For Further Study

Alter (1996) is a literary translation of Genesis, Levenson (1988) plumbs the theological depths of chaos, and Miller (1978) synthesizes the themes of Genesis 1.11

Chapter 1 Bibliography; see Chapter 2 Bibliography for works treating the themes of Genesis as a whole.

Questions for Review

1. Compare and contrast the Israelite understanding of God as implied in Genesis 1:1-2:4a with the understanding of God implied in 2:4b-25.
2. What does the story of disobedience in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3) tell us about the Israelite understanding of basic human sin?
3. What are the similarities and differences between the Enuma Elish and the biblical stories of creation?
4. What is the theological and thematic importance of the biblical flood story in relation to the entire Primeval Story?
5. How is the Tower of Babel story related to previous stories of sin in Genesis 3-10? Why is it a fitting conclusion to the overall tale of disobedience told in the Primeval Story?

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

1. We have seen that the Primeval Story is a composite literary product with identifiable original sources, including the Yahwist epic core and later Priestly additions. In what ways does the epic core of the Primeval Story reflect the historical context of its writer? Likewise, how do the Priestly additions reflect their exilic context? Our modern origin stories, of cosmology (the "Big Bang") or national origin, reflect to a certain degree our understanding of ourselves (or how we would like to be). What are the similarities and the differences between our story and the Primeval Story?
2. Compare and contrast the various creation stories described in this chapter: the Yahwist account in Genesis 2-3, the Priestly account in Genesis 1, and the Mesopotamian account of the Enuma Elish. What does each account say about the nature of the divine realm? What does each imply about the nature of humanity? In much the same way, our modern world tries to account for origins, and these accounts imply something about values. What does a modern scientific account of human origin, such as that found in physical anthropology and modern medicine, imply about human nature?
3. Compare the following quotation from Josephus (first century C.E.) with your reading of the Primeval Story and its narrative of the creation of woman:
   

   Woman, says the Law, is in all things inferior to man. Let her accordingly be submissive, not for humiliation, but that she may be directed; for authority has been given by God to man.
   (Against Apion, ii. 24)

   Do you think the Genesis creation story implies the equality of man and woman, or the subordination of the woman to the man?
4. The Primeval Story as a whole implies that God created the world by subduing and shaping the waters of chaos. Later, humanity rebelled against God and contaminated the world. After an attempt to start over, even the "reborn" world of Noah was sinful. What does it say about God that he starting over and yet never gave up trying to fashion a perfect world? What does it imply about humanity?