The Bible and Its InfluenceSeptember 20, 2011

Outline: September 16, 2010• Was the beginning, the beginning?

– text study– the Leviathan in art

• Can people read objectively?• Israel from the Outside• Israel from the Inside• The ancient text and our text.

Was the world created ex-nihilo?• Look at Gen 1:1-2:4• Psalm 89:6-14• Psalm 74: 13-15• Isaiah 27:1• Job 26:5-13

Israel from the outside• Pre-Assyrian• Assyrian (mid ninth c to 612 BCE)• Babylonian (612-539 BCE)• Persian (539-332 BCE)• Greek (332 – 63 BCE)

Israel from the Inside• Pre Monarchic• United Monarchy 1000- 922 BCE• Divided Monarchy 922-720 BCE• Judean Kingdom 720-586

– 586 Temple Destroyed– 538 Cyrus allows Judeans to return and

rebuild the Temple

Israel from the Inside continued• 597-586 BCE begins period of exile • Post exilic period after 538 BCE

Gen. 2:10-14; Where are these places?

Where are these places today?

The Bible was written over a very long period.• 12 Century BCE “Song of Deborah”

(Judges 5) is considered one of the oldest sections of the Hebrew Bible.

• 2nd Century BCE “Book of Daniel” considered one of the last sections to be added to the Hebrew Bible.

• How many years?

The Bronze Age• The Bronze Age primarily took place

between 3500 BC and 1200 BC.• Does the Hebrew Bible accurately

reflect the Bronze Age? There is evidence on both sides. The current trend is away from exact dating of the Hebrew Bible.

The Hebrew Bible to teach history?• The archeological record sometimes

contradicts the biblical record. – Book of Joshua describes rapid conquest

of the land.– Archeological evidence shows a much

more gradual change in cultures.

The Bible as History?• Reasonable middle position would

suggest that the Bible may be used with significant caution, as a source for ancient history just like any other ancient document but it is fundamentally a theological document. Its authors were not interested in accurate portrayal of the past. They saw the past through a theological lens.

Merneptah Stele, 1207 BCE• Egyptian claim to

have obliterated Israel. “Israel is wasted”.

What is Myth?• An essential and constructive

element of all cultures.• Like a metaphor, it may be literally

also but profoundly true on a figurative level. Myth conveys something of collective importance.

• i.e. George Washington and the cherry tree.

What is the Garden of Eden about?• Please read Genesis 3 with a partner and discuss the

following questions:• 1) Do you know any traditional interpretations of Eve? Have

traditional interpretations affected your understanding of women?

• 2) Do you think that popular images of Eve as temptress have influenced your picture of male-female relationships?

• 3) Has Genesis 3:16 b, which declares that a woman's man will (or can) rule over her, affected your understanding of marriage?

• 4) How might knowledge of the documentary hypothesis affect the way you understand traditional interpretations of Eve?

What is Midrash?• “The woman was taken from Adam’s

body because only when like is joined unto like is the union indissoluble. The creation of woman from man was possible because Adam originally had two aspects, which were separated at the birth of Eve.”

• What questions does this Midrash ask and answer?

• What does it mean to say that the original being (Adam) had two aspects and that one of those aspects was female?

Another Midrash.....the creation of Lilith• To Banish man’s loneliness, Lilith was

first given to Adam as wife. Like him she has been created out of the dust of the ground. But she remained with him only a short time, because she insisted upon enjoying full equality with her husband. She derived her rights from their identical origin.

Lilith continued....• With the help of the ineffable Name,

which she pronounced, Lilith flew away from Adam, and vanished in the air. Adam complained before God that the wife He had given him had deserted him and God sent forth three angels to capture her. They found her in the Red Sea, and they sought to make her go back with the

Lilith cont’d...• threat that, unless she went, she

would lose a hundred of her children daily by death. But Lilith preferred this punishment to living with Adam. She takes her revenge by injuring babies....the only way to ward off the evil is to attach an amulet....

• What questions does this Midrash ask and answer?

Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Detail of the hands

The Temptation of Adam and Eve

Bolshoi Ballet “Creation of the World”

Michelangelo, The Creation of Eve

Group Work: Cain and Abel

• Working with a partner, please read Genesis 4:1-16.

• Please compare with Qur’an (5:27-32)• Please draw up a list of similarities and

differences.