Creation And Chaos in the Primeval Era And the Eschaton

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ISBN: 9780802828040 | 0802828043
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 9/15/2006

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This significant volume is the first complete English translation of Hermann Gunkel's groundbreaking Schopfung und Chaos, originally published in German in 1895 - a classic work that has had a profound influence on modern biblical scholarship. Book jacket.

Foreword, by Peter Machinist

Translator's Preface

xxi

Transliteration

xxxvii

Introduction

xxxix

GENESIS 1: CREATION IN THE PRIMORDIAL AGE

1. Literature (Concerning the Babylonian Origin of Genesis 1)

(2)

2. Genesis 1 Is Not a Free Construction of the Author

(8)

The ancient features transmitted in Genesis

(5)

chaos,

(1)

the divine spirit,

(1)

darkness,

(1)

origin of plants,

(1)

stars,

(1)

the creation of humanity,

(2)

"good,"

(1)

the commandment concerning food,

(1)

the Sabbath,

(1)

show that Genesis 1 originates from ancient traditions. Some features (chaos, stars) point to the Babylonian origin of the tradition,

(2)

3. The Babylonian Cosmogony

(8)

Greek descriptions by Damascius,

(1)

and Berossus,

(1)

The cuneiform account, paraphrased and elucidated in its important features,

(2)

the ambiguity of the myth in its Babylonian form,

(2)

variants,

(2)

4. Allusions to the Myth of the Struggle of Marduk against Ti'amat in the Old Testament, apart from Genesis 1

(57)

I. The dragon traditions

(40)

Rahab,

(1)

Isa 51:6f.

(2)

Ps 89:10-14

(1)

Job 26:12f.

(1)

Job 9:13

(1)

Ps 87:4

(1)

Isa 30:7

(1)

Ps 40:5

(1)

Leviathan,

(1)

Ps 74:12-19

(3)

Isa 27:1

(2)

Job 40:25-41:26

(4)

Ps 104:25f.

(1)

Job 3:8

(2)

Behemoth,

(1)

Job 40:19-24

(1)

1 Enoch 60:7-9

(1)

4 Ezra 6:49-52

(2)

Isa 30:6

(1)

Ps 68:31

(1)

The Dragon in the Sea,

(1)

Job 7:12 (44); Ps 44:20

(1)

Ezek 29:3-6a; 32:2-7

(4)

Jer 51:34, 36, 42

(1)

Pss. Sol. 2:28b-34

(2)

The Serpent

(1)

Amos 9:2f.

(1)

(The examination continues on zooff.)

Compilation of the mythological materials discovered,

(4)

variants,

(2)

application,

(2)

II. The traditions of a primeval sea

(14)

The conquest of the sea in primeval times,

(1)

Ps 104:5-9; Job 38:8-11; Prov 8:22-31 Jer 5:22b; 31:5; Pss 33:6; 65:7f.; Sir 43:(25)23; Prayer of Manasseh 2-4

(4)

Isa 50:2b, 3

(1)

Applied to the end time or in reminiscences,

(1)

Psalm 46

(1)

Isa 17:12-14

(1)

Hab 3:8; Nah 1:4; Ps 18:16-18

(3)

Ps 93:3f.

(1)

Ps 77:17

(1)

Ps 106:9

(1)

Isa 59:15-20

(1)

Compilation

(1)

III. Comparison of the Old Testament dragon- and primeval sea-traditions with the Babylonian Ti'amat traditions

(3)

5. The Babylonian Origin of the Creation Account of Genesis 1, Its Character and the Time of Its Introduction into Israel

(37)

I. Babylonian origin of Genesis 1

(2)

II. Character of the recension of Genesis 1

(2)

III. Time and manner of the adoption of the myth

(33)

The material which was adopted during and after the exile,

(8)

[into Zechariah

(5)

into Ezekiel

(1)

Lilith, Shedim

(1)

Hélal ben Shahar etc.],

(3)

the character of Genesis 1 itself,

(1)

and the allusions in DeuteroIsaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah,

(2)

This all teaches that the myth was not adopted during the exile,

(1)

The assignation to prophetic times is just as impossible for the creation account as for the sagas of Paradise, Noah, Nimrod, and the Tower of Babel,

(4)

The creation myth entered into Canaan in ancient times,

(1)

Babylonian influence at that time,

100

(1)

antiquity of creation faith in Israel,

100

(2)

positive evidence,

102

(8)

Conclusion: Account of the migration of the Babylonian creation myth into Israel,

110

(5)

REVELATION 12: CREATION IN THE END TIME

1. Revelation 12 Is Not of Christian Origin.

115

(15)

The Christ of the chapter does not refer to Jesus,

115

(1)

The difficulty of this exegesis

116

(1)

the usual particulars

117

(2)

The woman cannot be understood in a Christian manner,

119

(1)

The person of the woman

119

(1)

her flight

119

(1)

The aim of the chapter cannot be understood by recourse to Christian composition,

120

(1)

Has a description of something bygone made its way into an apocalyptic setting?

121

(2)

application of the results to Revelation 12

123

(1)

The Christian pieces of the chapter,

124

(2)

Arguments from the arrangement of Revelation,

126

(1)

Rebuttal of the objections against a Jewish interpretation of the chapter,

127

(1)

The parallel tradition of y. Ber. 5, 1,

128

(1)

Hebraic composition of the chapter,

129

(1)

Results,

129

(1)

2. The Interpretation of Revelation 12 according to "Contemporaneous Exegesis"

130

(21)

Contemporaneous exegesis of Revelation,

130

(1)

methodology

130

(3)

contemporary exegesis comprises, in reality, two different exegetical methods

133

(1)

traditiohistorical exegesis

134

(2)

Some contemporary exegeses,

136

(1)

classification

136

(1)

the five classes:

(1) the two witnesses, the hellhole, 'Απomicronλλupsilonων (apollyon), the white stone, the tail of the serpent

136

(2)

(2) the cavalry, the grasshoppers, the frogs

138

(2)

(3) the martyrs, the refuge, the great multitude

140

(4)

the ανomicronμomiceonç (anomos) and the kappaατepsilonχων (katechon)

142

(2)

(4) the four riders, the seventh vision

144

(3)

(5) the sixth seal, etc.

147

(1)

appendix: concerning chapters 13 and 17

147

(4)

3. Revelation Is Not of Jewish Origin.

151

(30)

Negative evidence: the exegesis of the chapter from the Jewish standpoint is prudent

151

(12)

The method of this exegesis, the "linkage" method

151

(3)

Examples of this exegesis of chapter 12 - the travail, the casting down of the stars, the birth and flight of the Christ, the battle with the dragon, the flight of the woman

154

(5)

The organizing principles

159

(2)

The "fantastic" narratives of the apocalyptists

161

(2)

Results

163

(1)

Positive evidence: the chapter is the codification of a tradition

163

(11)

Evidence from the nature of the chapter

163

(1)

method of perceiving a tradition

163

(2)

instances where the continuity of chapter 12 is broken

165

(2)

insubstantial and substantial themes in juxtaposition

167

(2)

Armageddon

169

(2)

three and a half

171

(3)

Positive evidence, continuation: this tradition is of extra-Judaic descent

174

(7)

The original form of this tradition is of a mythological nature

174

(3)

The Jewish pieces of the chapter are interpretive appendages

177

(4)

4. Babylonian Material in Later Judaism

181

(58)

Revelation 12 is not of Greek descent

181

(2)

The materials in Revelation 12 which are related to materials elsewhere in Revelation, as well as in Enoch, Daniel, and Zechariah, stem from extra-Judaic, oriental religion

183

(5)

Babylonian materials in Judaism

188

(26)

The seven spirits

188

(5)

the 24 presbyters

193

(4)

the 12 angels of the zodiac, the seven levels of hell

197

(1)

Esther = Ishtar

197

(4)

Leviathan and Behemoth

201

(2)

the dream of Mordecai in the Add Esth 1:4-10

203

(1)

the dragon of Babylon

204

(1)

Daniel 7

205

(1)

its interpretation

205

(1)

its objective

206

(2)

the vision is an allegorizing tradition

208

(1)

this tradition is the chaos myth

208

(2)

reconstruction of the tradition

210

(3)

the relationship of the author to the tradition

213

(1)

Revelation 13 and 17

214

(25)

Relationship of the chapters to each other and to chapter 12

214

(1)

The chapters illustrate different recensions of the same tradition

214

(1)

Relationship of chapter 13 to chapter 12

215

(2)

Reconstruction of This Tradition

217

(22)

This tradition has not been radically affected by contemporary history

217

(2)

Separation of the tradition and contemporary materials in chapter 17

219

(2)

Separation of the tradition and contemporary materials in chapter 13

221

(5)

The lineage of the tradition

226

(1)

Not with Christianity or Judaism

226

(1)

Kinship with Daniel 7

227

(1)

And with Babylonian/Old Testament chaos tradition

228

(1)

indicating Babylonian origin

The otherwise undocumented themes of the tradition

230

(1)

The individuality of the chapters

231

(1)

The transference of the primal myth to the eschaton

231

(1)

The Jewish interpretation of chaos as Rome

234

(1)

The mystery of the beast of chapter 17 and of the number 666

236

(3)

5. The Tradition of Revelation 12 Is of Babylonian Origin.

239

(14)

Evidence from the relationship with Revelation 13 and 17

239

(1)

with Daniel 7

239

(1)

and with the Babylonian/Old Testament chaos tradition

240

(1)

The otherwise undocumented themes

241

(2)

The material of Revelation 12 as a Babylonian myth

243

(3)

Interpretation of the myth by Judaism

246

(4)

and by Christianity

250

(1)

Conclusion: Review

250

APPENDICES

I. The Babylonian Creation Epic

253

(17)

II. The Second Babylonian Recension of the Ti'amat-Marduk Battle

270

(2)

III. The Second Babylonian Recension of the Creation

272

(2)

IV. The Adapa Myth

274

(4)

V. The Flood

278

(6)

Notes

284

(100)

Bibliography

384

(21)

Index of Persons Cited

405

(7)

General/Topical Index

412

(17)

Index of Ancient Documents Cited

429

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Creation And Chaos in the Primeval Era And the Eschaton

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

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Creation And Chaos in the Primeval Era And the Eschaton

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

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