..."Interpreting Genesis 1 & 2"

(As promised, these are my edited notes from Dr. John Currid's paper at the LTS conference I recently attended)

Dr. Currid read a section from an article published in the Times, Sept 13th, 2008, titled "Anglicans back Darwin over 'noisy' creationists" - click here to read this article online.

• One of the defining features of the reformation was a commitment to the original text.
• Take meaning from the text, do not infer meaning on the text.

What genre?

The key thing to interpreting Genesis 1 is defining the genre.
So what is the genre? What was the author intending?

Does Genesis 1 fit the Hebrew Poetic pattern?

• Line Parallelism

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" Psalm 19:1

The second line repeats and adds to the first.

- Genesis 1 lacks line parallelism.

• Figures of Speech

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God" Psalm 42:1

The imagery reinforces the thought the writer expresses.

- Genesis 1 contains no signs of figurative speech.

• Strophic or Stanzaic

Comparable to a modern english hymn, a literary structure usually with 4 or more lines, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme.

- Genesis 1 doesn't exhibit strophic or stanzaic structure.

Each day in the creation account does have a similar structure, however does a highly stylised form of writing indicate poetry?
(See Matthew 1, 4 and Luke 4)

Genesis 1 has all the markings of Hebrew narrative.

• and it was/and it came to pass - The Hebrew device to indicate a sequence of events in narrative.
• Sign of coming direct object - appears twice in Genesis 1:1.
• First word indicates a sequence of events commencing.
• Days are numbered by the author.
• Ordinal numbers used - first day, second day etc.
  Not cardinal numbers - one day, two day etc.

Scripture interprets scripture - how does the rest of scripture interpret the genre of Genesis 1 - Exodus 20, Psalm 104

Genesis 1 is not poetry!

But, Genesis 1 isn't ordinary prose - it describes a unique event - someone has described it as "Exalted prose narrative".

The sequence has implications on the theology of the passage.

"Now the earth was formless and empty" Genesis 1:2

The earth was 'Tohu va Bohu', that is 'wild and empty'

Days 1-3 God deals with the 'Tohu' - the chaos.

In the ancient near east, to name something is to have authority over it - God names the elements He has created.

Days 4-6 God deals with the 'Bohu' - the emptiness.

Day 7 The days progress to the consummation/crescendo of rest.
This mirrors the progress of the cosmos towards the eternal Sabbath rest.

Created in God's image

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.""
Genesis 1:26

Daniel 3:1 - Image - 'celem' - Physical representation of a God or King that indicates his sovereignty over a conquered land even in his absence.

Man, in imitating God, deals with the 'Tohu' and 'Bohu'

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy"
Exodus 20:8

Man is commissioned to mirror Gods creative process

- To subdue, To fill & To rest.

This account was written for the Jews as they came out of Egypt, poetry would be too subtle for an account to enlighten the Hebrews as to the God they follow and worship.

To address 'Dake's Gap Theory' - vs. 1 is topical, a summary statement, vs. 2 is focusing in on earth in particular.

Genesis 1 is not an exhaustive account.

The Bible is highly geo-centric - From earth to the new earth!