Bible Study: Genesis

Lesson 2: Genesis 1: Creation

Explanation of Genesis One, part two

4. the fourth day

a. Fullest description aside from creation of mankind. Purposely repetitious and chiastically organized:

A divide light/dark B signs, etc. C give light D God made C' give light B' rule A' divide light/dark

b. "two great lights ... and stars also" a polemic, purposely understated jab at major deities of ancient pantheons, the typical Hebrew words for sun and moon are avoided because of their similarity to the names of a sun god and moon god (Shamash/Babylonian and Yarih/Ugaritic); the luminaries are created and subservient, vassals of God; subsequent divine word missing (no naming, no blessing); the stars, deities in other cultures are casually included as if an afterthought

5. the fifth day

a. "great creatures of the sea": polemic against ancient, mythological sea monsters that are agents of rebellion and struggle in creation accounts (Leviathan, Rahab, Tannin: Job 3:8; Is. 21:7, 51:9; Ps. 74:13-17).

b. "blessing": often as here coupled with "create" (1:28, 2:3), bara/barak, suggesting God's beneficient plans for his creation; blessing in the patriarchal narratives tied to childbearing as in Gen. 1 it is connected to being fruitful and multiplying (compare also Ex. 1)

6. the sixth day

a. Fullest of any of the days. Twice as many divine speeches (4) as any other day (compare to 2x as much manna on sixth day, a hurrying toward the Sabbath), one of several indications of the significance of man's creation

b. Other indications of mankind's significance: announcement in the first person, purpose statement, blessing, assignment of food. Notice, however, that man also shares characteristics with the rest of creation: humanity is created on the same day, blessed like the fish/birds, from the dust, etc.

c. "Let us"

-- The narrator moves from impersonal "let there be" to a more intimate "let us make." -- significance of the plural * Remnant of polytheism * Plural of majesty: indicates fullness of attributes and power * Plural of self-deliberation: God takes counsel within himself * Plurality within the Godhead: built upon allusion to Spirit; "plural of fullness" (Hasel), "duality within the Godhead" (Clines); "It is one thing to say that the author of Gen. 1 was not schooled in the intricacies of Christian dogma. It is another thing to say he was theologically too primitive or naive to handle such concepts as plurality within unity." (Hamilton) * God is addressing his heavenly court: addressing angels (1 Kings 22:19 ff; Job 1:6, Is. 6:8 see also Ps. 8); but not necessarily to the exclusion of plurality within Godhead

d. image/likeness of God

-- it should be noted at the outset that Genesis is less interested in explaining the image of God than in stating the fact that we are made in the image of God; discussing the fuller notion of the image of God is a theological task taking the whole of Scripture -- image and likeness used interchangeably (5:1, 3) -- but, subtle nuance of meaning without full fledged distinction; some argue likeness backs off from image, others argue it emphasizes it

-- in apposition to the beasts who are not created according to God's likeness, but according to their kind

-- ANE cultures described kings as the image of god, that is as the god's representatives; an image of the god was seen as the carrier of the god's spirit, it's presence signified the presence of the god; in Gen. however the image is democratized as all humanity bears the image; royal language is applied not simply to the king, but to humanity

-- ruling/filling/subduing are the functional elements of the image

-- the image also implies a capability for relational interaction, perhaps explaining the use of the plural

e. "let them rule":

-- dominion is not the content but the consequence of the image

-- the rule is based on derivative authority, rule by assignment

-- rada: used to denote the relationship of master over hired servant (Lev. 25:43), king over his subjects (Ps. 72:8), nation over nation (Num. 24:19), shepherd over flock (Eze. 29:15)

f. "fill/subdue the earth":

-- in this they are indeed image bearers of God who also filled and subdued; the continued filling and subduing is left in the hands of God's representatives -- subdue (kabas) carries violent overtones elsewhere (Neh. 5:5, Est. 7:8, Josh. 18:1), but here it is parallel to "till and keep the land" in 2:5, 15

h. "very good ... the sixth day":

-- while the details are pronounced good, the whole is very good

-- first time the chronological frame employs the definite article, perhaps another signal of the unique nature of the sixth day (also applied to the seventh)

Verses 2:1-3

1. "by the seventh day God completed his work":

a. silence reenters the account (Hamilton) b. sets this day apart from the others c. seventh day enumerated three times emphasizing its significance

2. "rested": cessation, not inactivity, the rest of completion, notice that the chronological framework is missing

3. "blessed the seventh day ... made it holy":

a. blessing imparts procreative power, the rest of the seventh day implies a regeneration or refreshing

b. the first thing set apart to God, a "temporal shrine"; no space is yet deemed holy, but a distinction is made between time and holy time; it is set apart because it has sacramental implications, it points to something beyond itself, the eschatological rest; the Sabbath implies a purpose to creation toward which it will move

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