The Polemical Nature of the Biblical Creation Narrative

The crutch of understanding any piece of literature is first comprehending what the author intended the original audience to understand. In the case of Genesis 1, the original Mosaic intent was not to copy contemporary creation accounts in order to propagate a theology, but rather to systematically destroy the theologies behind the contemporary creation myths by presenting the standing deities in non-idealistic fashions; Moses’ plan was to undermine any roadblocks that may cause the original audience to stumble back into paganism.

Presupposing both a Mosaic authorship and an early dating of the book of Genesis, the original audience should be interpreted as those who came out of Egypt.

Polemics in Scripture

The idea of polemics within Scripture is not an abnormal concept. In fact, many scholars agree that the intent of the ten plagues on Egypt were polemical in nature (cf. Shemesh 2016: 339), and even within the biblical text itself Yahweh’s devastation of Egypt is to be seen as evidence of who the true deity is (Exodus 7:5). Thus Yahweh deposes the pantheon of Egyptian gods so that the children of Israel would both know and acknowledge Yahweh as the one, true God.

This concept, the impotence of the pagan deities, is a major polemic in many parts of Scripture. The gods appear powerless from being stolen when Rachel carried away Laban’s idols; Gideon destroys the altar of Ba’al while Joash taunts that Ba’al can do something about it if he can; Elijah mockingly proclaims to the prophets of Ba’al that the god must be sleeping (Block 2004: 70). One major theme and purpose of the Scriptures is to teach that Yahweh alone is God – Creator, Sustainer, and Deliverer. In fact, Isaiah 45:6, 2 Samuel 7:22, and even 1 Timothy 2:5 all act as a polemic against the pagan deities.

One could argue that all of Scripture is in fact a polemic against human nature, in whatever form it is realized. Moses intended his original audience to understand that the Deliverer is the only true God; the chronicler intended his audience to believe the same. Even the prophets contained polemics in that they wanted the children of Israel to know that even though the world is full of gloom that God was still in charge and was ready to bring them back. Beyond the Old Testament, the entire New Testament is a sort of polemic against pharisaical Judaism, which denied the Old Testament concepts of devotion and a relationship between Yahweh and His people and replaced that with a judicial and works based theology.

Ancient Creation Myths

It should be pointed out that all literature serves a purpose, whether ancient or modern. Modern histories are written in a purposefully biased manner. The historian writing the work has chosen the particular events that he or she feels are important to the reader. The points that the author intends to make may emphasize military clashes or civilian emporia, ruling class drama or popular struggles, or they may be more specific concerning whatever field to which the author belongs.

The same is true of ancient literature. Herodotus, in The Histories, only chose to add events that pertained to his wider purpose, ignoring aspects of history that did not serve that purpose, which was to explain the Greek’s rather unlikely victory over the Persians. The plays of Sophocles should be understood within the framework of not only their differing themes, symbols, and motifs but within the backdrop of the Greek theater, specifically in the worship of Dionysus.

The story one writes, whether history or myth, very often serves two purposes: to explain where a people have come from (Debrah 2020: 2) and to explain how to maintain the status quo (Friesen 2004: 286). Understanding one’s past can affirm one’s existence and one’s way of life, including the transferring of societal norms (Debrah 2020: 2). These societal norms, then, explain how the status quo may be preserved, whether through moral codes or the perpetuation of shared standards. A comparative example may be that of any standard American history textbook where the founding principles of liberty and true justice are immortalized in these continued fundamentals.

Chaos Monster and Sun God

The book of Genesis, also, is a literary and historical book, and Moses, the author of the book, was more than likely aware of competing views concerning the creation of the world; he was, after all, schooled and trained in the royal house of Egypt. However one understands Genesis, it is evident that the original audience was familiar with both Egyptian and, at least, would soon be familiar with Canaanite rituals and beliefs, which would include competing views of cosmology.

One such competing view is that of the infamous Enuma Elish, an ancient Babylonian myth centered on Marduk as creator of mankind for the service of the gods. The epic features a cosmic conflict between leading deities and explains how Marduk, the storm god, killed the monstrous mother goddess of the primordial sea, Tiamat. From her carcass, Marduk creates the universe, and from the blood of Tiamat’s co-conspirator, Kingu, he creates humanity (Arnold and Beyer 2002: 31), ultimately taking the throne as chief among the deities. The story itself dates to somewhere between the 18th and the 12th century B.C., therefore possibly being well known throughout the Near East during the time of Moses.

In Canaan is found a similar story in the Ba‘al Cycle, which was committed to writing in the first half of the fourteenth century B.C. and likely circulated as oral tradition long before. In the story, Ba’al, the storm god, defeats Yam, the sea god, and Mot, the god of the underworld, in order to succeed El as the chief deity. By defeating Yam and Mot, Ba‘al is able to establish his palace which some believe refers to the establishment of the cosmos, or at least the establishment of humanity’s dwelling place (Smith 1994: 77).

Interregional trade made cultural contact between the southern Levant and Egypt typical for the period, and with the discovery of the Amarna Letters, letters from Canaanite kings attempting to persuade Egypt to help defend Egypt’s interests in Canaan and dating shortly after the Exodus event, literary contact is understood to be normal as well. Cultural and literary contact between Egyptian and southern Levantine peoples necessarily includes the communication of ideals, including religious concepts. Thus, Canaanite mythology surely had reached the ears of Moses and likely reached the ears of the Israelites as well, and as Israel was in Egypt at a time when Asiatics ruled the kingdom, this is almost certain.

Besides these, there are numerous Egyptian and Mesopotamian myths concerning the creation of the world. One would stand to reason that if Moses was to make a claim so great that not only the gods of Egypt, which were already bested, but also the gods of Canaan and the rest of the world are no more than idols of stone and wood (cf. Deuteronomy 4:28), then he must begin his story from the beginning presenting the Israelites with evidence of such.

Genesis 1 Polemics

The question at hand is not the question of whether Moses’ intention was polemical, but what within his writing was meant to be specifically polemical against the alternative creation accounts. The first thing one would notice when comparing the alternative accounts with the biblical account of creation is the separating of the waters in order to create the heavens. Genesis 1:6 states the following:

God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.”

Several extra-biblical texts record similar beginnings for the earth. The Sumerians believed that the primordial sea originally bound the universe together, but then Enlil, the air or wind god, moved in the middle of the universe (Kramer 1991: 113) and separated the heavens from the earth (Hasel 1974: 87), making all life possible (Kramer 1955: 6).

The Babylonians, as noted above, describe in the Enuma Elish epic that Marduk created the heavens and the earth from the dead body of the slain Tiamat, the primordial sea. Tiamat, who birthed the gods, reigned unsubdued and suppressed her children, that is until the brave, young champion Marduk steps in to slay her (Hasel 1974: 83).

Other myths continue the concept of separation, whether it be with a cutting tool, as per the Hittites, the splitting of a cosmic egg, as per the Phoenicians, or the separating of embracing deities, as per the Egyptians (Hasel 1974: 87), each describing the struggle that the gods went through in order to bring about the world in which these cultures lived and maintained.

The differences between these alternative cosmogonies and that of the biblical record all converge at one point, the lack of struggle. Whereas Marduk fought a battle, Yahweh simply spoke. The creation by Yahweh is seen as a simple event with little to no effort on Yahweh’s part.

Biblical creation at all points contradicts the alternative texts in that according to Genesis, everything was created by the word of God. Whereas in each of the alternative accounts multiple deities argued or fought over the chiefdom of creation and position of creator, in the biblical record we find no struggle, no fighting and squabbling between lesser deities – all that is was created by the all supreme authority of the one true God, and this through nothing more than the spoken word. Moses explains that the one true God not only avoids the infected human nature of selfishness, but also rules effortlessly with no antagonist strong enough to resist His will.

Another interesting contradistinction between the alternative texts and the biblical record is the creation of the luminaries. While the alternative texts list a myriad of starry deities, including the major Sumerian moon-god Nanna and the lesser sun-god Utu, the Hittite chief of deities the sun-goddess Arinna, etc., Moses merely mentions the creation of the major luminaries as a ‘greater light’ and ‘lesser light’ respectively. Likely in order to avoid the idea that Yahweh was merely a chief God among other gods, particularly the Canaanite sun and moon gods whose names are at times the same as the common Semitic terms (Hasel 1974: 89).

Additionally, Moses argues that Yahweh placed stars and constellations in their positions. In other cosmogonies, humanity is created to be servants of the gods whose likeness can be seen in the night sky. In Genesis, God created the stars and constellations to serve humanity.

In a world in which petty deities fight amongst themselves, Yahweh stands in contradiction to all the rest. He freed the original audience from a life of slavery, but will He always be there? Moses is in a very difficult position; His task was to change the mindset of a people who as slaves never really had the opportunity of thinking for themselves. Not only must he teach them of the one true God, but he must also free his people from the radical ideological prisons of wood and stone idols having authority over them.

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[This is a lecture written for the course 'HIST 262: History of the Ancient Near East,' taught Fall 2024 at God's Bible School and College, a regionally accredited College in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bibliographical material will be posted under Research on this site.]