Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 1/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 1

Overview

This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.

Two Creations – Bereshit 1 and 2

Tanakh Lab demonstrates that one of the chapters that shares the greatest number of textual elements with Bereshit 1 is Bereshit 2. These two chapters contain two accounts of the creation of the world which differ in many respects. Many have questioned both the need for the parallel stories and how to explain the discrepancies between the two.

Tools

• See the Tanakh Lab to compare the two chapters and view their linguistic parallels.

Primary Sources

• Mishnat R. Eliezer1About Mishnat R. Eliezer, RashiBereshit 2:5About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 1:27About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RashbamBereshit 1:27About R. Shemuel b. Meir – These sources view the parallel accounts of the Creation story in these two chapters as a literary technique in which the Torah first presents a general overview of the world's creation and then returns to provide greater detail about its most significant individual components.
• Hoil MosheBereshit 1:26About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi – According to Hoil Moshe, Chapters 1 and 2 describe two distinct events. While Chapter 1 describes the earlier creation of the whole world and the entire human race, Chapter 2 speaks of a subsequent and wholly separate creation of the Garden of Eden and the individual Adam.

Articles

Many authors have attempted to explain the differences between and need for the two accounts of creation:

• Two Accounts of Creation compares and analyzes the two accounts of creation in Bereshit 1 and 2. It presents three approaches to the parallels, viewing the doubled accounts as either a literary device, as complementary stories which each portray a distinct facet of creation, or as describing two totally distinct creations.
• R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik's The Lonely Man of Faith contains an extensive discussion of the two accounts of the creation of man and woman. He notes that Chapter 1 focuses on man in his majestic and creative capacity and his search for dignity through control over his environment, while Chapter 2 describes the submissive man of faith and his search for redemption. As each prototype approaches his surroundings differently, the descriptions of each creation differ.
• The Ideal and the Real by R. Zvi Grumet suggests that the first chapter of Sefer Bereshit describes what an ideal world would look like, followed in the second chapter by an account of the world as it actually existed. As such, Chapter 1 describes a harmonious world, marked by order, and evaluated as "good", without sin or strife. Chapter 2, in contrast, describes a creation that appears to lack an ordered plan, where mankind makes mistakes, and not all is good. Since a flawless world serves no purpose, as there is no potential for growth, God gave man free will, but at the cost of perfection. Both descriptions are included in Torah for man's goal is to strive to bring the imperfect world of reality to resemble the flawless Divine model.
• See Bereishit: The Two Stories of Creation by R. Menachem Leibtag for an exploration of the two accounts as reflective of two perspectives on the nature of human existence and the relationship between God and man. Chapter 1 presents man as existing in a physical world in which he must confront and struggle with nature. He is given dominance over it by God, realizes that God Himself is the master over all, but there is no description of man's actual relationship with his Creator. Chapter two presents man as also existing in a spiritual environment that allows him to develop a relationship with Hashem. In it, he can find spiritual connection by following God's commandments.
• See Reading Noah’s Polyphonic Story, by Dr. Joel Wolowelsky, for analysis of the dual narratives of man’s creation as a prototype of a polyphonic style of narration (a narrative technique where multiple, distinct voices and perspectives coexist within a single work).  He suggests that at times apparently contradictory narrations, might simply reflect an inner contradiction in the nature of man (as might be the case in Bereshit 1-2) or competing perspectives on the nature of an event (as might be the case in the Flood narrative).¹ 

Creation and Re-creation Post Flood  – Bereshit 1 and 6-9

Tanakh Lab demonstrates that Bereshit 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the chapters in Tanakh that have most in common with Bereshit 1. The two stories parallel each other, with the recreation of the world after the flood mirroring the original creation, perhaps to highlight how, after destruction, Hashem gave man a fresh start, returning the world to its innocent beginnings. The various differences in the two accounts, however, demonstrate that the second creation was not totally identical to the first, with adaptations made for the new reality post-sin.

Tools

• See the Tanakh Lab to compare the two sets of chapters and view their linguistic parallels.

Articles

Each of the articles below focuses on the differences between the world's original creation and its recreation after the flood:

• See Undoing and Redoing Creation for an analysis of the flood as a story of undoing and redoing creation, highlighting how God gives the world a second chance, but also introduces changes. The miraculous nature of the original creation is replaced by a much more natural development, Hashem is more distant, and He no longer evaluates each act of creation as "good", instead noting that the nature of man "is evil from his youth".
• See The First World and the Second by R. Yonatan Grossman for an exploration of the ways in which man’s essential mission changed after the flood.² Beforehand, man was given dominion over all other creatures, and was meant to act as their king.  As such, he was not allowed to eat meat, for a king does not eat his subjects.  Afterwards, however, man loses this status.Though he is still at the top of the hierarchy of created beings, he is considered one of them, a part of nature rather than a ruler over it.
• R. Zvi Grumet’s article The Ideal and the Real , discussed above, explores the notion that Tanakh often presents Hashem’s ideal blueprint, followed by a description of the reality as it played out within this world. This idea can be adapted to the description of the recreation of the world after the Flood.  

Creation in Bereshit and Tehillim

Tehillim 104 is a poetic account of the world's creation, corresponding in many ways to the prose account of Bereshit 1, but also containing significant differences.

Tools

Makbilot Bamikra draws our attention to the parallels between Bereshit 1-2 and Tehillim 104, two descriptions of the creation of the world.

Sources

• See Radak Tehillim 104:1-26About R. David Kimchiwho consistently notes which aspects of the psalm correspond to which aspects of creation.

Articles

In his article מזמור קד: כולם בחכמה עשית, R. Elchanan Samet compares and contrasts the accounts of creation in Tehillim 104 and Bereshit 1-2. The comparison sheds light on the ways in which Tanakh presents the same narrative in different lights in order to achieve distinct educational goals. While the prose account of Bereshit aims to lay out a foundational lesson in belief, presenting God as the Creator of all, the poetic account of Tehillim is a heartfelt outpouring of praise. The poet is not attempting to describe the moment of creation, but the created world as he sees it, in the present.

“Be Fruitful and Multiply”

Tools

Makbilot Bamikra includes all the times in Tanakh that variations of the phrase “פרו ורבו” appear.  By looking at the verses listed, we see that the phrase is used in situations that reflect a new beginning or a significant transition in the trajectory of humankind: 

• The creation of man, the re-population of the world after the flood
• Pivotal moments in the narrative of the Patriarchs such as Yaakov’s departure from his parents’ home and from Lavan’s home
• The resettlement of the Children of Israel in Egypt
• The beginning of the story of the slavery in Egypt.

¹ He suggests that the narrative is told in two ways, one emphasizing the cosmic nature of the event and the other highlighting the covenantal experience.

² His starting point is the question of why, after the Flood, man is granted permission to eat meat, while beforehand this was not allowed.