Questions for Review

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. See Priestly Creation Story and Yahwist Creation Story.
2. What does the story of disobedience in Eden (Genesis 3) suggest about the Israelite understanding of sin? See Disobedience and Expulsion from Eden.
3. What are the similiarities and differences between the Enuma Elish and the biblical stories of creation? See Enuma Elish.
4. What is the theological and thematic importance of the biblical flood story in relation to the entire Primeval Story? See Thematic Unity.
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? See Thematic Unity

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? Along these same lines, our modern origin stories, whether stories of cosmology (the "Big Bang") or of national origin, reflect to a certain degree our own understanding of ourselves (or how we would like to be). Think about the similaries and the differences.
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 communicate concerning the nature of the divine realm? What does each imply about the nature of humankind? 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 the origin of human beings, such as would be found in the disciplines of physical anthropology and modern medicine, imply about human nature?
3. Compare the following quotations from the 1st Century C.E. with your reading of the Primeval Story and 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.

   -- Josephus, Against Apion, ii. 24

   I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

   -- Paul, First Letter to Timothy, 2:12-14

   Do you think these views would be supported or undermined by Genesis 2-3?
4. The Primeval Story as a whole implies that God created the world by subduing and shaping the waters of chaos. Later, humankind rebeled 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 God kept starting over, yet never gave up trying to fashion a perfect world? What does this imply about humankind?