The Lost World of Adam and Eve (30 page)

17
Ibid., 1:17; see also 1:9. This source of the life of human beings is also referred to in passing in spell 80.

18
Ibid., 1:35.

19
Translation from Leonard H. Lesko, “Ancient Egyptian Cosmogonies and Cosmology,” in
Religion in Ancient Egypt: God, Myths, and Personal Practice,
ed. Byron E. Shafer (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991), p. 103.

20
Hoffmeier, “Some Thoughts on Genesis 1 and 2,” p. 37; P. O’Rourke, “Khnum,” in
Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt,
ed. Donald B. Redford (Oxford University Press, 2001), 2:231; Siegfried Morenz,
Egyptian Religion,
trans. Ann E. Keep (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1973), pp. 183-84; and Ronald Simkins,
Creator and Creation: Nature in the Worldview of Ancient Israel
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), p. 70. See also a reference to similar ingredients (clay and straw) in
Amenemope
25:13-14. Translation found in Lichtheim,
Ancient Egyptian Literature
(Berkeley: University of Califormia Press, 1976), 2:160.

21
In Atraḫasis 1.64-66, the junior gods burn their tools.
COS
1.130 (p.450).

22
For instance, in
KAR 4.

23
See Jan Assmann,
The Search for God in Ancient Egypt,
trans. David Lorton (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001), pp. 3-6; he cites a hymn to Re that portrays the king as representing the gods by judging humankind and as representing humans by satisfying the gods. See the additional texts that Assmann refers to on pp. 174-77 (
Coffin Texts
spell 1130).

24
The most comprehensive analysis was carried out by Edward Mason Curtis, “Man as the Image of God in Genesis in Light of Ancient Near Eastern Parallels” (PhD diss. [supervised by Jeffrey H. Tigay], University of Pennsylvania, 1984), ProQuest AAI8422896. Other important studies include W. Randall Garr,
In His Own Image and Likeness,
Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 15 (Leiden: Brill, 2003); and Zainab Bahrani,
The Graven Image: Representation in Babylonia and Assyria
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003). See also Walton,
Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology,
pp. 78-85.

25
Assmann,
Search for God,
p. 173.

26
Karel van der Toorn,
Family Religion in Babylonia, Syria and Israel: Continuity and Changes in the Forms of Religious Life
(Leiden: Brill, 1996), p. 96; cf. Clifford,
Creation Accounts,
pp. 8-9.

Proposition 11: Though Some of the Biblical Interest in Adam and Eve Is Archetypal, They Are Real People Who Existed in a Real Past

1
John W. Hilber,
Cultic Prophecy in the Psalms,
Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 352 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005), pp. 76-88.

2
The biblical text makes it clear that David’s sons served as priests (2 Sam 8:18), though translations often obscure this point. Although the tribe of Levi had been exclusively assigned all the duties related to the sanctuary, there is no text that prohibits non-Levites from performing other priestly tasks. It is just that as time went on, priestly tasks not related to the sanctuary were gradually eliminated (see 2 Kings 23:8). The existence of priestly duties carried out within the family context is indicated in post-Sinai contexts (Judg 6:24-26; 13:19; 1 Sam 20:29), and in the general culture of the ancient Near East the oldest son frequently had priestly duties in the veneration of ancestors. Saul had been reprimanded for his involvement in a priestly function, but that may have been because it violated the charter (1 Sam 10:25) that delineated his role with respect to Samuel’s role. David’s priestly prerogatives may have been attached to the traditional roles in Jerusalem. The existence of such a royal priestly tradition is recognized in David’s participation in the ceremony of installing the ark (2 Sam 6:14).

3
Assumption of Moses
6:1; Josephus,
Antiquities
16.163.

4
Paul Kobelski,
Melchizedek and Melchireša‘,
Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 10 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association, 1981); and C. Marvin Pate,
Communities of the Last Days: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), pp. 121, 209.

5
Richard Longenecker, “The Melchizedek Argument of Hebrews: A Study in the Development and Circumstantial Expression of the New Testament Thought,” in
Unity and Diversity in New Testament Theology: Essays in Honor of George E. Ladd,
ed. Robert A. Guelich (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), pp. 161-85.

6
The paragraphs about the Jewish traditions are adapted from John H. Walton,
Genesis,
NIV
Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), pp. 426-27.

7
John H. Walton, “Genealogies,” in
Dictionary of Old Testament: Historical Books,
ed. Bill T. Arnold and Hugh G. M. Williamson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), pp. 309-16; Mark W. Chavalas, “Genealogical History as ‘Charter’: A Study of Old Babylonian Period Historiography and the Old Testament,” in
Faith, Tradition and History: Old Testament Historiography in Its Near Eastern Context,
ed. A. R. Millard, James K. Hoffmeier and David W. Baker (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994), pp. 103-28.

8
For example, a document known as the
Genealogy of the Hammurabi Dynasty
has the purpose of providing a list of the spirits of the dead for a memorial service that will recognize the ancestors and thereby counteract any threat they may present (Chavalas, “Genealogical History as ‘Charter,’” p. 121).

9
Genesis and 1 Chronicles are descending lists (starting at the beginning and moving forward through time). Luke is ascending (starting with the present and moving backward in time).

10
In some of the antediluvian king lists we find the name Dumuzi, a character later known as a god. There is still discussion, however, regarding whether he began as a human king. Even if he did not, however, this is a king list, not a genealogy and therefore not determinative.

11
In a Seleucid period text (second century
b.c.
) there is a list of scholars that begins with legendary/mythological beings known as the
apkallu.
But this is not a genealogy. See Alan Lenzi,
Secrecy and the Gods: Secret Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia and Biblical Israel,
State Archives of Assyria Studies 19 (Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 2008), pp. 106-9.

12
Toponyms, names that pertain to places and, by extension, the people groups who live there, are frequent in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 as well as in the
Genealogy of the Hammurabi Dynasty
.

13
At the same time, there are lists that start with gods (as Gen 5 also does). Some Egyptologists believe that the Turin Canon starts with gods and moves to demigods before it begins discussing kings. See discussion in Dexter E. Callender Jr.,
Adam in Myth and History: Ancient Israelite Perspectives on the Primal Human,
Harvard Semitic Studies 48 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2000), pp. 33-34. But it should be noted that this is a king list rather than a genealogy.

Proposition 12: Adam Is Assigned as Priest in Sacred Space, with Eve to Help

1
For further discussion see John H. Walton,
Genesis,
NIV
Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), pp. 180-83.

2
For full discussion see ibid., pp. 172-74, 185-87, from which the discussion here is adapted.

3
This direction is also chosen by commentators Gordon J. Wenham,
Genesis 1–15,
Word Biblical Commentary 1 (Waco, TX: Word, 1987), p. 67; and John Sailhamer,
Genesis Unbound: A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account
(Colorado Springs, CO: Dawson Media, 1996), p. 45. Dexter E. Callender Jr.,
Adam in Myth and History: Ancient Israelite Perspectives on the Primal Human,
Harvard Semitic Studies 48 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2000), pp. 59-65, favors the royal role based on the imagery in Mesopotamia of the king as gardener, but it must be recalled that the king also had priestly functions. Callender also makes the observation that the purpose for these activities is for the garden’s sake, not for the humans’ own sustenance (p. 55).

4
This implies the existence of non-order such as that represented by chaos creatures.

5
J. Martin Plumley, “The Cosmology of Ancient Egypt,” in
Ancient Cosmologies,
ed. Carmen Blacker and Michael Loewe (London: Allen & Unwin, 1975), p. 36.

6
For an understanding of Israelite rituals in this light, see Frank H. Gorman Jr.,
The Ideology of Ritual
:
Space, Time, and Status in the Priestly Theology,
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement 91 (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990), pp. 28-29.

7
Eric Hornung,
Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many,
trans. John Baines (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1982), p. 183.

8
See James C. VanderKam, “Adam’s Incense Offering (
Jubilees
3:27),” in
Meghillot: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls V–VI: A Festschrift for Devorah Dimant,
ed. Moshe Bar-Asher and Emanuel Tov (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2007), pp. 141-56.

9
Gary A. Anderson,
The Genesis of Perfection: Adam and Eve in Jewish and Christian Interpretation
(Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001), p. 122.

10
A remarkable Hittite document from the mid-second millennium
B.C.
contains instructions for priests and other temple personnel. This document offers detailed information about the roles of priests that includes those here delineated. Jared L. Miller,
Royal Hittite Instructions and Related Administrative Texts,
Society of Biblical Literature Writings from the Ancient World 31 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013), pp. 244-65.

11
See pp. 105-9.

12
Notice similarly that in Exodus 18:14 Jethro observes that it is not good for Moses to be alone in judging the cases that the people bring. It is too big a job for one person. There a whole group is selected and trained. Here, at this stage, only one additional representative is appointed.

13
Shamḫat is likely a cult prostitute according to A. R. George,
The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 1:148. The text only identifies her as a prostitute
par excellence
, but she takes Enkidu back to the shrine of Ishtar, presumably her home.

14
For discussion of the role of women in sacred space, see Phyllis Bird, “The Place of Women in the Israelite Cultus,” in
Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of Frank Moore Cross,
ed. Patrick D. Miller Jr., Paul D. Hanson and S. Dean McBride (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987), pp. 397-419, esp. the summary on pp. 405-8.

15
Hennie J. Marsman,
Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their Social and Religious Position in the Context of the Ancient Near East
(Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp. 490-91. These roles nearly disappeared after the Old Babylonian period (first half of the second millennium
B.C
.). The same diminishing of women in priestly roles is evident in the same period in Egypt (Middle Kingdom). Scholars propose that in Egypt the role of women priestesses declined with the professionalization of the priesthood.

16
Ibid., pp. 544-47.

17
Notice that this designation occurs
before
permanent sacred space is established, indicating that ritual performance is not the main role of priests.

18
I would contend that this also represents the main task of the Aaronid and Levitical priests in the tabernacle and temple. That is
how
they serve and keep sacred space just as Adam and Eve do.

19
This uses the Akkadian cognate to Hebrew
lq
ḥ
, leqû.

20
A. R. George,
The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 1:716-17.

21
Tablet X, lines 76-90.

22
Uses the causative stem of the verb that is cognate with the Hebrew verb
yšb.

23
The identity of two of the rivers of Eden as the Tigris and Euphrates would not detract from this view. Significant bodies of water are part of cosmic space.

24
George,
Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic,
1:152.

Proposition 13: The Garden Is an Ancient Near Eastern Motif for Sacred Space, and the Trees Indicate God as the Source of Life and Wisdom

1
A country’s flag is a symbol, but it is also something real.

2
This against Terje Stordalen,
Echoes of Eden: Genesis 2–3 and Symbolism of the Eden Garden in Biblical Hebrew Literature
(Leuven: Peeters, 2000), p. 298, who explicitly makes the point that Yahweh does not dwell in the garden. On a fine point, I would agree. I have elsewhere made the point that the garden is not Eden but adjoins Eden. Eden is where the presence of God is, and, as is typically the case, that sacred space of divine presence has a garden adjacent to it. See John H. Walton,
Genesis,
NIV
Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), pp. 167-68.