Lecture 1 Creation Myth_ The____ First Sin and Its Punishment(texts of Genesis 1-4)

Lecture 1 Creation Myth_ The____ First Sin and Its Punishment(texts of Genesis 1-4) A Survey of the Bible 1. The Bible: An anthology 2. The Authors of the Bible 3. The Two Parts of the Bible: The Old Testament & The New Testament OT——Judaism OT + NT,Christianity 4. The Original Languages of the Bible: OT: in Hebrew / NT: in Greek Lecture 1 Creation Myth, The First Sin and Its Punishment as Recorded in Genesis Chapter One Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath 21(In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 34Then God said, „Let there be light?; and there was light. And God saw that the light 5was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6 And God said, „Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the 7waters from the waters.? So God made the dome and separated the waters that were 8under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 1 9(And God said, „Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, 10and let the dry land appear.? And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, „Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit 12trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.? And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every 13kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14(And God said, „Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from 15the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.? And it was so. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light 17to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light 18upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from 19the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20(And God said, „Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds 21fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.? So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters 22swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, „Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let 23birds multiply on the earth.? And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24(And God said, „Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and 25creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.? And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 2 26(Then God said, „Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.? 27So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, „Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air 29and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.? God said, „See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with 30seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the 31breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.? And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 2 Another Account of the Creation 21.Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day 3from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. 4.These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In 5the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had 6not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— 3 7*then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his 8nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10.A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and 11becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows 12around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is 13good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it 14is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, „You may freely eat of every tree of the 17garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.? 18.Then the LORD God said, „It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make 19him a helper as his partner.? So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its 20name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he 22took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said, „This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.? 4 24Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they 25become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. Genesis 3 The First Sin and Its Punishment 1.Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, „Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the 2garden”?? The woman said to the serpent, „We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the 3garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of 4the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ? But the serpent said to the 5woman, „You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be *opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.? 6.So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and 7ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. 8.They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 910But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, „Where are you?? He said, „I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid 11myself.? He said, „Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree 12of which I commanded you not to eat?? The man said, „The woman whom you gave 13to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.? Then the LORD God said 5 to the woman, „What is this that you have done?? The woman said, „The serpent tricked me, and I ate.? 14The LORD God said to the serpent, „Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and 15dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. 6To the woman he said, „I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.? 17And to the man he said, „Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it”, cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the 19field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.? 2120.The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all who live. And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. 22.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 23eat, and live for ever?— therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of 24Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. 6 Genesis 4 Cain Murders Abel 1.Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, „I have 2produced a man with the help of the LORD.? Next she bore his brother Abel. Now 3Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time 4Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for 5Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was 6very angry, and his countenance fell. The LORD said to Cain, „Why are you angry, 7and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.? *8.Cain said to his brother Abel, „Let us go out to the field.? And when they were in 9the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, „Where is your brother Abel?? He said, „I do not know; am I my brother?s 10keeper?? And the LORD said, „What have you done? Listen; your brother?s blood is 11crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which 12has opened its mouth to receive your brother?s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.? 1314Cain said to the LORD, „My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.? 15Then the LORD said to him, „Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.? And the LORD put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him 16would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 7