It may surprise some believers that there is more than one creation story among the nations. Moreover, it may also come as a surprise that many Biblical scholars believe the Genesis account of creation plagiarized one ancient creation story in particular, the Enuma Elish, a Babylonian creation myth (named after its opening words). The Enuma Elish is contained in seven clay tablets found in the ruins of the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh. They date to the 12th century BC and contain interesting allusions to the Genesis account of creation. In fact, in 1876 they were published by George Smith as the Chaldean Genesis!
The first thing we need to consider is: why should the tradition of the post-enlightenment model be the considered the best analysis of the ANE cultural traditions, including that of the Bible? Who died and made those scholars the gods of ancient ANE cultural history? Is there no other reasonable explanation for the similarity between the Genesis account of creation and the Enuma Elish?
In the beginning of the account all that existed were two gods: Apsu, who answers to the God of Genesis 1:1, and Tiamat, the goddess of chaos who answers to “without form and void” of Genesis 1:2. Apparently Apsu and Tiamat copulated, and she bore him everything that came to exist afterwards: the unnamed high heaven, the unnamed firm ground (earth) below, the reeds and the marshes, and all the, as yet, unnamed gods. According to the Enuma Elish, everything was in the state of chaos, including the unnamed gods, which answer to laws that govern creation, all of which were yet in the state of chaos. Nothing was brought into “existence” yet, because, apparently, existence, for all intents and purposes, means being called forth and named and their destinies or labors defined.
Once the gods were formed (named), it is said that they caused too much commotion, so Tiamat became upset with them, and wanted to slay them, because Apsu couldn’t calm them. Long-story-short there was war among the gods, both Apsu and Tiamat were slain, and a god by the name of Marduk became lord of the gods for defeating Tiamat. After he slew her, he divided her in two—half became the vault of heaven and earth (using her ribs), and he used other parts of her upper body to create day and night, rain and clouds in the sky, but her eyes became the Tigris and Euphrates. The other half of her body, the hinder parts, became what we call the Milky Way.
Today, many scholars want to say that the Genesis account of creation plagiarized this pagan model! Is there any other way to look it? Of course, there is! To begin with, who copied whom? Why must it be the writers of the Bible who copied the Babylonian epic? Why not vice versa? Secondly, why **must** the conclusion be that either copied the other? In fact, I don’t see why the story behind the Enuma Elish wasn’t in existence, as a worldview during the time of Moses. The Book of Genesis doesn’t need to be dependent upon the Babylonian epic, no matter how early scholars wish to place its source. If Moses is the author of the first five books of the Bible, we can reasonably account for his writing the last four—he was there. However, where did he get his information for Genesis? Does God have to dictate the account for Moses to know what to put into the Genesis record? No! there are texts within the book, itself, that show where Moses got his information.
The first record referred to in the Book of Genesis is mentioned in Genesis 2:4 where it says: “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth…” and the record covers Genesis 1 to 4. The second record mentioned is in Genesis 5:1. Here we have the account of the Patriarchs, up to and including Noah, and it refers to chapters 5 through 6:8. A third record is found in Genesis 6:8 and includes events up to the end of chapter 9. Chapter 10:1, begins the fourth record, which includes the families of Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Then we come to the fifth record, which follows only the descendants of Shem (Genesis 11:10), and it takes us to Abraham. In Genesis 25:12-18 we are given the record of Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar, and in Genesis 25:19 to the end of the book we have Abraham’s descendants through Isaac, Jacob and Esau. In Genesis 36:1-43 we find the record of Esau and his descendants, but, afterward, the record pretty much follows Joseph, the son of Jacob. Thus, Moses had at least twelve records,[1] perhaps more, to draw from to compile the first book of the Bible. He didn’t need to have it dictated to him by God, nor did he need the help of the Enuma Elish!
So, where do the similarities come from? Paul tells us that at one time all men knew the truth about their origins but, because they didn’t honor God, their hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21). They changed the glory of God, as Creator, and made him into corruptible figures of men, birds and beasts (Romans 1:23), changing the truth about God into a lie, while they worshiped the creatures rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). They professed themselves to be wise (Romans 1:22), and pushed God out of their knowledge (Romans 1:28).
The Enuma Elish, as it stands, is a corrupt form of the original knowledge men were given from the beginning. It’s like the telephone conversation that is told ten people, each one telling the next what he heard. By the time the tenth tells what he heard the original is unrecognizable in what is left! The scriptures of the Bible are different. Moses was given copies of each original records, which were handed down to him from the Patriarchs, Enoch and Noah, and then through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the time, when Israel left Egypt to journey to the Promised Land.
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[1] See Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1, 32; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2.
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