The Second Creation Narrative: Eve

This is my second post in the two-part series on the creation narratives of Genesis. This second narrative is found in Genesis 2:4-25. After reading the first two chapters I noticed very distinct messages and approaches in each chapter. I also noticed the clear demarcation of in Genesis 2:4 opening a new account: “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth...” One detail of note is that in Hebrew the scriptures began referring to the creator as “Yahweh”. The previous creation account referred to the creator as “Elohim”. For this reason, the second creation narrative is often credited to another author called the Jahwist (J). The name “Yahweh” is often translated in English to “Jehovah”. However, Jews prefer not to vocalize the name “Yahweh” when reading the Torah and substitute this name with “Adonai”, meaning “Lord”. The King James Version of the Bible follows this practice with few exceptions. Therefore, the change in the name of the creator can be observed in English by the use of the word “Lord”.

One obvious indication that this is a separate creation narrative is the statement in the fifth verse: “and every plant of the field before it was in the earth and every herb of the field before it grew... and there was not a man to till the ground”. This verse is going back to the time before there were plants or people. Later, in the story we find that there were not yet animals. But in the previous creation narrative God had created plants, animals and man. It appears these creation accounts are not sequential in time but parallel. I see these two accounts portraying the same story but for different purposes.

God creates man “from the dust of the ground”. The word for “ground” in Hebrew is “adhamah” which is something of a play on words. The word “adhamah” is composed of four Hebrew letters: aleph, daleth, mem, he. If the last letter “he” is removed, the three letters that remain form the word “adham” or “mankind”. Thus, in Hebrew, “mankind” is literally taken out of the “ground”. Yahweh then animates the body of man by breathing into it the breath of life so it becomes a living soul.

Now that there is a man to till the ground, Yahweh plants a garden and places the man in it. He plants many trees and is permitted to eat from all but The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He is warned that if should he eat the fruit of this tree he will surely die. The account also gives the geography and rivers of the surrounding area. I will skim over a lot of this to get to the part that I think is the most important part of the story.

Yahweh says “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (verse 18). The word “meet” in Hebrew is “neghedh”, meaning a front, i.e. part opposite; specifically a counterpart, or mate. Yahweh then forms out of the ground every beast of the field and fowl of the air. These are presented to Adam and he names them. All these creatures are created from the same source as man himself, the ground or “adhamah”. But among all these many useful beasts and creatures there is found no aid “meet” for man, or “counterpart” corresponding to him.

Finally, Yahweh causes Adam to sleep and takes part of the man’s own flesh to create a companion: a woman. The woman is made from Adam’s rib, in Hebrew “tsela”, which can also be understood to mean “side”. Adam then says, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (verse 23). This companion is named “ishah”, which is woman, because she was taken out of man, “ish”.

As I have mentioned previously, I don’t think the literal, historical veracity of this story is what is important. I doubt that Eve was literally created out of a rib. But who knows? Maybe it is literal. But I think this story is creating an image to portray an important meaning. The man was alone. He needed a counterpart, an opposite, a mate. All the animals with their many uses were not able to fill this role. They were made of the same materials. The cattle of the field are useful for food and labor. But none of these corresponded to man on the deepest and most important levels. For this, the Lord needed to create a new life out of the man himself—someone who he could connect with as if the two were one soul. This was done by creating woman, the final act of creation.

This is the great lesson of the second creation narrative. Men and women should be connected to each other in every possible way. They are opposite and similar, contrasting and complementing. They are as one flesh though in two separate bodies. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”.

The First Creation Narrative

This is my first post in a two-part series on the two creation narratives. The first creation narrative is found in Genesis 1:1-2:3. Interestingly, the first creation narrative uses the name "Elohim" whenever referring to the creator. The second creation narrative is found in Genesis 2:4-25. This second narrative uses the name "Yahweh" to refer to the creator. This name is often translated to "Jehovah" in English. Both narratives have different focuses and points of emphasis so I think it is useful to look at them separately.

According to one theory, Wellhausen's Documentary Hypothesis, the first creation narrative was written by the Priestly Source (P). The Priestly Source is thought to be a priest or group of priests living in Babylonian captivity. As they kept the ancient records of Israel they paid particular attention to those matters of special interest to priests such as the extensive ritualistic instructions in Leviticus and genealogies in Numbers. But it is also believed that this first creation narrative has been attributed to the Priestly Source as well. Karen Armstrong, in her book A History of God, said: "the didactic tone and repetitions suggest that P's creation story was also designed for liturgical recital" (64). Indeed it's structure is quite elaborate and organized with symbolism deeply enmeshed in the writings, possibly for use in the the ancient temple.

On recurring symbol is the number seven. The number seven is highly symbolic in the Torah. Seven signifies divine completion. The most obvious use of the number seven is that there are seven days of creation. The first sentence of the Hebrew Bible contains seven words: "Bereshith bara elohim eth hashamayim va'eth ha'arets". The second sentence contains 14 words. The verses about the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3) contain 35 words (7x5). The word "elohim" or "God" appears 35 time (7x5). The word "earth" appears 21 times (7x3). Both the phrases "and it was so" and "God saw that it was good" appear seven times.

The Framework Interpretation of Genesis posits an elaborate structure in the text developed to reinforce the commandment to honor the Sabbath. The narrative can be broken down into two triads. The first triad is of the first three days and the second triad is of the next three days. These two triads parallel each other. For example, on the first God says "light there by light" (verse 3) and on the fourth day says "let there be lights" (verse 14). On the second day, God separates the waters above from waters beneath and on the fifth day fills the waters above with birds and the waters beneath with swimming creatures. On the third day God brings forth dry land and vegetation and on the sixth day makes animals and mankind. These two triads can also be seen as part of three kingdoms. In the first three days God creates three creation kingdoms. In the next three days he creates the creature kings. On the seventh day the creator king takes his rest.

The cosmological view given in Genesis is consistent with the Middle-Eastern understanding of the time (shown above). Civilizations in the region understood the earth to be a flat disk suspended in waters, or "mayim". The sky was understood to be a metal bowl which separated the earth and the surrounding waters from the waters above, which formed the heavens, or "shamayim".

The creation account of Genesis is sometimes compared with the contemporary Babylonian creation story, Enuma Elish. Enuma Elish shares the idea of a primeval chaos with waters above and below. But the creation narrative of the Hebrew Bible is distinct in its portrayal of creation as an ordered and planned construction. While Enuma Elish, as well as many other creation stories, portray the universe as a result of divine conflict among competing gods, the creation by Elohim is seemingly effortless, brought forth by simple verbal command. The Genesis narrative places special emphasis on organization. The story uses the word "bhdel" meaning "to divide" when separating the light from the darkness, the waters above from the waters beneath, the day from the night. Every living thing is organized and made to bring forth after its kind.

Both the Genesis narrative and Enuma Elish share six days of creation followed by a day of rest. However, whereas in Enuma Elish the creation of mankind is something of an afterthought, mankind is Elohim's crowning creation. To mankind, or "adham", God gives his own image. Mankind is given dominion over all things, all the plants and animals. Of note here is that mankind, adham, is created male and female. It is clear here that the author was referring to "adham" as mankind and not the individual Adam. This first creation account mentions the creation of mankind, both men and women. This is noteworthy because the second creation account places more particular emphasis on the relationship between the men and women in the form of the individuals Adam and Eve.

It can be said that both creation narratives in Genesis have a message, a moral. In the last three verses (Genesis 2:1-3), God rests from his labors on the seventh day and sanctifies it. The verb "rest" is in Hebrew, "shaboth", which is now understood in English as the "Sabbath". God blesses, "bharekh", and sanctifies, "qaddesh", the seventh day because on that day he rested. The first creation narratives ends with the lesson that the Sabbath is a blessed and holy day on which we should rest from our labor and sanctify the Sabbath as did Elohim on the seventh day of creation.

References:

http://www.aarweb.org/syllabus/syllabi/g/gier/306/commoncosmos.htm

Armstrong, Karen. A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 1993.

Where Art Thou?

Rabbi Schneur Zalman, The Rav of Northern White Russia (died 1813), was put in jail in Petersbutf, because the mitnagdim had denounced his principles and his way of living to the government. He was awaiting trial when the chief of the gendarmes entered his cell. The majestic and quiet face of the rav, who was so deep in meditation that he did not at first notice his visitor, suggested to the chief, a thoughtful person, what manner of man he had before him. He began to converse with his prisoner and brought up a number of questions which had occurred to him in reading the Scriptures. Finally, he asked: “How are we to understand that God, the all-knowing, said to Adam: ‘Where art thou?’”

“Do you believe,” answered the rav, “that the Scriptures are eternal and that every era, every generation and every man is included in them?”

“I believe this,” said the other.

“Well then,” said the zaddik, “in every era, God calls to every man: ‘Where are you in your world? So many years and days of those allotted to you have passed, and how far have you gotten in your world?’ God says something like this: ‘You have lived forty-six years. How far along are you?”

When the chief of the gendarmes heard his age mentioned, he pulled himself together, laid his hand on the rav’s shoulder, and cried: “Bravo!” But his heart trembled.

-Martin Buber, The Way of Man (9-10)

As I mentioned in my last post, the seemingly simple can be quite powerful when understood for its underlying symbolism. The name “Adam” is Hebrew, meaning “mankind”. While on one level the Biblical text tells the story of a particular individual, it also tells the story of all mankind, as well as the story of every individual. We are to understand the story as we stand in Adam’s place and imagine God speaking to us. God has given us commandments and the violation of these commandments brings us into opposition with God, for he “cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:31).

I quote again from Buber. God says to Adam: “Where art thou?”

In so asking, God does not expect to learn something he does not know; what he wants is to produce an effect in man which can only be produced by just such a question, provided that it reaches man’s heart—that man allows it to reach his heart.

Adam hides himself to avoid rendering accounts, to escape responsibility for his way of living. Every man hides for this purpose, for every man is Adam and finds himself in Adam’s situation...

Everything now depends on whether man faces the question. Of course every man’s heart, like that of the chief in the story, will tremble when he hears it. But his system of hideouts will help him to overcome this emotion. For the voice does not come in a thunderstorm which threatens man’s very existence; it is a “still small voice”, and easy to drown... Adam faces the Voice, perceives his enmeshment, and avows: “I hid myself”; this is the beginning of man’s way. The decisive heart-searching is the beginning of the way in man’s life; it is, again and again, the beginning of a human way. (pages 12-13)

Everyone must take this step and face the Voice. Until Adam takes responsibility for his action he does not progress. Hiding from God provides only a false solace. It is like trying to solve problems by forgetting about them. Forgetting may bring relief but it does not actually change anything—the problems are still there. The reason God calls after Adam is not to find him but to help Adam to find himself. When Adam understands where he is he can decide where he must go.

Adam and Eve are made to face the consequences of their action: pain and death. Because the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance they are banished from his presence. As Adam, mankind, we face a similar, personal fall from favor with God by sin. We are cut off from the presence of God and suffer sorrow and spiritual death. The objective now is to return to Eden. This is the “teshuvah”, the returning to God. This is what is meant by repentance, to return. The Lord still cannot allow sin, but Adam can return to the presence of God through covenant.

By sinning, Adam has become “natural man” and is in effect “an enemy to God... and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19). Adam can become “kadosh”, or holy once again, through the atonement of Christ to be brought back “at-one” with God.

So Adam, where art thou? “Have ye been spiritually born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view his mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?” (Alma 5:14-15).

“Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you” (Alma 5:33).