A Targum on Genesis 1.1-2.3

[In my series on Ephesians two years ago, I found the practice of creating a targum, an extended paraphrase of the Scriptures applied to contemporary circumstances, to be a helpful way of summarizing the study. This is an ancient rabbinic practice, but has been revived in recent years by, among others, Canadian New Testament scholar Sylvia Keesmat in her fascinating commentaries on Romans (Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire / Demanding Justice (2019)) and Colossians (Colossians Remixed (2004)). What follows is a targum on the Genesis 1 story.]

You have heard it said that the world was created through violence and conflict. But I say to you that it wasn’t like this at all:

At the start of when God created the heavens and the earth and everything in between, the earth was a wasteland, without order or function, and darkness covered the primordial abyss, while God’s life-force hovered and moved upon the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light!” And, without hesitation or fight, out off the primordial soup there was light. And God saw that the light was good. God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘Day’, and the darkness God called ‘Night’. And there was evening and there was morning — day one.

And God said, “Let there be a barrier separating the water in the atmosphere from the water on the earth. So God hammered out the barrier and separated the waters. And it was so. God called the barrier ‘Sky’. And there was evening and there was morning — the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, so that dry land can appear.” And, without fuss or fight, it was so. God called the dry land ‘Earth,’ and the collected waters he called ‘Seas.’ And God saw that this was good. Then God said, “Let all kinds of vegetation — grains and fruit trees, all kinds — grow from the earth. And it was so. The earth produced vegetation — from grains to fruit trees — each one according to their own kind. And God saw that this was good. And there was evening and there was morning — the third day.

And God said, “Let the sky be filled with lights to separate the day and night, to mark the seasons, days, and years, and to shine light onto the earth.” And it was so. God made the two big lights — the bigger one to rule the day and the smaller to rule the night — and the stars. God set them onto the sky to shine light onto the earth, to rule over the day and night, and to separate the light and darkness. And God saw that this was good. And there was evening and there was morning — the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters be filled with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, across the sky. So God created, as only God can, the great sea monsters you’ve heard so much about, along with every living creature the swims through the waters and flies through the air, each according to their kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the seas and the sky.” And there was evening and there was morning — the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth be filled with living creatures of every kind — from creepy crawlies to livestock and everything in between, every kind of wild animal. And it was so. God made the wild land animals, the livestock, and creepy crawlies, each according to their kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make a human to be our representative image on the earth, bearing our authority and resemblance; and let them have responsibility over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the livestock, wild animals, and creepy crawlies.”

So God created the human as God’s representative image,
As God’s representative image God created them;
Male and female alike, God created them.

God blessed them, saying to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and transform it; and have responsibility for the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the land animals.”

God then explained: “See, I have given you the grains and fruits for your food. And to the animals and birds — to every living creature — I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw everything God had made and, indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning — the sixth day. And so, the heavens and the earth, with all the diversity of things and beings within them, were complete.

But then on the seventh day, God had finished the work of creation. And so God rested on the seventh day from everything God had done. And so, God blessed the seventh day and set it apart from the others, because on it God rested from all God’s work in creation.