Ancient Near Eastern Parallels

The Old Testament includes some ideas of knowledge held in common with its ancient Near Eastern neighbors. For example, Genesis 2 parallels Egyptian literature in its description of the breath of God animating the form of a man (Gen 2:7) and transforming him into a living “soul” (נֶ֫פֶשׁ, nephesh)—a living, breathing, thinking, whole person created in God’s image. Yet the insight the Bible’s creation account provides regarding humanity’s role in the created order differs significantly from that of ancient Near Eastern creation myths. In particular, Genesis 1 does not portray humans as being made of different parts of deities—representing different social classes enslaved to the deities in specific class functions. Rather, Genesis communicates that all of humanity was created in God’s image (Gen 1:27) and was thus created equal. The creation accounts of Genesis also portray a God whose life-giving breath overpowered the chaos of nature and recreated it into a beautiful temple, acting as potter to form man and as an architect to build woman, charging them together as his priests in his temple. This creation account in turn became the basis for the ancient Israelites’ understanding of all of human experience (Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought, 179–99).

The Hebrew people’s understanding of knowledge also aligns with that of other ancient Near Eastern peoples in that they viewed the biblical accounts of creation and history as a divinely imparted gift by which they could understand their present. However, through their unique experience of an immanent yet transcendent deity, the ancient Israelites understood themselves as members of a priestly kingdom destined to bless the whole earth.