Description
Book SynopsisBernard F. Batto spent the bulk of his career examining the ancient Near Eastern context of the Hebrew Bible, with particular interest in the influence of the surrounding cultures on the biblical creation stories. This collection gathers six of his most important previously published essays and adds two new contributions. Among the essays, Batto identifies various creation motifs prevalent in the ancient Near East and investigates the reflexes of these motifs in Genesis 1–11 and other biblical accounts of the primeval period. He demonstrates how the biblical writers adapted and responded to the creation ideas of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ugarit, and elsewhere.
The articles in the volume were written as independent essays. Nevertheless, they are united by theme. Throughout, Batto makes clear his understanding of the Hebrew Bible as a patently unique text, yet one that cannot possibly be understood independent of greater cultural sphere in which it developed. In the Beginning will serve as an indispensable resource for those interested in both the biblical ideas of creation and the mythology of the ancient Near East that influenced them.
Table of ContentsThe Ancient Near Eastern Context of the Hebrew Ideas of Creation
1. Introduction
2. Egyptian Ideas of Creation
3. Mesopotamian Ideas of Creation
4. Canaanite Ideas of Creation
5. Hebrew Ideas of Creation
Paradise Reexamined
1. Was a Paradise Motif Known in Mesopotamia?
2. Is There a Paradise Motif in Genesis?
The Institution of Marriage in Genesis 2 and in Atrahasis
1. The Institution of Marriage in Atrahasis
2. Implications for Genesis 2:23–24
The Divine Sovereign: The Image of God in the Priestly Creation Account
1. Divine Sovereignty in the Ancient Near East
2. Yahweh’s Kingship in the Hebrew Bible
3. The Image of the Deity in the Priestly Creation Story
The Sleeping God: An Ancient Near Eastern Motif of Divine Sovereignty
1. The Motif within Its Ancient Near Eastern Setting
2. Biblical Appropriations of the Motif of Sleeping Deity
The Reed Sea: Requiescat in Pace
The Covenant of Peace: A Neglected Ancient Near Eastern Motif
1. The Biblical Covenant of Peace
2. Primeval Pattern A
3. Primeval Pattern B
4. The Motif of Planting Peace
The Malevolent Deity in Mesopotamian Myth
1. Introduction
2. Gods Proper Who on Occasion Act as Malevolent Deities
3. The Chaos Monster Tradition
4. Marduk: The Inscrutable Divine Sovereign
Indexes
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
