David T. Tsumura<\/b><\/p>\n
This is the third in a series of articles on the relationship between the early chapters of Genesis and the creation and flood stories from ancient Mesopotamia.\u2014Ed<\/i>.<\/p>\n
David T. Tsumura is Professor of Old Testament at Japan Bible Seminary, Tokyo. He is author of The Earth and the Waters in Genesis 1 and 2: A Linguistic Investigation (1989), as well as numerous articles on the Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages.<\/p>\n
Flood<\/b><\/p>\n
Creation and Flood<\/b><\/p>\n
Until recently, the Creation<\/i> and the Flood<\/i> have often been treated as separate units. One of the reasons for this may be that initially discovered ancient Mesopotamian documents provided either a Creation myth without the Flood story (\u201cEnuma elish\u201d and others) or the Flood story without a Creation motif (\u201cGilgamesh Epic,\u201d tablet XI), all in seventh-century neo-Assyrian copies from the Nineveh of Ashurbanipal\u2019s time.1 Therefore, scholars were busy comparing Genesis 1 with \u201cEnuma elish,\u201d and Genesis 6\u20138 with \u201cGilgamesh\u201d XI, without integrating these two sections of Genesis.<\/p>\n
However, we now have some evidence that the \u201ccontinuous narrative of the first era of human existence\u201d in the ancient Near East covered both the Creation and the Flood, as Millard (1994: 116) and others have noted. For example, the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic\u201d from the Old Babylonian Period (ca. 1630 BC), which Lambert and Millard presented in 1969 in a thorough study, with the text and its translation,2 covers the history of man from his creation to the Flood. This history was widely known in ancient Mesopotamia, and a similar tradition with the same overall structure was known in the early second millennium BC.<\/p>\n
Recently Jacobsen suggested the existence of a Sumerian version of such a tradition. According to him, the Sumerian Deluge Tablet from Nippur, <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 69<\/p>\n
which gives not only an account of the Flood but also a list of five cities before the Flood like those in the Sumerian King List,3 may be combined with another Sumerian fragment from Ur and a later bilingual fragment from Nineveh. This combined text, which he names the \u201cEridu Genesis\u201d (1994: 129\u201330),4 comprises: (1) the creation of man, (2) the institution of kingship, (3) the founding of the first cities and (4) the great Flood. While Jacobsen\u2019s reconstruction of two Sumerian fragmentary texts (ca. 1600 BC) and one Sumerian-Akkadian bilingual fragment (ca. 600 BC) from three different places remains hypothetical, it seems that an overall tradition linking Creation, early kings, and the Flood existed in Babylonia from early times (Millard 1994:125).<\/p>\n
Comparative Approach<\/i><\/b>. Biblical scholars have accepted the view that a similar tradition, which links Creation and the Flood, is also reflected in the overall literary structure of Genesis 1\u201311. Coats, following Clark, notes that in the Sumerian King List and the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic,\u201d<\/p>\n
various narrative elements are set together in something of the same series as the OT primeval saga (1983: 38).<\/p>\n
According to Clark,<\/p>\n
in his total outline P is influenced by the King List tradition which had now (in some editions) incorporated the flood narrative.<\/p>\n
As for \u201cJ,\u201d he proposes that<\/p>\n
J is basically dependent on the tradition of the Atrahasis epic for his outline of the primeval history including the sequence of creation, repeated sin, punishment, and divine grace culminating in the flood (1971:187\u201388).<\/p>\n
It is not so simple, however, to divide the Mesopotamian traditions exactly between the King List, \u201cpriestly\u201d tradition, and the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis\u201d \u201cepic\u201d tradition. In fact the latter played important roles in the priestly tradition. For example, it is reported that a Babylonian incantation priest cited a part of the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic\u201d to advise a late-Assyrian king on a drought (Lambert and Millard 1969: 27\u201328).5 <\/p>\n
A number of scholars have made a thorough study of \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis\u201d and its relevance to Genesis research.6 For example, Kikawada, who abandons the source analysis of Genesis, studied the structural similarities between \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis\u201d and Genesis 1\u201311 as a whole. According to him, both compositions used the same literary convention, \u201ca five point outline,\u201d consisting of (1) creation: man, (2) first threat, (3) second threat, (4) final threat: flood, (5) resolution,<\/p>\n
narrating primaeval history up to the time of a great flood, followed by a solution to the problem that persisted throughout the pre-flood history,<\/p>\n
namely \u201cincrease of population.\u201d While \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis\u201d gives \u201cthe urban solution,\u201d birth control, to this problem of population growth, \u201cGenesis offers dispersion, the nomadic way.\u201d Kikawada, following Kilmer\u2019s view of \u201cover-population,\u201d (1972) suggests that \u201cGenesis 1\u201311 may be a polemic <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 70<\/p>\n
against urban life and its solution to over-population, birth control\u201d (1975: 12\u201313). Similarly, Moran and Frymer Kensky hold that Genesis 9:1ff. is \u201ca conscious rejection\u201d of the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic\u201d (Moran 1971; Frymer-Kensky 1977).<\/p>\n
However, Oden rejects the overpopulation hypothesis. He holds that<\/p>\n
the primary theme of Atrahasis is the development and then the maintenance of the boundary between the gods and humans (1981:200).<\/p>\n
According to him, the key to the interpretation of the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic\u201d is in the human activity, indicated by the \u201cnoise\u201d and the \u201ctumult\u201d that \u201crob Enlil of sleep and prompt him to command the plague, droughts, and then the flood.\u201d The \u201ccrime\u201d was that of<\/p>\n
scheming humans noisily planning ways to alter the divinely established order so that their status might become something more than workers for the gods (1981: 204).7 <\/p>\n
Oden therefore holds that the Tower of Babel tale (Gn 11:1\u20139), in which human aspirations to divine status are so transparent, seems to be \u201cthe visual equivalent of the auditory assault of Atrahasis\u201d (1981: 210\u201311).<\/p>\n
Whether overpopulation or the guilt of man brought the Flood is still a lively issue in interpreting the epic, as Moran recently pointed out (1987). The similarities between the Genesis account and the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic\u201d do not support the idea that Genesis is a direct borrowing from the Mesopotamian but do indicate that Mesopotamian materials could have served as models for Genesis 1\u201311, as Jacobsen holds (1994:141). P.D. Miller also admits that<\/p>\n
there were Mesopotamian models that anticipate the structure of Genesis 1\u201311 as a whole (1994:150).<\/p>\n
K.A. Kitchen notes a similar outline, namely \u201ccreation-flood-later times,\u201d and a common theme, namely \u201ccreation, crisis, continuance of man,\u201d of the \u201cprimeval proto-history\u201d in the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic,\u201d the Sumerian Flood story, and the Sumerian King List, as well as in the Genesis account. He recognizes here<\/p>\n
a common literary heritage, formulated in each case in Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC (1977: 31).<\/p>\n
However, there are also many differences between the Mesopotamian traditions and the Genesis account, in addition to the basic concepts of divine-human relationship. According to Jacobsen, the P source of Genesis has a rather pessimistic view of existence, introducing moral judgment on man\u2019s sinfulness, while the \u201cEridu Genesis\u201d holds \u201can affirmative and optimistic view\u201d (1994:142). Whether the Genesis viewpoint is pessimistic or not, however, depends on the way scholars treat Genesis 1\u201311 as a literary whole, a subject to which I will return later.<\/p>\n
Jacobsen takes the \u201cEridu Genesis,\u201d as well as the Biblical account (P), neither as a history nor as a myth; he assigns them to a \u201cmytho-historical\u201d genre, since they both have a chronological arrangement along a line of time, with a chain of cause and effect, and show interest in numbers and <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 71<\/p>\n
chronology (1994: 140\u2013141). Miller is supportive of Jacobsen\u2019s view, since the \u201cEridu Genesis\u201d and \u201cthe full shape of Genesis 1\u201311\u201d (not just the P account) share both \u201csubstantial content with typical myths of the ancient Near East\u201d and \u201cfeatures that remind one more of historical chronicles (1994: 148).\u201d<\/p>\n
Before discussing the theme of primeval protohistory, I should like to turn our attention to the other literary aspect, namely the structure of Genesis 1\u201311 as a whole.<\/p>\n
Literary Structure<\/i><\/b>.<\/b> Not only does comparative evidence point to the adequacy of treating both the Creation<\/i> and the Flood<\/i> together as a unified literary work, but the recent emphasis on the holistic approach8 to \u201cthe text in its final form\u201d9 or \u201cthe text as it stands\u201d (Oden 1981: 211) leads us to investigate the literary theme and structure of Genesis 1\u201311 as a whole. Before one seeks the theme of Genesis 1\u201311, one must decide its structure. For this, the toledota <\/i>-formula of Genesis is indicative of the narrative structure in the mpind of the author\/editor. Thompson\u2019s recent study of the toledot<\/i>-structure of Genesis is in this regard very important, though his view of a sharp break between Genesis 1\u20134 and Genesis 5ff. (\u201cThe Book of the Toledoth of Adam\u201d) is rather overemphasized (1987: chap. 3). Thompson\u2019s view was most recently challenged by Hess, who argued that \u201cthe literary form of Genesis 1\u20132 is intended to parallel the genealogical doublets of chaps. 4\u20135 and 10\u201311\u201d (1990: 150, n. 23).<\/p>\n
The major problem in deciding the theme and structure of Genesis 1\u201311 is determining the precise terminus of the \u201cprimeval history.\u201d The following suggestions have been made.<\/p>\n
Creation \u2014> Flood<\/i><\/b> (1:1\u20139:29)<\/i>.<\/b> In the light of the literary structure of \u201cCreation-Rebellion-Flood\u201d in the \u201cAtra-H\u00e3asis Epic,\u201d some scholars have suggested that the primeval history in Genesis stretches from the creation story through the end of the Flood story, namely Genesis 1\u20139, rather than Genesis 1\u201311.10 Since the end of chap. 9 follows up the description of Noah in 5:31 and completes the full description of him in the same manner that the other nine patriarchs are described in chap. 5, it is likely that the Flood story in chaps. 6\u20139 is meant to be a part of a larger literary unit that begins at 5:1, that is, \u201cThe Book of the Toledot<\/i> of Adam.\u201d The Flood story is, so to speak, a detailed description of Noah and his life inserted into the framework of the genealogy of Genesis 5.11 <\/p>\n
Creation \u2014> Babel (1:1\u201311:9)<\/i><\/b>. J.M.<\/b> Sasson recently explained the Tower of Babel story as \u201ca clue to the redactional structuring\u201d of Genesis 1\u201311. According to him, Genesis 1:1\u201311:9 is divided into two parts, \u201cfrom Creation to Noah (10 generations)\u201d and \u201cfrom the Flood to Abram (10 generations)\u201d; just as the Nephilim story (6:1\u20138) serves as a concluding remark for the first part, the Babel story (11:1\u20139) comes at the end of the second part (1994: 456). This division at the end of 6:8 accords with the Biblical toledot<\/i>-structure; up to that verse the section is \u201cThe Book of the Toledot<\/i> of Adam,\u201d while the section after 6:9 is \u201cThe Toledot<\/i> of Noah.\u201d Coats also thinks that the primeval saga ends with the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 72<\/p>\n
tale about the tower, since the tale \u201cbinds off the series of narratives about the people of the world\u201d (1983: 36). For a different reason, Oden also considers the conclusion of the primeval history to be Genesis 11:1\u20139, where \u201chuman aspirations to divine status are so transparent\u201d (1981: 211).<\/p>\n
However, the end of the second part, 11:9, does not accord with the end of \u201cThe Toledot<\/i> of Noah\u201d (9:29), though 6:8 does accord with the end of \u201cThe Toledot<\/i> of Adam.\u201d Also, in Sasson\u2019s scheme, the reason for placing Abram in the tenth generation is not clearly demonstrated, since his structure lacks both the genealogical list (11:10\u201326) and the toledot<\/i> of Terah (11:27ff.), which refer to Abram himself. Before these sections Abram\u2019s name does not even appear.<\/p>\n
Creation \u2014> Terah<\/i><\/b> (1:1\u201311:26)<\/b>.12 Some recognize the \u201cCreation-list\u2014Flood-list\u201d pattern in Genesis 1\u201311 and note that just as Noah is the tenth generation from Adam in the first list, the genealogy in Genesis 5:1\u201332, so Abram is the tenth generation from Noah in the second list (11:10\u201326). According to Malamat,<\/p>\n
the ante-and postdiluvian lines (i.e., of Adam and of Shem, respectively), symmetrically arranged to a ten-generation depth, are undoubtedly the product of intentional harmonization and in imitation of the concrete genealogical model (1994:188).<\/p>\n
Thus the ten-generation scheme of the ancient Near Eastern genealogies might be taken as a formulaic pattern for the Genesis account of the primeval history.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, in the toledot<\/i> of Shem, 11:10\u201326, there are only nine patriarchs listed with a full description, though Abram, the tenth one, is referred to as one of the Terah\u2019s sons. Also, strictly speaking, the genealogy in Genesis 11:10\u201326 does not follow the same pattern as that in Genesis 5. In fact, in the second list there is no description of the death of the patriarchs, while all ten individuals of the first list have after the life span the final comment, \u201cand he died\u201d (cf. 9:29 for Noah) or \u201cand he was not\u201d (v. 24 for Enoch).<\/p>\n
Creation \u2014> Abram (1:1\u201311:32)<\/i><\/b>.<\/b> The phrase and he died<\/i> appears together with the life-span for the description of Terah in 11:32 for the first time since it appeared with Noah in 9:29. This might well suggest that 11:32 is the terminus of the primeval history. This position seems to be supported by Y.T. Radday\u2019s analysis of Genesis based on the computerized statistics, according to which Genesis 5:1\u201332 and 11:10\u201332 stand out as \u201cvery distinct\u201d within Genesis.13 Thompson notes that 11:27\u201332 is a genealogical entry that is expanded with an extended narrative and serves with 11:10\u201326 as a \u201clink\u201d between the tradition of Genesis 1:1\u201311:9 and the traditions about Abra(ha)m (Thompson 1987: 83).<\/p>\n
Creation \u2014> Abraham\u2019s Call (1:1\u201312:3)<\/i><\/b>. According to von Rad,<\/p>\n
The story of the Tower of Babel ends without grace, and therefore …the main question which the primeval history raises for the reader is that of the further relationship of God to the nations (1962:1.163).<\/p>\n
Therefore,<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 73<\/p>\n
the end of the Biblical primeval history is … not the story of the Tower of Babel; it is the call of Abraham in Genesis. XII. 1\u20133: indeed, because of this welding of primeval history and saving history, the whole of Israel\u2019s saving history is properly to be understood with reference to the unsolved problem of Jahweh\u2019s relationship to the nations (1962: 164).1414 <\/p>\n
Thus, von Rad set the terminus of the primeval history at Genesis 12:3 for theological reasons.<\/p>\n
However, from the literary point of view, Genesis 12:1\u20133 is better taken as a \u201clink\u201d between Genesis 1\u201311 and the following story of the patriarchs. This is what Parunak calls a \u201ctransitional technique\u201d A\/aB, Which is used to link the Patriarchal story (B) with the primeval history (A), by recapitulating the universal relationship of God with the nations at the beginning (a) of the new section, in this case, 12:1ff. (B)(1983).<\/p>\n
Thus, Genesis 1\u201311 seems to have been written with the historical purpose of introducing Abram on the stage, and hence its narrative continues<\/p>\n
from the stories of origins on down into later times, that is, to the present, the time when the narrative came into being.<\/p>\n
Hence Miller concludes:<\/p>\n
The sense of a single story from the creation to the present may have existed in Mesopotamia as well as Israel (1994:151).<\/p>\n
Kitchen, who believes that<\/p>\n
each component in the population of early second millennium Mesopotamia (Sumerians, Babylonians, Western Semites) contributed its formulation of inherited traditions,<\/p>\n
namely a common literary heritage, concludes that<\/p>\n
whenever it reached its present form within the entire book of Genesis, that unit Genesis 1\u201311 best finds its literary origins in the early second millennium BC (1977: 35).<\/p>\n
To be continued.<\/p>\n
(Reprinted by permission from I Studied Inscriptions From Before the Flood,<\/i> ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura, Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994, pp. 44\u201351.)<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 74<\/p>\n
References<\/b><\/p>\n
Anderson, B.W.<\/p>\n
1994 From Analysis to Synthesis: The Interpretation of Genesis 1\u201311. Pp. 416\u201335 in \u201cI Studied Inscriptions Before the Flood,\u201d<\/i> ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.<\/p>\n
Clark, W.M.<\/p>\n
1971 The Flood and the Structure of the Pre-Patriarchal History. Zeitschrift f\u00fcr die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft<\/i> 83.<\/p>\n
Clines, D.J.A.<\/p>\n
1994 Theme in Genesis 1\u201311. Pp. 285\u2013309 in \u201cI Studied Inscriptions<\/i> Before the Flood,\u201d<\/i> ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.<\/p>\n
Coats, G.W.<\/p>\n
1983 Genesis, With an Introduction to Narrative Literature<\/i> (The Forms of the Old Testament Literature 1). Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans.<\/p>\n
Dalley, S.<\/p>\n
1991 Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others<\/i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 75<\/p>\n
Frymer-Kensky, T.<\/p>\n
1977 The Atrahasis Epic and Its Significance for Our Understanding of Genesis 1\u20139. Biblical Archaeologist<\/i> 40: 147\u201355.<\/p>\n
Gordon, C.H.<\/p>\n
1965 The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations<\/i>. New York: Norton.<\/p>\n
Greenberg, M.<\/p>\n
1983 Ezekiel 1\u201320<\/i>, Anchor Bible 22. New York: Doubleday.<\/p>\n
Heidel, A.<\/p>\n
1949 The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels<\/i> (2nd ed). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.<\/p>\n
1963 The Babylonian Genesis<\/i> (3rd ed). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.<\/p>\n
Hess, R.S.<\/p>\n
1990 Genesis 1\u20132 in Its Literary Context. Tyndale Bulletin<\/i> 41.<\/p>\n
Jacobsen, T.<\/p>\n
1939 The Sumerian King List<\/i> (Assyriological Studies 11). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.<\/p>\n
1994 The Eridu Genesis. Pp. 129\u201342 in \u201cI Studied Inscriptions Before the Flood<\/i>,\u201d ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.<\/p>\n
Kikawada, I.M.<\/p>\n
1975 Literary Convention of the primaeval History. Annual of the Japanese Biblical Institute<\/i> 1: 3\u201321.<\/p>\n
Kilmer, A.D.<\/p>\n
1972 The Mesopotamian Concept of Overpopulation and Its Solution as Reflected in Mythology. Orientalia<\/i> 41:160\u201377.<\/p>\n
Kitchen, K.A.<\/p>\n
1977 The Bible in Its World<\/i>. Exeter: Paternoster.<\/p>\n
Lambert, W.G.; and Millard, A.R.<\/p>\n
1969 Atra<\/i>-H\u00e3asis<\/i>: The Babylonian Story of the Flood<\/i>. Oxford: Clarendon.<\/p>\n
Livingstone, A.<\/p>\n
1986 Mystical and Mythological Explanatory Works of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars<\/i>. Oxford: Clarendon.<\/p>\n
Malamat, A.<\/p>\n
1994 King Lists of the Old Babylonian Period and Biblical Genealogies. Pp. 183\u201399 in \u201cI Studied Inscriptions Before the Flood<\/i>,\u201d ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.<\/p>\n
Millard, A.R.<\/p>\n
1994 A New Babylonian \u201cGenesis\u201d Story. Pp. 114\u201328 in \u201cI Studied Inscriptions Before the Flood<\/i>,\u201d ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.<\/p>\n
Miller, P.D., Jr.<\/p>\n
1994 Eridu, Dannu, and Babel: A Study in Comparative Mythology. Pp. 143\u201368 in \u201cI Studied Inscriptions Before the Flood<\/i>,\u201d ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.<\/p>\n
Moran, W.L.<\/p>\n
1971 Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood. Biblica<\/i> 52: 51\u201361.<\/p>\n
1987 Some Considerations of Form and Interpretation in Atra-H\u00e3asis. Pp. 251\u201355 in Language, Literature, and History: Philological and Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner<\/i>, ed. F. Rochberg-Halton, American Oriental Series 67. New Haven CT: American Oriental Society.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 9:3 (Summer 1996) p. 76<\/p>\n
Oden, R.A.<\/p>\n
1981 Divine Aspirations in Atrahasis and in Genesis 1\u201311. Zeitschrift<\/i> f\u00fcr die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft<\/i> 93.<\/p>\n
Parunak, H. van D.<\/p>\n
1983 Transitional Techniques in the Bible. Journal of Biblical Literature<\/i> 102: 525\u201348.<\/p>\n
Radday, Y.T., et al.<\/p>\n
1985 Genesis: An Authorship Study in Computer Assisted Statistical Linguistics<\/i> (Analecta Biblica 103). Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute.<\/p>\n
Sasson, J.M.<\/p>\n
1994 The \u201cTower of Babel\u201d as a Clue to the Redactional Structuring of the Primeval History (Genesis 1:1\u201311:9). Pp. 448\u201357 in \u201cI Studied Inscriptions Before the Flood<\/i>,\u201d ed. R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.<\/p>\n
Speiser, E.A.<\/p>\n
1969 Creation Myths and Epics. Pp. 60\u201399 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament<\/i>, ed. J.B. Pritchard. Princeton: Princeton University Press.<\/p>\n
Thompson, T.L.<\/p>\n
1987 The Origin Tradition of Ancient Israel, 1: The Literary Formation of Genesis and Exodus<\/i> 1\u201323, JSOT Supplement 55. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.<\/p>\n
von Rad, G.<\/p>\n
1962 Old Testament Theology<\/i>. New York: Harper & Row.<\/p>\n
1972 Genesis: A Commentary<\/i>, rev. ed. (Old Testament Library). Philadelphia: Westminster.<\/p>\n
Weiss, M.<\/p>\n
1984 The Bible from Within: The Method of Total Interpretation<\/i>. Jerusalem: Magnes.<\/p>\n
Wenham, G.J.<\/p>\n
1988 Genesis: An Authorship Study and Current Pentateuchal Criticism. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament<\/i> 42: 3\u201318.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
David T. Tsumura This is the third in a series of articles on the relationship between the early chapters of Genesis and the creation and flood stories from ancient Mesopotamia.\u2014Ed. David T. Tsumura is Professor of Old Testament at Japan Bible Seminary, Tokyo. He is author of The Earth and the Waters in Genesis 1 … Continue reading “GENESIS
\nAND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STORIES OF CREATION AND FLOOD: AN INTRODUCTION
\nPART 3”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}