By Roy B. Blizzard
Introduction
With this article, "A Parallel Account of Creation," I want to start a series of brief articles that are designed to introduce you to the history of the Biblical text and to address some of the difficult questions one finds therein. This material will vary in length and will carry us through for some time. I hope it answers some of your questions and serves to assist you in your study.
In Genesis 1, the word for God is the Hebrew word Elohim. The basic meaning of Elohim is power or the "all powerful one." It is Elohim in Genesis 1:1 who creates the totality of the universe ex niholo or out of nothing. The Hebrew word is "bara" and "bara" is always used of divine activity. We might say that Elohim represents the creative aspect of deity.
In Genesis 2, the word for God changes from Elohim to YHWH or Yahweh, which seems to indicate the covenant aspect of deity and there is a switch from Elohim’s creation of the earth to His creation and relationship with the crowning achievement of His creation, namely humankind. In Genesis 2:7, the text reads:
And Yahweh formed or fashioned humankind.
The term Adam probably refers to humankind as is seen in Genesis 1:26 when God says,
Let Us make Adam in Our image, in Our likeness…and God created (bara) Adam in His image and in His likeness, male and female created He them.
Then, in Genesis 5:1 it says,
"in that day God created (bara) Adam. He made him His likeness; male and female created He them and He blessed them and He called their name Adam in the day that they were created.
In Midrash, a Jewish commentary, man was created originally with two faces, i.e., male and female halves and only later the two halves were divided. The word for faces can also mean outlook, approach or perspective. There are two facets to a concept. The original man contained a duality which was later separated into male and female, each with its own personality and outlook. (1)
God’s creation is given a garden to tend, the Garden of Eden. The word "Eden" in Hebrew means simply luxury or delight. That is, the garden of God where everything was provided that man could possibly need. God reserved a small portion for himself (verse 17), the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil.
It is interesting to note in Genesis 2:20 and following that Adam named all of the creatures of the earth but the statement is made concerning Adam "no helpmate could be found." In the English text it states that God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam and while he slept, He took one of his ribs and from that rib He fashioned for Adam a wife.
In Hebrew, the word "helpmate" is ezer knegdo (Brown Driver Briggs [BDB] 5048-2) which literally means, "one equal to and adequate for in every way." The word translated rib in Hebrew tzela (BDB 6763) can mean a side chamber or a cell. The word is never used again in the Hebrew text for a human rib. It is interesting to note that this statement was written thousands of years before there was any discipline known as Science and before we knew that a single cell contains all of the necessary ingredients to make an exact duplication of the creature from which the cell was taken. We call it a clone.
Genesis 3 introduces us to the serpent (in Hebrew nachash means enchanter, one who practices divination, corruption or a serpent), which we are told is more subtle than any of the beasts of the field that the Lord God had made. Notice that is does not say that the serpent is a beast of the field. According to the Talmud, Baba Batra 16a, the serpent symbolizes the evil inclination or the "yetzer hara."
In Judaism, man is born with two inclinations: an inclination to do evil (the yetzer hara) and the inclination to do good (the yetzer hatov). Both of these inclinations are essential constituents of humankind without which there would be no free will, the power to choose between good and evil.
In the recently published Aramaic translation of the Hebrew text (Onkelos on the Torah, Understanding the Biblical Text, Genesis by Israel Drazen and Stanley M. Wagner, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem 2006, pg 15), they asked the question, "would we be considered irreverent if we suggested that the entire Bible story of the creation of humankind and their sin in the Garden of Eden is an allegory; that is, a story that reveals a truth which is embedded in the text and shall need not be taken literally? (1) Could Adam and Eve be humankind? (2) Could the Garden of Eden be the world as it could be if we only harken to God’s command? (3) Could the serpent be the variety of temptations in life which draws us away from serving God? (4) Could the sin of Adam and Eve be the choices we have the power to make and the punishment be the inevitable consequences of sin?
The Bible story continues in Genesis 4 with the birth of Cain and his brother Abel, Cain’s slaying of his brother and being banished eastward from the Garden where he founded a city, married and raised a family. The question has frequently been asked, where did Cain get his wife? It is incorrect to assume that Cain, Abel and Seth were the only children of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 5:4 we are told that Adam lived 800 years and begat sons and daughters. Tradition says that Adam had 33 sons and 27 daughters. According to Biblical chronology in the 130 years from Adam’s creation to Abel’s murder, a good many generations had arisen with a population perhaps in the thousands.(2)
Biblical Chronology
Problems with Chronology
Many problems have arisen throughout the passing centuries over the issue of dating. Numerous chronological tables have been constructed utilizing the dates found in the Biblical text for the beginning of Creation, for the date of the Flood and other events mentioned in the Biblical text. To the casual reader, it seems to be specific; so-and-so begat so-and-so, and so-and-so begat so-and-so and they lived for so many years and begat so-and-so and so forth. So, the assumption is made that one can add up all of these dates and arrive at an accurate date for a particular event. This is essentially what was done by Bishop Usher when, by taking the various dates, he concluded that the date of creation was 4004 BCE. However, Bishop Usher wasn’t the only one. There were at least 34 other chronologists that attempted to determine the date of creation and no two of them agree with one another. The fact is that "begat" in Hebrew does not mean the same as it does in English. It can mean that so-and-so was the father of so-and-so or it can mean that so-and-so was the ancestor of so-and-so. So, in Hebrew, one could say "A" begat "Z" and it would be correct.
Secondly, the ancients, not just the Hebrews, placed considerable importance on numbers. Numbers often carried a certain symbolism. It is a study known as Gematria in which certain numbers have a certain meaning: for example, one is the number of unity; two is the number of union; three is the number of deity; four is the number of the earth; six is the number of man; seven is the number of perfection; eight is the number of the order of new things; ten is the number of earthly completion, the sum of six plus four and so on.
Certain things and certain events will be presented in the Biblical text according to a certain numerical pattern. As an example, in Matthew chapter one, we have the genealogy of Jesus. Notice in verse 17 that the genealogy is constructed according to three divisions of 14 generations each, 14 being the number of the sum of 10 and 4, or earthly completion.
In verse 8 it says that Asa begat Jehoshaphat and Jehoshaphat begat Jehoram and Jehoram begat Uzziah. In 2 Chronicles 21, we read of the genealogy of these kings from the detailed record of the Kings of Judah and we note something of great importance. In Chapter 21 of 2 Chronicles it is mentioned that Jehoshaphat died and his son Jehoram reigned in his stead.
In Chapter 22, Jehoram’s son Ahaziah succeeds to the throne and after his death, his mother Athaliah reigned over Judah. Athaliah is killed in chapter 24 and she is succeeded by Joash. Joash, in turn, is succeeded by his son, Amaziah, in chapter 25 who is, in turn, succeeded by his son Uzziah. Four generations are omitted in this genealogical record as they are working within the framework of the number 14.
Numbers, genealogy and chronology in the Biblical text are often fictive, symbolic and/or metaphoric. Attempting to create an accurate geological table is further complicated by the fact that the Hebrew Massoratic, the Greek Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch and other textual variations give differing numbers for many Biblical events. For all of these reasons, the attempt to connect Biblical chronology with real, historical time has inevitably failed. It is really not until the time of Abraham and the Patriarchs that we begin to touch down on firm chronological ground.
The Flood of Noah
Genesis 6-9
The story of Noah and the great flood begins with God observing man’s sinful ways and declares that He will destroy the whole earth by flood. However, God found one righteous man, Noah, and declared that He would spare him and his family.
He then instructed Noah to build an ark for him, his family and representatives of the birds and animals of the earth. On the same day they entered into the ark, "all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened and the rain came upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights." All creatures died except Noah, his family and those with him in the ark. At the end of 150 days, the ark came to rest on a mountain in the region of Ararat (150,000 square miles) and after a period of time Noah and his family left the ark, made a sacrifice to God and God resolved that He would never again destroy all life in this manner and set a rainbow in the clouds as a testimony to His promise."
The story of Noah and the flood has been the subject for much discussion. Is this a true historical account? Was the whole earth at one time destroyed by flood? If there was indeed an ark, where did it come to rest? Some texts have it resting on Mount Ararat and others on Mount Kardu. Was it indeed possible to construct a vessel that was large enough to contain representatives of all the known species of animals and birds today? Over the centuries there has been much discussion of the subject of Noah, the ark and the great flood.
The 19th century saw the rise of rationalism and the beginnings of Middle Eastern archeology. From a geological and archaeological perspective there is absolutely no evidence that the earth was ever destroyed by a worldwide inundation.
In 1849, the British archaeologist, Sir Henry Layard, excavating in the library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (7th century BCE) in Nineveh, found a large epic poem preserved on 12 clay tablets written in Cuneiform, known today as the Epic of Gilgamesh. There are two main versions of this epic, a Sumerian version and the Babylonian version, and it is among the earliest known works of literary fiction, dating as early as 2150 to 2000 BCE. The 11th tablet of the epic tells the story of one Utnapishtim who is the Babylonian correspondent to Noah. The story contains striking correspondence to Noah and the Biblical flood and perhaps predates the Bible story by several hundred years. However, this is not entirely clear. There is so much similarity in these early flood stories that it is difficult to know which story predates the others. One written account may predate another but it is entirely possible that they all share in common an earlier account than the written ones we currently have. The entire text of the epic can be found in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton University Press, Princeton N.J., 1969, pg 72-99. It can also be found on the Internet under the Epic of Gilgamesh.
In addition to this flood story, there are many other groups of people the world over that have both oral and written traditions of a worldwide inundation, most of which bear remarkable similarities to the details of the Biblical account of the flood.
Tower of Babel
Genesis 11
Following the account of the flood, we read the interesting story of the migration of mankind to the east where they settled on the plain of Shinar (Sumeria or Babylonia). To understand the events of Genesis 10-11, it is necessary to note an interesting statement in Genesis 4:16.
To Seth was born a son and he called his name Enosh. And at that time man began to call upon the Lord by name. In other words, God had a name by which He was known, Yahweh.
The leader of the eastward migration was Nimrod. The name Nimrod comes from Hebrew marad which means a rebel or to rebel. Nimrod was a hunter of people to rebel against God. He caused the world to rebel by constructing a tower whose top would reach into heaven that they might make for themselves a name. As God had a name (YHWH or Yahweh) they, too, wanted a name. The name of the place where God confounded their language and scattered them abroad is Babel, which in Hebrew means the "gate to God" (Bab = gate, El = God).
Because of their rebellion, God confounds their language, in Hebrew balal, so that they were no longer able to understand each other. They moved away and settled in other parts of the earth. As with the Sumerian and Babylonian accounts of the flood, there is also a Sumerian myth similar to the Tower of Babel where Enmerkar of Uruk is building a massive tower called a Ziggurat in Eridu. He implores the God, Enki, to intervene that the whole universe may address the God in a single language. It is possible that the ruins of the Ziggurats, which still stand today throughout ancient Babylonia, inspired the story of the Tower of Babel.
Various traditions similar to the Tower of Babel are found in Central America. One such declares that the ancient Toltecs, after men multiplied following a great flood, erected a tall tower to preserve themselves but their languages were confounded and they went to separate parts of the earth.
Dr. Livingston reported in 1849 that the Africans he met near Lake Ngami had a similar tradition.
The purpose of the story of the Tower of Babel is to explain the origin of the various nations and the multiplicity of languages. The construction of the tower was an act of defiance against God directed by the rebel Nimrod. The lesson to be learned is the Lord’s contempt for human pride.
Abraham and the Beginning of the Hebrew Nation
Genesis 12-25
These chapters introduce us to one of the most important personages in the entire Bible, Abraham. When we are introduced to him, his name is Av Ram which means exalted father. YHWH, or Yahweh speaks to Abraham and tells him to go forth from the country of his birth and journey to a land that YHWH would show him. Additionally, there is the promise made that, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, make your name great and you will be a blessing (to others)."
YHWH Further promises, "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you and all the families of the earth will be blessed (because of you)."
According to Genesis 11, they depart from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. At one time, scholars believed that Ur of Chaldees, Abraham’s home, was located in southern Mesopotamia near the juncture of the Euphrates River and the Persian Gulf.
Much is known about this ancient city as it has been excavated since the 1920’s. Excavations were directed by Sir C. Leonard Woolley between 1926 and 1931. Excavations were undertaken in the Royal Cemetery. Approximately 1850 tombs were excavated including the tombs of royalty dating back to as early as 2600 BCE. Many magnificent artifacts were unearthed, most of which are in the British Museum in London, England.
The artifacts excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley suggest that this ancient city boasted an organized government, an advanced culture and educational system and probably as many as 75,000 or more inhabitants, all of this was 700-1000 years before the time of Abraham. Whether this Ur was the home of Abraham or not is questioned today. Some scholars suggest that in view of the fact that there were several Urs throughout Mesopotamia, that the Ur of Abraham was closer to the city of Haran, the first stop in their journey to the land of Canaan. When we read the Biblical story of their journey, we must read very carefully to garner some of the main points that assist us in better understanding these events.
First of all, we are told that Abraham took his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, and a young man by the name of Eliezer who is the household steward of Abraham’s household. He also took considerable possessions and they set out for Canaan. Abraham was 75 years old at the beginning of their journey. Our mental image is of an old man and a woman and a young boy and a few possessions setting out on a long trip. However, in Genesis 13:2, it says that Abraham was very rich in cattle and silver and gold. In Genesis 13:7, we are told of a quarrel between his herdsmen and those of Lot. In other words, we are talking of a mass migration of tens of people along with hundreds of animals as they make their way toward the land of Canaan.
Abraham, in Genesis 14:13, is called The Hebrew. What is a Hebrew? Where does the word come from? Why is Abraham called The Hebrew? Not surprisingly, there is considerable discussion on this subject. The word for Hebrew is Ivri. In Genesis 11:14, we read of one Ever in the genealogy of Abraham. Hebrew could refer back to this ancestor of Abraham or some have suggested it comes from the Hebrew word Avar (same root) which means "across." They were called Hebrews because they came from across the river. At the same period of time that we read about the Hebrews, we read from Assyrian documents about a group of people known as the Habiru. In Egypt, they are known as the Apiru. From Sumerian and Hittite documents, we read about a group of people known as the Sa Gaz. The ideogram for Sa Gaz is similar to a sword. These people are sometimes referred to as mercenaries or cutthroats.
From Uguritic texts from Ras Shamra we read of the ibrim and we further notice in the ancient texts that all of these terms, ibrim, habiru, apiru, sa gaz, are used interchangeably and do not refer to a particular ethnic group. Rather, they seem to refer to a group of people who have no king, allegiance to no kingdom and are basically nomadic and wander from place to place doing and taking what they want.
As we delve deeper into the life of Abraham this term seems to fit him and his people perfectly. He comes down into the land, goes where he wants, settles where he wants, takes what he wants and those in the land refer to him as Avram Haivri, Abraham the Hebrew. It is not long after they enter into the land of Canaan that their numbers increase to the extent that Abraham and his nephew Lot separate with Lot going to the east to Sodom and Abraham remaining in the land of Canaan proper.
In Genesis 14, we have the interesting story of the war between the kings of Babylon and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and the capture of Lot. Abraham arms 318 of his men and journeys far to the north as far as Damascus (in present day Syria). He rescues Lot and returns to the land of Canaan. Along the way, he stops in Salem (ancient Jerusalem) where he meets one Melchizedek, a servant of the most high God. Much discussion has taken place concerning Melchizedek. His name, malchi tzedek means simply, "my king is righteous." He is simply the priest king of Jerusalem and as such, Abraham gives him a tenth of the spoils that he took from the Babylonian kings. In return, he is blessed by Melchizedek.
In Genesis 15, we read an interesting story in relation to Eliezer, Abraham’s household steward. Who is this man? In the 1920’s, archaeologists excavating at the Mesopotamian sites of Mari and Nuzi found thousands of ancient documents inscribed on clay tablets reflecting on conditions and customs in Mesopotamia circa 2000-1500 BCE. These ancient texts enabled us to understand many of the stories found in these early chapters of Genesis.
Among the ancient Mesopotamians, a couple was considered cursed if they had no children. Nuzian law stipulated that a childless couple could ensure the continuation of their family by adopting a child, usually a slave, who would take the place of a son. This child would be designated as the "household steward." His responsibility would be to look after their property during their lifetime and to ensure a decent burial upon their death. This adopted son would then inherit all of their possessions. If, however, a natural son was eventually born, then the adopted son would lose his inheritance rights. Apparently this is the situation in Genesis 15 where Abraham expresses his concern that Eliezer would inherit his vast possessions.
At this point it might be appropriate to ask the question, "Why was Abraham – of all the people on the earth – selected to become the father of this nation that was to be a blessing for all mankind? The answer seems to be obvious.
In Genesis 18:19, God says, "For I have known him that he will instruct his sons and his daughters after him that they will keep the way of YHWH and do righteousness and justice in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham all that He spoke unto him." The emphasis here is upon teaching; the instruction to his children and their children after them to do that which is right and just in order that they might be blessed and that they might be a blessing.
From the legal documents in Nuzi, we have a parallel text to Genesis 15 which relates to how, in certain marriage contracts, a childless wife would be required to provide her husband with a substitute to preserve the continuity of the family.
Abraham’s concern that Eliezer might become his heir was due to the fact that Sarai, Abraham’s wife, had bore him no children.
When Sarai was 75 and Abraham was 85, she gave up hope. God had promised that Abraham’s seed would inherit the land and thus she decided that perhaps his seed would be borne by another woman and she could treat it as her own. Thus, she presented her maid servant, Hagar, to Abraham.
We learn, again, from the Nuzi texts that if a couple was barren it was the custom for the woman to provide a concubine to produce offspring. Sarai and Abraham are following the custom of their day.
Hagar, Sarai’s maid servant was an Egyptian. Hagar conceived and bore a son to Abraham when Abraham was 86 years old. Abraham named the son Ishmael, which means God will hear and is a reference to Abraham’s prayers in Genesis 17:20.
When Abraham was 99 years old, YHWH appears to Abraham as El Shaddai (the all sufficient one) and declares that he will establish His covenant with Abraham and tells him that his name will no longer be Avram but Avraham, the father of a multitude. Sarai’s name is changed from Sarai to Sarah, meaning princess to all people and He declares that He will not only bless her but that Abraham will have a son by her. Upon hearing this, Sarah laughed. When the child was born, he was named Isaac which means laughter.
Endnotes
(1) Breishes, the Artscroll Tanach Series, Mesorah Publishing Company, Vol. 1(a), page 72)
(2) Haley’s Bible Handbook, pub. 1963, page 69