The first two chapters of Genesis told the two different stories of creation. Each one is much different than the other. In the first creation story, a distinct and somewhat strict structure was followed. Each day except for the seventh began with "God said." (Genesis 1: 3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24) Each day except for the seventh ended with "There was evening, there was morning: (one, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth) day." (Genesis 1: 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31) Thus, the first creation story emphasized an order of time, unlike the second creation story.
Also, in the first creation story, God named the different things he created:
-"God called the light: Day! and the darkness he called: Night!" (Gen 1: 5)
-"God called the dome: Heaven!" (Gen 1: 8)
-"God called the dry land: Earth! and the gathering of the waters he called: Seas!" (Gen 1:10)
In the second creation story, Adam was given the task of naming the things God had created, "and whatever the human called it as a living being, that became its name." (Gen 2: 19) Mankind was given a power used by God in the first creation story. This emphasized the importance of man in the world and exemplified the creation of man in God's image.
In the first creation story, God did not create mankind until the sixth day. God created light, darkness, heaven, earth, seas, plants, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the creatures of the sea, sky, and earth before he created humans. In the second creation story, heaven and earth was created, but "no bush of the field was yet on earth, no plant of the field had yet sprung up." (Gen 2: 5) It was then that God created mankind, and then he created the rest of earth. This further accentuated the importance of mankind in the second creation story. The first creation story exemplified the creation of heaven and earth and strictly stressed that God was the ultimate creator of everything and everything he created was "good." The second creation story depicted God as both a creator and father to the humans he created, but, more importantly, examined the development of the humans created by God.
In Gen 1: 26-31, the sixth day of creation, humankind was created in God's image, and God gave humans "dominion" over all living things. God said that the humans were "exceedingly good!" (Gen 1: 31). The second creation story went into much greater detail in how man and woman were created. In Gen 2: 7, God "formed the human, of dust from the soil,/ he blew into his nostrils the rush of life/and the human became a living thing." This image was not presented in the first creation story, but merely stated that God created them. Also, in the first creation story, male and female are created at the same time. "God created humankind in his image,/ in the image of God did he create it,/ male and female did he create them." (Gen 1:27) In the second creation story, man was created first in Gen 2:7, but it was not until Gen 2:22 that woman was created from man's rib. God created heaven, earth, man, living things, plants, and all other of His creations before deciding to create woman. Thus, the second story clearly established a difference between man and woman. Genesis 1 did not do this.
In the first chapter of Genesis, God was emphasized as the creator of everything in the universe. In the second chapter of Genesis, God was portrayed in many different ways. For instance, in Gen 2:4, the phrase "YHWH, God" was used for the first of many times throughout the second story. This phrase was never used in the first chaper of Genesis. It seemed that God was almost brought to the level of humans, just as humans were brought to the level of God. Much like God called the humans by names, the humans called God by a specific name. Even though both creation stories clearly stated that mankind was created in God's image, the second story went on to further depict this. First, man was given the task of naming the things God created (Gen 2:20), a task only performed by God in the first creation story. Secondly, in Gen 2:8, God was portrayed "walking about in the garden," an action that humans did. Thus, unlike the first creation story, Genesis 2 further emphasized the creation of humankind in God's image. Rather than just depicting God as a majestic, all-powerful figure, YHWH was portrayed as both human and divine in the second creation story.
Perhaps the major difference in the two stories was their endings. The first creation story merely described the seven days of creation, ending with the seventh day of rest. The second creation story focused on mankind, its creation and its downfall. The author elucidated how man was created from dust (Gen 2: 7) and woman from man's rib (Gen 2: 22). However, the author further explained how the snake enticed the woman to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. "The snake said to the woman:/ Die, you will not die!/Rather, God knows/that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened/ and you will become like gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 2: 4-5) The fact that this information convinced the woman to eat from the tree revealed much about human nature. The author hinted that the instinct of mankind to gain power and knowledge was perhaps its greatest weakness, since it led to its downfall. After hearing this, the woman finds the fruit "a delight" and "desirable to contemplate" (Gen 2:6). She ate the fruit and gave it to her mate. After eating the fruit, the two humans realize that they are naked and struggle to find leaves to cover themselves (Gen 2:7) Here, the author explained the origin of man's embarassment of being naked in public. Then, God realized that they had eaten from the tree, and then cursed the snaked, woman, and man. In Gen 2:14-19, the origins of many notions were explained by the author. Snakes were forced to crawl on their bellies without legs (Gen 2:14) and would be enemies of man and woman (Gen 2:15). Woman would not only have painful pregnancies and child births, but also would be ruled by their husbands (Gen 2:16). Man would have to work for his food (Gen 2:17-19), and all living things from that point one would eventually die, including man and woman. God then explained that man was "dust, and to dust you shall return." Thus, the second creation story pointed out the progression rather than just the creation of mankind. It explained the origins of death, lust, suffering, and pain. The first creation story did not describe these notions.
Well done! An excellent close reading.
ReplyDeleteI have just a few remarks:
It never occurred to me to compare the naming in Gen 1 to that in Gen 2, bravo. (Not that this implies anything about the relation of one to the other in terms of deliberate contrast).
Gen 1:31 ("exceedingly good") does not refer specifically to human beings but to "all that he had made". Be careful not to misread the text in order to substantiate a point otherwise well-taken; it undermines the argument.
I don't think one could say that because the deity is described in anthropomorphic terms that elevates the human to a godlike status (by the way in 3:8 not 2:8, be careful in referencing the text; you pretty consistently replace Gen 3 by Gen 2). The gods in all religions are more or less anthropomorphic; it can't be otherwise. They have to have will, judgment, speech (even in thunder) and hearing (without which prayer and intercession aren't possible). Yet the issue of human godlikeness is the crux of Gen 1 vs. Gen 2-3.
Your reading of Gen 3 is heavily influenced by traditional interpretation ("creation and downfall"; snake "enticed" the woman). Yahweh doesn't curse the man and woman, only the snake and the soil.
You have done half the next assignment in terms of the manner in which the story explains certain aspects of our world. We will have to discuss separately the thorny question of whether these include the origin of death, especially as blaming the woman for that has had horrific consequences.
not so specific try harder
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