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Genesis I-II

STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Contents

Preface......................................................ixAcknowledgments..............................................xiiIntroduction.................................................11 Genesis in Seven Days......................................72 The Garden, Part 1.........................................203 The Garden, Part 2.........................................334 Offerings and Their Results................................465 Some Descendants...........................................546 Some More Descendants......................................607 Unusual Births.............................................668 The Flood(s)...............................................699 Yet Another Curse—and a Blessing.....................8910 Descendants and Nations...................................9411 A Tower and a Confusion of Words..........................10112 A Transitional Genealogy..................................110Coda.........................................................114Notes........................................................117

Chapter One

Our name of the book of Genesis comes from Greek, and it means " origin, beginning." The Israelites named their books from the first words in them, and the Hebrew name for Genesis is Bere'?ît, "In beginning" (I explore the word more below). The account in 1.1–2.4 is the first of two creation stories, probably a later understanding than the second story.

This account is a very formal tale, structured clearly and consistently around seven days. Its way of going about its work within that structure is also very formal, and so is its rather repetitive literary style. Elohîm (we'll see a different way of referring to the deity in ch. 2) says that something is to happen, and it happens: "'Let light be.' And light was" (v. 3). Elohîm looks at what he has done and pronounces it good. Then he names the thing or things created, and the day ends. There are, of course, specific ways of dealing with various happenings on a given day. Matters seem to get a bit more extensive as the chapter moves along, and at its end is a specific application of all of this to Israel's life. We look first at the translation of the text itself, and then I discuss some of its interesting and important aspects.

Finally, the often repeated word "good" has significant connotations in Hebrew, not only of excellence in general, or of high morality, but also of beauty. As you see the constant refrain "it was good" throughout this story, you might have that sense of "beautiful" in mind, especially at the very last remark when, with everything finished, Elohîm looks at all he has done and thinks that it is "very good."

In the translations, boldface numbers refer to the chapter in Genesis; superscripts are verse numbers.

1 1 When Elohîm began to create the sky and the earth, 2 the earth was shapeless and empty and darkness across the abyss, and Elohîm's wind swept across the waters. 3 And Elohîm said, "Let light be." And light was. 4 And Elohîm saw the light, that it was good. And Elohîm made a division between light and dark. 5 And Elohîm called the light Day, and the dark he called Night. And it was evening and it was morning day one.

6 And Elohîm said, "Let a bowlshape be in the middle of the waters, and let it make a division between waters and waters." 7 And Elohîm made the bowlshape, and it made a division between the waters that were underneath the bowlshape and the waters that were above the bowlshape. And it was so. 8 And Elohîm called the bowlshape Sky. And it was evening and it was morning a second day.

9 And Elohîm said, "Let the water underneath Sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry appear." And it was so. 10 And Elohîm called the dry Earth, and the gathered water he called Sea. And Elohîm saw that it was good.

11 And Elohîm said, "Let Earth produce green, plants seeding seed, fruit trees making fruit by their kinds, in which is their seed on Earth." And it was so. 12 And Earth brought out green, plants seeding seed by their kinds, and trees making fruit in which is their seed by their kinds. And Elohîm saw that it was good. 13 And it was evening and it was morning a third day.

14 And Elohîm said, "Let there be lightgivers in the bowlshape of Sky to make division between Day and Night, and let them be for portents and for set times and for days and years. 15 And let them be as lightgivers in the bowlshape of Sky, to give light on Earth." And it was so. 16 And Elohîm made the two big lightgivers, the Big Lightgiver to rule Day and the Small Lightgiver to rule Night, and the stars. 17 And Elohîm placed them in the bowlshape of Sky to give light upon Earth, 18 and to rule Day and Night and to divide between light and dark. And Elohîm saw that it was good. 19 And it was evening and it was morning a fourth day.

20 And Elohîm said, "Let the waters swarm swarms of living things, and let flyers fly over Earth, across the surface of the bowlshape of Sky." 21 And Elohîm created the huge sea monsters and all the living things that creep, with which the waters swarm, by their kinds, and all winged flyers by their kinds. And Elohîm saw that it was good. 22 And Elohîm blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in Sea, and let flyers multiply in Earth." 23 And it was evening and it was morning a fifth day.

24 And Elohîm said, "Let Earth produce living things by their kinds, cattle and creepers and wild beasts by their kinds." And it was so. 25 And Elohîm made the wild beasts by their kinds and the cattle by their kinds and all the creepers on the ground by their kinds. And Elohîm saw that it was good. 26 And Elohîm said, "Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them dominate the fish of Sea and the birds of Sky and the cattle and all Earth and all creepers that creep on Earth." 27 And Elohîm created humans in his image, in Elohîm's image he created them, Male and Female he created them. 28 And Elohîm blessed them, and Elohîm said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it, and dominate the fish of Sea and the birds of Sky and all the living things that creep on Earth."

29 And Elohîm said, "There now, I have given you all the green seeding seed that is on the surface of all Earth, and all the trees in which is the fruit of trees seeding seed; it is yours for food, 30 and to all the wild beasts and to all birds of Sky and to all creepers on Earth in which is living being, all the green plants for food." And it was so. 31 And Elohîm saw all that he had made, and, there, it was very good. And it was evening and it was morning a sixth day.

2 1 And Sky and Earth and all their hosts were finished. 2 And Elohîm finished on the seventh day his work that he had done. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 And Elohîm blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because in it he had rested from all his work that Elohîm had created to do.

4 This is the historyh of Sky and Earth when they were created.

A later writer in Greek knew this story well, and decided to imitate it for his own...