genesis third day of creation

The Third Day of CreationGenesis 1:9-13

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

under the sky

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

under the sky

▪ “That is, the terrestrial waters.”

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

the dry land

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

the dry land

▪ “The terrain now visible to man.”

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Let the earth bring forth

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Let the earth bring forth

▪ This creative act constitutes an exception to the norm that God’s word directly effectuates the desired product. Here the earth is depicted as the mediating element, implying that God endows it with generative powers that He now activates by His utterance.

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Let the earth bring forth

▪ The significance of this singularity is that the sources of power in what we call nature, which were personified and deified in the ancient world, are now emptied of sanctity. The productive forces of nature exist only by the will of the one sovereign Creator and are not independent spiritual entities. There is no room for such a concept for the fertility cults that were features of ancient near Eastern religions.” (The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis; Commentary by Nahum M. Sarna; The Jewish Publications Society, Philadelphia, PA 1989 p.9)

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Anuket:

goddess of the Nile

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Aten:

The sun disk

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Geb:

the earth

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Heryshef:

god of the riverbanks

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Min:

god of fertility

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Nefertem:

god of the sunrise

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Naunet:

god of water

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Ra:

the sun god

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Shu:

god of the air and sky

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

Yamm:

the god of the sea

Egypt

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Apsu:

underworld ocean; begetter of the skies and earth

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Tiamat:

primeval chaos; bearer of the skies and earth

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Anu:

sky god

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Ea (Enki, Nudimmud): god of the waters

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Sin (Nannar):

moon goddess

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Shamash (Babbar, Utu):

sun god

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Ishum:

god of fire

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Adad:

a storm god associated with lightning

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Tammuz (Dumuzi, Adonis):

vegetation

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

Some examples of the deification of natural things in the ancient Near East

▪ Nissaba (Nisaba): cereal grain harvest

Assyria and Babylon

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

 vegetation: א ש� � ד�

Hebrew deshe’

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

 vegetation: א ש� � ד�

Hebrew deshe’

the generic term, which is subdivided into plants and fruit trees.

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

 vegetation: א ש� � ד�

▪ Leviticus 27:30

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

 vegetation: א ש� � ד�

▪ Leviticus 27:30

▪ All tithes of the land, whether in grain from the fields or in fruit from the trees, belong to the LORD, as sacred to him

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

 vegetation: א ש� � ד� ▪ Gen.1:29-30

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

 vegetation: א ש� � ד� ▪ Gen.1:29-30

▪ God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

  seed-bearing

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

  seed-bearing

▪ That is, endowed with the capacity for self-replication

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

  seed-bearing ▪ “God puts limits on the expanse of

water so that earth can appear. From the earth God calls forth vegetation that is able to reproduce itself. (“with its seed in it,” v. 11). Fruitfulness is not something dependent on the gods of fertility, but God has put the power of reproduction in vegetation itself. Here again the author shows a world that is not under the control of pagan deities.” (Collegeville Bible Commentary: Genesis; Pauline A. Viviano; The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota 1985 p.11)

The Third Day of Creation: Genesis 1:9-13

  Pope Benedict XVI

▪ God made the world so that there could be a space where he might communicate his love, and from which the response of love might come back to him. From God’s perspective, the heart of the man who responds to him is greater and more important than the whole immense material cosmos, for all that the latter allows us to glimpse something of God’s grandeur.” (Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI; Saint Peter's Basilica, Holy Saturday, 23 April 2011)