Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology
John H. Walton
Winona Lake, Indiana
Eisenbrauns
2011
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Walton, John H., 1952–
Genesis 1 as ancient cosmology / John H. Walton.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-1-57506-216-7 (hardback: alk. paper)
1. Biblical cosmology. 2. Bible. O.T. Genesis I—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Cosmogony. I. Title.
BS651.W274 2011
231.7′65—dc23
2011034236
1. Cosmology and Comparative Studies: Methodology
Identifying Cognitive Environment
Comparing Cognitive Environment
The Hermeneutics of Comparative Studies and the Cognitive Environment
2. Creation in Ancient Near Eastern Literature
3. The Ancient Cosmological Cognitive Environment
Before-and-After Pictures, and Activities Involved with Bringing into Existence
Building Blocks, Causation, and Teleology
Roles and Positions of the Players
Summary of the Cosmological Cognitive Environment of the Ancient Near East
Genesis 1:2 and the Precosmic Condition
Day 7 (Genesis 2:1–3): Temple and Rest in Genesis
1. Shared Broad Cognitive Environment
3. Shared with Mesopotamia Only
4. Israelite Distinctives Based on the Ancient Near Eastern Platform
5. Israelite Distinctives That Have No Known Antecedents
6. Ancient Near Eastern Distinctives That Have No Israelite Reflections
During my first 20 years of teaching Genesis 1 to classes of all sorts, I experienced the nagging feeling that I was missing something very important that was just out of my grasp. Since my wife was trained as a scientist, conversations between us about the interface of Genesis 1 and science were common. All of my own training and research in Hebrew language and exegesis as well as in ancient Near Eastern languages and literature brought regular insights and progress, but there were still too many pieces that weren’t fitting together.
All of this changed rather dramatically in the fall of 1998. I was teaching a Hebrew Exegesis class, and we were working through Genesis 1. We got to v. 5, and I posed a question to the class: “Why didn’t God call the light “light?” The device of metonymy was one that I had included in my lectures for years (thus “light” was understood as “period of light”), but putting the question in this way began to make a few new connections for me. Explaining that the naming procedure indicated that it was day and night that were being created, more than light, and that light was not an object but should be understood metonymically, I concluded with the blunt statement, “So on Day 1, God created time.” ...
|
About Genesis 1 as Ancient CosmologyIn Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, John Walton presents comparative studies of ancient texts and their cosmologies. The first half of the book focuses on the ancient texts that inform our understanding of Near Eastern cosmology. Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian texts are the primary focus, but occasionally Ugaritic and Hittite are included as appropriate. Walton posits that functional ontology was pervasive in ancient writing because bringing about order and functionality was the very essence of creative activity. The second half of the book is devoted to a fresh analysis of Genesis 1:1–2:4. Walton studies significant Hebrew terms and shows that, like the rest of the ancient Near East, the Israelite texts use a functional cosmology that is constructed with temple ideology in mind. He contends that Genesis 1 was never an account of material origins but that, as in the rest of the ancient world, the purpose of this “creation text” was to outline functions for the components of the cosmos. All of this demonstrates that, when we read Genesis 1 as the ancient document it is rather than trying to read it in light of our current world view, the text recovers the energy it had in its original context. At the same time, it provides a new perspective on Genesis 1 in relation to what have long been controversial issues. |
| Support Info | gnss1sncntcsmlg |