An exploration party disembarks from their spacecraft to explore earth. Their mission is to stealthily investigate the reigning lifeforms of the planet. At this point, they are not ready to engage them directly, but have discovered that these beings conveniently record their history in bound volumes of paper. These “books” should serve to instruct the visitors about the history of the planet. They come to a house and inside they take the volume from the table to study. They engage their universal translator and in their own language, they read the book, beginning with this:
“When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return. ….”
Some of you will recognize this as the start of the first chapter to Tolkien’s classic, “The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring”. Reading this book of history, the alien visitors learned of the awesome battles between humans, dwarfs, hobbits elves, etc. vs Sauron and the orcs. They learned of wizards and talking trees. This history impressed them though it confused them greatly. Perhaps if they had understood the types of literature and what genre this book was, it would have helped. I have several friends who think that Genesis and much of the Bible should be read much like “The Lord of the Rings”. It certainly was written in a different language and to a very different people than any modern counterpart. If we are to interpret it correctly one of the first considerations is to recognize the literature genre of the book and its parts.
Many non-Christians do not appreciate that the Bible compiles 66 different books written over a period of roughly 1500 years. Any student of the Word must recognize that it contains many different genres. It includes books of poetry, historical narratives, personal letters, letters meant for public gatherings, prophetic passages, parables and sermons. Each has their own characteristics and understanding these helps to understand them. Genesis is the first book of the Torah which is the first five books of the Old Testament. These 5 books are foundational for both Judaism and Christianity. Most experts agree that these were written by a single author or at least had a single person in charge of their writing and organization. Just these five books include material of several genres. They include passages written as historical narratives, songs, detailed legal codes for the ancient Hebrew, and prophetic passages.
Many consider Genesis 1 to represent a poem. What would that mean to the truth that it would contain? Poetry can be very symbolic and fanciful. Some poems certainly have no literal basis, but that is not always the case. Many poems tell historical stories as epic sagas that are tales of real historical battles. Cassuto, the Jewish commentator, believed that the author of the Torah drew on the “epic poems” current to the Israelites at the time. He wrote,
“Among the Israelites, too, there existed, prior to the Biblical account, narrative poems about the creation and the beginning of the world’s history. Although these poems have not come down to us, having perished in the course of time, evidence of their existence is to be found both in this section and in other parts of Scripture. (Cassuto 1944)
We don’t know what human sources the author of the Torah had to use. The Torah does contain poetry, at least in the form of songs. Here is Moses song after the Egyptians couldn’t make it across the Red Sea.
1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. Exodus 15:1-8 (ESV)
This piece of poetry is written in classic Hebrew style. It includes parallelism in multiple places. This poetry records parts of the battle that are the same as those recorded in the narrative of the battle. The poetry is historical. It also includes parts that were never seen as literal – the Lord’s right hand shatters the enemy… at the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. Hebrew poetry has freedom in it and often uses non-literal imagery.
The OT does describe creation in poetry such as Psalms 104.
5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. Psalm 104:5-9 (ESV)
Poetry uses less literal text to capture the meaning and emotion involved as the writer viewed creation. What is the genre of Genesis 1? Was it written as poetry? Not according to the Hebrew scholars that I have read. Even taken as prose, it is beyond the normal prose. Gordon Wenham’s commentary on Genesis describes the creation account in Genesis 1 this way:
“It is indeed a great hymn, setting out majestically the omnipotence of the creator, but it surpasses these other passages in the scope and comprehensiveness of vision. In that it is elevated prose, not pure poetry, it seems unlikely that it was used as a song of praise as the psalms were. Rather, in its present form, it is a careful literary composition introducing the succeeding narratives.” (Wenham 1987)
Every word and every phrase were placed in a symmetric pattern reflecting organization and design. This reflects the character of God who created the order and symmetry in nature that we are just beginning to comprehend. Just like nature, it has patterns at an overall scale and patterns within the overall elements. It is an amazing piece of literature where God reveals His creative work through words. It is text written by humans yet inspired by God. Understanding this is critical to understanding what it is telling us.
In the previous post in this section, I compared creation in Genesis to former President Grant trying to explain the Civil War to an eight-year-old grandson. He would have used stories about real events and real people but in a simple form so that the boy would understand. Similarly, God in revealing creation to Moses would not have gone into details that would have quickly gone beyond a human’s ability to understand. I want to expand this illustration a bit. Imagine that the former president’s grandson has grown a little bit. He is a little bit older and has decided to write an essay about the civil war. He would have had a great advantage over most 10 or 11 year olds. He might have had his grandfather help him through it. Imagine him working on the essay with his grandfather looking over his shoulder. Perhaps he might be about to describe a battle scene with cannons. He might start a sentence about the cannons and ask, “how do I describe these cannon troops?” Grant might have said, “call them an artillery division.” I imagine the writer of Genesis writing in partnership with the Holy Spirit. As he tried to decide how to word the chapter, the Holy Spirit would have brought to mind just the words that were right. They would have been right for the first readers and they also would have been the right words for readers throughout the ages.
At this point, we see Genesis 1 as prose, an elevated prose that God used to communicate creation. Daniel Vestal explained it this way:
I would like to argue that Genesis 1–2 is historical narrative in pictorial form. It abbreviates a long history and immense periods of time in language that translates history as well as transcends it. We are not dealing with myth or legend, which presents an idea in the form of a story. Nature is not personified or dramatized as in nonbiblical accounts. And from other parts of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, we know that Genesis describes actual events and persons. (Vestal 1989)
We find parables in the bible that are clearly illustrations that have always been recognized as such. A historical narrative even in elevated prose in the Bible was not intended as a metaphor or fable with a message. In coming posts, we will examine creation in Genesis 1. The language can be pictorial and include figures of speech, but it will be true.
The first readers did not have our scientific view. The descriptions of creation would have made sense to them and addressed their issues. We should not expect that they will answer all of our questions. Christians and Bible scholars disagree on how we can expect this to relate to findings of science today. If both nature and the Bible are revelations of the same creator, then it is very likely that we will be able to discern true nature in this ancient book.
Many writers that I read have studied this text and come to very certain conclusions. Wouldn’t it be nice if they all agreed? Well, that hasn’t happened. This is not just a difference between the young earth creationists (YEC) vs. others. There are many interpretations from Christians who are honestly seeking truth. This suggests that humility is in order. There are some interpretations that are not tenable but others that bring strengths and weaknesses. These multiple options should be considered possible, if not equally likely.
The wording and sentence structure in this account were as precisely selected as anywhere in the Bible. As such, close study demands that it be examined very carefully. We must consider what the Hebrew words meant, recognizing that there are frequently multiple options. This is a chance to dig in and look for treasure.
Cassuto, U. 1944. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part One. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The Hebrew University.
Wenham, G. 1987. Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 1; Genesis 1–15. Waco: Word Books.
Vestal, D. 1989. The Doctrine of Creation. Nashville: Convention Press.
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