Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 2/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 2

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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. 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. Eliezer 1, 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 the 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.
• 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 his Creator. In it, he can find spiritual life by following God's commandments while striving towards perfection.
• 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 for man's goal is to strive to bring the imperfect world to resemble the flawless Divine model.
• 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

“These are the Generations”

The phrase “these are the generations” (אלה תולדות) repeats throughout Sefer Bereshit.  Analyzing its various appearances might help one uncover both the structure and some of the underlying themes of the book.

Tools

Makbilot Bamikra points out the many times that the phrase “אלה תולדות” appears in Sefer Bereshit.  

Articles

This article by R. Menachem Leibtag demonstrates that genealogical lists (marked by the language of “אלה תולדות”) introduce every major narrative unit of the book of Bereshit.² Tracing the usage of the term highlights how the book focuses on man's successes and failures in realizing the goal of publicizing and glorifying the name of Hashem. In the first unit of the book (chapters 1-11), which focuses on humanity as a whole, each genealogy list highlights a story of failure (Adam in Eden, the Flood, and the Tower of Bavel). The second unit of the book (Bereshit 12-end) focuses on the election of Avraham and his descendants, with each list highlighting either a rejected line (Yishmael and Esav's descendants) or a chosen line (Terach, Yitzchak, and Yaakov's descendants).

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 See also Overview – Sefer Bereshit which details each mention of "אלה תולדות" and the role the phrase plays in the book's structure.