The First Creation Story – Genesis 1: 1-2: 4a [i]

 
The early rabbis practiced midrash to interpret scripture 

• Midrash – to search, inquire to seek
• The very first word in the Torah is bereshit (‘in beginning’).
• The first letter of this word is the Hebrew letter bet. 

In the midrash ( from darash, to seek, search, inquire) of the Talmud, the rabbis note that the letter bet is enclosed on 3 sides but open to the front (Hebrew is read from right to left).

• This means we are not to speculate on the origins of God or about what may have existed before creation                           (Gen.R.1.10)    
• The Torah begins with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, so we can begin even if we cannot begin at the very beginning.

 
View Scripture here:

http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/genesis/passage.aspx?q=genesis+1:1-31;genesis+2:1-4

In the beginning of the story

• God is breathing
• God begins creation with hovering (nkjv)  (nsrv – swept Gen 1:2) and ends with resting
• During the story Earth is already there, it was a formless void, already in existence is water (undomesticated) and darkness
• Tehom = chaos waters salt water, water without function
  • Gen 1:2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

 God’s Technique/ ordering activity

 God is doing one thing at a time and assessing what God has done

• The days are paired with one another
  • Day one is paired with day four
  • Day 2 (sky), Day 5
  • Day 3 (vegetation) with Day 6 (the beasts)
  • God named things
    • Repeated Formulas
    • And God said…
    • Let there be..
    • And it was so
    • And God made…
    • And god saw that is was good.
    • And there was evening and there was morning, day..

 

Day Two 1:6 – raquia (heavan, sky firmament, dome)

6  And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the the waters waters, and let it separate from the waters.”

 God’s creations are creating

• God is delegating responsibility
• Since the text was edited during the exile to Babylon it is empowering the people

 

11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so.

 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so.

 26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

 20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”

Day 6 Gen 1:26

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

 image (tselem)

• a statue
• a model
• a drawing
• a shadow

 likeness (Demuth)

• some thing like
• image of man
• image of God

 “let us make humankind in our image”

 What does “us/our” mean

• Possibly the mutli – dimensional aspects of how God exists 
• For example we are made in God’s image but we are all different
• Possibly a divine counsel which is mentioned throughout the Hebrew Bible

 

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[i] Partial Notes from Introduction to Hebrew Bible BI-101-A Introduction to Hebrew Bible 1 Denise Hopkins (Notes Taken at Wesley Theological Seminary by Terrell Harris)