Humans
are created “in the image of God” is a
very important tenet of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity; but their understandings
of what “in the image of God” means are
very different. Since both views are based on the same scripture, we decided to
examine the ancient Hebrew text in which the phrase first appears. It is found
in the opening account of Genesis (1:1-2:4a),
specifically in the events of Day Six. Let’s allow that context to define the
ancient meaning of “in the image of God.”
24 And God said, “Let the Earth cause to bring
forth a living soul according to her kind; a large animal (cattle, oxen), small
moving creature, and wild predatory beast of the Earth, according to her kind.”
And it was so.
The
first thing God does on the sixth day is command
the Earth to bring forth a “living
souls according to her kind.” The Hebrew word NEFESh is the word translated “soul.”
The presence of a soul indicates the presence of life and the soul
is the source of a creature’s
appetites, desires, and longings. The soul the Earth brought
forth is for three kinds of animals which will have appetites, desires and
longings linked to the Earth -- large
animals, small moving animals and wild predatory animals.
25a God made the wild predatory animal of the
Earth according to her kind, the large animal according to her kind, and
everything that moves on the Earth according to his kind.
Next,
God made the three types of animals. After they were made, God measured His
work by the same standard He had used to measure His actions on the previous five
days.
25b
And God saw that it was TOV
TOV is a Hebrew
that is usually translated “good,”
but understanding the contextual meaning
of TOV in this account is very
important. TOV describes “acts that is beautiful and pleasing to God’s eyes because they protect and preserve
lives, make lives more functional and/or increase the quality of life.”
Acts that measure TOV are “lives centered
acts.”
Now
God turns His attention to His next creation.
26 And God said, “Let us make an ADAM
in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, over the winged creatures of the air, over the large animals, over
all the Earth and over every moving creatures on the Earth.”
ADAM is the Hebrew
word that has the following meanings -- a human,
a man, mankind or the name “Adam.”
Be sure to note that in this context ADAM
is a “them.”
The
central focus in this verse is on the word “us” and it has been the source of many debates and heated disagreements.
For us, the first rule is always “view words in their immediate context,” which
in this case is the events of Day Six. In the creation of animals God and the
Earth were involved, therefore they are the most likely choices for defining the
“us.”
Actions
that are repeated in the same context in the ancient Hebrew text are not always
written over and over. Since the subject is still the creation of creatures
that will live on the Earth, God’s command to Earth to bring forth a living
soul for the ADAM was not repeated. The
part of the process that differs from the account about the creation of the
animals is recorded.
27 God created the ADAM in His image;
in the image of the Creator it created him;
male and female it created them.
Now
we know the meaning of “them”
– they are a male and female human.
1. “The ADAM” is created in “in His image.”
2. “The ADAM” is a “them;” not a “him”
or a “her.”
3. No individual
human is “the image of God.”
4. “The image of God” is a collective that requires the presence of both genders.
5. “The image of God” is revealed through
the collective actions of human males and females that do acts like Him.
28 And God blessed them:
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth; and
subdue her;
and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the
winged creatures of the sky
and over every living thing that moves on the Earth.
29
Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of
all the Earth,
and every tree which has fruit yielding seed, it
shall be food for you.
30 And to every wild predator of the Earth and to
every winged creature of the Heavens and to everything that moves on the Earth
which has life, I have given every green plant for food.
In Hebrew, when God blesses something He empowers the thing blessed to do those things. The male and female are equally blessed
by God. Each is empowered to do the things God has blessed them to do. This
blessing is one of the most important acts of God in the Hebrew Scriptures, so
pay close attention to what God empowered you to do.
1. “be fruitful and multiple – The
male and female are empowered with fertility. They will produce creatures of their
own kinds through sexual reproduction. Their fertility does not depend on annual
rituals related to other gods.
2. “fill the Earth” – For humans, “making babies” is an easy act, but “filling the earth” takes years of commitment
and work. Unlike many animals, after being born human babies do not get up,
walk and start feeding themselves. Human offspring must be cared for and
protected from before they are born until they reach a level of maturity in
which they can do what is necessary to survive. Their physical and emotional requirements
must be provided for them – water, food,
shelter, clothing, protection, emotional support, affection, love, etc. They
must also be taught and mentored to learn how to survive and function in life
-- as well how to be parents of their future
offspring.
3. “subdue her” – “Subdue” in English means “to conqueror; to bring under subjection.”
The “her” is a reference to the Earth soul and “her” appetites, desires and
longings. Animals are controlled by their “earthly” appetites, desires
and longings” -- instincts control their lives. Humans are empowered to exercise impulse control and self-discipline. Fulfilling their earthly appetites, desires and longings must be done
in ways that measure up to God’s TOV Standard.
4. “have dominion” -- The English word “dominion” means “to exercise power over; to rule over.” The human male and female
are empowered to “exercise power as
equals” and “do it collectively.”
“Gender equality” is an inseparable
part of being creatures created “in His
image.” A note in The Hebrew &
Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Volume 3 (p. 1190) about the meaning
of the Hebrew word translated “dominion”
sheds new light on how humans are to exercise power -- “the basic meaning of the verb is not to rule; the word actually denotes
the traveling around of the shepherd with his flock.” God empowered humans
to exercise power like a shepherd exercises
power over the animals of their flock -- power is exercised in ways that
measure up to God’s TOV Standard. This theme is repeated throughout Jewish
Scriptures.
5. “human diet” – The human diet is so important that God
included it in His blessing. Humans are empowered to eat plants that yield seeds
that reproduce their own kind and the fruit of trees that produce seeds that
reproduce their own kind.
6. “non-human diet” – The diet of
the other creatures are also important – creatures
of the Earth and the winged creatures of the Heavens are to have a diet that consist
of green plants.
Dr.
John Walton sums up important points about humans and their functions as
creatures created “in the image of God”:
● They have a function relative to God and the
rest of God’s creatures.
● They are to serve the rest of creation as
God’s vice regent.
● They are delegated a godlike function in the
world where He places them -- reveal “His image” through words and actions that
measure TOV.
● They have a function relative to each other
as males and females.
● They have a function to reproduce and populate
the Earth like fish, birds and animals.
God
set up the creation to provide for humans and other living creatures. The focus of the
first account in Genesis moves from
the divine realm, through people, to the world around them. In other words, the focus moves from God through “His image”
to the world in which He created.
“The image of God” is revealed through
God’s words and actions. People are to learn how to live by studying what God
said and did – and then imitate Him in
their words and actions. Their
mission is to learn how to apply God’s instructions, laws, wisdom and values to
situations they face in their lives and then take those actions. This is the Jewish view of the “image of
God.”
The
Christian “image of God” is very
different. It didn’t originate in the Middle Eastern culture of Jerusalem. It
came from the Gentile cultures of Alexandria, Antioch, Athens and Rome – it is the product Hellenistic thought.
In Christian
theologies God is viewed as a rational
being who
believes in human progress, more fully revealing Himself as humans gain
the capacity to better understand. The
focus is on progressively learning
more about God, themselves and the Creation through reason.1
However,
their differing understanding of “created
in God’s image” affects “their views
of history.” Judaism and Christianity both have sustained a directional
conception of history, culminating in an End of the Age event.
● The Jewish
idea of history stresses procession
-- legal interpretation rests on
precedent and therefore is anchored in the past. Today’s decisions are based on past precedents.
● The Christian
idea of history stresses progress
–God fully reveals Himself to humans as
they gain the capacity to better understand Him, therefore the focus is on the
future. We will know more tomorrow than we do today.2
Another
defining account in the Hebrew Scriptures, in which different interpretations have
a profound effect on the relationship of Judaism and Christianity, is the
account of the events that took place in a Garden
in Eden. We will let the ancient Hebrew texts reveal what happened there in
the next blog.
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SOURCES
1 The Victory of Reason: How
Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success by Rodney Stark © 2005; Random
House Trade Paperbacks, New York, NY; p. 11.
2 The Victory of Reason; p. 9.
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