal situationis brought out: “... the earth was a formless
void/ and darknesscovered the face of the deep,/while a spirit of God (mighty
wind) swept over theface of the waters.”
2) there
is a theological problem in 1:1-3. It seems that something existed “before God
created, namely an earth was formless and void, as well as darkness and water.
How can we reconcile this sentence withthe idea of God’s creating “out of
nothing” (creation ex nihilo, see 2 Mac 7:28). But in the languageof the Bible
and of the Ancient Near East, it was impossible to speak of “nothing”or to
describe “nothing”. The writers of the Bible did not know the philosophical
language of the Greeks.
3) God’s
first creature is light (1:3). Light is not a creature like all the other
creatures. It should benoticed that God does not “create” or “make” the light.
Hejust says: “Let there be light.”God asspeaker is another key metaphor for God’s
creative activity (Pss 33:6,9; 148:5; 2 Cor 4:6). Thecentrality of the word
means that the creation is not an accident,but a deliberate act of the divine will;
it expresses what God intends. The word bespeaks transcendence, expressing the separateness
of God from the created order.
4) On
the fourth day, God creates the heavenly bodies (1:14-19):the sun, the moon and
the stars. The tasks of separating and ruling are notably; also divine roles,
here delegated to these heavenlybodies. The involvement of the nonhuman in the
continuing ordering of the world achieves prominence. Moreover, the human
beings who receive a special authority in 1:28 have no powerupon the heavenly
bodies. It should be noted that the sun and the moon are not named. It seems highly
probable the writer wanted to avoid naming these two heavenly bodies because in
other religions, especially in Mesopotamia, they were important divinities:
Shamesh - the sun, and Sin –the moon. The bible makes these divinities merely
creatures; they are not Gods and they even lacka special name.
5) The
fact that the sea monsters (tanninim) are specifically mentioned may polemize
theories of a divine chaos monster in other creation stories, ascribing their
creation to God; imagery associated with this myth occurs in some poetic texts
(Is 27: 1; 51 :9; Ps 74: 13; Ps 148:7; Job7: 12).
6) On
the sixth day God creates the animals and the first human couple. The creation
of humankindrequires specialkind.
a. Whatis
the meaning of the expression “image and likeness of God”? We could see in this
expression democratization of the royal ideology known in Mesopotamia and in
Egypt. According to these cultures, only the king is God’s real image. But for
the Bible, every humanbeing, male or female, and not only the king, is an image
of God.
b. What
is the meaning of the two verbs: “to dominate and to rule”? It must be
understood in terms of care-giving, even nurturing, not exploitation. As the
image of God, human beings shouldrelate to the nonhuman as God relates to them.
7) The
creation of humankind is followed by some instructions about food (1:29-30). A
striking element of these instructions is that every living being is a
vegetarian. Only after the flood will it be possible to eat meat (Gen 9:1-3).
This means that the world of Gen 1 is absolutely peaceful. Blood is never shed,
there is no violence, and all living beings live in security and without fear. This
chapter describes in fact an ideal world.
8) On
the seventh day, God stops working and rests. What is the meaning of this “rest”
or “absence of work”?
a. In
several narratives about the origins of the world in Ancient Near Eastern
parallels (Enumaelish and the Atrahasis Epic), it is said that the divinity,
after having created or organized the universe, builds a temple which will be
his residence in the cosmos. Now, in Gen 1, God does not build a temple. There
is no sacred place, but only sacred time: Sabbath, a holy day, blessed and
hollowed by God himself (2:2).This is surely the highest point of narrative. God
is present in the world in different ways.
b. In
Mesopotamia, the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st,
28th, days of each month were regarded by some as unlucky. It seems
likely that the Israelite Sabbath was introduced as a deliberate counter-blast
to this lunar-regulated cycle. The Sabbath was quite independent of the phases of
the moon, and far from being unlucky, was blessed and sanctified by the
creator.
7.
Theological Function and Meaning
7.1 It is not a Historically Reliable
Account.
The creation poem in Genesis 1:1-2:4
is not ahistorically reliable account of the originof the world. The text does
not pretendto be scientifically reliableand should not be readthat
way.Thisnarrativeis not a scientific explanationof how the world came into
existence. It is rather a contemplationof the world as God’s work and a faith’s
reflection aboutthe different forms of his presencein the world.
7.2 God is a Mighty Creator.
The author or editor responsible
for the text of Genesis 1:1-2:4as it now stands composed his creation narrative
in the context of the Babylonian exile (587-537 BC). The northern kingdom of
Israel had already been absorbed into the Assyrian empire in the eighth century
BC after it was invaded by the Assyrians. Now, the southern kingdom of Judah
had lost the war against Assyria’s successor, Babylon. The capital, Jerusalem,
and the central temple were destroyed, bringing a definitive end to the royal
dynasty of David. In addition, the Judean elite were taken into captivity in
Babylon. This disastrous turn of events for Judah gave the (exiled) Israelites theimpression
that Marduk, the Babylonian supreme deity, was more powerful than YHWH, Israel’sGod.
Indeed, not only had Israel lost the battle, but YHWH, as Israel’s God, came
out of the conflictas the big loser. Against this background of disillusionment
and doubt, the creation poem in the firstchapter of the book of Genesis
proclaims God as a mighty creator. Moreover, Israel’s God is not only professed
to be the creator ofIsrael, but of the entire universe: everything owes its
existence to God.
7.3 God is Trustworthy.
The way in which the author/editor
of the creation narrative hasorganized his material shows that he also wanted
to use his text to testify to a trustworthy God. Godspeaks and acts according
to his word. God practices what he preaches. He means what he Says, sayswhat he
means and also does what he says. The author wants to-underscore the
trustworthiness ‘ofIsrael’s God with this story. And this was more than
necessary for the Israelites in exile. In otherwords, for the author/editor of
Genesis 1:1-2:4, creation is an essential witness to God’s faithfulness.
7.4 The Seventh Day is a Day ofRest.
The whole poem culminates in the
seventh day, theday of God’s rest. For the Jews; this is the Sabbath. And
although Genesis 2:1.3 does not refer to the Sabbath by name, this still clearly
resounds through the Hebrew text: “And on the seventh day Godfinished the work
that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he
had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God
rested from all the work that he had done in creation.” For the Israelite
exiles, the Sabbath was something new to hold on to. The destruction of
Jerusalem in 587 BC Meant that the exiles needed to find an alternative for
thedemolished temple. Furthermore, while in a strange and faraway land, they
wanted to save and protectthe Israelite religion. Therefore, the creation
narrative’s emphasis on the Sabbath is designed to both legitimize and explain.
It seeks to legitimize why people should observe the seventh day of the week as
a day of rest, namely because God also took a rest on the seventh day from the
work that he had been doing. And at the same time, it seeks to give an
explanation for the establishment of the Sabbath as a religious institution.
Indeed, in all likelihood, the origin of the Sabbath can be found in an ancient
agricultural practice that sought to ensure that people and animals could rest
at the end of a working week. This profane custom, a remnant of which one still
encounters in a legal text in the book of Exodus (“For six days you shall do
your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your oxand your
donkey may have relief, and your home-born slave and the resident alien may be
refreshed.”
Exodus 23:12), was perhaps later fleshed out in
a religious wayto become a day of rest to the glory of God. As an etiology-a
story that seeks to explain the origin of something-the creation
narrativetraces the origin of the Sabbath back to God himself.
7.5 From Chaos to Order.
Accordingto the first creationnarrative,the
act of creationwasnocreatio ex nihilo. It was a transformation of chaos and
disorder into order and Cosmos. Herein too.Liesa hidden message for the exiled
Israelites. They lived in Babylonian chaos. The narrator, however, points out that
God, even in the worst chaos, can bring order. And the order that God brings
about is qualified: it is good.
7.6 Human Beings are Special.
From the structure of Genesis
1:1-2:4, we can see that thehuman being occupies a special place in creation.
At the sametime, this emphasis on the human beingconceals a polemic against
other visions of creation known to the author of the creation narrative. In the
Babylonian creation narrative-the EnumaElish-, with which the author was undoubtedly
familiar; the humanbeing is created from the blood of a rebelliousGod and made
to serve the Gods. Incomplete contrast to the Ancient Babylonian idea in which
the human person is little more than a slaveto the Gods, the biblical author
sees the human being as the crown of Creation. The creation of thehuman being
comes at the end of the poem. The whole universe is ordered and the scene seems
to be set for the human being to make his appearance.
The author of Genesis makes it
clear, in various ways, that the human being is the highpoint of creation.
i.
The paragraph in which the creation of
the human being is recounted is much more expansive than the account of the
other works of creation. Moreover, with regard to the creation of the human being,
the divine command so characteristic of all the other paragraphs, “Let there
be,”is missing. The creation of the human being begins in another way: “Let us
make human kind…”
ii. With
respect to the creation of the humanbeing, it is striking that the creation of
the plants andland animals evidently issues from the land itself: “The earth
brought forth vegetation” (Genesis 1: 12); “Let the earth bring forth living
creatures of every kind” (Genesis 1:24). Humankind,by contrast, comes directly
from God.
iii. In
verse 28, God addresses the human beings directly: “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.” Just as Godrules over Creation, so too, human beings are commissioned
to rule over Creation.”Having dominion” does not mean the same thing as misuse.
Dominion, here, has to do with “authority.” Real authority, in the, true sense
of the word, is put at the service of the other and contributes to the
development of the World.
iv. The
fourth and final point is that while the creation of plants and animals talks
about variouskinds, this is not mentioned with regard to the human being.
Indeed, it is said that humankind out court is made “in our image, according to
our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). In saying this, theauthor undoubtedly wants to
emphasize the equality within humanity. The fact that this equality is more of
an ideal than a reality makes the central argument of Genesis 1 clear: the creation
narrative describes an ideal wor1d: Not “how it was,” but “how it should be” is
the focus.
Fr. Albert Leo, CPPS
Precious Blood Missionaries
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