CLT 3378 Ancient Mythology East and West Lecture Outline Creation in Genesis I Name of Israelite God a elohim god 1 Is the title 2 cf Canaanite el 3 elohim Genesis 1 2 4 b Yahweh same as elohim 1 Yahweh elohim Genesis 2 5 3 2 Yahweh actual name of the Israelite s God 3 YHWH this is what it would look like in our alphabet today a in Persian period after 538 Yahweh is too holy to say b adonay lord was given to sub for Yahweh c thus YHWH Lord II Monolatry to Monotheism a Israelite monolatry vs Canaanite polytheism 1 polytheism belief in and worship of many gods 2 monolatry belief in many gods but worship of one god b Yahweh god of Israelites Hebrews c Babylonian s take over Israel Babylonian Exile the Israelites 586 538 BCE 1 Israelites Hebrews go back to Israel from Babylonia now Jews 2 Jews are now monotheistic 3 monotheism belief in and worship of one god d Yahweh likened to 1 El creator 2 Baal conqueror III God Yahweh vs the sea a storm god vs primordial waters or sea 1 cf Marduk vs Tiamat cf Baal vs Yam 2 combat myth 3 order vs chaos b Yahweh vs the sea 1 defeats sea cf Marduk Baal 2 storm god cloud thunder lightning 3 sea could be the following a Leviathan b Rahab c river serpent dragon cf Yam 4 Rahab s helpers Job 9 13 IV Genesis a bereshith in the beginning Hebrew title for Genesis 1 title ANE convention 2 cf Enuma Elish b genesis origin Greek c Genesis was written around c 950 550 BCE Before the Persian Period d mostly prose cf Baal Cycle Enuma Elish etc V Genesis 1 3 a two creation myths b JEDP Theory as in Reader intro discrepancies different sources c contra JEDP Theory Genesis 1 3 literary unity VI Genesis 1 2 4 first creation myth a creation of universe happens b cf Enuma Elish c contra against polytheistic models d demythologizes natural forces e 1 14 19 two great lights f Hebrew shemesh sun vs Akkadian Shamash Sun Goddess Ugaritic Shapash Sun God g Hebrew yareah moon vs Ugaritic Yarikh Moon God VII God and the primordial waters a primordial waters in ANE 1 assoc with chaos disorder 2 evil b 1st 3rd 6th days it is good c God goodness d 2nd day creates sky to be the middle between the waters e cf Marduk and Tiamat 1 deep Hebrew tehom 2 tehom and Tiamat f preexisting waters primordial waters g 1 3 beginning of creation VIII Cosmocentric creation a order of creation 1 light 2 sky 3 earth sea plants geocentric 4 sun moon stars 5 animals 6 human beings b man woman created at same time c job of humans dominion IX Genesis 2 5 3 second creation myth a anthropocentric creation centered on creation of human beings b order of creation 1 earth 2 man 3 Garden plants 4 animals 5 woman c heavens and earth 1 1 2 1 2 4 vs earth and heavens 2 5 d anthropomorphic more human like God walks potter father e woman created from man X Serpent a later Judeo Christian reading serpent Satan b original Israelite author audience c serpent trickster amoral d eating of Tree of Knowledge like gods or like humans e man woman nakedness f God angry at serpent g pain toil itsavon 1 childbirth woman 2 toiling in soil man 3 adam vs adamah a verbal play pun b false etymology h serpent and trickster myth 1 trickster transforms himself and world around him 2 serpent also a culture hero i knowledge and Tree of Life immortality j Mesopotamian search for immortality XI Divine Council Myth in Genesis 3 22 a Israelites 1 prob originally polytheistic 2 then monolatrous 3 then monotheistic b divine council myth how two or more gods meet to discuss the fate of one or more humans i e whether the gods will help or harm that human c Genesis 3 22 1 Behold the man has become like one of us 2 Yahweh to other gods 3 discusses fate of Adam and Eve Tree of Life 4 expels Adam Eve from Garden XII Genesis 1 3 a two complementary myths b cosmocentric view anthropocentric view c fuller view of creation
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