Genesis 1, the Priestly (P) account of creation, has often been compared with the Enuma Elish, the Akkadian creation myth

This essay is the work of "Leolaia"

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Genesis 1, the Priestly (P) account of creation, has often been compared with the Enuma Elish, the Akkadian creation myth. Some have claimed that P is dependent on the latter, but this is highly improbable. In terms of similarities, most note the parallel of Marduk splitting the body of the sea-monster Tiamat and creating the heavens and earth from it, and Elohim's division of the thwm "watery deep" (Hebrew cognate of Akkadian Tiamat) into the heavens, earth, and seas. However thwm is clearly not derived from the Akkadian form (which is feminine in gender) but is simply the West Semitic version of the word (cf. Ugaratic thm, thmt plural); we would expect the form t'mh if the form was borrowed from the Akkadian. And the account of creation in the Enuma Elish makes no mention of the creation of vegetation, sea creatures, or other animals, whole Genesis 1 lacks any reference to the creation of clouds, mountains, and riverse which are explicitly mentioned in the Akkadian myth. More generally, creation in Genesis 1 is construed as mere work and not conflict for supremacy.

Instead of direct Babylonian influence, it is thought that Genesis 1 derives more directly from a native Canaanite version of the Chaoskampf creation myth -- involving a conflict with the divine Creator and the primeval sea dragon (called either Leviathan or Rahab). For a thorough discussion of the conflict myth, see my thread "The Skinny on the Leviathan and Rahab monsters" on the subject. That such a Tiamat myth existed in Israel and was connected with creation, we may for instance consult the Talmud:

"When God desired to create the world, he said to the Prince of the Sea (sr' sl ym), 'Open your mouth and swallow up all the waters of the world!' The latter answered, 'Lord of the universe, I have enough with my own!' Whereupon God trampled on him and slew him, as it is said, 'By his power he beat down the Sea, and by his understanding he smote Rahab.' " (b. B. Bat. 74b)

The epithet "Prince of the Sea" is reminiscent of the royal name "Prince Sea" for the chaos monster Yamm in the Baal Cycle. There are traces in the OT of thwm having a similar mythological role. It has been noted since Gunkel that thwm lacks a definite article in Genesis 1:2, which is thought to indicate that the word was once a proper name in the creation account. The quasi-personal nature of thwm is even more apparent in Genesis 49:25 and Deuteronomy 33:13 where we read of "the deep (thwm) that crouches beneath". The verb rbts "to crouch" employed here is usually used in reference to animals, including the mythical dragon in Ezekiel 29:3, "the great dragon (tnyn) that lies in the streams". So P's creation account appears to have demythologized the personal nature of thwm, as well as its conflict with God.

If the Enuma Elish was not the source of P's creation story, what was? John Day has interestingly proposed the great creation hymn of Psalm 104 as a source for P. We may note an identical order of creation mentioned in Genesis 1 and Psalm 104:

1. God shining light (Psalm 104:1; Genesis 1:3-5)
2. Creation of heaven and earth (Psalm 104:2-4; Genesis 1:1-5)
3. Waters pushed back (Psalm 104:5-9; Genesis 1:6-10)
4. Creation of vegetation (Psalm 104:14-18; Genesis 1:11-12)
5. Creation of luminaries (Psalm 104:19-23; Genesis 1:14-18)
6. Creation of sea creatures (Psalm 104:24-26; Genesis 1:20-22)
7. Creation of living creatures (Psalm 104:27-30; Genesis 1:24-31)
8. God finds joy/pleasure in what he made (Psalm 104:31; Genesis 1:31)

In addition, Day points to striking verbal connections between Psalm 104 and Genesis 1. The expression l-mw'dym "for seasons" is found in the OT only in Psalm 104:19 and Genesis 1:14, and both are mentioned in reference to luminaries. Similarly, chytw "beast" is found in Psalm 104:11-12 and Genesis 1:24, and is elsewhere restricted to poetry in the OT. This suggests at minimum that P is dependent on a poetic passage, and probably Psalm 104.

The greater mythological character of the psalm clearly establishes the direction of dependence. In Psalm 104:7 we actually have an allusion to the divine conflict with the sea, whereas in Genesis 1:6-7, God's control of the waters is merely work, and in Psalm 104:26 we encounter God's creation of Leviathan while Genesis 1:21 speaks in demythologized terms of "great sea monsters". The allusion to thwm "deep" in Genesis 1:2 can thus be traced to Psalm 104:6 which specifically refers to the waters by this name. In addition to the Chaoskampf allusion, we find other mythological motifs in Psalm 104: (1) Yahweh "stretching out the heavens like a tent" in v. 2 (cf. the Baal Cycle's description of heaven as like a "tent flap"), (2) Yahweh "building his palace on the waters above" in v. 3 (cf. the mythological building of Baal's palace at Mount Zaphon and El's palace at the meeting-place of the Double Deeps in the Baal Epic), (3) Yahweh described as riding on the clouds like a chariot in v. 3 (cf. Baal's stock epithet "Cloud Rider" in the Baal Epic), (4) the description of members of the divine assembly as "flames" (cf. KTU 1.2 I 30-35 in the Baal Epic), (5) the reference to the "foundations" of the earth in v. 5 (cf. common Semitic cosmology), (6) the divine "palace" being where the rivers flow to water creation in v. 13 (cf. KTU 1.100 R 1-5, where El's palace is "at the source of the rivers, at the confluence of the Double Deeps"), and so forth.

Yet we can still find remnants of mythological conception in Genesis 1. We have already explored the motif of division of the deep (thwm) and the name thwm. Another example is the expression rwch 'lhym in Genesis 1:2. This could mean either "spirit of God" or "wind of God" but significantly rwch 'lhym is the subject of the participle of rchp "to hover", and this verb is widely employed in biblical Hebrew and in Ugaritic texts to refer to birds (cf. Deuteronomy 32:11; KTU 1.18 IV 20-21, 31-32). In view of the probable dependence of Genesis 1 on Psalm 104, we may thus note Psalm 104:3: "You build your palace on the waters above, using the clouds as your chariot, you advance on the wings of the wind". A similar expression occurs in Psalm 18:10-11 (= 2 Samuel 22:11) which like Genesis 1:2 also alludes to the darkness and watery deep:

"He mounted a cherub and flew, and soared on the wings of the wind. Darkness he made a veil to surround him, his tent a watery darkness, dense cloud" (Psalm 18:10-11).

By describing Yahweh's coming on the wings of the "wind" (rwch), the psalmist is drawing on the same bird metaphor of the wind as Genesis 1:2. The underlying tradition to Genesis 1:2 thus appears to be one of God driving off the waters by his wind. This corresponds to Job 26:13 which directly mentions the conflict myth: "By his wind the heavens were made fair, his hand pierced the twisting serpent". Daniel 7:2 similarly mentions that "the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea" prior to the conflict with the sea-beast, and Genesis 8:1 describes God bringing an end to the Flood by "making a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided". This corresponds also to the wind of Baal as one of his weapons against Mot (KTU 1.5 V 7), and Marduk sending winds upon Tiamat, causing waves and "roiling Tiamat, churning day and night" (Enuma Elish, I 105-109).

Another famous mythological fragment is the first person plural in Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness". This is commonly regarded as an allusion to God's consultation with his divine council ("the sons of God"), a view found also in Targum Ps.-Jonathan and Philo of Alexandria who interpret the plural as referring to angels. The same thought is also found in Psalm 8:5 which claims that Yahweh created man "a little less than the gods ('lhym)", and Job 38:7 which declares that when Yahweh created the earth "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted with joy". As for the use of the plural, Isaiah 6:8 similarly has Yahweh asking "Who will go for us?" which alludes to the angelic seraphim.

Psalm 104, moreover, is commonly thought to be dependent in some way on the Egyptian "Great Hymn to the Aten" recorded on the west wall of the Tomb of Ay. It is not clear whether the Egyptian hymn was a direct source or indirectly influenced a more immediate source. The following are some well-known parallels between the two poems:

"When you set in the western lightland, earth is in darkness as if in death...Every lion comes from its den, all the serpents bite." (Great Hymn to the Aten, COS 1.28, 1-5)

"The sun knows when to set, you bring darkness on, night falls, all the forest animals come out; savage lions roaring for their prey." (Psalm 104:19-20)

"When you shine as Aten in the day, as you dispel the dark, as you cast your rays... the entire land sets out to work." (Great Hymn to the Aten, COS 1.28, 1-5)

"The sun rises, they retire, going back to lie down in their lairs, and man goes out to work, and labors until dusk" (Psalm 104:22-23)

"All beasts browse on their herbs; trees, herbs are sprouting, birds fly from their nests, their wings greeting your ka. All flocks frisk on their feet, all that fly up and alight" (Great Hymn to the Aten, COS 1.28, 5-10)

"You set springs gushing in ravines ... supplying water for wild animals, attracting the thirsty wild donkeys, near there the birds of the air make their nests and sing among the branches. From your palace you water the uplands until the ground has had all your heavens have to offer; you make fresh grass grow for cattle, and those plants made use of by man" (Psalm 104:10-14)

"Ships fare north, fare south as well, roads lie open when you rise; the fish in the river dart before you, your rays are the midst the sea" (Great Hymn to the Aten, COS 1.28, 5-10)

"Among them vast expanse of ocean, teeming with countless creatures....Ships go to and fro, and Leviathan whom you made to amuse you" (Psalm 104:24-26)

"Giver of breath, to nourish all that he made. When he comes from the womb to breathe, on the day of this birth, you open wide his mouth, you supply his needs.... How many are your deeds though hidden from sight.... All peoples, herds, and flocks; all upon the earth that walk on legs, all on high that fly on wings....Your rays nurse all fields, when you shine they live, they grow for you.... When you have dawned they live, when you set they die" (Great Hymn to the Aten, COS 1.28, 5-15)

"Yahweh, what variety you have created, arranging everything so wisely! Earth is completely full of things you have made....All creatures large and small... all creatures depend on you to feed them throughout the year, you provide the food they eat, with generous hand you satisfy their hunger. You turn your face away, they suffer, you stop their breath, they die and revert to dust. You give breath, fresh life begins, you keep renewing the world". (Psalm 104:24-29)

So Psalm 104 appears to adapt material relating to the creatorship of the Aten to Yahweh, combining it with traditional Canaanite material from the Chaoskampf conflict myth. Then P utilized Psalm 104 to construct a new narrative of creation, which today serves as the opening passage of the Bible.

But John Day mentions one other interesting thing: there appears to be a polemic against P's creation account in Deutero-Isaiah, especially in Isaiah 40-45. It appears to respond point-by-point against the claims made in Genesis 1. Genesis 1:26 implicitly alludes to the divine council whom God consulted in the creation of man, but Isaiah 40:13-14 rejects the idea that God consulted with anyone during creation. Isaiah 44:24 similarly has Yahweh declaring: "I am Yahweh, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, when I spread out the earth, who was with me?" Another feature of Genesis 1:26 that Deutero-Isaiah disputes is the notion that God has a physical image and that anyone could be described as having the likeness (dmwt) of God:

"To whom could you liken God? What image could you contrive of him" (Isaiah 40:18)

"To whom can you compare me, equate me, to whom claim I am similar, or comparable?" (Isaiah 46:5)

Genesis 1:2 claims that when God began creating the world, it was a "waste" (thw). But Isaiah 45:18 says that Yahweh "did not create it a waste (thw)". Genesis 1:2 also claims that "darkness" (chsk) preceded the creation while Isaiah 45:7 asserts that God created both chsk "darkness" and light. Most strikingly, Genesis 2:2-3 (P) descrbes Yahweh as growing tired and needing rest, while Isaiah 40:48 says that "Yahweh is an everlasting God, he created the boundaries of the earth, he does not grow tired or weary". The rhetorical question asked below is also polemical: "Was it not told you from the beginning (m-rs't, cf. b-rs't in Genesis 1:1)? Have you not understood how the earth was founded?" (Isaiah 40:21). Other verbal connections between P and Deutero-Isaiah include Isaiah 40:17, 23, 41:23, 44:9, 45:19 = Genesis 1:2, Isaiah 40:26 = Genesis 1:16, 2:1, etc. Deutero-Isaiah's theology departs from P's by stressing Yahweh's infinitude: consulting a divine council limits God's supremacy, having a likeness detracts from Yahweh's uniqueness (and opens the way for idolatry), viewing darkness as uncreated limits what could be considered as God's creation, and describing God as resting after working also limits God in human terms. P's creation account in Genesis 1 was thus not the first word on the matter, and also not the last in the OT.

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