The other day we looked at the symbolism in Genesis 2.4-3.17’s extensive descriptions of its primordial setting, paying special attention to the role of gardens in Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) royal iconography and the two trees. Today we’re turning to the two main characters of this part of the story and the relationship between them: … Continue reading The LORD and Adam: Genesis 2.4-3.17, Part 2
The other day, we looked at the Bible’s second creation story, Genesis 2.4-3.24, in the big picture. We saw that where Genesis 1 seems likely to have been written to combat the despair of the Exile, Genesis 2 offers a less hopeful, but more relatable message: We humans are unfaithful and struggle to live up … Continue reading A Garden in Paradise: Genesis 2.4-17, Part 1
We spent the couple few weeks looking through the creation story in Genesis 1.1-2.3. We saw that that text, likely dating to the seventh century BCE, took the common Babylonian creation myth and twisted it, retelling it for its own monotheistic purposes. It’s a beautiful, optimistic story, but while it absolutely captures the majesty and … Continue reading Creation, Take 2: Genesis 2.4-3.24
[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 … Continue reading A Targum on Genesis 1.1-2.3
Over the last couple posts, I’ve said a few times something to the effect of how the creation of humanity “can be” “in many ways” considered to be the pinnacle of the Genesis 1 creation story. One might ask why such hedging is necessary. Well, the Genesis 1 story does not end at 1.31, but … Continue reading God Rests: Genesis 2.1-3
Matthew Root 