Origin Stories Flashcards
Introducing the Pentateuch - What?
the first 5 books of the bible
Introducing the Pentateuch - Who?
multiple authors and editors (oral and written material)
Introducing the Pentateuch - When?
final edition in post-exilic period (began after the Babylonian exile in 538 BC)
Introducing the Pentateuch - Where?
Israel + Babylon + Post-exilic Israel
Introducing the Pentateuch - Why?
restore the exiles’ sense of nationhood & how to worship God back in Israel
Overview of the Pentateuch
- Primeval History (Gen 1-11)
- First Families’ Narrative (Gen 12-50)
- story of liberation (Exod 1-18)
- revelation at Sinai (Exod 19-40 and Leviticus)
- Sojourn in the Wilderness (Numbers)
- farewell address of Moses (Deuteronomy)
Genesis at a Glance: Origins
Gen 1-11 God and the World
a) Gen 1 creation of the world
b) Gen 2-3 creation of humans & expulsion from Eden
c) Gen 4-11 exile, destruction, and recreation
Gen 12-50 God and Israel
a) Gen 12-23 Abraham & Sarah cycle
b) Gen 24-36 Jacob and Rachel/Leah cycle
c) Gen 37-50 Joseph cycle
Creation of the World - Genesis 1
- Genesis 1 written y Priests in the post-exilic period
- living in Babylon
- traditionally: the God or Israel is one that conquers chaos
- debated: emergence of earth from the waters
- creates through speech
- not intended to answer our scientific questions
Genesis Creation Story (7 days)
Day 1 - separates light from darkness
Day 2 - separates the Sky and Earth
Day 3 - separates dry land from sea
Day 4 - creates lights to govern day, night, and seasons
Day 5 - creates sea creatures and birds
Day 6 - creates land animals and humans
Day 7 - day of rest
Creation of Humans: Gen 2-3
- 2nd creation story, much older than Gen 1
- describes the creation of “ha-adam” (ie the human)
- problem: lack of community
- solution: creation of “ezer kenegdo” (ie a ‘helper corresponding’ to the human)
- “helper”: usually implies a superior force but qualified to mean an equal
Bone of my Bone
- after the surgery, the first mention of gender “male” and “female”
- both are implicated in the “fall”
- curses are a result of the “fall: and not something to be strived for
- both creation accounts are very clear that men and women are created in God’s image
- separation between humanity and God beings
What is similar between the two creation accounts?
- humans are God’s creations
- they too are a creature and part of the created order
- earth is also God’s beloved creation
- humans and its caretakers
- focus is not humans as the apex of God’s creation but that humans are creatures and part of God’s creation
- Jews saw the pinnacle of creation as the Sabbath day
Exile, Destruction and Re-creation
- Cain & Abel (Gen 4)
- community is shattered through envy and enmity (“So Cain was very angry” Gen 4:5)
- bond between brothers is broken but also between the land and Cain (Gen 4:11-12)
- results in exile and isolation (Gen 4:12-16)
- Lamech only increases this distance through multiple killings (Gen 4:23-24)
- Adam and Eve have a new son Seth through which Israel the nation will be born (Gen 4:25-26)
The Flood Narrative
- Gen 6:11-12
- the flood is a cosmic recreation story, a reset button
- God blesses Noah and forms a covenant with him and his family (Gen 9:8) and the sign is the rainbow (Gen 9:13)
- also a covenant with all the animals that come with Noah on the ark (Gen 9:10)
The Tower of Babel
“Come let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth..” (Gen 11:4)
Theme: Exile
- expelled from the Garden
- Cain banished
- Noah is a remnant
- Tower of Babel is destroyed
