Table Of ContentCreation
and the
Persistence
EVil
ThJee wiDsrha ma
ofD iviOnmen ipotence
Jon Levenson
D.
, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
PublishbeydP rinceUtnoinv ertsyP ires4s1,W illiaSmt re,eP trincetNoenw,
Jers0e8y5 40
Inth e UniteKdi ngdomP:r incne UtnoiversPirteys Csh,i chseteWre,s tS ussex
Copyrig©h 1t9 88b yJ onD .L evenson
AllR ightRse served
Originaplulbyl ishien1d 9 8b7y H arpe&r Row PublishIenrcsN.,e, w York,
N.Y.; repirnip natpeedr babcyka rrangemweintht H arperSanFranScains co,
FrancisCc.oA,.
LibraorfCy o ngreCsast aloging-in-DPautbal ication
LevensoJno,nD ouglas.
Creatiaonnd t hep ersistoefne cvei :lt heJ ewisdhr amao fd ivine
omnipotenIc Jeo nD .L evenson.
p. cm.-(Mythsoesr ies)
Previoupsulbyl ish1esdte: d .S anF ranci:sH caor pe&r Row,c 1988.
Includbeisb liographical arnedif nedreexnecse.s
ISBN0 -691-02950-4
1.C reation-Biblical 2t.eB aicbhlOie.n.Tg G..e nesIi-sI 3I-,
Theology.3 .C ovenan(tTsh eology)-Bitbelaicchailn4 g..B ible.
O.T.-hTeologyI..T itleI.I S.e ries.
BS65i.L317979 4
296.3'4-dc20 94-31950
Gratefauclk nowledgmiesgn itv efno ru seo fe xcerpfrtosm AncieNneta r
EastTeerxnRt esl attiotn hgOe l·d T estam3erndet d,i tiwoint,hs upplemebnyt
JameBs. P ritchaerdd.C, o pyrig©h 1t9 69b yP rinceUtnoinv ersPirteys �.
Reprintebdy p ermissoifoP nr inceUtnoinv ersPirteys s.
Unlesost herwinsoet edS,c riptquuroet aticoonnst ainheedr eianr efr om Tanakh,
copyrig©h 1t9 85a ndu sedt hrougthh ec ourteosfty h eJ ewisPhu blication
Society.
Princeton UniPvreersbssoi otkyas r ep rintoend;;i_ cid-frpeaep earn dm eet the
guidelifnoerps e rmanenacned d urabiloiftht ey CommittoeneP roduction
GuidelifnoerBs o okL ongeviotfty h eC ounciolnL ibraRreys ources
FirPsrti ncePtaopn erbapcrki nti1n9g9,4
Printiendth e UniteSdt atoefsA merica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ForR uthJ,u daDha,n iaenld,N oah
Ps.1 28:3
Contents
Abbreviations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Noteo nt heT ex(t1 994) xiii
Prefa(c1e9 9,4 ) xv
Preface xxi x
ParIt
THEM ASTEORFYG ODA NDT HE
VULNERABOIFLO IRTDYE R
TheB asiIcd eoafI sraReelliitgei on? 3
1.
2.T heS urviovfCa hla os tAhfVeti ecrt oofGr oyd 14
3.T heF utuarniPdtr ye seonftc heCe o somgonViicc to2r6y
4.C oncl:uT shieVo intaolfiE tvyia ln tdh Fer agiolfi ty
Creation 47
ParItI
THEA LTERNATOIFOC NHA OASN DO RDE..R.o..:.
GENES1I:1S- 2:3
5.C reatWiiotnh oOuptp osiPtsliamo1 n04: 53
6.C reatiinSo env Deany s 66
7.C osmaonsMd i rcocosm 78
8.R esatn Rd eC-reation 100
9. Concsli:uoC nhaoNse utrailnCi uzletd 121
ParItI I
CREATIAONND COVENANT:
THED YNAMIOCFSL ORDSHAINPDS UBMISSION
TheT woI dioomfBs i blMiocnaolt heism
10.
11. TheD ialeocfCt oivce naTnhteaoln omy
12.A rgumaennOdtb edience
I CONTENTS
viii
Notes 157
ScripturIned ex 177
AuthorIn dex 181
Abbrveiaotnis
AB AnchoBri ble
AbeRt. N at.A bedte R abbNia than
AnB ib AnaleBcitbal ica
ANET AnciNeeanrEt as teTrexntR se lattoti hnOegl dTes tam3erndet d,.e ,d .
JamePsr itchard (Princeton, N.1J96.9:) Princeton University,
AOAT AltOerri eunntdA ltTeess tament
ASORDS AmericSacnh ooolfOs r ienRteasle aDricshs ertSaetriioens
b. BabylToanlimaund
BASO R Bulloeftt hiAenm eriSccahnoo ofO lrsi eRnetsaela rch
B.B at. BabBaa tra
Ber. Berakot
BerR.a b. BereRsahbibta h
BHK BibHlebiraa (iecdaR.u doKlift tel)
BHS BibHlebiraa Sitctuatg art(eendKs..iE al liagnedWr . R udolf)
BJS BrowJnu daSiecr ies
BKAT BiblisKcohmemre ntAalrt:Te ess tament
CBQ CathoBliibclQ iucraatelr ly
CJ ConservJauidtasimv e
Comm Commeanrty
CSHJ ChicaSgtou diinet sh Hei stoorfJy u daism
CTA Coprudse tsa bleencf uffnerosem ieasl phabeetdiA.q. uH e�sr,d ner
(Parlimsp:r imNeartiieo n1a96l3e),
EB EncyclBoipbaleidicaa
ET EnglTirsahn slation
HAR HebreAwnn uaRlev iew
HSM Harvard SMeomniotgirca phs
HSS HarvaSredm iSteirci es
HTR Harvardg iThceRaoellv oiew
HTRH DR HarvaTrhde ologRiecvaileH wa rvaDrids sertiantR ieolnisg ion
HUCA HebreUwni oCno llAengnaeul
!RT IssuiensR eliagniThdoe nlo ogy
]BL JuornoafBl i blLiictaelr ature
]JS JuornoaJflwe isSht udies
]QR JweisQhur ateRrelvyi ew
]SS JuornoafSle imtSitcu dies
]CT JuornfaroThl e loogayn tdh Ceh urch
]ST JuornoafThl e oloSgtiucdaile s
Jud Juidasm
LCL LoeCbl assLiicbarla ry
LeRva.b . LeviRtaibcbuash
X / ABBREVIATIONS
LXX Septuagint
m. Mishnah
Meg. Megillah
Mid Misdtream
MT MasorTeexlti c
NJV NewJ ewiVsehr sion
NumS up NumeSnu pplements
Or Orienlalia
OTL OldT estamLeinbtr ary
PesRi.q . PesiRqalbab ali
Pesiq.K ahR.aP bes.i dqeRl aaKb a hana
1QS Thec ommunriutlyfe r oQmu mraCna,v 1e
RB RevBuieb lique
RE] Revduees ejluuidvees
RosHa.s . RoHsa ssanah
Sabb. Sabha!
SBLDS SocioeftB yi bliLciatle raDtiusrsee rtSaetriioens
SBT StudiineB si blTihceaoll ogy
SHR Studiinet sh Hei stoorfRy e ligion
SNVAO Skrifuttegria tvDt e tN orsVkied enskaps-iAO ksaldoe mi
STDJ Studoinet sh Tee xtosft hDee seorfJt u dah
Suk. Sukkah
Tanh Tanqu'm a
TB TheologBiiiscchheer ei
Trad. TrdaitAi oJounr: noafOrl t hodJweoixs Thho ught
TS TheoloSgtiucdaile s
TZ TheloocghiZsee ilfsfc hri
UF UgrailiFosrcshcgehe unn
VT VetTuses/ amen/um
VTS up VetuTse stamenStuupmp lements
WM ANT WissenschaMfotnloigcrhaepz huimeA nl teunn dN euen
Testament
ZAW Zeilfslfoc rdh iraiel lmleenslllaWiicshseef nfs cha
Acknowlegdments
Two scholawresr ek inde nougtho r eaadl olr m osto ft hibso ok
ands harteh eierx pejrutd gmeonfti tw ithm e.P rofessors Robert
L.C ohna ndW olfganMg. W. Rothd esermvye thanktsh,o ugh
thebye anro responsibfiolrai ntyey r roorrsw rongheadedinne ss
thes tudMyy. thinkionngt hes ubjeocftc reatiotnh eai nnc ient
Near Easwtoerrlnhd a sb enefited gfrreoamdt ilsyc ussoivoentrsh e
yearwsi thP rofessRoircsh arJd.C lifforId.T, z viA buscha,n d
BarucHha lperCno.n versatwiiotnahsl filv eo ft hessec holhaarvse
onldye epenmeyd c onvicttihoatntr usec holarissha i spo ciaanld
collegaicatli viIta ym. p riviletgohe adv eh ada ssociatwiiotnhs
colleagoufte hse isrt ature.
Ia lsoow ea d ebotf t hanktsoM ichelHlaer ewoomdy, s ecretary
durin1g9 85-1w9h8en6I w ,a sc ompositnhgeb ookH.e rp owers
ofd eciphermweonutl dp utm anya na ccomplisehpeidg rapthoe r
[)
shameI.a lswoa ntt ot hanmky studeMnitc haeCl. ouglafso r
helpiwnigt ht hep roofreaadnidnp gr epartihnegi ndices.
Ig ratefauclklnyo wletdhgepe e rmissoifot nh eJ ewisPhu blica
tioSno cieotfyA merictaou set heifirn en ewt ranslaotfit ohne
Tanaaksth h eu suaslo urfcoe rq uotatifornosmt heH ebreBwi ble.
JonD .L evenson
SkokiIel,l inois
5S heva5t7, 47
Februa4r,1y 987
