Jewish Interpretations of Genesis

[IndigoChild5559]

I thought this thread specificially, explicitely asked for only Jewish answers. Did I misunderstand?

 

[Left Coast]

Left coast, you will get differnt answers depending on the Jew you talk to. Some will say that Genesis 1 is history, and others will say it si myth.

I'm in the group that believes Gen 1, and Gen 2-3 are creation myths. When I say myth, I don't mean they are lies. A myth is a very powerful genre of literature -- it uses a creation fiction to delve into pretty deep understandings of morality, God, and mankind. I always, always refer people to read Tolkiens "On Fairy Stories" -- you cna find the essay online. It will change your whole appreciation of myth.

Let's look at Gen 3, teh story of Adam and Eve and the serpent. Basically, I think that this is a kind of race memory.

At one point in our evolutionary history (most of it in fact) we were mere animals taht did not self reflect, and had no concept of morality. Does a cat think about that it is being immoral when it toys with its prey? No. And humanity for a long time was in that same frame of mind. We did not have a conscience yet. As unreflective animals, we lived in a kind of bliss of ingornance. We were part of nature. This is symbolized by Adam and Eve being in this primordial garden. We were in harmony with nature, with ourselves, with others, and with God.

But it was perhaps inevitable that a conseicne would evolve. The day came when our empathy and sense of justice conflicted with what our instincts wanted to do, creating an inner conflict. You can say that day is represented by Eve tasting the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That first time a human said, "I shouldn't" was a watershed moment. After that, human conscience was in conflict with instinct much of the time. The harmony had disappeared. Now we were fighting against nature, others, God, and ourselves most of all. That garden of blissful ignrance? Lost.

Anyhow, that is my personal take on it. I don't think I have ever met anyone else who puts it quite the same way.

Thanks for this. I'm wondering if you feel a similar way about Genesis 6-8? Is the flood story also myth rather than literal history, in your view?

 

[Left Coast]

I thought this thread specificially, explicitely asked for only Jewish answers. Did I misunderstand?

No, that's what I asked for.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Thanks for this. I'm wondering if you feel a similar way about Genesis 6-8? Is the flood story also myth rather than literal history, in your view?

Yes. I think scholars attribute the legend to a local flood that happened. And actually the sumerians have an earlier version of the story.

 

[Clara Tea]

I've noticed that the vast majority of creationists I've seen and heard and interacted with are Christians, and occasionally Muslims. Even more traditional, Orthodox Jews don't generally defend ideas of a young Earth or attack evolution and so on.

So I'm curious to learn from our Jewish members here how they interpret the first chapters of Genesis. How literally do you take them?

Were Adam and Eve literally the first two human beings, spontaneously created by God?

Was the universe and life on Earth created in 6 days?

Was there a literally global flood that covered the entire planet?

To be clear, I'm interested in hearing from people who practice Judaism, not Christians who happen to be Jews.

Science has recently proven, with DNA, that Neanderthals and Denisovans have mated with humans. Some have up to 1/6 Neanderthal DNA. Could it be that the nephilim (huge humanoid creatures mentioned in the bible) could be the Neanderthal or Denisovans? Who did Adam's kids mate with? Eve? Or were there other humanoids on earth? There are sites, in Israel, where early man and Neanderthals coexisted.

Scientists now know that relativity is right, and that means that time for us might not be time for someone else. Time slows at high speeds and in strong gravitational fields. So, 6 days for God might be 13.8 billion years for us. It would be interesting to see how fast God would have to be traveling to alter time in this way, or interesting to see how strong the gravitational field would have to be for God to be in a different time. I wonder if any physicists would like to compute this. It is possible that God was both in a strong gravitational field and going fast.

Surely, at the time that the universe was created, if God was standing somewhat nearby, he likely was in a strong gravitational field.

There is also the idea that time in the bible is misinterpreted. My friend recently told me that the so-called days might have been epochs or eras, which may have been billions of years long.

 

[Native]

Sorry, are you Jewish? Not ethnically, I mean religiously.

As a Comparative Mythologist, I really am naturally "multy religious" because I analyse and compare all cultural religions.

 

[Dropship]

Science has recently proven, with DNA, that Neanderthals and Denisovans have mated with humans...
...Time slows at high speeds and in strong gravitational fields. ..
...There is also the idea that time in the bible is misinterpreted. My friend recently told me that the so-called days might have been epochs or eras, which may have been billions of years long.

1: Yes-
“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4)

And the word "giant" probably referred not to physical giants but to intellectual giants whose genes and DNA gave a boost to the human race.
We could speculate that today's truthseekers and thinkers can trace their bloodline back to those ancient giants of old and are not afraid to stand tall..

2: Yes time is funny stuff, for examp in a TV science prog fronted by Stephen Hawking he said time runs slower for people standing near the Great Pyramid or any other massive object.
Perhaps the Egyptians somehow knew that and thought the decomposition of the Pharoah's body inside would be slowed.

3- Jesus said "this generation" will see the end of the world, and in context we could speculate that the word "generation" refers to the entire generation of humans since the Big Bang.

 

[Native]

And the word "giant" probably referred not to physical giants but to intellectual giants whose genes and DNA gave a boost to the human race.
We could speculate that today's truthseekers and thinkers can trace their bloodline back to those ancient giants of old and are not afraid to stand tall..

This is the "psychological interpretation" of the ancient myths. "Giants" represents in general "larger celestial scenarios" as for instants larger star constellations or the large figure of the Earth encircling Milky Way band as illustrated in my Mytho-cosmological website here at - Keys to unlock the doors of Milky Way Mythology

 

[Left Coast]

@Native
@Dropship
@Clara Tea
Anyone Else

I'm looking for the perspectives of Jews in this thread. Not syncretists, not Christians, not students of religion...practitioners of Judaism.

Please kindly bow out if that isn't you.

 

[metis]

I went to a Lubavitch seminar on the Creation accounts about 20 years ago, and one of the commentaries they put forth was that what we read in the Genesis accounts is the 7th and last creations by haShem with the previous ones only partially being destroyed.

 

[`mud]

I recede to that display of non-comparable comparables !

" time has no meaning ", the future is unknowable, the past is just memories.

`time` doesn't move......we do, no matter the format of one's `gods`

 

[IndigoChild5559]

All that above, was in Moses' mind at that time?

And he captured all that from a message from his new `God`, amazing ! He could look back a trillion years ! Astounding !

And then came Genesis, making `days` into `trillions`,
it's all about interpretation of the scriptures, isn't it ?

Not everyone who uses Genesis takes it literally, or even symbolically. There are those of us who understand Gen 1-3 as being creation myths. And a myth is a perfectly suitable genre of literature for a religious text. So its not as though you have to say, "well, each day was an age." You can understand that each day was simply one verse in a song with seven verses.

 

[metis]

There are those of us who understand Gen 1-3 as being creation myths.

Especially in light of the earlier and much more widespread Babylonian creation narratives.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Especially in light of the earlier and much more widespread Babylonian creation narratives.

And yet people assume we "reject" Genesis. They don't understand that we see value in myth.

 

[metis]

And yet people assume we "reject" Genesis. They don't understand that we see value in myth.

Are you familiar with Joseph Campbell's and Bill Moyer's "The Power of Myth"? My favorite line from Campbell that I periodically use here at RF is "...and the myth became the reality."

 

[`mud]

Amazing isn't it...the ability to disseminate the meaning of thoughts of the ancients.

Roll over Moses, another myth is doomed.

 

[Segev Moran]

I've noticed that the vast majority of creationists I've seen and heard and interacted with are Christians, and occasionally Muslims. Even more traditional, Orthodox Jews don't generally defend ideas of a young Earth or attack evolution and so on.

A big part of the Jewish belief is to adopt science.
Evolution does not contradict the bible. It is even hinted in the text.
Dinosaurs are not contradicting. These are also mentioned.
With the big bang, there are several similarities that will probably surprise many people.
The Jewish belief doesn't believe in young earth, rather young life. but this is also a bit more complex.

So I'm curious to learn from our Jewish members here how they interpret the first chapters of Genesis. How literally do you take them?

I Study them literally and "suggestively". This is a very hard and complex task.
"suggestively" is based on suggested meaning of a word (like head of the tribe, doesn't really mean a literal head)

If you want I can give you some examples.
The Jewish belief claims they must be taken literally, but not without the suggestive part of it as it can cause misinterpertation.

Were Adam and Eve literally the first two human beings, spontaneously created by God?

No.
That's not how it is written.
Adam is both Adam and Eve.
Later on, there is a split between male and female which only after that there is a literal separation of Adam and Eve.
The life "source" of Adam, and all other life forms, is Eve.
(That's far more complex than that).

Was the universe and life on Earth created in 6 days?

No. The word Yom doesn't mean 24 hours rather era. Later it is written that the word "Yom" was also "borrowed" to describe the time of day.
It describes the process was divided into 7 eras.

as there a literally global flood that covered the entire planet?

Sort of. It speaks of an event that eliminated the vast majority of life on earth. It included a kind of flood, rain, boiling water and stuff like that.

To be clear, I'm interested in hearing from people who practice Judaism, not Christians who happen to be Jews.

I don't practice Judaism, but I study it quite a lot. It is a very complex religion to learn.

 

[firedragon]

I vote no. Adam and Eve are the beginning of the lineage of the Jewish people.

Does that mean all the others, other than the Jewish race, were created separately and not through Adam and Eve?

Or is there something significant to your breaking of that sentence as "the beginning of the lineage of the Jewish people"?

Please clarify if you get some time.

 

[firedragon]

No. The word Yom doesn't mean 24 hours rather era.

But, the night time and daytime describes a 24 hour day and that's how genesis gives the days of creation. So the meaning of the word Yowm, though it can depict an era of course, is described and clarified in the verse itself with day and night.

 

[metis]

But, the night time and daytime describes a 24 hour day and that's how genesis gives the days of creation. So the meaning of the word Yowm, though it can depict an era of course, is described and clarified in the verse itself with day and night.

And to go along with this, "yom" must refer to actual days as on the 7th day it says that God rested, thus is the introduction of Shabbat even though it wasn't mandated until Moshe's time.