HEBREW BIBLE 1 David Moseley, Ph.D. “In the Beginning…” (Genesis 1-11) All references are to the Book of Genesis unless otherwise stated Introduction to the Torah v “Torah” (Hebrew) = Law / Instruction / Teaching / Path / Way Ø Through Narratives & Legal Codes v “Pentateuch” (Greek) = “Five Scrolls” (of Moses) v “Torat Moshe” (Judaism) = “Instruction of Moses” Introduction to Genesis v “Genesis” (Greek) = “Beginning” v “Bereshit” (Hebrew) = “In the Beginning…” v Narratives of Primeval History and Ancestral History 1. Creation (1:1-2:25) Ø First Creation Account (1:1-2:4a) • Two Cycles of Three Days: § Days 1 & 4: Light § Days 2 & 5: Water § Days 3 & 6: Land 1. • Create Environment (Days 1-3) and then Fill it with Life / Content (Days 4-6) Ø Second Creation Account (2:4b-25) • Compare to Sequence of Creation in Genesis 1 Ø Themes of Creation Stories: • Chaos and Order • Hierarchy and Dominion • Relationships: § God & Humanity § Humanity & Earth / Animals § Humanity & Humanity 2. The Fall (3:1-24) Ø Genre of Genesis Pre-History: • “Myths” and “Archetypes” – “Legend” Ø Themes of The Fall: • Paradise • Freedom • Relationships - Companionship • Power • Law / Limitation • Temptation • Knowledge • Good and Evil • Sin / Rebellion • Guilt 2. • Blame • Punishment • Gender and Hierarchy • Pain / Suffering /Work and Mortality 3. Cain & Abel (4:1-26) Ø Breakdown of Relationship between God and Humanity in The Fall continues in Breakdown of Humanity’s (Brotherly / Family) Relationships Ø Note the Continuing “Anthropomorphisms” as applied to God 4. Genealogy from Adam to Noah (5:1-32) Ø Note the extraordinary long lives of the Pre-Flood (“Antediluvian”) “Heroic” figures of Jewish Legend, similar to Babylonian Genealogies 5. Noah and The Flood (6:5-9:28) Ø Derivation from / Similarity with other Babylonia and Ancient Flood Sources: th 1. Atrahasis - 18 Century B.C.E. Akkadian Epic 2. Berossus – Greek author who used lost Babylonian records and texts to compile the Babyloniaca in three books sometime around 290–278 B.C.E. 3. Gilgamesh - An Epic poem from 19th Century B.C.E. Mesopotamia, considered to be the world’s first truly great work of literature 4. Moses of Khoren - Prominent Armenian historian from Late Antiquity (5th Century C.E.) and the author of the History of the Armenians 5. Ziusudra – Section of the Eridu Genesis, containing Creation and Flood myths written in the Sumerian language and dated to around 1600 B.C.E. Ø Intermingling of two similar but distinct accounts of the Flood story, (esp. in Genesis 7) 3. Ø Flood as Destruction and (Re-)“Creation 2.0” Ø Seven Noachide Laws (9:1-7) & (New) Covenant with Noah (9:8-17) Ø Cursing of Ham - Implications for Race Relations (Ham’s Descendants in Africa) 6. The Table of Nations (10:1-32) Ø Repopulating of Earth from Descendants of Noah’s Three Sons, Centered in Canaan where their “Kingdoms” Overlap 7. The Tower of Babel (11:1-9) Ø The “Fall” (Again) – Wanting to Equal or Transcend God Ø Tower of Babel = Ziggurats of Ancient Babylon Ø Punishment (“Curse”) = Scattering Peoples & Confusion of Languages (“Babble”) 8. Genealogy from Shem to Terah (11:10-32) Ø Abraham and Jews are Descendant of Noah’s Son, Shem – Hence, “S(h)emites” 4. .