Difference between revisions of "Two Accounts of Creation: Bereshit 1–2/2/en"
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<p>While Chapter 1 describes the creation of the world and the human species as a whole, Chapter 2 speaks of a later creation, the planting of Gan Eden and the formation of the individual, Adam.</p> | <p>While Chapter 1 describes the creation of the world and the human species as a whole, Chapter 2 speaks of a later creation, the planting of Gan Eden and the formation of the individual, Adam.</p> | ||
<mekorot>David Nissani</mekorot> | <mekorot>David Nissani</mekorot> | ||
| − | <point><b>Why two creations?</b> According to Nissani, Adam was uniquely created and placed in the Garden of Eden since he was to father a special race.  It is from his line specifically that Avraham and the nation of Israel | + | <point><b>Why two creations?</b> According to Nissani, Adam was uniquely created and placed in the Garden of Eden since he was to father a special race.  It is from his line specifically that Avraham and the nation of Israel were to descend.<fn>Nissani proposes that it is for this reason that the Torah goes out of its way to trace the lineage from Adam to Noach and then from Noach to Avraham.  The Torah is highlighting that Avraham's ancestors had the privilege of living in the Garden of Eden and being uniquely created by Hashem.</fn></point> |
<point><b>Names of Hashem</b> – The name Elohim connotes a universal God, appropriately used when discussing the creation of the world at large.  The name Hashem, on the other hand, reflects God's personal providence, and is thus added when describing the creation of an individual race whom God cares for in particular and with whom He converses.</point> | <point><b>Names of Hashem</b> – The name Elohim connotes a universal God, appropriately used when discussing the creation of the world at large.  The name Hashem, on the other hand, reflects God's personal providence, and is thus added when describing the creation of an individual race whom God cares for in particular and with whom He converses.</point> | ||
<point><b>Order of Creation</b> – Since the two chapters describe totally different events, there is no reason for the order of creation to be the same in both.<fn>The vegetation, man, water etc. of Chapter 2 are distinct from those of Chapter 1,and might have first been created even years later.</fn></point> | <point><b>Order of Creation</b> – Since the two chapters describe totally different events, there is no reason for the order of creation to be the same in both.<fn>The vegetation, man, water etc. of Chapter 2 are distinct from those of Chapter 1,and might have first been created even years later.</fn></point> | ||
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<point><b>Creation via speech?</b></point> | <point><b>Creation via speech?</b></point> | ||
<point><b>Verbs Used (עשה/ברא versus יצר)</b> – In Chapter 1, where God created ex nihilo, the verbs "ברא" and "עשה" are used.  The creations of Chapter 2, though, were formed from pre-existing matter, and therefore the more appropriate verb "יצר" is used.</point> | <point><b>Verbs Used (עשה/ברא versus יצר)</b> – In Chapter 1, where God created ex nihilo, the verbs "ברא" and "עשה" are used.  The creations of Chapter 2, though, were formed from pre-existing matter, and therefore the more appropriate verb "יצר" is used.</point> | ||
| − | <point><b>Evidence of | + | <point><b>Evidence of multiple humans</b> – Nissani supports his claim that many humans existed besides Adam and Eve from the following:<br/> |
<ul> | <ul> | ||
| − | <li>Kayin's lament after his punishemnt for killing | + | <li>Kayin's lament after his punishemnt for killing Hevel that "all who will find me will kill me" only makes sense on the backdrop of other existing humans.</li> |
<li>If there were no other people in the world besides Adam, Chavvah and his children, whom did Kayin marry and how did he bear children?<fn>Nissani notes that though one might posit that he married one of Adam and Chavvah's later offspring, he points out that Kayin had been exiled from them and was no longer living with them.  R. Natan in Bavli Yevamot 62a solves the problem by suggesting that Kayin was born with a twin sister.</fn></li> | <li>If there were no other people in the world besides Adam, Chavvah and his children, whom did Kayin marry and how did he bear children?<fn>Nissani notes that though one might posit that he married one of Adam and Chavvah's later offspring, he points out that Kayin had been exiled from them and was no longer living with them.  R. Natan in Bavli Yevamot 62a solves the problem by suggesting that Kayin was born with a twin sister.</fn></li> | ||
<li>After Kayin bears his child, Chanokh, the verse states that he built a city ("וַיְהִי בֹּנֶה עִיר").  A city connotes an area inhabited by many, not just Kayin's immediate family.</li> | <li>After Kayin bears his child, Chanokh, the verse states that he built a city ("וַיְהִי בֹּנֶה עִיר").  A city connotes an area inhabited by many, not just Kayin's immediate family.</li> | ||
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
| + | <point><b>"לְמִינוֹ"</b> – By the creation of all life (vegetation, fish, birds and animals) with the sole exception of mankind, the verses explicitly state that Hashem created each according to its species.  This difficult for Nissani who claims that mankind too was created as a species.</point> | ||
| + | <point><b>זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם</b> – The opening of Chapter 5, which leads into the genealogy of Adam (presumably thus speaking of Adam of Gan Eden) is also difficult for Nissani since the description of Adam's creation there matches that of Chapter 1<fn>It uses the verb "ברא" rather than "יצר", speaks of formation "in the likeness of God" similar to Bereshit 1's "בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ" and echoes verbatim the fact that "זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאָם".</fn> (mankind) and not Chapter 2 (the individual Adam).</point> | ||
| + | <point><b>Longevity</b> – Nissani suggests that the long life spans of the people listed in the generations from Adam to Noach likely refer only to Adam's descendants and are not representative of the rest of the people living in the world at the time.  Having originated in the Garden of Eden, and perhaps having tasted from the Tree of Life, they merited long life.  Over the generations, though, Adam's descendents mingled with and married other humans and eventually life spans were lowered for all.</point> | ||
| + | <point><b>Age of the World</b> – Nissani posits that the creation of Adam in the Garden might have occurred thousands of years after the original creation.  This allows for harmonization with scientific data according to which the world and  human life is much older than dating in Torah would seem to allow for.</point> | ||
</category> | </category> | ||
</approaches> | </approaches> | ||
</page> | </page> | ||
</aht-xml> | </aht-xml> | ||
Version as of 01:10, 17 April 2015
Two Accounts of Creation
Exegetical Approaches
Literary Device
The repetition of the creation story with its varying details is a literary device in which an author first presents a general overview and then proceeds to speak in more detail about important individual components.
Creation of Man and Women - together or separate?
Man in the image of God or from earth
Commands to Man: to conquer or to guard??
Creation via speech?
Order of Creation
Names of Hashem
Verbs Used (עשה/ברא versus יצר)
Two Facets of Creation
The two chapters describe different aspects of the same creation. Chapter 1 focuses on man in his creative capacity and his search for 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 description of the creation of each and his world differs, but in reality both are fundamentally part of all creation.
Structural unit – This approach views chapters one and two as one unit.
Creation of Man and Women - together or separate?
Man in the image of God or from earth
Commands to Man: to conquer or to guard??
Order of Creation
Names of Hashem
Verbs Used (עשה/ברא versus יצר)
Distinct Events
While Chapter 1 describes the creation of the world and the human species as a whole, Chapter 2 speaks of a later creation, the planting of Gan Eden and the formation of the individual, Adam.
Sources:David Nissani
Why two creations? According to Nissani, Adam was uniquely created and placed in the Garden of Eden since he was to father a special race. It is from his line specifically that Avraham and the nation of Israel were to descend.1
Names of Hashem – The name Elohim connotes a universal God, appropriately used when discussing the creation of the world at large. The name Hashem, on the other hand, reflects God's personal providence, and is thus added when describing the creation of an individual race whom God cares for in particular and with whom He converses.
Order of Creation – Since the two chapters describe totally different events, there is no reason for the order of creation to be the same in both.2
Creation of Man and Women - together or separate? In Chapter 1 when the human species is created, both male and female are created simultaneously,3 but when Hashem forms the individual, Adam, from whose line Avraham will eventually descend, he creates him separately from Chavvah.
Man in the image of God or from earth
Commands to Man: to conquer or to guard?? Hashem blesses the human species as a whole to multiply and places them at the apex of creation, in control of the lesser beings. In Chapter 2, in contrast, Hashem gives very specific commands to Adam, meant for him alone in his unique abode, the Garden of Eden.
Creation via speech?
Verbs Used (עשה/ברא versus יצר) – In Chapter 1, where God created ex nihilo, the verbs "ברא" and "עשה" are used. The creations of Chapter 2, though, were formed from pre-existing matter, and therefore the more appropriate verb "יצר" is used.
Evidence of multiple humans – Nissani supports his claim that many humans existed besides Adam and Eve from the following:
- Kayin's lament after his punishemnt for killing Hevel that "all who will find me will kill me" only makes sense on the backdrop of other existing humans.
- If there were no other people in the world besides Adam, Chavvah and his children, whom did Kayin marry and how did he bear children?4
- After Kayin bears his child, Chanokh, the verse states that he built a city ("וַיְהִי בֹּנֶה עִיר"). A city connotes an area inhabited by many, not just Kayin's immediate family.
"לְמִינוֹ" – By the creation of all life (vegetation, fish, birds and animals) with the sole exception of mankind, the verses explicitly state that Hashem created each according to its species. This difficult for Nissani who claims that mankind too was created as a species.
זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם – The opening of Chapter 5, which leads into the genealogy of Adam (presumably thus speaking of Adam of Gan Eden) is also difficult for Nissani since the description of Adam's creation there matches that of Chapter 15 (mankind) and not Chapter 2 (the individual Adam).
Longevity – Nissani suggests that the long life spans of the people listed in the generations from Adam to Noach likely refer only to Adam's descendants and are not representative of the rest of the people living in the world at the time. Having originated in the Garden of Eden, and perhaps having tasted from the Tree of Life, they merited long life. Over the generations, though, Adam's descendents mingled with and married other humans and eventually life spans were lowered for all.
Age of the World – Nissani posits that the creation of Adam in the Garden might have occurred thousands of years after the original creation. This allows for harmonization with scientific data according to which the world and human life is much older than dating in Torah would seem to allow for.
