Some scholars say that the Genesis 1 creation account is a literary “polemic” which was meant to refute ancient Near Eastern creation mythologies.[1] Others say the Genesis 1 creation account is radically different and that the similarities are simply coincidental.[2] Furthermore, some even advance that the creation accounts of Babylon have influenced the narratives of the Gospels in Matthew and Mark as well as Paul’s account of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians.[3] This article will examine the similarities and differences between the Israelite creation account of Genesis 1 and the ancient Near Eastern creation myths of Egypt, Babylon, Sumeria, and Canaan.
ISRAELITE CREATION ACCOUNT
Context of the Israelite Creation Account
Moses wrote the book of Genesis after the Israelites had left Egypt while they were in the wilderness. The Israelites had just left their homes and were trying to understand who this mighty and powerful God was that had just brought them out of Egypt. Moses’ description of God and the creation of the world in Genesis told the Israelites where they came from and who created them. In this way, Moses was revealing to Israel what kind of God was forming them into a nation.[4]
Content of Creation in Genesis 1
On day one God creates light from darkness and provides light for his creation (Gen 1:3–5). On day two God separates the waters above from the waters below (Gen 1:6–8). On day three God completes his three-day process of forming the earth for life by separating land from sea and by starting vegetation life (Gen 1:9–13). On day four God replaces the light from creation on day one with light from the sun for day and light from the moon at night (Gen 1:14–19). On day five God fills the waters with swimming creatures and fills the skies with flying creatures, then blesses them with the desire to multiply (Gen 1:20–23). On day six God creates man in his image (Gen 1:26–27), blesses humanity to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28–30), and called all he created very good (Gen 1:26–31). On day seven God completed his creation, ceased from his work, and consecrated the seventh day (Gen 2:1–3).
Structure of Genesis 1 and the Israelite Creation Account
While most exegetical studies of the Israelite creation account focus on the sequence of creation, the structure of Genesis 1 must also be examined. Genesis 1:1 is a summary statement of creation, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”[5] This is the main clause or title given for the chapter. Genesis 1:2 reveals a state of chaos, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”This verse contains three clauses that are descriptive and supply background information. We could see these three clauses as the “circumstances” of the earth before creation. This state of chaos reveals that the earth is without shape (Gen 1:2a), without light (Gen 1:2b), and is present with God (Gen 1:2c). This structure is vital to a correct understanding of the Israelite creation account compared to ancient Near Eastern accounts because in Genesis 1 God creates from something. For the sake of this paper, Genesis 1:1 is a summary statement of what follows in Genesis 1:3–2:3, thus something exists in Genesis 1:2 when God begins to create in Genesis 1:3. Genesis 1:3—2:3 contains the narrative sequence.[6]
Many conservative evangelical scholars have interpreted Genesis 1:3—2:3 as narrative history, not as poetry, parable, prophetic, allegory, or myth. The syntax of Genesis 1:3—2:3 suggests it should be considered historical narrative just like one would read the account of Ezra returning to Judah from Persia, Daniel’s experience in Babylon, or the splitting of Israel among Rehoboam and Jeroboam. The Genesis 1 creation account follows the normal form of historical narrative seen throughout the Old Testament canon. This pattern reveals past events by starting with the verb first (preterite / vayyiqtol / vav plus imperfect consecutive), then subject, then object.[7] For those reasons Genesis 1 is viewed as historical narrative, not part of the wisdom genre and poetic nature of Hebrew syntax often found in the Psalms, Proverbs, and the book of Job.
A Single God Created the Earth Divine Fiat and Ex Nihilo
Systematic theologians assert that the Old Testament teaches one God created the earth divine fiat (by mere command) and ex nihilo (from nothing). In this manner of creation there was no cosmic struggle between God and something else. In the Israelite creation account God is the subject of the creative acts seen in Gen 1:1, 3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24; 2:2. He is the single supreme deity in the Israelite creation account. Not only is he the only God, but he existed before creation and outside of that creation.[8] In the Israelite creation account God does not use matter or human beings to create. Instead, Genesis 1, Psalm 33:6-9, and Romans 4:14 all affirm that God merely spoke and creation emerged.
Biblical References to the Creation Account
Various passages throughout the Bible attest to the Genesis creation account as a historical event. When Jesus was asked about the topic of divorce he said that God made human beings “male and female from the beginning of creation” (Mark 10:5-6, NLT). Paul describes God as having “existed before anything else and he holds all creation together” (Col 1:17, NLT). The half-brother of Jesus told believers that God “created all the lights in the heavens” (James 1:17, NLT). Extending the creation account beyond just the Israelites was Melchizedek who blessed Abram by “God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth” (Gen 14:19, NLT). Lastly, Revelation 3:14 describes God’s “new creation” which implies something old which had already been created. In addition to these passages, numerous others point to the biblical account of creation as a historical event.[9]
ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CREATION MYTHS
Confusion often arises when looking at ancient Near Eastern creation myths because unlike the Israelites’ single account, many ancient Near Eastern cultures had multiple creation accounts. The myths often varied depending on which city they were told in and which god belonged there.[10]
Egyptian Creation Myths
Some believe that there were three creation myths in Egypt[11] while others believe there were four.[12] More than one creation myth creates contradictions about how the world was created and who created it.[13] Therefore, as far as the Egyptian perspective, “There is no single Egyptian account known to date that describes the complete Egyptian perspective on creation. Instead, we have to put together a mosaic of bits and pieces recorded in various documents.”[14]
The Egyptian creation myth is “thoroughly devoted to Theogony—birth of the gods as they took their forms in the creation of nature.”[15] At the beginning of creation there was only an “infinite dark, watery, chaotic sea.”[16] The gods mentioned in the Egyptian creation accounts were Nun (who existed in the primordial waters), Atum (who emerged from the waters), Enead who was the manifestation of the creation of the material world (generated by Atum), and Re/Re-Amun (the sun).[17] Later, humanity was created by accident, and at the end of the day the creator god rested. Finally pharaoh was born as the firstborn of Re/Re-Amun.[18] Everything was done in a single day[19] mostly by sneezing, spitting, and masturbation.[20] Man was created in the image of Re, or Khnum fashioned man on a patters wheel with the breath of god (if that god was Re, Hekat, or Aton is unclear) or man sprang from the eye of Atum.[21]
Sumerian Creation Myths
The Sumerian creation myth exists because the gods needed relief from laboring for self sustenance.[22] In this myth the goddess Nammu is the one who made the earth,[23] but the creation of man was merely an afterthought as a result of the gods’ desire for laborers.[24] The resulting creation myth of Sumaria is in close connection with the Babylonian Atrahasis epic and Enuma Elish epic.[25]
Canaanite Creation Myths
There are no clear cosmologies about creation in the Canaanite materials. What is known is that El (the head of the Canaanite pantheon) and his wife, Asherah, were creators. El is described as the creator of the earth, gods, and men.[26] Later, El was eclipsed by his son, Baal, who was the storm god and later a fertility god. While little is known of the Canaanite creation account there were “battles between Baal and the Sea (Yamm) and Death (Mot).[27]
Mesopotamian and Babylonian Creation Myths
Numerous gods are named in the two Mesopotamian and Babylonian creation myths. One of the myths is the Enuma Elish epic. The beginning of creation starts with the primordial waters consisting of two gods: Tiamat (salt water god of the deep) and Apsu (fresh water god). A third god, Mummu, appeared later as “vizier” to Apsu. The fresh water and salt water mixed to make the first generation of gods. As a result of the noise of those new gods Apsu could not sleep so he decided he was going to kill the created gods. However, Ea (the god of rivers and streams) found out about Apsu’s plan to kill the new gods so he put Apsu to sleep and then killed Apsu. Ea then fathered his own gods beginning with Marduk (the god of storm).[28] Marduk is said to have become the king of the remaining gods because he defeated and killed his rival gods.[29] When defeating the god Tiamat Marduk used her body—cut in half—to separate the land and the sky.[30] Mankind was created by mixing flesh and blood of a killed god (or gods)[31] with clay. This formed man and gave the spirit of god to man.[32] The other account of Mesopotamian and Babylonian creation myths is Atrahasis. In the Atrahasis epic the god, Ea, created seven human couples to take over the work of the lesser gods. Those lesser gods were in charge of tilling the land and growing food for the greater gods. When they tired and went on strike, Ea created seven human couples to replace the lesser gods’ role in tilling the ground and growing food.[33]
CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY
Continuity
The Source of Creation. One of the common features seen in the ancient Near Eastern creation myths and the Israelite account is land emerging from the waters. In the Israelite creation account we have the earth being formless, empty, and darkness covering the deep waters (Gen 1:2). Later, on the third day of creation God allows land to “appear” because the water beneath the sky flowed into one place (Gen 1:9). The Egyptian creation account reveals that land emerged only after the water had receded.[34] Another continuity is that in the Israelite creation account mankind was formed by God; in the ancient Near Eastern myths the gods create humankind with matter from the earth. The Israelite creation says that God made human beings in his image (Gen 1:26–27) and later reveals that he “formed the man from the dust of the ground” (Gen 2:7). The Babylonian account reveals that humans were made from the “clay,” but that clay was mixed with “the blood of Kingu or two Lamga gods (craftsman gods).”[35]
The Sequence of Creation. Many of the creation events in ancient Near Eastern myths follow the basic structure of the Israelite creation account. While the overall storyline of the Israelite creation account is different than Egypt’s cosmology, most of the other factors of Egypt’s creation myths and other ancient Near Eastern creation myths follow a similar pattern and theme.[36] James Atwell[37] shows the Enuma Elish (Babylonian) chronology closely follows the Israelite account. Both begin with a divine spirit existing external to matter, the matter was full of darkness, and light came from the gods (Enuma Elish) while God created light (Israel). Next was creation of firmament, then creation of dry land, later creation of luminaries, the creation of man, and finally the gods rest and celebrate (Enuma Elish) and God rests and sanctifies the seventh day (Israelite).[38] Furthermore, Soden and Miller relate God’s rest and sanctification of the seventh day of creation to Egypt’s Memphite Theology (one of three or four different creation cosmologies of Egypt). In the Memphite Theology “Ptah rested when all the creating was done and all the gods were settled.”[39] As seen above, there is similarity in the chronology of the Israelite creation account to Babylonia and one of the Egyptian cosmologies.
The Substance of Creation. The Israelite creation account also matches the Egyptian creation myths in describing “primordial waters” (or “watery”),[40] which would eventually be formed into the earth.[41] Related to the wateriness of the earth in its precreated condition is also the darkness that covered the earth. That darkness is common in the Enuma Elish[42] and Egyptian creation myths.[43] Another brief continuity occurs in the Egyptian “Hermopolis” creation cosmology where the light came from Atum (the sun-god) before formal creation of the sun.[44] The same concept of “light” before the creation of the sun is in the Israelite creation account when God created light on day one (Gen 1:3) but the sun was not created until day four (Gen 1:14–18). In addition, the Israelite creation account and ancient Near Eastern cosmologies focus on a separation between the heavens and the earth. The Sumerians said that the heavens were separated from the earth by the air-god Enil. The Babylonian Enuma Elish made heaven from the upper part of the slain Tiamat. The Egyptian myth tells of Shu, the air god, pushing up Nut (sky goddess) from Geg (earth god) which eventually separated the earth from the sky.[45] In the Israelite creation account God separated the waters of the heavens (sky) and the waters of the earth (Gen 1:6–8).
Discontinuity
Most conservative evangelical scholars would place Genesis 1 and ancient Near Eastern creation accounts into different literary genres. Most view the Israelite creation account as a literal event.[46] Unlike the ancient Near Eastern myths, the “Israelites’ knowledge of God, therefore, was not founded in the first instance on the numinous awareness of nature, as was the case in polytheism. It was based on historical event.”[47] Furthermore, the “God of Israel has no mythology.”[48] The ancient Near Eastern accounts from Egypt, Sumeria, Canaan, and Babylon are normally placed in the literary genre of myth. An ancient Near Eastern myth has possible historical reference contained within its narrative, but an ancient Near Eastern myth does not expressively affirm the historicity of particular features of its narrative.[49] According to Kenton L. Sparks ancient Near Eastern myth “refers to stories in which the gods are major actors and the setting is either in the early cosmos or in the heavens.”[50] Sparks later elaborates, “We must contend as well with the possibility that ancient myth writers sometimes believed their myths to be inspired and hence factually reliable.”[51] Therefore, before examining the stated discontinuities of the ancient Near Eastern creation myths and Israelite creation account it is important to realize some conservative evangelical scholars believe the Israelite account is talking about factual history while the ancient Near Eastern accounts are myths.
The Source of Creation. The most striking difference between the Israelite creation account and ancient Near Eastern myths is the God (singular) of Israel versus gods (plural) of the ancient Near East. Almost all ancient Near Eastern creation myths involve a myriad of gods[52] while Israel had one God. Another strong discontinuity is the absence of combat and struggle in the Israelite creation account compared to the constant struggle and combat in the ancient Near Eastern creation myths.[53] With regard to the Israelite creation account “any notion of a combat, struggle, or force is absent in both of these creation acts”[54] As Kenneth Kitchen explains, “Genesis 1:1-2:3 presents a calm, stately vista of creation of the cosmos by one supreme deity, untrammeled by complex mythologies or subplots.”[55]
The Substance of Creation. Unlike the ancient Near Eastern creation myths, the Israelite creation account did not deify or worship the created matter. In this way, Genesis 1 rejects the Egyptian method of deifying the sky, ground, and air.[56] The Egyptian creation myths saw the material world (created matter) as the “embodiment, physical manifestation, or terrestrial incarnation of the individual gods.”[57] For example, the sun was the god Re, the sky was Nut, the ground was Geb, dry air was Shu, moist humidity was Tefnut, the primordial sea was Nun.[58] The Israelite creation account clearly rejects this deification of the created material world. Instead, according to the Israelite creation account, man was to govern the earth and reign over everything on earth (Gen 1:28). Adding to the differences between this creation account and ancient Near Eastern myths is the relationship established between God and man. The ancient Near Eastern myths had humans being made to serve the gods and do the work that the gods had gone on strike from. Yet, in the Israelite creation account God entrusted humans to reign and govern his creation on his behalf (Gen 1:26, 28).
Another difference is seen in how the Israelite creation account describes the beginning of the human race with a single couple, Adam and Eve. This description of the beginning of humanity is unique because, “nowhere in the ancient texts are human origins depicted in terms of a single couple being created as progenitors of the entire human race. Consequently, if the biblical text includes that idea, it is not doing so in conformity with its ancient Near Eastern environment.”[59] The closest relation to the Israelite creation account of a single couple at the start of the human race is the Atrahasis epic in which the god Ea created seven human couples. Yet the purpose of creating those couples was to take over the work of the lesser gods’ job of growing food for the greater gods.[60] The relationship between this first couple in the Israelite creation account is also a reminder that God provides for his creation when he says to Adam and Eve, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely” (Gen 2:16).[61]
CONCLUSION
However, there are more discontinuities and stronger contrasts among those discontinuities. The first is that the Israelite creation account is often considered a literal and historical creation account compared to the ancient Near Eastern creation myths. Second, there is one supreme and powerful creator in the Israelite creation account while there are many gods mixed into the ancient Near Eastern creation myths. There is no supernatural struggle in the Israelite creation account because God alone created the world. Third, while the ancient Near Eastern creation myths deify the created matter (water, sun, etc.) as “gods,” the only God in the Isrealite creation account is the God which created the earth. Fourth, humanity is entrusted to rule over God’s creation in the Israelite creation account while humans are often depicted in the ancient Near Eastern myths as servants and laborers to the needs of gods. Fifth, the Israelite creation account starts with a single couple as the beginning of the human race which is completely unique from other ancient Near Eastern accounts.
In light of the evidence presented in this paper there does appear to be some continuity between the Israelite creation account and ancient Near Eastern myths, but the discontinuities are more common and present stronger contrasts.
With that stated, readers need to reconcile how these similarities occurred. Was there an oral history of the creation which followers of Yahweh shared and overtime that oral history was adapted into other cultures? Was Moses taking the ancient Near Eastern creation myths (which would he would have known in Egypt) and attributed them to Yahweh? Or are the similarities merely coincidental? This paper has shown there are some similarities, but how those similarities occurred and what they mean are debated among evangelical scholars.
Bibliography
Arnold, Bill T. and John H. Choi. A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Atwell, James. “An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1.” Journal of Theological Studies 51 (2000): 441-447.
Barton, George. “Were the Biblical Foundations of Christian Theology Derived from Babylonia?” Journal of Biblical Literature 40, no. 20 (1921): 87-103.
Bulkeley, Tim. “God as Mother? Ideas to Clarify Before We Start.” Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 17 (2004): 107-118.
Hasel, Gerhard. “Polemic Nature of the Genesis Cosmology.” Evangelical Quarterly 46 (1974): 81-102.
Hoffmeier, James. “Some Thoughts on Genesis 1 and 2 in Light of Egyptian Cosmology.” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Society 15 (1983): 39-49.
Johnston, Gordon. “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths.” Bibliotheca Sacra 165 (2008): 178-194.
Kitchen, Kenneth. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003.
Miller, Johnny and John Soden. In the Beginning . . . We Misunderstood: Interpreting Genesis 1 in Its Original Context. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2012.
NET Bible, Full Notes Edition. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson and Biblical Studies, 2019.
Ross, Allen P. “Genesis.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.
Sparks, Kenton L. “Genesis 1-11 as Ancient Histography.” In Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither, 110-139. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015.
Walton, John. “A Historical Adam: Archetypal Creation View.” In Four Views on the Historical Adam, 89–118. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013.
Webster, Brian L. The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Wenham, Gordon. “Genesis 1-11 as Protohistory.” In Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither, 73-97. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015.
Wright, George. The Old Testament Against Its Environment. SCN Press, 1962.
[1] Gordon Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” Bibliotheca Sacra 165 (2008): 194.
[2] Kenneth Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003), 420–435.
[3] George Barton, “Were the Biblical Foundations of Christian Theology Derived from Babylonia?” Journal of Biblical Literature 40, no. 20 (1921): 96.
[4] Allen P. Ross, “Genesis” in Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 27.
[5] Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[6] NET Bible, Full Notes Edition (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson and Biblical Studies Press, 2019), 2.
[7] Brian L. Webster, The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 108, 264; Bill T. Arnold and John H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 86.
[8] Some who do not follow the structure described in the previous section would say God also created ex nihilo because there was nothing before he began to create. Before God began to speak the world into creation (Gen 1:3) the world was formless, empty, and dark (Gen 1:2).
[9] Gen 6:7; Job 40:19; Pss 33:6–9; 102:25-26; 104; 148:1–6; Prov 8:22; Ecc 12:1; Isa 40:28; 43:1, 7; 44:24; 45:8–9; 51:13; 54:16; 65:17; Jer 51:19; John 1:3; Rom 1:20, 25; 4:17; Eph 3:9, 14–15; Col 1:16-7; and Heb 1:2–3.
[10] Tim Bulkeley, “God as Mother? Ideas to Clarify Before We Start,” Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 17 (2004): 109.
[11] One is Heliopolis, another is Memphis, and the final one is Hermopolis. See James Atwell, “An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1,” Journal of Theological Studies 51 (2000), 449
[12] Pyramid Texts (PT), Coffin Texts (CT), Book of the Dead, and Shabaka Stone. See Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” 181.
[13] Atwell, “An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1,” 454.
[14] Johnny Miller and John Soden, In the Beginning. . . We Misunderstood (Grand Rapids, MI: 2012), 77.
[15] Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” 194.
[16] Miller and Soden, In the Beginning, 78.
[17] Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” 182.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Miller and Soden, In the Beginning, 80.
[20] Ibid., 78.
[21] Ibid., 79.
[22] Gerhard Hasel, “The Polemic Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,” Evangelical Quarterly 46 (1974): 90.
[23] Ibid., 83.
[24] Ibid., 90.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Miller and Soden, In the Beginning, 139–140.
[27] Ibid., 142.
[28] Ibid., 114.
[29] Bulkeley, “God as Mother?,” 108.
[30] Ibid.
[31] “Man is formed from clay mingled with the blood of Kingu or two Lamga gods (craftsman gods).” James Hoffmeier, “Some Thoughts on Genesis 1 & 2 and Egyptian Cosmology,” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 15 (1983): 47. Also see George Barton, “Christian Theology from Babylonia?,” 88.
[32] Miller and Soden, In the Beginning, 117.
[33] Gordon Wenham, “Genesis 1–11 as Protohistory” in Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither, edited Charles Halton (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 85.
[34] Hoffmeier, “Genesis 1 & 2 and Egyptian Cosmology,” 46.
[35] Ibid., 47.
[36] Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” 182.
[37] Also see Barton, “Were the Biblical Foundations of Christian Theology Derived from Babylonia?,” 93.
[38] Atwell, “An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1,” 445.
[39] Miller and Soden, In the Beginning, 93.
[40] Atwell, “An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1,” 451.
[41] Hoffmeier, “Genesis 1 & 2 and Egyptian Cosmology,” 44; Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” 178–179.
[42] Atwell, “An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1,” 452.
[43] Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” 185.
[44] Ibid., 186.
[45] Hasel, “The Polemic Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,”87. Also see Atwell, “An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1,” 456.
[46] Gen 6:7; 14:19; Pss 33:6–9; 102:25–26; 104; Isa 40:28; 43:1, 7; 44:24; 45:8–9; 51:13; 54:16; 65:17; Jer 51:19; Mark 10:5–6; John 1:3; Rom 1:20, 25; 4:17; Eph 3:9, 14–15; Col 1:16–17; Heb 1:2-3; James 1:17–18.
[47] George Wright, The Old Testament Against Its Environment (SCM Press, 1962), 22.
[48] Ibid., 26.
[49] Wenham, “Genesis 1–11 as Protohistory,” 84.
[50] Kenton L. Sparks, “Genesis 1–11 as Ancient Histography,” 122–123.
[51] Ibid., 123.
[52] Bulkeley, “God as Mother?,” 110.
[53] Ibid.
[54] Hasel, “The Polemic Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,” 88. Gordon Johnston also affirms this view saying, “More significantly there is no hint of divine conflict between God the primordial waters in Genesis 1.” Gordon Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Egyptian Myths” 179.
[55] Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, 427.
[56] Johnston, “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” 190.
[57] Ibid., 192.
[58] Ibid., 192.
[59] John Walton, “A Historical Adam: Archetypal Creation View,” in Four Views on the Historical Adam, edited by Matthew Barret and Ardel Caneday (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan: 2013), 99.
[60] Wenham, “Genesis 1-11 as Protohistory,” 85.
[61] One element of the Israelite creation account and ancient Near Eastern creation myths was examined yet was not determined which side of the evidence to be placed. This was the notion of God’s creation divine fiat (mere command). The Israelite creation account is clear that God merely “said” (Gen 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24) and material creation emerged. While Gordon Johnston (“Genesis and Ancient Creation Myths”, pp. 187–188) and Gerhard Hasel (“Polemic Nature of Genesis Cosmology,” pp. 90–91) each say that creation by mere command is unique only to the Israelite creation account, Miller and Soden (In the Beginning, p. 87) and James Atwell (“Egyptian Source for Genesis 1,” p. 465) believe that creation by mere command was common in ancient Near Eastern myths. Therefore, a decision was not made as to whether creation divine fiat was a continuity or discontinuity.