Genesis 1-2; Moses 2-3; Abraham 4-5
“In the Beginning God Created the Heaven and the Earth”
January 12 - January 18
scriptures
commentaries
Moses 2; Genesis 1 Overview. The Creation
<p>While important details were added to the text of Genesis 1 in Joseph Smith’s translation of Moses 2, the creation story as a whole was not significantly reshaped. However, Latter-day Saints should note that the descriptions of the days of Creation in Genesis and the book of Moses differ from those found in the book of Abraham and taught in modern temples. In contrast to those in the book of Abraham and in modern temple accounts, the narratives of the Creation story in Genesis and in the book of Moses seem to have been deliberately shaped to highlight symbolic resemblances between the organization of the cosmos and the architecture of the tabernacle. With this idea in mind, Hugh Nibley famously called the temple “a scale-model of the universe.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> <p>The story of Creation has always been associated with the temple. Indeed, the idea that Creation provides a model for temple building and temple rituals is found not only in Israel but also throughout the ancient Near East. This is made explicit in Hugh Nibley’s<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> reading of the first, second, and sixth lines of <em>Enuma Elish</em>:</p> <blockquote> <p>At once above when the heavens had not yet received their name and the earth below was not yet named . . . the most inner sanctuary of the temple . . . had not yet been built.<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> </blockquote> <p>Understanding the correspondence that Moses’s account makes between the temple and the days of Creation explains the story’s divergences from strictly scientific accounts. For example, in seeming contradiction to scientific understanding, the description of the creation of the sun and moon in Genesis and the book of Moses appears <em>after</em> rather than before the creation of light and of the earth. In subsequent chapters, it can be seen that accounting for temple symbolism in Creation is essential to understanding the layout of the Garden of Eden and the events of the Fall. Temple-going Latter-day Saints are in the best position of any group now living to interpret these stories in their ancient ritual context.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Hugh W. Nibley, “The Meaning of the Temple,” in<em> Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present</em>, ed. Don E. Norton, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 12 (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1992), 14–15.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> Hugh W. Nibley, <em>Teachings of the Pearl of Great Price</em> (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies [FARMS], 2004), 122.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> Hugh W. Nibley, “Return to the Temple,” in<em> Temple and Cosmos</em>, 71–73. For a summary of arguments in favor of Nibley’s translation, see Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and Ronan J. Head, “The Investiture Panel at Mari and Rituals of Divine Kingship in the Ancient Near East,” <em>Studies in the Bible and Antiquity</em> 4 (2012): 12n32.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author:</strong> Jeffrey M. Bradshaw<br /><strong>General Editor:</strong> Taylor Halverson<br /><strong>Associate Editor:</strong> Morgan Tanner<br /><strong>Senior Editor:</strong> Sarah Whitney Johnson<br /><strong>Assistant Editor:</strong> Sam Lofgran<br /><strong>Assistant Editor:</strong> Verlanne Johnson</p>
Old Testament Minute: Genesis by BMC
Prologue
<p><strong>2:1; 1:1. “created the heaven, and the earth.” </strong>The idea of God’s organizing the world from preexisting matter was a part of many ancient cosmologies; however Jewish scholars later began to favor the alternative doctrine of <em>creatio ex nihilo</em> (that is, creation from nothing). <em>Ex nihilo</em> creation subsequently became the prevalent interpretation in Christian tradition. Consistent with more ancient traditions, Joseph Smith stated that the word “created” should be rendered “formed, or organized.” This is because the term “does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize—the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of . . . chaotic matter.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> Current theological and scientific evidence agrees with Joseph Smith’s teachings.<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a></p> <p><strong>2:2; 1:2. “my Spirit moved upon the face of the water.”</strong> The Hebrew term here translated as “moved” is used in Deuteronomy 32:11 to describe an eagle hovering attentively over its young. Consistent with such a picture, Abraham 4:2 employs the term “brooding.” The imagery of brooding not only highlights the loving care of the Creator but may also allude to atonement symbolism, which is arguably the central symbolism of Israelite temples. Atonement may be reflected not only in the symbolism of day one of Creation but also in the overall schema for the unfolding of the universe. While the Creation story opens with the themes of distinction and separation, God’s work in the final dispensation will culminate when He “gather[s] in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (Ephesians 1:10).</p> <p>The book of Moses differs from Genesis in small but significant ways. A brief affirmation that the account derives from the words of the Lord directly to Moses is added in verse 1. The repetition of the phrase “I, God” throughout the chapter also emphasizes its firsthand nature. The fact that all things were created “by mine Only Begotten” (Moses 2:1) is made clear, as is the Son’s identity as a cocreator at a later point in the chapter when God says, “Let <em>us</em> make man” (Moses 2:26; emphasis added). The book of Abraham goes further to describe a plurality of Gods participating in Creation (see Abraham 4:1). In addition to the Father and the Son, this included Michael, the premortal Adam.</p> <p><strong>Source</strong></p> <p>Book of Moses Minute by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw</p> <p><strong>Related verses</strong></p> <p>Moses 2:1–2; Genesis 1:1–2</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Joseph Smith Jr., April 1844, in Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., <em>Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith</em> (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1969), 350–351.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> See Kevin L. Barney, <em>“</em>Examining Six Key Concepts on Joseph Smith’s Understanding of Genesis 1:1,<em>” BYU Studies Quarterly</em> 39, no. 3 (2000): 107–124. See also John H. Walton, <em>Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology</em> (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 108–112.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author:</strong> Jeffrey M. Bradshaw<br /><strong>General Editor:</strong> Taylor Halverson<br /><strong>Associate Editor:</strong> Morgan Tanner<br /><strong>Senior Editor:</strong> Sarah Whitney Johnson<br /><strong>Assistant Editor:</strong> Sam Lofgran<br /><strong>Assistant Editor:</strong> Verlanne Johnson</p>
Old Testament Minute: Genesis by BMC
video
Different Creation Accounts (Genesis 1:1-5)
<p>Marianna Richardson, "Come, Follow Me Week 2, Part 2/7 (Jan 3 - Jan 9, Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5)," Book of Mormon Central Video, 2022.</p>
Marianna Richardson
