5 Introduction: Genesis Creation Narrative and the Bible in English

The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth^[a] of both Judaism and Christianity.^[1] The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word for God) creates the heavens and the Earth in six days, then rests on, blesses, and sanctifies the seventh (i.e. the Biblical Sabbath). In the second story God (now referred to by the personal name Yahweh) creates Adam, the first man, from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden. There he is given dominion over the animals. Eve, the first woman, is created from Adam’s rib as his companion.

The Hebrew creation narrative borrowed themes from Mesopotamian mythology, but adapted them to their unique belief in one God.^[2] The first major comprehensive draft of the Pentateuch (the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy) is thought to have been composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BCE (the Jahwist source) and was later expanded by other authors (the Priestly source) into a work very like Genesis as known today.^[3] The two sources can be identified in the creation narrative: Priestly and Jahwistic.^[4] The combined narrative is a critique of the Mesopotamian theology of creation: Genesis affirms monotheism and denies polytheism.^[5] Robert Alter described the combined narrative as “compelling in its archetypal character, its adaptation of myth to monotheistic ends”.^[6]

Scholarly writings frequently refer to Genesis as myth, for while the author of Genesis 1–11 “demythologised” his narrative by removing the Babylonian myths and those elements which did not fit with his own faith, it remains a myth in the sense of being a story of origins.^[7]

Source: Genesis Creation Narrative, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_creation_narrative, date accessed 11 January 2023.

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“Judeo-Christian Creation Narrative”

Long before its arrival in America, the Bible in English (known as the vernacular Bible) had a long and complicated history. The Catholic church believed scripture was intended for the clergy who then communicated it to the people, for centuries, therefore, the Bible was available only in Latin. In England, vernacular translation became associated with those advocating reformation of Church and State, and, as a result, translating the Bible into English was an act of heresy in England until 1539.

The first English translation was never completed; William Tynsdale produced a New Testament in 1526 and finished parts of the Old Testament [Hebrew Bible] before he was arrested by church authorities un 1535 and jailed for over a year. He was tried for heresy, strangled, and burnt at the stake in 1536 for producing a Bible in the English language.

Within a few years, however, several translations of the Bible appeared in English, all of them based on Tyndale’s work. The two most famous translations of the Bible are the Geneva Bible and the King James Version. The complete Geneva Bible was first published in 1560. Heavily annotated with Puritan or Calvinist notes, this version was condemned by the reigning monarch of England. In fact, the King James Version of the Bible was commissioned by James I in part as a response to the Geneva Bible; this version, which was produced by a committee of forty-seven theologians of the Church of England from 1604 to 1611, is widely considered a masterwork of the English language. The selection included here is from Genesis, and recounts [what is often referred to as] the Judeo-Christian creation narrative.

Source: Cain, William E., et. al. eds. “The Judeo-Christian Creation Narrative.” American Literature, Volume 1. Pearson, 2014, pp. 18.

Additional online resources:

“Born Out of Persecution: History of the Early English Printed Bible,” The Biblical Heritage Gallery, Cedarville University. https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/exhibit/born-out-of-persecution/. Date accessed 11 January 2023.

“Earliest American Bibles,” Houston Christian University, https://hc.edu/museums/dunham-bible-museum/tour-of-the-museum/bible-in-america/earliest-american-bibles/. Date accessed 11 January 2023.