Mesopotamian Vs Babylonian Mythology Essay

The differences mainly revolve around the theme of forgiveness and blame. In the Judo-Christian version of the Adam and Eve story, many tend to blame Eve for deceiving Adam into eating the forbidden fruit. For deceiving Adam, Eve is given the harsh curse of having to bare children due to disobeying God’s word. However, in the Quran, Hawa does not deceive Adam into eating the apple. Satan interacts with Adam instead of Hawa in the Quran and rather than Hawa eating the fruit first then later giving it to Adam, it is assumed that they both ate the forbidden fruit together. Thus, these texts show translations and version of which might be the same story. It is not explicitly stated that the Mesopotamian literature is a concrete representation
of the biblical story of Adam and Eve.
However, the texts show various similarities and due to the Mesopotamian texts being more ancient than the biblical texts, the Sumerian and Babylonian mythological literature may have influenced the story of Adam and Eve that is later written in the
Book of Genesis. Although different interpretations of the text have been discussed, the redaction of the text will also be discussed in the following paragraph. Before discussing the redacted versions of the text, it is important to understand how the Pentateuch was formed and by whom was it written. According to Wellhausen’s documentary hypothesis, the “Pentateuch may appear to the average reader to be a unity, it is actually a compilation of at least four major literary sources” (King 24). The four sources include the Yahwist source (J), the Elohist source (E), the Deuteronomic source (D) and lastly the Priestly source (P). There are various similarities and differences among the four sources and for the analysis of the Creation story, the J source and E source will be used. To give a brief description of the J and E source, the J source was written before the E source around 900 to 850 BCE by an anonymous author in the Southern kingdom. While the E source was also written by an anonymous author, it was written later around 750 BCE in the Northern Kingdom. One of the main differences among both sources is the J source of the Pentateuch begins with the creation story while the E source begins with patriarchs. Around 700-650 BCE, “J and E were joined by a redactor, making JE” (King 24), which was a major change for the formation of the Pentateuch. One of the differences among the J and E source is the Yahwists refer to the Lord as Yahweh, while the Elohists refer to the God as Elohim. In Genesis 1, God is continuously referred to as Elohim. However, in Genesis 2:4, he is called Yahweh-Elohim, meaning Lord-God. The difference between the terms Elohim and Yaweh is Elohim refers to the general name of God as a creator, while Yahweh is the personal name of God, who has a relationship with his people (King 25). Thus, it is Yahweh who creates mankind. In the first creation story, the 27th verse of the first chapter demonstrates that “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” (Gen. 1.27). This verse in the E redaction demonstrates that God created both man and woman from his image. In the J source, man and woman are created separately. The woman, Eve is created through Adam, rather than directly from Lord-God’s image. This is stated in the 22nd verse of the 2nd chapter where “the rib, which the LORD God had taken from the man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Gen. 2.22). The word ishah is used for the woman which may be because the word ish in Hebrew means man (Irons and Mock 24). However, once the Garden of Eden is complete, she is named Hawwah. Hawwah is similar to the name used for Eve in the Quran. The meaning of hawwah is living, but the root of the word could also mean snake. (Irons and Mock 24). Adam’s name may also have purposely be given by god since the word adama means ground. In Genesis 2, it is stated that God formed man from the dust that was on the ground. Thus, this could be the reasoning behind the name Adam.
Thus, this demonstrates the names may have been chosen carefully by God to represent a deeper meaning. Thus, the redactions of the Creation story show the specific verses and words that were changed through the J and E source. The last methodological step that will be used for the Creation story is genre. There are several biblical genres which certain biblical books fall under. The Book of Genesis would be considered in the genre of historical narrative. According to Fee and Stuart, “[n]arratives are stories—purposeful stories retelling the historical events of the past that are intended to give meaning and direction for a given people in the present” (90). The beginning of the Genesis is a story about how the world was created by God. Historical narratives describe past events to the reader using characters, plot and plot resolution. In the creation story, God would be the protagonist, the serpent would be the antagonist and lastly, Adam and Eve would be the agonists who were torn between the conflict created by the serpent. The plot, as previously discussed revolves around God’s creation and God’s creation of man in his image. However, Satan
disrupts this by having Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. The plot resolution would be for Adam and Eve’s descendants to repent their sins. Unlike other biblical genres, the purpose of the historical narrative is not to teach lessons regarding moral behaviour (Fee and Stuart 92). Instead, historical narratives are used to show the readers the past events that have occurred and “to tell what God in the past history of Israel” (92). In conclusion, the analysis of the creation narrative from the Genesis demonstrates the various texts which may have influenced the biblical creation story, or it can be interpreted as the same story. Some of these texts include the Sumerian Paradise, the Adapa Myth and a version of Adam and Eve story in the Quran. The redactions of the Yahwist and Eloist source demonstrate how specific verses or words may have a deeper meaning and have been added or changed throughout time. Lastly, the biblical genre of historical narrative is used in the Genesis to show the readers the past events that have occurred in a story form. The story of Adam and Eve is in present day seen as a piece of literature that is of great importance. They are still viewed as the first man and woman who were created by God, and also gives readers input into several factors such as curiosity, deception and punishment that are still present in human life