In this post, I will continue to examine Genesis chapter 3. This time we will focus on humanity's quest for eternal life and how the Ancient Near Eastern texts give an explanation for humanity's mortality in parallel to the Genesis account. In the Genesis account we all know what happens. Eve eats the fruit from the tree of knowledge and gives some to Adam who also eats. They then realize they're naked. God then becomes upset and banishes them from the garden.
22Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- 23therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
As a quick aside, please note that God said "man has become like one of Us", clearly denoting that he is among others. Maybe this refers to the trinity, or maybe it is another sign of monolatry (I tend toward the latter).
So, clearly this story is an explanation as to why humanity was not granted eternal life. God guards the way to the tree of life which grants immortality. It seems that the reason humanity is destined to be mortal, is simply because we were deprived access to this tree of life. It also gives the impression that God never intended to allow humanity to eat from this tree. In fact, it seems as though humanity was meant to be kept in ignorance of the trees properties, but since they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, now God fears they may also eat from the tree of life and become immortal like him.
This tree of life is also paralleled in the epic of Gilgamesh which we read in the previous post. Gilgamesh, like every other human on this earth, fears death and seeks a way to prevent this inevitable doom. He seeks out the only man who has ever attained immortality, Utnapishtim. However, he finds out that Utnapishtim was granted immortality by the gods in a special circumstance and that Gilgamesh cannot attain eternal life by the same means. However, he doesn't leave him empty handed.
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: "Gilgamesh, you came here exhausted and worn out. What can I give you so you can return to your land? I will disclose to you a thing that is hidden, Gilgamesh, a... I will tell you. There is a plant... like a boxthorn, whose thorns will prick your hand like a rose. If your hands reach that plant you will become a young man again."Hearing this, Gilgamesh opened a conduit(!) (to the Apsu) and attached heavy stones to his feet.They dragged him down, to the Apsu they pulled him. He took the plant, though it pricked his hand,and cut the heavy stones from his feet,letting the waves(?) throw him onto its shores.Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, the ferryman, saying: "Urshanabi, this plant is a plant against decay(!) by which a man can attain his survival(!). I will bring it to Uruk-Haven, and have an old man eat the plant to test it. The plant's name is 'The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.'" Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth."
Therefore, this theme of a plant which grants immortality is indeed a theme common between both the Genesis story and this theme in Gilgamesh. In both of these accounts, it is a plant that is eaten which gives eternal life.
The next text we will look at is called Adapa and the Food of Life. The phonology of Adapa could also be read Adamu, a staggering resemblance to Adam from Genesis. However, Adapa is not the first human on earth, but he is created by Ea, the god of wisdom, and is called Ea's son. Adapa is considerred one of the Annunaki, which gives him a somewhat divine status. However, Ea endowed Adapa with the gift of wisdom and knowledge, but did not grant him eternal life. The reason for not giving Adapa the gift of immortality is unknown.
The story goes on and Adapa goes out fishing, but the south wind blows and capsizes his boat. As a result, Adapa curses the wind and its "wings" are broken. As a result the south wind doesn't blow on the land for 7 days. At this point, it is brought to the attention of Anu, the head of the gods, what Adapa did. Adapa is then summoned before Anu. However, before Adapa goes, Ea gives him this advice.
When thou comest up, and when thou approachest the door of Anu,At the door of Anu, Tammuz and Gishzida are standing,"they will see thee, they will ask thee; 'Sir,'For whose sake dost thou so appear, Adapa? For whomArt thou clad in a mourning garment?' 'In our country two gods have vanished, thereforeAm I so.' 'Who are the two gods, who in the land have vanished?' 'Tammuz and Gishzida.' They will look at one another andBe astonished. Good words They will speak to Anu. A good countenance of Anu They will show thee. When thou standest before Anu Food of death they will set before thee,Eat not. Water of death they will set before thee,Drink not. Garments they will set before thee,Put them on. Oil they will set before thee, anoint thyself.The counsel that I have given thee, forget not. The words Which I have spoken, hold fast."
So, Ea advises Adapa not to eat the food and drink of death. Adapa goes before Anu and carries out Ea's advice. However, it is not the food and drink of death which is laid before Adapa.
"Why has Ea revealed to impure mankind The heart of heaven and earth? A heart... has created within him, has made him a name?What can we do with him? Food of lifeBring him, that be man, eat."Food of lifeThey brought him, but he ate not. Water of lifeThey brought him, but he drank not. GarmentsThey brought him. He clothed himself. OilThey brought him. He anointed himself.Anu looked at him; he wondered at him." Come, Adapa, why hast thou not eaten, not drunken?Now thou shalt not live." ... men ...Ea, my lord Said: "Eat not, drink not."Take him and bring him back to his earth.... looked upon him.
It was not food and drink of death offered to Adapa, but the food and drink of life. Had he eaten it, he would have been granted immortality. However, following Ea's orders, he didn't eat and was thus doomed again to a mortal life. Why did Ea tell him not to eat the food and water? Perhaps since he created Adapa and didn't grant him immortality, he wanted to keep it that way. It is difficult to think that the god of wisdom made a mistake when he said the food and drink of death. More likely, he wanted to keep Adapa mortal, as he created him.
Again in this text, we see a food (and water), something to be consumed which grants immortality to the one who consumes it. Also in this text, we see that the human, Adapa, created by Ea, is not given immortality and is in fact kept from obtaining immortality. Ea does not intend for Adapa to become like him, and denies him eternal life. Both of these themes are echoed in the Genesis account. God denies Adam and Eve eternal life, by driving them from the garden and not allowing them to eat from the tree of life. In the same way Ea tricks Adapa into not eating the food of life.
Traditional Christian thought holds that the theme of the Genesis 3 passage is the fall of man and the first sin. If one reads the passage, there is no sin committed in a moral sense. Rather, the 'sin' committed was that they didn't obey God and ate from the tree of knowledge. It is never laid out explicitly that this was a 'sin' as we understand that term. There is no reason given by God for denying them access to these two trees, other than the fact that God wished to keep humanity ignorant of good and evil and deny them immortality. It seems to me that this idea of the first sin and the fall of man is somewhat forced onto the text for the reason of coming up with a seamless theology throughout the Bible.
I would propose that the theme in this passage is different from the one above (although I am certain that I am not the first to propose this). In light of these other texts which we have studied, it is very easy to see what the theme of the Genesis 3 account is. It is an explanation of the mortality of humanity. Now that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, they know that if they eat from the tree of life they will become immortal. God then denies them access to the tree, so that they will not become immortal like him. The Ancient Near Eastern person is seeking for a reason as to why we must die. Death is something very much on everyone's mind today, and this was no different 5000 years ago. Thus, these stories/myths were created as an explanation for the mortality of humanity. The Israelites were no different from their mesopotamian neighbours. They also sought an explanation for the reason they must die. It is my belief that the themes from the texts seen above (which were the stories of the dominant culture of the time) were borrowed into the Israelite tradition (possibly to the extent of even borrowing the name Adapa/Adamu), and the story of Genesis 3 is born.
Genesis 3 is simply an explanation of why humans must die: God denied humans access to the tree of life by driving them out of the garden of Eden. Again, I do not believe that this is a literal story that actually happened, but rather a myth that revealed to the Israelites the reason for death.
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