Genesis 1-2 Analysis

In order to praise and take teachings from the bible we must first understand it. We do this by criticising it, asking it the tough questions, and we can criticise it in many different ways. Genesis 1:1 – 2:4 is an extremely well know passage and is one of the oldest. As it is so well known, it’s important to understand it so we can appreciate it how it was intended to be appreciated. To do this almost imposable task of studying a book that’s thousands of years old with all with very little outside sources you have to break it down. The source of the passage needs be first studied so when can then study the narrative itself in relation to the source criticisms findings. These notions will be explored in the study of genesis 1:1 – 2:4 (genesis

By finding inconsistent writing styles and comparing them with the rest of the Pentateuch it’s common to assume that more than writer was involved in writing the Genesis 1. These writers are grouped into types of people. Proof has been given to acclaim that Priests and Jahwists wrote genesis 1. This creation story, before redacted, would have passed down through word of mouth for many years before it was written around 1400 BC is when the story is seemed to come from. Genesis 1 was also deemed to be history around the time it was written. Both that Genesis 1 was seen as historical and a lot on genealogy involved at least some of the passage can be there for concluded that it was of priestly work. This conclusion can be attributed to the fact that priests in the time of writing (around 600 BCE) were a very respectable high power in the community. They were seen as historians and had greater knowledge of the stories told that were passed down through generations (Garvie,

but by using narrative criticism we can deduce that, that statement is very far from the truth. Instead of it being a story its more likely it was characterised as a poem. This is evident the match up of the creation days in a poem like format; day one and four, two and five, three and six all seem to have similarities in their creation. Day one saw the division between light and darkness, day four saw the creation of the sun and the moon, ‘greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night’. Day two saw the waters and sky separated, on day five God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky’. On day three dry land appeared, then on day six God created animals and humans to inhabit the exposed land. These examples show a relationship between itself and its poetic other. (Oyc.yale.edu,