Berashit (Part 6) Genesis 1:1-6:8

If you have read my previous posts, you would have learned that the Torah is not a singular book written by a single person with a single message. It was also not put into its current form by any single editor during a single period. In some cases, stories would be repeated, but with differences, one story would contradict another, or the story would suddenly stop, omitting details that were important originally, but have since been lost to us.

I have also mentioned, more than once, that the chapter and verse separations and numbering systems were a later implementation, and the Christians and Jews have their own versions (although they do match quite a lot). These separation differences are often ideological and are interesting to notice.

At the end of Genesis 5, we are given a lineage and Noah is mentioned. In Genesis 6:8 we begin the story of Noah. And between that, there are 7 lines that are multiple stories that have been inserted. Some of them are unrelated, and some have a common theme. Some of the verses are out of order, which give rise to the Jewish dictum, “there is no before/after (order) to the Torah” to explain away such common issues.

The Verses

First, here are the 7 verses (the translations are mine). Take a close look for a moment and see what the issues are:

1. And [so] it happened that mankind (lit. ha’adam, or “the man”) began to multiply upon the face of the soil (ha’adamah) and daughters were born unto them.
2. And the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of mankind (ha’adam) that they were lovely, and [the sons of Elohim] took [the daughters] as women for themselves, from whomever they chose.
3. And YHVH said, ‘My animating-spirit (ruach) will not be made to reside in mankind (ha’adam) forever, because that he is also flesh. And so his days shall be [limited to] 120 years.’
4. The Nephilim were in the land during those days and also after that, when the sons of Elohim came to the human daughters (lit. “daughters of mankind” – banot ha’adam), and [the women] gave birth to children to them. [They, the offspring], were the same mighty ones of ages past, renowned one. (lit. “Men of the name”).
5.  And YHVH saw that there was much evil of humanity (ha’adam) in the land, and all that [man] made (lit. “Formed from something”) according to the thoughts of his heart, was only evil, all day long.
6. And YHVH regretted that He had made humanity (ha’adam) in/with the land, and it grieved His heart.
7. And YHVH said. “I will dissolve mankind (ha’adam), which I manifested; from upon the face of the land, from man, to beast (behaimah) to creeping creature, and to flying creatures of heavens (shamayim), for I regret that I have made them.”

So let’s address some of these issues.

1. From Adam until the birth of Noah was 1,056 years. The previous chapter didn’t indicate that there were that many people, nor many daughters. Obviously, this is a different take on how the world was. How many people were there? Well, this web site says that there were 38 trillion people! (Gasp!) Of course, that’s actually impossible in either reality, or based on the Biblical narrative of Genesis1.
2. The “sons of Elohim” appear twice, and verses 2 and 4 are repeating the same idea. For some reason, apologists who worship Jesus as the “son of God” prefer that these sons of Elohim be angels. The term appears only 2 times in the Torah (these 2), and 3 times in the Book of Job. While these are different authors, their take seems consistent with that of Psalm 82 – supernatural beings that birth heroes. Think of Achilles or Hercules and their heroics.
3. This story is unrelated to what came before. It also appears to be contradicting Genesis2, where man never ate from the tree of eternal life, although it may be addressing the genealogy that came before to indicate that while lifespans were going down and down, they would not go below 120 years (or perhaps above 120 years). The problem with saying that it means that mankind won’t live more than 120 years is that people in later stories do live more than 120 years (e.g., Isaac). To get around this, apologists claim that God meant that He was going to kill mankind in 120 years, even though the flood was 100 years after the birth of Noah’s son’s, which is mentioned in verse 10. In other words, it’s a fun statement that cannot be qualified without a lot of dancing.
4. The supernatural “Nephilim” are mentioned. This word never appears in the singular form, and only 2 times in the Torah: this verse and in Numbers 13:33. There is no explanation as to what this word means. The same word (spelled the same, but pronounced nophlim, appears in Deut. 22:4 but it read as “those who fell down” (nafal = “fallen”). Because it doesn’t explain where the Nephilim are, apologists often call these “fallen angels”, even though there is no such thing in the Tanach. It’s a later Christian invention. Nophlim appears 18 more times in the other books of the Old Testament (Jeremiah, Judges, etc), but only in these 2 places are the Nephilim mentioned. Because the Book of Numbers says “the sons of a giant who were from the Nephilim”, some people interpret this to be a form of a giant. But it could equally been the name of a nation, which would make more sense in this verse.
5. This complain of God is similar to Genesis 11, where He complains to His Comrades (“sons of Elohim”?) that He didn’t like what they were planning in their hearts, or building. Perhaps there is a relationship between this verse and those.
6. YHVH admits that He made a mistake. This is akin to the Jewish legend that two sects, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, 2,000 years ago, had a debate that lasted for 2 years over the question, “Did God make a mistake when He made man”? After the vote was cast, God lost. The losing side added that, “in any case, let’s do the best we can sine we are alive.” The idea of an omniscient God is not in the Torah. He is often surprised, disappointed, changes His mind, and so forth. It is only modernism that demands a God that is all-powerful and all-knowing and all-perfect.
7. We read in Genesis2 that God formed all living creatures out of mud (with the exception of the one woman). The use of the Hebrew word mecha is a fascinating one, since it means to “dissolve”. What better way to destroy creations made of mud than to use water?

So what stories do we have in these 7 verses?

1.  Women are introduced. Pretty women. Sex and violence follows.
2. “Sons of Elohim” are introduced, but don’t appear again in the Torah. We are told that there are heroic deeds and acts, but none are listed. It is like noting that there was a “Book of Wars”, but not telling us the contents. Either these stories were lost, or it’s a literary device.
3. Out of the blue, we are told that humans will have a limited lifespan. Was it because of the sons of Elohim matings? Did their seed create hybrids that lived a long time? It doesn’t say.
4. We are sort of introduced to the Nephilim, without us being told much about them.
5. The last 3 verses are all about God being upset and deciding to wipe out His creations.

In Conclusion

These seven verses provide us with five topics of information, and with some teaser bits about the “sons of Elohim”, “mighty ones of renown”, “Nephilim”, and limiting humanity’s lifespan. By “teasing”, I mean that no additional information is provided, but it does stimulate the imagination. It is like saying that humankind did “bad things” without telling us what they were.

And I suppose that’s where apologetics comes in: filling in the blanks, justifying certain issues, resolving problems, and making an epic collection of stories seem like bland linear statements of some historical note.

Finally, here is a list of lifespans, just for fun: