SINCE THE BEGINNING Interpreting Genesis 1 and 2 through the Ages EDITED BY KYLE R. GREENWOOD K Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 3 6/6/18 10:31 AM 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 © 2018 by Kyle R. Greenwood Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Greenwood, Kyle, editor. Title: Since the beginning : interpreting Genesis 1 and 2 through the ages / Kyle R. Greenwood, ed. Description: Grand Rapids : Baker Publishing Group, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017052470 | ISBN 9780801030697 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Genesis, I–II—Criticism, interpretation, etc.—History. Classification: LCC BS1235.52 .S558 2018 | DDC 222/.110609—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017052470 Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Words are occasionally italicized for emphasis. Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011 Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations labeled NJPS are from the New Jewish Publication Society Version © 1985 by The Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 7 is adapted from Joel S. Allen, Jewish Biblical Legends: Rabbinic Wisdom for Christian Readers (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013). Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers. www.wipfandstock.com. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 4 6/6/18 10:31 AM For Karen ֶ֚עֶצ ֵֽםמֲעָצ ַ֔מי ּוָב ָ֖שרִמְבָשִ֑רי (Gen. 2:23) Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 5 6/6/18 10:31 AM Contents List of Sidebars ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xiii Preface xix Kyle R. Greenwood 1. Old Testament Reverberations of Genesis 1–2 1 Kyle R. Greenwood 2. Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 in Second Temple Jewish Literature 23 Michael D. Matlock 3. New Testament Appropriations of Genesis 1–2 45 Ira Brent Driggers 4. Early Rabbinic Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 77 Joel S. Allen 5. Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 among the Ante-Nicene Fathers 97 Stephen O. Presley 6. Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 among the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 121 C. Rebecca Rine vii Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 7 6/6/18 10:31 AM viii Contents 7. Medieval Jewish Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 147 Jason Kalman 8. Medieval Christian Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 169 Timothy Bellamah, OP 9. Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 among the Protestant Reformers 189 Jennifer Powell McNutt 10. Rediscovery of the Ancient Near East and Its Implications for Genesis 1–2 215 David T. Tsumura 11. Post-Darwinian Interpretations of Genesis 1–2 239 Aaron T. Smith Postscript 269 Kyle R. Greenwood Select Bibliography 271 Contributors 289 Scripture and Ancient Sources Index 291 Subject Index 303 Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 8 6/6/18 10:31 AM Sidebars 1.1 Psalm 8 9 1.2 Ezekiel 28:11–19 20 2.1 Jubilees 2.2 27 2.2 Philo, On the Creation of the World 13–14 29 2.3 4QMiscellaneous Rules, 4Q265 frag. 7 II, 11–17 35 2.4 Jubilees 3.8–12 38 3.1 Hebrews 4:9–11 54 3.2 John 1:1–5 55 3.3 2 Peter 3:5–7 58 3.4 Mark 10:6–9 62 3.5 Ephesians 5:28–33 63 3.6 1 Corinthians 11:7–9 65 3.7 1 Corinthians 15:45–49 68 3.8 Revelation 22:1–5 71 4.1 Genesis Rabbah 4:3 86 4.2 Genesis Rabbah 19:3–5 89 5.1 Theophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum 2.12 101 5.2 Origen, On First Principles 3.5.1 106 5.3 Irenaeus, Against Heresies 2.2.4–5 109 6.1 Chrysostom, Homily 8 in Homilies on Genesis 129 6.2 Basil, Homily 3 in Exegetic Homilies 134 6.3 Ephrem, Hymn 12 in Hymns on Paradise 140 ix Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 9 6/6/18 10:31 AM x Sidebars 6.4 Ephrem, Hymn 6 in Hymns on Paradise 141 6.5 Chrysostom, Homily 2 in Homilies on Genesis 143 7.1 Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed 2.29 154 7.2 Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed 2.25 155 8.1 Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Sentences 182 8.2 Meister Eckhart, Comments on Genesis 2:7 183 9.1 Martin Luther, Introduction to Genesis 1 195 9.2 John Calvin, Comments on Genesis 2:2 197 10.1 Enuma Elish on Creation and Marduk 217 10.2 The Epic of Atrahasis on the Creation of Human Beings 231 11.1 The Geological Record and the “Days” of Genesis 1 247 11.2 Source Criticism and Interpreting Genesis 1 and 2 259 Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 10 6/6/18 10:31 AM Acknowledgments The impetus for this book was a course I taught half a decade ago on the history of interpretation of Genesis 1. At the time there was no single volume of primary source texts and certainly no individual commentary available on these source texts to help undergraduate students make sense of the subject matter. I was out of my depth beyond the biblical material and realized in short order that a resource like the one here was very much in need. Need- less to say, the book you are holding is a result of recognizing both my own deficiencies in the vernacular of the various interpreters and the need for the voices of these interpreters to have a broader audience. Attempting to teach a course with only limited background in many of the periods up for discussion was a daunting, even foreboding, task. Though I had a deep interest in the subject and a profound understanding of the importance for the topic for the students, it took some encouragement from my former dean Sid Buzzell, as well as some kind words from my former colleagues Megan Devore, Johann Kim, Ryan Murphy, Aaron Smith, and Kevin Turner to garner the necessary courage to put the course on the schedule. They were also generous in directing me toward primary sources and providing me with helpful insights for constructing the course. The students in that section were stellar and also deserve mention: Jacob Balbas, Brooke Brundy, Ben Fisher, Taylor Gray, Neil Heitmann, Zack McMurren, Mandy Paleczny, and Jeremy Schmitz. Despite my inadequacies as their instructor, these students carefully read from the primary sources and through engaging and lively discussion ar- rived at a cogent understanding of the significance of the interpretive diversity through the ages. The questions pondered in the seminar were instrumental in helping me identify the four central themes addressed throughout the eleven chapters of this book. xi Kyle R. Greenwood, ed., Since the Beginning Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2018. Used by permission. _Greenwood_SinceBeginning_MB_wo.indd 11 6/6/18 10:31 AM xii Acknowledgments It is also important for me to recognize and thank the ten contributors, some of whom I have known for years, while others I have only had the privi- lege of acquaintance through this project. Either way, I count each of them as friends. They have demonstrated charity with me as their editor, have been respectful of deadlines, and were generously patient with me when the project took some unforeseen detours. I could not have asked for a finer group of men and women with whom to collaborate, especially for my first effort as editor. Jim Kinney has been a true professional as the chief editor at Baker Aca- demic. When I pitched the idea of this book to him in a rather informal setting, he saw the potential in the project and helped craft the scope of the book and fine-tune its essential components. I should also add that James Ernest—now the vice president and editor-in-chief at Eerdmans—played an important role in the early stages to help me establish a team of contributors.