Week 2: Genesis 2:4-2:25

 

 Week 2: Genesis 2:4-2:25

At A Glance:

Author: Moses or "J"

Form: Ancient Origin Story

Themes: Focus is on the people, Sexuality as gift from God, Intimate relationship between God and Humanity, Temple imagery

Summary:  In the first account of creation God creates the universe and everything in it the paricope culminates in the creation of humanity.  A somewhat reverse order happens in this second account of creation.  God creates humanity then creates everything else for him.  After creating Adam he prepares the Garden of Eden for him to "cultivate and care for it" (v15), God then declares that it is not good that man is alone, and proceeds to create all of the other animals, ending with the creation of woman through the use of Adam's rib.  Adam's declaration "This one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (v23) is the climax of this story as the two share unity with God in the Garden of Eden.   

Commentary:

2:4 - This is the introduction to the next section ending at 4:26 informing the reader that these sections are intended to be viewed together.  This section is sometimes called the Creation of Man and Woman and the Pre-flood Generations.

2:4b - "Lord God" literally: Yahweh Elohim The double divine title is used multiple times here, but less frequently in subsequent chapters.

2:5-6 - The paricope opens up with a desolate land mass without grass, or planted seed.  The focus is quickly turned from the land to the coming humanity when the author gives the reason why there is no grass or plants: "for there was no man to till the soil". 

2:7 - In the Hebrew there is a play on words that is lost in English.  God formed man (adam) from ground (adamah) Adam will be reminded of this origin and limit because of sin in chapter 3.  In modern philosophy there is a prevailing adherence to dualism, the idea that the spirit is something separate, different, and often opposed to the flesh.  It became popular through Rene Descartes, the philosopher who famously coined the phrase "I think therefore I am" relegating existence to the mind/consciousness rather than to the unity of spirit and body.  Dualism has been the source of many problems.  The dichotomy of body and spirit leads to a reduction of one and exultation of the other, but "in the beginning it was not so" (Mt 19:8).  Humanity was inanimate dust until God breaths the "breath of life" and we did not just become a hunk of living flesh, but a living "being" (literally: living "soul").  We are soul and body made for unity and eternity with God. 

2:8-14 - God creates the Garden of Eden and places it in the east.  The name Eden could be derived from a Sumerian word meaning "fertile plain" or perhaps a similar sounding Hebrew word that means "delight" the Garden is therefore fertile paradise full of life where God dwells.  Later in scripture both prophets and apostles use the Garden of Paradise as an image of our ultimate destiny with God in heaven.  The Garden itself is an image of the temple, the dwelling place of God.  Temple imagery surrounds the description of the Garden's location.  Scott Hahn in his Catholic Bible Dictionary does a comprehensive job of pointing out all the temple allusions coming from the garden:

"God is present in the Garden as in a temple....cherubim guard the Garden...they are seen later in the Temple...The Tree of Life stands at the Center of the Garden just as the oak, and later carved palm trees, decorated the interior of the sanctuary...the Garden was the source of sacred flowing waters much as prophets envision the Temple giving forth streams of living water...the garden was entered from the east, as was the Tabernacle and Temple."

2:15 - God takes man and places him in this "Temple Garden" and emphasizing the priesthood of Adam calls him to "cultivate" and "care" for it the same two Hebrew words are used in the Law when the priests and Levites in the tent of meeting are called to "minister" and "keep" it (Num 8:26 RSV). 

2:16-17 - This "order" from God pronounces the first condition and curse in the Bible and completes the language for the first covenant of 5 major covenants of the Old Testament.  This covenant is called the Adamic Covenant because Adam is the patriarch with whom God made the covenant.  Covenants are relational bonds uniting two parties in a familial way.  This covenant relationship began as God established humanity as his children in his image and likeness (Gn 1:26-27).  Although the word covenant is not used here there is a covenantal structure present: 

1.    There is a blessing (Gn 1:28).

2.    In verse 16-17 we read the condition in the covenant "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and bad." 

3.    The condition is followed by a curse "From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die."

4.    There is usually a corresponding sign of the covenant.  Most scholars consider the Sabbath rest (Gn 1:3) as the sign of the Adamic Covenant. 

5.    In the ancient world the two parties entering covenant would often seal the covenants with a sacrificial liturgy where the sacrifice of the animal would effectively show what would happen to the person who broke the covenant bond. 

6.    Finally we often find a communion meal where both parties share a meal as family through their new covenant bond (usually on the meat of the animal that was sacrificed). 

Here we see the blessing, the condition, and curse, as well as the sign, it could be argued that the "deep sleep" in v21 is the sacrifice of Adam for his bride and their marriage was the sign of the covenant rather than (or in addition to) the Sabbath rest.  There are many elements revealing the covenantal relationship between man and God.  In addition to the structure there is evidence from later writings that attest to the covenantal nature of this bond.  Later in Gn 6:18 God makes a covenant with Noah but the Hebrew word for covenant used there is "heqim" which is a word indicating maintenance or renewal of an existing covenant, rather than the typical Hebrew "karat" for the establishment of a covenant.  Hosea also attests to the Adamic covenant in 6:7 of his book: "Like Adam they transgressed the covenant."

2:18-20 - The first thing that God says is "not good" is the fact that man is alone.  He proceeds in a somewhat humors task of creating various animals and bringing them to the man but that the man finds all of them unfit as a partner.  On the surface it looks like God tries and fails to create someone good enough for the man, but if we look deeper we can find some profound realizations.  In light of modern human evolutionary theory there is the tendency to reduce humanity to a race of intelligent animals.  Here God shows Adam that he is not a mere animal, by bring all the animals to him God helps Adam come to the realization that he is something different than these. 

2:23 – The search for a “suitable partner” for the man has lead through the animal kingdom to this final pronouncement.  The first recorded words of man in all the scriptures: 

“The one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken”

There were no other words that could express the initial beauty Adam recognized in the bride God created for him.  Her identity as “suitable partner” was written in her body: “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”.  It is this realization that ushered in the second word play in this story she is called “woman” (“issa” in Hebrew) for out of her “man” (“male” or “is” in Hebrew).  This is the first use of male in the narrative indicating that it is only through the creation of the female where the sexuality of male and female exist.  The origin defines the reality. 

2:24 – The previous verses institution of male and female point to a communion of persons male and female that is explicit in this verse.  The author emphasizes that the sexual union between male and female is willed by God.

2:25 – Shame is a feeling that tells us that we are bad.  It is a tool of the devil to convince us that we are not worth love of another or love of God.  This is not to be confused with guilt for something done wrong.  Guilt tells us we did something bad, shame tries to convince us that we are bad.  Here the two are naked and unashamed they have the full realization of the worth and beauty of one another.  This original state of holiness is manifest in their bodily marital union established in the previous verse.  They are able to become free, total, faithful, and fruitful gifts to one another. They share a perfect love for each other in union with God who is love.

Final Thoughts:

            Upon writing this commentary I find myself merely scratching the surface of what these foundational verses of Scripture have to offer.  Much more could have been written and perhaps more should have been written, but by someone more qualified than I.  Reflecting on my own limitations in these verses fills me with a profound sense of awe.  How did the author create such a multifaceted, inexhaustible, yet concise story of creation that has led scholars throughout the ages to continually return to these verses to plunge their depths?  In only 22 verses the ancient author has me feeling like a baby struggling to learn his first words.  Before the birth of philosophy and long before the birth of psychology the author is able to express to me the meaning and purpose of my life.  It is as if the author holds the users-manual for life.  These few verses are a great example of the truth that Scripture has a human author who was inspired by a divine author and together they co-authored this rich tapestry. 

            The theme that strikes me as I read these verses anew is the theme of purpose.  God creates humanity in a state that the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls “Original Holiness” and “Original Justice” (CCC 375).  In the original state of our creation we can see the ultimate purpose of our lives, we are made for union with God, with each other, and with creation.  

            I have seen window stickers on cars that read simply “GF” which stands for “God first”.  I understand the sentiment, but according to the Scripture I think it’s lacking in a complete understanding.  God created humanity for union with him, we are living souls meant for eternity, immediately after creating us God places us in his holy temple paradise for communion (which is worship) and work.  God did not create us then ask us to remember to keep him as our first priority.  Rather he created us and enshrouded us in his divine life and from this place is where we begin our relationship with one another and creation.  Placing God as simply our first priority sets our relationship with God as something we do, when in reality it is something we are made to enter into and that relationship diffuses into our other relationships.  We are not made to merely put God first, we are made to live in the center of the divine life, in the fullness of love, and from that place order the rest of our lives.

            The second purpose is the climax of our reading: man’s union with woman.  The author stresses this union is participation the love that diffuses of itself.  Man is in the center of the divine love and seeks a “suitable partner” with which he can share the love that engulfs him.  I’m reminded of the desire of the newly married couple, whose love for one another is so great that they desire to share it with another life one that come from their flesh and bone, from their image and likeness.  This is why God says it is not good for man to be alone, we are made for love and by love yes, but we are also made to love.  Love does is communion.  Without that communion love is selfish and ceases being love.  God then creates the perfect union for man the woman in whom he is able to recognize his sexuality and ability to enter even more perfectly into the divine activity through reproduction.  In this capacity we offer the love of God from within us to our spouse in a bodily union for the purpose of diffusing our love with bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. 

            Finally our union with creation is an echo from the first chapter of Genesis where God calls humanity to have dominion over all creation. This dominion is defined in the second chapter as cultivation and care.   Our cultivation and care for creation is “the collaboration of man and woman with God in perfecting the visible creation” (CCC 378).  Sharing the fullness of God’s love is not limited to love with him and one another alone, but it is an unlimited love that spills into everything that God loves including the whole of creation that God says is “very good” (Gn 1:31). 

            This is the original covenant bond God made with us, it is a covenant made in love, for love, and to love.  It has one prohibition: refrain from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  In the ancient Hebrew world “to know” is experiential, and our knowing good and evil is an experience in both good and evil.  We are made for the experience of good, but as we shall see the experience of evil will kill us and break out covenant bond with God. 

Genesis 3:1-24 will see the end of this covenant and the downward spiral in the loss of love…