Genesis Revisited #5 – A Poetic Creation

Have you ever noticed the structure of Genesis One?  No?  Never fear, you are in good company, as most people only see seven days.  However, the structure is quite amazing.  As poetry, the old scientific contradictions disappear.

Poetic Structure

The introduction states creed and content – One God created everything.

Day 1 opens the universe with light.

Day 4 fills the universe with objects.

Day 2 opens sky and ocean.

Day 5 fills the ocean and sky with animals.

Day 3 opens land and readies it with plants.

Day 6 fills the land with animals and people.

Day 7 is a conclusion with the foundation for weekly contemplation.

Circular Poetry

Most scholars have pronounced Genesis One as a work of prose, not poetry as it does not have a set meter.  Yet, from childhood, it read like poetry to me.  Now I know why.  It is poetry, but not a form commonly used by the Hebrews.  It does not use meter.  It is circular, where the last concept of a stanza and poem returns to the first concept.  It also demonstrates a brilliant usage of the concept of causality, which was not equaled until Aristotle and not truly understood until modern times.

The introduction proclaims everything created comes from One Creator (a).

Linking Day 1 to Day 4 — After the beginning, first light (b) leads to separation of light from dark (c), which produces stars (d) like our sun, around which unlit bodies (e) form, which guide us to understanding the light (b).

Linking Day 2 to Day 5 — From the “heavens” (Day 1), atmosphere (f) collects and precipitates oceans (g), which provides suitable environment for prolific aquatic life (h), which slowly transforms into flying animals (i) capable of dominating the atmosphere (f).

Linking Day 3 to Day 6 — Out of the oceans (Day 2) dry land (j) expands and provides suitable minerals to support life, from which came the first multi-cellular life forms to dominate land, plants (k).  They provide an environment for prolific land animals (l), which eventually produced humans (m), which dominate the land (j) and carry the image of the One Creator (a).

Day 7 — The poetic conclusion invited the reader to contemplate the loving details of God’s creation.  It linked that expansive time span with the time it took for the Hebrew nation to form.  Both needed time.  Both involved a continued ongoing process.  Both began with the loving voice of the One Creator (a).

Rejoice!  Our universe is one, as our Creator is one.

My next blog starts a new series.  In it I demonstrate how well the biblical creation verses match standard science.

[Lessons from Creation’s Parables: Genesis and Standard Science, Sung as One, by Jo Helen Cox.]

Also in this series:

Genesis Revisited #1 – What to Worship

Genesis Revisited #2 – Beliefs Held

Genesis Revisited #3 – Who Is the Creator?

Genesis Revisited #4 – Meaning of Days

Also see series:

Eden Revisited

Eden Revisited