C HAPTER T HREE
3.3 Conclusions
3.3.1 Re-tellings of Genesis 1.1-5
There is only one text that can be placed in the category of a re-telling of MT Gen 1.1-5 – 4QJubileesa. Even though the text is severely damaged, there is enough extant text to identify it as the Hebrew version of what is preserved in full in Greek and Ethiopic. Given the fragmentary nature of the text, little can be said about this textual retelling of MT Gen 1.1-5, other than that the spirits/angels are the subject of God’s creative activity in this re- telling,330 and that it is likely that with knowledge God organizes day and night, evening and dawn.331
3.3.2 Methods of Creation
Of the methods of creation employed in this chapter, four are highlighted here: creation by stretching out the heavens, creation by the establishment of boundaries, creation by word or divine speech, and creation by wisdom or knowledge.
324 The reference to Rabbi Judah ben Ilai, always referred to simply as Rabbi Judah in the Mishnah (cf. Stemberger, Talmud and Midrash, 77), suggests that at least a portion of m.Ber 9.2 is traditionally attributed to this second century Tanna, Neusner, ed., Ancient Rabbis, 285.
325 The translation of
}mzb with a traditional local or instrumental meanings of the preposition are not adequate in this situation, rather a relational application appears more appropriate. See M.P. Fernández, An Introductory Grammar of Rabbinic Hebrew, (trans. J. Elwolde; Leiden: Brill, 1999) 162.
320The works of creation (
ty#)rb h#(mb) are to be read by the maamad (rural priests) in six days (including the
Sabbath) – six days to avoid reading it on the Sabbath.
327 As with m.Ta’an. 4.2-3, m.Meg. 3.6 regulates the reading of the creation story by the maamad.
328 m.Meg 4.10 also forbids the reading of the Merkabah vision, with the exception of Rabbi Judah, who permits it. While there are other stories mentioned, the story of creation is not among them.
329 There are four other uses of
ty#)rb as a noun in the Mishnah. The first two, m.Eduyyot 3.3 and m.Hullin 11.2, both employ ty#)rb as a word meaning ‘first,’ in reference to a statement attributed to R. Dosa that speaks of an offering of zghty#)rb / ‘first fleece’ from five select sheep. The second two, both in m.Niddah 6.7, use the same phrase, zghty#)rb, though without specific reference to the statement of R. Dosa.
330 4QJuba v.5-9 331 4QJuba v.10
3.3.2.1 Stretching the Heavens
While not present in MT Gen 1.1-5, the idea of creation by stretching out (h+n) the heavens is a visible thread in the tapestry of chapter one, appearing in roughly one quarter of the texts.332 Given this prominence, it is somewhat surprising that a similar idea does not appear more often in the Hebrew afterlives of Day One. Of the texts in this chapter, two texts, both hymns, describe creation by the stretching out of the heavens. 1QHa ix.9-10 reads, you stretched out (the) heavens for your glory. Hymn 8 (11Q5 xxvi.14-15) reads, By his understanding he stretched out (the) heavens and brought forth [wind] from [his] store[houses].
3.3.2.2 Creation by Boundrification
Another prominent thread in the tapestry of chapter one is the idea of creation by separation, an idea that is present in MT Gen 1.4 in the separation of light and darkness. As outlined in chapter one, the rough categories for the objects of the divine activity of separation are waters,333 light and darkness,334 seasons,335 and between God’s dwelling and the earth.336 As in the intertextual tapestry in chapter one in which the objects of separation are largely elements of the cosmos, e.g. waters, light, darkness, time, the War Scroll speaks of God being the creator of the boundaries of earth337 and of the sea,338 and 4QWorks of God339 and the Hymn340 attribute the separation of light and dark to God. One can also consider with these texts the more general ordering of night and day as attributed to God in the liturgical context of 1QHa xx.4-10, and possibly an ordering of seasons in 4QSapiential Work Ab,341 though the disrepair of this fragment makes any firm conclusion impossible.
3.3.2.3 Creation by Word/Speech
The idea of creation by speech is inherent in MT Gen 1.1-5, with God speaking light into existence, and appears sparingly in the tapestry of chapter one.342 While not a prevalent theme in the texts of this chapter, 1QHa xx.9 suggests that the order of what is and what will be comes from the mouth of God (l) ypm) – a strong affirmation of creation or at least providential care coming from the speech of God. A more unambiguous text on this is 4Q381, which states that God made heaven and earth by an oath,343 going on to say, ‘and by the words of his mouth […],’ with ‘and channels’ beginning the following line.344 Another similar phrase, ‘with the word of his
332 MT Isa 40.22, 42.5, 45.12; Jer 10.12, 51.15; Zech 12.1; Ps 104.2 333
{iyam - MT Isa 40.12; Ps 104.9, 148.6; Job 26.10; {ay - MT Job 38.10, Prov 8.29; {Oh:T - MT Prov 8.27.
334 MT Gen 1.4; Job 26.10, 38.19-20 335 MT Ps 74.17
336 MT Isa 40.22 337 1QM x.12 338 1QM x.13
339 4Q392 1 5-6 asserts that it is God alone who separates light and darkness.
340 Hymn 4 says that “(after) separating light from deep darkness, [God] established the dawn by the understanding of his heart.”
341 4Q416 1 2-3
342 MT Amos 9.6; Ps 33.6, 148.5; Job 38.12 343 4Q381 1 3. The difficulties of
ymwyb are noted above, p. 119, n.166.
mouth […],’345 may introduce the creation of Adam or man as the beginning of the following line reads, ‘with [his] w[ife],’ a difficult reconstruction to say the least. Less so is the next statement, that ‘by the breath of his mouth he made them stand to rule over all these on the earth,’346 an unambiguous example of creation by speech. While 4Q381 1 is fragmentary, it is clear that the primary method of creation at least in this extant portion of the text is speech or breath.
3.3.2.4 Creation by Wisdom/Knowledge
The place of wisdom in creation, personified in MT Prov 8.22-31 and present elsewhere as a means for creating,347 appears in the texts of this chapter. Noticeably absent is any text that personifies wisdom in relation to creation,348 a thread that is quite prominent in the Greek afterlives of Gen 1.1-5. There are two texts in particular that display the theme of creation by wisdom. The first is 1QHa ix, which has three statements to this effect: line 7, though quite damaged, may well say that God created humans in wisdom; the object of the creative action in line 14 is also unclear, though it may be the seas and deeps and/or the contents thereof; and in lines 19-20 the courses of humankind are established ‘in the wisdom of your knowledge.’ The second is the Hymn to the Creator 7, which has God creating the world (lbt) with his wisdom (wtmkwxb) as in MT Jer 10.12 and 51.15. Also, Hymn 4 has God establishing the dawn by the understanding of his heart. In the case of Hymn 7 in particular there is an intertextual intersection with the larger tapestry of MT Gen 1.1-5.
Related to this is a title that is ascribed to God as the God of knowledge - tw(dh l). This title is used in direct connection with a creative action of establishing orderly time in 1QHa xx.10. The same title is also found in 1QS iii.15, with a wider focus in that the God of knowledge is the source of all that is and will be.349 Finally, 4QJubileesa v.10 appears to contain the remnants of ‘his [know]ledge’, which if the reconstruction of the Hebrew is correct, states that darkness and dawn, light and evening are set up with the knowledge of God.350
3.3.3 Creation & Angels
The prevalent presence of primordial figures in chapter one is matched by the absence of them in the texts of chapter three, with Wisdom herself being a no-show. There are, however, mentions of the creation and/or presence of angels at the creation. 4QJubileesa v.1-11 is the prime example of this, with the cadre of angels created on Day One. An echo of this understanding of angels and creation comes in 1QHa v.14, in which the ‘host of your spirits’ is created along with the other primordial stuff. Similarly, in 1QHa ix.10-13 there is a mention of the
345 4Q381 1 6
346 4Q381 1 7 347 The world (
l"b"T) in MT Jer 10.12, 51.15; everything in Ps 104.24; and ordering the clouds in Job 38.37.
348 One can wonder about the Hebrew of Sir 24.
349 The title is found in 4QInstructiond (4Q418) 55 5, though it is unlikely that this is a creation context, and possibly in 1QHa xxv bottom 8-9 (Sukenik frags 8 + 7 i) and 4QMysteriesa (4Q299) 35, though both of these texts are severely damaged.
transformation of spirits into angels,351 and in 4Q416 1 7 there is mention of the establishment of the hosts of heaven, though the fragmentary nature of these texts precludes any full understanding the wider literary context. In line with this is Hymn 5, in which angels both see and seemingly rejoice at being shown the creative activity of God. While the absence of personified wisdom is a bit glaring, tempered of course by the partial nature of the evidence, there is an emphasis in the placement of angelic beings both at the beginning of and in the general vicinity of God’s creative activity.352
3.3.4 The Uses ofwhbw wht
As pointed out in chapter one, the two words, wht and whb, occur infrequently in the Hebrew Bible – the pair occurs three times,353wht alone an additional sixteen times,354 with whb never occurring by itself. In this sketch of the intertextual afterlives of MT Gen 1.1-5, wht and whb occur even more infrequently, and appear only on the tattered edges of the tapestry. There are four texts,355 two of which are marginal inclusions,356 that include one or both these words. In 1QM xvii.4, wht and whb are used in tandem, though in a construction different from MT Gen 1.2.357 While the context is damaged, it is safe to say that the use here is negative. That is, the enemy longs for tohu and for bohu. The second use of both, reliant on a reconstruction, comes in 4Q303 1 5.358 While it is clear that 4Q303 1 is a creation text, because of the state of the fragment it is difficult to say very much about the occurrence of wht and the possible occurrence of whb. It does seem possible, however, given the mentions of light359 that this may have some relationship with MT Gen 1.2-3. The final two texts use only wht. The first is Sirach 41.10,360 which says that the irreligious/profane (vnx) are from wht and will return to wht. Similarly, 4Q504 1-2 iii recto 4, though in a state of disrepair, appears to state that the nations ({ywgh) are like wht and nothingness (sp)) in the presence of God. What is clear in all four of these texts is that both wht and whb, whether together or alone, have negative connotations. While this appears to be in line with the Hebrew intertexts of MT Gen 1.1-5, it is shown in chapter four that there is a difference with the Greek equivalents in the afterlives of LXX Gen 1.1-5.
351 The angels here are the lights of the heavens (cf. 1QHa ix.9) – luminaries (sun and moon), stars, shooting stars, lightning, and storehouses. There seems to be a kinship between this hymn and the idea that stars are angelic beings in 1 En 21.1-10 (3, 10), which describes the place of punishment for disobedient stars and angels.
352 1QS iii.20-26 has the Prince of Lights and the Angel of Darkness and that God created both the ‘spirits of light and darkness.’ Angels are also mentioned in 1QM x.11-12 and 4Q381 1 10.
353 MT Gen 1.2; Isa 34.11; Jer 4.23
354 MT Deut 32.10; Sam 12.21 [2x]; Isa 24.10, 29.21, 34.11, 40.17, 23, 41.29, 45.18-19 [2x], Isa 49.4, 59.4; Job 6.18, 26.7.
355 1QM xvii.4; 4Q303 1 5; 4Q504 1-2 iii recto 4; and Sir 41.10. 356 I include both 1QM xvii.4 and Sir 41.10 in 3.2.17 Additional Texts. 357
{tqw#t whblw whtl hmh – They long for tohu and for bohu. 358
wh]bw wht {wqmb r[w) – ligh]t in the place of tohu and b[ohu 359 Light (
rw)) is mentioned in both 4Q303 1 4-5.
3.3.5 The Nominalization of ty#)rb
There is at least a partial shift toward a nominalization of ty#)rb, in which the entire first word of Genesis becomes a proper noun for the creation story. The first instance of this may come in Sir 15.14 MS A, in which
ty#)rb is used with a preposition (-m). As noted above, it is far from conclusive that this is a nominalized form,
though it is a possible reading. There is a clear shift, however, in the Mishnah with four examples of this use, three of which refer to the creation story as the works of creation - ty#)rb h#(m, and the fourth in a prescribed blessing upon the sight of mountains, hills, seas, rivers, and deserts, says ty#)rb h#(m h#w) \wrb – Blessed is the one who fortifies the works of creation.