Summary in seconds: Explore the three parts of “101 Myths of the Bible” with examples1 of well-known myths and the reality behind each one.
Gary Greenberg, the author of “101 Myths of the Bible,” organized his book into three sections: Myths of the Beginning, Myths of the Founders, and Myths of the Heroes.
Part I: Myths of the Beginning (Myths #1 to # 44)
The first eleven chapters of the Book of Genesis in the Bible recount the history of the world from the time of Creation to the aftermath of the great flood. Within its narrative we find the stories of the seven days of Creation, Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, and the founding of the first nations. Structurally, Genesis offers a unique perspective on the evolution of the Bible, moving from a collection of polytheistic myths and legends from diverse cultures to a largely cohesive monotheistic account of Israelite history.
Genesis is structured around two distinct source documents, P and J2, each presenting different views on events and deity. Interestingly, these accounts unknowingly evolved from two distinct Egyptian mythological traditions. Hebrew scribes, drawing on their knowledge acquired in Egypt and the prevalent myths in Canaan, reinterpreted these myths to align with Israel’s monotheistic beliefs in contrast to the polytheism of Egyptian myths. Essentially, they reverse-engineered the stories to create a coherent cosmogony that reflected their religious viewpoint.
The original Egyptian myths were polytheistic and offered insights into the physical nature of the universe and its evolution into its present state. They explained phenomena like the annual flooding of the Nile and the movement of the sun, both daily and annually. The harmonious relationship between the annual Nile flood and the solar year, both symbolizing birth, resurrection, and everlastingness, influenced the Hebrew reinterpretation. The various deities associated with the original myths came to symbolize aspects of the natural order in the Hebrew reinterpretation.
In summary, the Genesis narratives offer a fascinating glimpse into the transformation of ancient myths as the Hebrews blended diverse cultural elements with their monotheistic beliefs, creating a unique and thought-provoking account of the world’s origins.
Part II: Myths of the Founders (Myths #45 to # 71)
The founders of ancient Israel were Abrahan, his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob, known as the Patriarchs. Jacob, later named Israel, had twelve sons, including Joseph and Judah, who each founded one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The story started with God calling Abraham to leave the city of “Ur of the Chaldees” in Mesopotamia and go to Canaan.
The patriarchal history aims to trace the covenant passed from Jacob to Joseph and then from to Joseph to his son Ephraim. In the Blessing of Jacob, there is a shift suggesting the covenant passed to Judah, reflecting later conflicts between the kingdoms of Israel (led by Ephraim) and Judah, heavily influencing the patriarchal history.
While it was once widely accepted that the Patriarchs were historical figures mixed with legends in Genesis, some scholars now suggest the stories may lack a historical core.
Part III: Myths of the Heroes (Myths #72 to # 101)
Sometime after Joseph died, a new Egyptian pharaoh, unaware of Joseph, noticed the growing House of Israel. Attempting to control their numbers, he imposed harsh condition, followed by a policy of male infanticide. Around this time, a Hebrew woman named Jochebed, and to save his life she placed him in a small ark and left it loose into the Nile. Moses grew to adulthood in the royal court. One day he had an encounter with one of the king’s overseers and he ended up killing him. When Moses realized that people knew what had happened, he fled the country.
After Moses returned to Egypt and, with the help of his brother Aaron, convinced the pharaoh to let the Hebrews go, a series of plagues struck Egypt. Despite the challenges, the pharaoh eventually allowed the Hebrews to leave. As they journeyed towards Canaan, facing new trials, Moses shared important laws, including the Ten Commandments. The miraculous parting of the Red Sea allowed the Israelites to escape the pursuing Egyptians. Moses played a crucial role in leading his people and establishing a new nation, leaving a lasting legacy in their journey towards the promised land.
the Kingdom of Israel split in two, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. In 722 B.C., the Assyrians captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel and it ceased to exist. Judah endured until the Babylonians conquered it in 587 B.C., leading to the exile of the Hebrew elite to Babylon
1. The following are examples of the 101 myths in this book:
Myths #14 “God created earth on the third day”
The Myth: “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good…And the evening and the morning were the third day.” (Gen. 1:10,13)
The Reality: God gathered the waters and created dry land on the second day of Creation.
In the biblical creation story found in Genesis, there is a discrepancy in the order of events on the third day. The myth states that God created the dry land on the third day and saw that it was good. However, a closer examination reveals that, according to the original Genesis account, this creation of dry land actually occurred on the second day.
The biblical text often uses literary formulas, such as the phrase “and God saw that it was good,” to signify the completion of a day’s activities. These formulas are typically placed at the end of each day’s events. However, on the second day, there is no such declaration, and on the third day, there are two declarations of goodness.
The narrative suggests that God gathered the waters and created dry land on the second day. The absence of the usual declaration of goodness at the end of the second day is puzzling. Some religious interpretations propose that God intended to complete the task on the second day but reserved the blessing until after finishing it on the third day. However, this explanation contradicts the idea of God’s omnipotence and the relatively minor nature of the tasks involved.
The proposed solution to this discrepancy is that biblical redactors made a mistake, equivalent to a misplaced cut-and-paste job. It is suggested that the gathering of waters and creation of dry land logically belonged to the second day, following the raising of the firmament. The redactor, however, mistakenly inserted a break in the second day, carrying its events over to the third day. This resulted in the missing benediction at the end of the second day. By restoring the story of the emerging dry land to the second day, the problem of the missing blessing is resolved, placing the textual formula at the appropriate conclusion of each day’s events.
Myths #15 “God rested on the seventh day”
The Myth: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God Created and made.” (Gen. 2:3)
The Reality: In the original Genesis account of Creation, God did not rest on the seventh day, but he did create humanity on that day.
In the discussion of Myth #14, it was revealed that the biblical narrative in Genesis includes a pattern where each day’s activities end with a blessing. However, an analysis of the text showed that the blessing was omitted at the end of the second day and inserted in the middle of the third and sixth days due to a scribal error. By rearranging the events, placing the first half of Day Three in the second half of Day Two, logical consistency was restored, concluding each of the first six days with a blessing. Yet, an extra blessing remained in the middle of the sixth day.
This additional blessing occurs after the creation of beasts and crawling creatures but before the creation of humans. Following the logic of the textual formula, it suggests that in the original source of the Creation story, beasts and humans were created on separate days. This would place the appearance of mankind on the seventh day, moving God’s day of rest to the eighth day.
The concept of a Sabbath rest on the seventh day is a significant tradition in Western civilization. However, if God rested on the eighth day instead of the seventh, it challenges the established practice and suggests a scribal error.
The idea of a Sabbath rest seems to have a late origin, with little evidence of its observance in ancient Israel’s history before the Exodus from Egypt. Some biblical passages commanding Sabbath observance may be late additions, and Deuteronomy 5:15 suggests that the Sabbath was given as a reminder of Israel’s deliverance from slavery, not because God rested on the seventh day.
The lack of early biblical records about Sabbath observance and its potential origins in Babylonian traditions or Canaanite agricultural practices raises doubts about its connection to the original biblical Creation story. If the sanctified day was the eighth day of the Creation cycle, as suggested by the textual analysis, the concept of a Sabbath on the seventh day might have originated later in Israel’s history.
2. J refers to the source using the Hebrew name “Jahweh” for God, and P is another source embedded within the E (or the Elohim source) and concerned itself primarily with priestly concerns and rituals, and precise dating, numbers, and measurements.