To prepare for class discussion, please fill in the boxes in the Genesis Chart  below after you read the assigned passages.    The assigned passages are:

Genesis 1:1-2:4 and Genesis 2:5-3:24 in the Jewish Study Bible and the Enuma Elish . Enuma Elish is available on electronic reserve (http://db.lib.uidaho.edu/ereserve/) It is from "Enuma Elish" - in Joan O'Brien and Wilfred Major, In the Beginning: Creation Myths from Ancient Mesopotamia, Israel, and Greece. AAR Aids to the Study of Religion 11. Chico: Scholars Press, 1982. ISBN 0-89130-559-9 Pages 10-30.  Levenson, the author of the annotations and intro to Genesis in the Jewish Study Bible, has excellent comments on Genesis 1-3.

The following Genesis 1-3 Vocabulary Notes may be useful:

God - Elohim

LORD - Yahweh 

human being - ha adam, early in the story not gendered, later the term becomes a name

from the ground - ha adamah, ah as a suffix means from

male person (man) - ish

female person (woman) - ishah, the ah suffix means from

napha - to breathe; nephesh - a living being

the deep - TeHoM, a watery chaos (note similarity to name Tiamat in Babylonian story of creation)

Eve- resembles the word for living

Question for Thought: It is often argued that one of the themes which is common to all Acient Near Eastern (ANE) cosmogony is that of the creation of order out of chaos. Reflect on whether this is true of all the stories. Why would this be a central theme in the ANE?

 
Comparison Chart Genesis 1:1-2:4 Genesis 2:5-3:24 Enuma Elish
Genre and style

prose, poetry, liturgical or hymnic characteristics, recurring phrases, plays on words, abstract or concrete images, etc. Are there any etiologies (explanations of the origins of beliefs, customs, or natural phenomena)?

 poetic, liturgical, refrains such as God saw that it was good, high structure abstract, universal origin of universe Etiology of the Sabbath, human dominion over creation, and being vegetarian narrative, "story-like", puns such as adam-adamah, ish-ishah, napha-nephesh, concrete. Lots of etiologies: origin of sexes, marriage, difficulty of work, pain in childbirth, enmity between humans and snake, origin of clothing, etc.  
Setting

Focus--Is the focus the earth, heaven, universe?

Initial State--What is the initial composition of matter?

Picture of the universe - What are its elements?

 

 

 

      
Plot-Structure

Plot Summary— Beginning, actions, conflicts, climax, resolution, etc. Time frame

Order of items created

Means/Method of Creation

Binary oppositions (such as dark/light, above/below, etc.) If any

      
Character

Showing character through actions, describing a character, names and labels, clothing, places, tools, occupations, or symbols associated with the character, etc.

Who are the protagonists and antagonists, if any? What names are used for the deity/ies? How is/are the deity/ies portrayed? Is there any anthropomorphism (creatures or objects portrayed as human-like)? Names of the humans, if any, and how portrayed? Animals or other creatures?

      
View of Humanity What statements could you make about the view of human nature based on each story? What responsibilities are given to human beings? Are there any limitations imposed? What is the relationship between human beings and the deity? Are there any distinctions between males and females?      
View of Deity/ies

How many deities are there? Is deity portrayed anthropomorphically? Is deity male, female, or neither or both? What is the divine's relationship to humans, to nature?

 

 

 

 

      
View of Nature--Is nature real or illusory? Good or evil or neutral? Is nature divine or is deity independent of it? Does nature have an order or structure? What are the relationships between nature, humanity, and deity?      
Ethics--are there any clues as to the nature of ethics or a moral order? What are the sources of evil and good? What are the key values and relationships established      
Social Location--Are there any clues to the geographical, social, and/or historical location, and circumstances in which the story developed and was used? For example: urban or agrarian; priestly, scribal, home; justification of kingship or the importance of a particular city. liturgical, poetic repetitions and concern for the Sabbath may indicate a priestly context; interest in the elements and structure may indicate a priestly and/or scribal context.