Adam, Creation

The two creation stories in Genesis (1 and 2–3), and the hidden creation account in Psalms and the Prophets, can be read without their ancient Near Eastern context. But to understand what the biblical authors are responding to, revising, and arguing against, we need to read them alongside four Mesopotamian stories—Atrahasis (ca. 1700 B.C.E.), Enuma Elish (late 2nd millennium B.C.E.), Adapa (early 2nd millennium B.C.E.), and the Epic of Gilgamesh (2nd millennium B.C.E.)—along with the Canaanite Baal Cycle (14th–13th century B.C.E.).

At creation, humans and animals were alike—plant-eating, unclothed, and speaking the same language; God even brings the beasts to Adam to find a fitting companion. Everything changes when Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What kind of story is this? Remarkable parallels with the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh epic show how the biblical author crafted an Israelite wisdom story about the end of humankind’s infancy.

Read in light of the Sumerian King List, Adam’s genealogy (Genesis 5) reveals a gender-neutral line, conceived without a female counterpart. Noah, like the Mesopotamian flood survivor Ziusudra, emerges as the first “son,” inaugurating a new line of gendered humanity.

The etrog tree, according to midrash, fulfilled God’s command in creation, such that the tree tasted like its fruit. It was also the tree of Knowledge from which Eve ate. By taking the etrog on Sukkot along with the other species, we atone for this primordial sin.

Human perfection cannot be achieved only through intellectual and spiritual development, but requires companionship and physical intimacy.