NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible CBSB_Digital Sampler | Page 10
8 | Genesis 2:1
GENESIS 1:26
T
Image and Likeness
hroughout the ancient Near East, an image was believed to contain the essence
of that which it represented. That essence equipped the image to carry out its
function. In Egyptian literature, there is one occurrence of people in general hav-
ing been created in the image of deity, but it is generally the king who is spoken of in
such terms. The image is the source of his power and prerogative.
In Mesopotamia there are three categories of significance. (1) As in Egypt, the king
is occasionally described as being in the image of deity. (2) An idol contained the
image of the deity. (3) Monuments featuring the image of a king were set up in terri-
tories he had conquered. In an image, it was not physical likeness that was important,
but a more abstract, idealized representation of identity relating to the office/role and
the value connected to the image. When Assyrian king Esarhaddon is referred to as
“the perfect likeness of the god,” it is his qualities and his attributes that are under
discussion. The image of the god did the god’s work on the earth.
The Biblical view is similar as people were created in the image of God, embody-
ing his qualities and doing his work. They are symbols of his presence and act on his
behalf as his representatives. The two words used in the text differ in nuance. “Image”
refers to the something that contains the “essence” of something else, while “likeness”
is more connected to “substance,” expressing a resemblance at some level. ◆
ens and the e arth
2 were Thus com the plet heav
ed in all t heir vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished
the work he had been doing; so on
the seventh day he rested from all his
work. f 3 Then God blessed the seventh
day and made it holy, g because on it
he rested from all the work of creat
ing that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the ac
count of the heavens and
the e arth when they were created, when the
L ord God made the earth and the heavens.
2:2 f Ex 20:11;
31:17; Heb 4:4*
2:3 g Lev 23:3;
Isa 58:13
2:5 h Ge 1:11
i Ps 65:9‑10
2:7 j Ge 3:19
k Ps 103:14
l Job 33:4
m Ac 17:25
n 1Co 15:45*
2:5 no plant. The description of an inchoate condition on
the earth is paralleled in part by descriptions of a prime-
val condition in some ancient Near Eastern texts. Unlike
Genesis, these texts consider the primeval condition of
humans to be primitive and uncivilized. Like the ancient
Near East, however, Genesis begins with a time when no
irrigation or planting strategies were being carried out
by people. In the ancient Near East this resulted in no
offerings for the gods. In Genesis God plants the garden
and puts people in it. The similarities show the common
idea that creation accounts proceed from an unordered,
nonfunctional beginning through an ordering process. It
does not mean that God had not yet produced any plants.
2:7 formed a man from the dust. The creation of humans
from dust is similar to what is found in ancient Near East-
ern mythology. In Mesopotamia, physical elements from
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the
earth a and no plant had yet sprung up, h
for the L ord God had not sent rain on the
earth i and t here was no one to work the
ground, 6 but streams b came up from the
earth and watered the w
hole surface of
the ground. 7 Then the L ord God formed
a man c from the dust j of the ground k and
breathed into his nostrils the b
reath l of
life, m and the man became a living be
ing. n
a 5 Or land ;
also in verse 6 b 6 Or mist c 7 The
Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related
to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) ; it is also the name
Adam (see verse 20).
the gods such as blood and flesh are mixed with clay,
while in Egypt it is tears or breath. Genesis, by contrast,
represents the divine element in human beings as seen in
the image of God and the breath of life (closer to Egyptian
than Mesopotamian thinking).
In the rest of the ancient Near East the creation of peo-
ple focuses on archetypal and often corporate elements.
Ge 1:26 – 27 could be viewed as corporate and generic
rather than individual. Here in ch. 2 there are archetypal
elements that are identifiable. Man is made from the
dust, and since he will also return to dust (3:19), all people
can be seen as created from the dust (see Ps 103:14). The
creation of Eve from Adam’s side (Ge 2:21 – 23) likewise
expresses a relationship between man and woman that
permeates the race. In these Adam and Eve are arche-
types representing all of humanity in their creation, just