Genesis has been a cornerstone of Judeo-Christian faith for millennia. While often read and interpreted in contemporary religious and scientific contexts, it is a product of its time and cannot reflect any form of modernism. Understanding the context of ancient cultures reflected in the Genesis narrative can provide deeper insights into its themes and messages and avoid the misunderstandings common in today’s Christian culture. What was the author trying to say, not to us, but to his readers? The only context we have for Genesis is the cultural context of the Ancient Near East (ANE). What can it tell us?
The Ancient Near Eastern
Genesis itself is Ancient Near Eastern literature. It was composed in a region rich with diverse cultures and civilizations including Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Canaanite. These cultures had their creation myths, flood stories, and cosmogonies written in dense mythological language that predate the Genesis account. For example, stories such as The Flood, and the Epic of Gilgamesh (3200–1700 BC) and others like The Paradise Myth of Enki and Ninhursag, The Dispute between the Shepherd God and the Farmer God that echoes Cain and Abel, belong to ancient Sumerian mythology concerned primarily with creation, agriculture, the building of cities, and the flood. Genesis is prose and not in the genre of ANE mythology, which was new at the time.
In ANE literature, the universe emerged from primordial waters which were understood much like Genesis 1:2 “the world had been formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” Many gods as well as the layers of the universe were thought originated out of these waters. The pagan deities were products of the universe and decidedly anthropomorphic; they were born and could die. The gods were believed to have formed humans out of various resources like clay or grown from soil or sexual activity one mixed with “divine” blood because that is how life begins in our experience. Humans were then enslaved to serve the gods so the gods could rest when Genesis indicates the Divine Rest on the 7th Day was humans too.
Creation Narratives
Often sited are the Babylonian “Enuma Elish” and the “Epic of Gilgamesh” texts that contain striking parallels to the biblical creation and flood stories. These texts share common details, such as a three-tiered-universe, initial disorder that leads to an ordered universe, the layers of creation culminating in humanity, and divine judgment through a great flood and other stories alluded to in
Genesis 1-11. (Note a 3 tiered univere of the ANE (left)
“Enuma Elish” describes the god Marduk creating the world from the uninhabitable primordial waters, a concept echoed in Genesis 1:2, which speaks of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. The division of the waters and the establishment of dry land in Genesis 1:6-10 also parallel the separation of waters in other ANE myths.
One remarkable Sumerian story of the third millennium BCE is of a mythical place called “Dilmun.” It was a paradise where humans raised domesticated animals and served the gods. Dilmun was a place said to be “pure, clean, and full of light.” Animals we think of as predators were vegetarian, e.g., “The lions kill not,” “the wolves snatch not the lambs,” and “unknown is the wild dog devouring the kid.” There is no sickness or old age in Dilmun. It is a place where childbirth is painless and quick, with a nine-day gestation instead of nine months culminating in labor.
However, Genesis distinguishes itself by several Hebrew traditions that did not exist at creation such as: the monotheistic framework, the Israelite festivals illuded to on day 4, the countless 7s in the narrative (some hidden by translation), and especially the covenantal illusion to the Sabbath Rest on day 7 – the Israelite Sabbath being the sign of the covenant. Unlike the polytheistic creation myths, Genesis emphasizes a single, transcendent God who creates from outside the universe, while pagan deities were multiple and products of the universe. These theological innovations highlight the distinctiveness of the Israelite faith while reworking primordial stories familiar to its ancient audience.
Flood Stories
The flood narrative in Genesis 6-9 is another area where cultural exchange is evident. The Epic of Gilgamesh, for example, contains a flood story where the hero Utnapishtim builds a boat to save his family and animals from a deluge to come. Both stories involve the sending out of birds to find dry land and conclude with a sacrifice and a divine promise not to destroy humanity again by flood.
While there are significant similarities, the Genesis account again diverges in its theological emphasis. The biblical flood story focuses on the alarming moral depravity of humanity and God’s covenant with Noah, reinforcing the themes of sin, judgment, and divine mercy. The reason for the flood in ANE accounts was the bothersome noise humans were making in newly developed cities. The Genesis theological interpretation provides a striking moral and ethical dimension to the narrative, setting it apart from its ANE counterparts.
Theological and Literary Influences of the ANE
The influence of ANE literature on Genesis extends beyond specific narratives to broader theological and literary elements. The use of genealogies, for instance, is a common feature in ANE literature, serving to legitimize political or religious authority through pedigree. Genealogies were not chronologies sine there is no established beginning date offered in the story.
Additionally, the covenantal framework of Genesis, where God establishes agreements with Noah, Abraham, and others, reflects ANE treaty forms. Other covenants in scripture often mirror the Suzerainty treaties, where a powerful king establishes terms with a vassal state. In the Bible the Suzerainty highlighted the relational and contractual aspects of the Yahweh/Israel interaction that Yahweh earned by delivering Israel from Egyptian slavery. As Deuteronomy 5:15 says, “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.” That is why the Hebrew workweek vehicle used by the author in Genesis 1 is meant to be a covenantal and theological interpretation of Creation, not a modern scientific or a historical one.
Cultural Adaptation and Distinction
While Genesis incorporates elements from surrounding cultures, it adapts and transforms them to convey its unique religious message. The narrative’s use of familiar motifs and structures would have made it accessible to its original audience, while its distinct monotheistic, covenantal, and ethical dimensions set it apart. This cultural adaptation allowed Genesis to communicate profound theological truths within the context of its time.
Insights from Gene Nouhan’s The Six-Day War in Creationism
The Six-Day War in Creationism, by Gene Nouhan is the most comprehensive treatment of the Creationism debate that explores these Hebrew and ANE cultural and theological ideas on cosmology. His background includes thirty-five years of education in Theology, Biblical Scholarship, and Philosophy. Gene became the Director of Apologetics for Reasonable Faith with William Lane Craig in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he has taught Classical Apologetics.
Perhaps more importantly, during the historic changes in the Worldwide Church of God, Gene wrote peer-reviewed studies, spoke at conferences, served as a Senior Pastor, and with many other colleagues, helped move a cult to Evangelical orthodoxy. Nouhan’s journey and experiences underscore the importance of understanding the historical, cultural, and theological contexts of Genesis and reject a superficial reading that ignores those essentials for interpretation.