Genesis: Remnants of Previous Traditions

The first thing that struck me about the first few chapters of Genesis is how folk tale-like it is. It explains why things are the way they are, and also gives morals to live by. Actually, the explanation is more of a matter-of-fact telling than an explanation (“God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” 1:3) In other words, it is not an exploration of ways the world could have been created. Along with the matter-of-fact telling, the very nature-centric aspect of the chapters seems reminiscent of Native American (and other cultures’) folk tales. It seems that this form of story was held over from previous generations when people passed on stories orally. The matter-of-fact tone was probably much more effective when generations repeated the same story over and over again. This quality also seems recursive, as the tone was probably enhanced by many generations telling and revising the story. The best folk tales (the ones that could perpetuate themselves the most) were probably the ones that could keep order in a society by introducing and perpetuating morals. The main moral in these chapters of Genesis seems to be obedience to God, with a possible underlying moral of obedience to elders and/or parents. This obedience moral would definitely work to keep order and prevent conflicts, even if the elders/parents were unjust. Throughout the story of Adam and Eve, the two seemed likened to children--naive, new to the world, and under the supervision of someone wiser. Of course there are many other themes, but the tree of knowledge part seems similar to that of a parent telling a child not to touch anything in mom or dad’s office. God already had what the tree of knowledge had to offer, he seemed to be sheltering his children from this grown-up knowledge of life. Thus, when children heard the consequences for disobeying (being cast out of Eden, along with other hardships), they are much more likely to remain obedient and with their parents (which increases their survival) until they no longer can be naive to the world.

Other aspects tying the first few chapters of Genesis to the folk tale style is the organization of the writing. Not only are the chapters laid out matter-of-factly, they are also quite short. This is probably also tied to the idea that they were likely passed on orally for many generations before being written down--short and to-the-point stories keep people interested (and also make it easier to remember). Also, I don’t know about anybody else, but the chapters either seem to have been written at different times, or at least conceived of at different times and compiled later. Not only do the styles of the first two chapters seem different (the first is much more repetitive and rhythmic), but there seem to be inconsistencies. In chapter 1, God creates the animals, then man and gives man dominion over them. In the second chapter, God creates man and then the animals because he thinks man needs a partner.

There is another part that I found interesting and also reminiscent of cultures prior to the society from which Genesis grew out of. There are a few places where God refers to himself as “us” or “we”. For example: 2:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness...’” I am wondering if this is a remnant of a previous pagan religion. It is long before Jesus, so could not be referring to the trinity...