The Book of Genesis

Then the LORD God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”

Genesis, along with the early chapters of Exodus, is undoubtedly the most popular book of the Hebrew Bible. It’s probably the only portion people manage to read, and for good reason. Compared to the history, genealogy, philosophy, laws, prophesy, and poetry of other books, the fables of Genesis carry charm and digestible wisdom. Here the rich heritage of the Mesopotamia and Egypt drip down into Hebrew folklore and our faith. Meant to be viewed as allegorical tales, imbued with ancient and time-typical morals, we read these stories not to learn about the universe, but ourselves.

“Hebrew” means wanderer. This is important, as the historical context of the biblical Semites helps explain some of the Bible’s obscurity. We must picture nomadic sheep-herders wandering across desert for suitable land to graze, where in their downtime they constructed, copied, and altered various middle-eastern and near-eastern mythologies. Thus the Garden of Eden is a typical paradise fable where knowledge, sex, and human agency spoil the bliss of primitive man. It reveals a growing self-awareness in humanity's early psyche. The eating of the forbidden fruit entails guilt and suffering, but also adventure. The loss of innocence is required for maturity and memorable experience.

Cain and Able, as rivals symbolizing the conflict between pastoral and agricultural communities, also initiate the Bible’s tone. No matter what pearls of truth and beauty are thrown before us these are still bronze-age uneducated tribesmen, and will act accordingly. There’s is a harsh world ravished by war and capricious gods. The uneasy yet desperate faith people put into their divinities is a double edged sword; sometimes they will like your gifts, sometimes they will not. One of the many running themes pulsating through this text is the Hebrew’s fundamental doubt in Yahweh. The Bible is clearly an advocate of the god, but there are ample stories demonstrating why he’s untrustworthy. It is not until his personality is drastically altered and updated during the Babylonian exile does he gain popularity.

Noah is a plagiarized diluvial tale from Sumerian legend; we see its superior in Gilgamesh. But the Hebrews found it relevant for their God, who errs, regrets, is quick to destroy his mistakes, picks favorites, and creates deals. The recreation story is a tad anti-climactic, but with it comes some semblance of progress in God’s morals, and in an omnipotent being that is always welcome.

Abraham is the great looming father of all monotheistic people, but one can doubt whether his God was also Moses’ God. If we take his word for it, we can assume he adopted Yahweh as a family deity while in Canaan which his successors exported to Egypt during the famine. There Yahweh accumulated a cult following which Moses found and converted to. (His journey is plotted in Exodus.) With Abraham I imagine he told his children, lying through his teeth, that Yahweh would protect and support the family if they stayed faithful to him. This makes no claim to monotheism, or even henotheism, but simply that they hedge their bets. And while God spared Isaac at the last moment of Abraham’s test, we suspect this was a later revision to a more honest story about human sacrifice.

The covenant with Abraham’s descendants was later limited to the more hopeful kids: Isaac and Jacob respectively. But it’s this promise to the privileged few that lies at the center of the Hebrew Bible; around it everything revolves. No amount of moralizing or proselytizing can ever change this fact. Ultimately God offered a select group of desert Semites a deal. If they worshiped him and him alone, he would give them a small piece of land in the Eurasian near-east. In return for obeying his laws they’d breed like rabbits and rule the Promised Land in prosperity. Unfortunately for the Hebrews the gods of Egypt and Assyria, Babylon and Persia, Greece and Rome were far more powerful than a tribal war-god of the Levant. Jerusalem fell multiple times, eventually for good, and it wasn’t until the stubborn prophets killed Yahweh and recreated him in a more civilized image, embedded with their hopes, that he would become ‘God’ and rule most of the Earth. This phoenix was of course Jesus Christ, and we’ll explore him later.

The story of Joseph, the last protagonist of Genesis details the Hebrew’s entry into Egypt. Judging by how refined and charming this tale is we can see a clear improvement in God’s writing by this time. As we know Joseph, son of Jacob, is almost killed and abandoned by his brothers, who by a twist of fate later need his help. Jealousy, reversal of fortune, dream interpretation, tricks, forgiveness, and brotherly love make this the most well developed story of the text. We also have our first real example of God’s tender and subtle protection for those he loves.

Before we end this review it’s worth taking a good look at Yahweh. Because of the Bible’s composite nature this Hebrew god is a bit schizophrenic (the Exodus deity is much different than the one in Genesis, and so on) but we can see a few chief traits. It’s noteworthy that this is the first and perhaps only character portrayal of a single deity in world literature. We always see the gods quarreling with each other and mankind in other religions, but none are given the space to develop individually. The God of the Hebrew Bible is first and foremost alone. He creates the universe apparently out of boredom or loneliness, and takes joy in life and creation. He walks through the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, and talks with both mankind and his heavenly court (see Job). And while he makes reference to a polytheistic pantheon there is always a sense of alienation. Yahweh seems to define himself in opposition to other divinities and mortals. He’s vain enough to bribe a small group of nomadic tribesmen to worship him, but seems more like a new parent learning the trade than an all-knowing, all-powerful being.

In his defense God never claims to be omniscient or omnipotent, or even ethical. Those claims are all postulated by his adherents. He makes mistakes, sometimes repents, and is taught compassion more from humans than the other way around. He certainly approves of murder, racism, theft, and rape (though only under the right conditions) and also awards the clever trickster over the honest, hardworking man; as seen in Able and Jacob over Cain and Esau. Looking at Genesis we must conclude that God is not role model to followed, but merely a complex and fascinating character. Just as the Hebrews grow from meaningless tribes to a powerful nation-state, so must we view Yahweh as a deity trying to make his way in a world of multiple and powerful gods. With the help of some of the most tenacious people in history--the Jews--Yahweh succeeds, and becomes the most powerful god the world has ever seen.

As a whole Genesis is a spectacular introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Ignoring the boring genealogies, we have a wonderful collection of near-eastern fables and raw tribal tales. It combines the brutish wisdom and tender hopes of a people who see in their history divine significance, and in their future eternal prestige. I can’t say I believe any of these stories, but to question their authenticity would miss the point. The Bible does what any good fiction does: imbues our life with meaning and purpose through engaging narrative. Indeed, it lives up to its reputation as being written by a god.