Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/62

 The Book

44 story

is

of Genesis

of far less import than the Jewish thought which the story

anachronisms like these can be readily overl(X;ke(l. God's blessing upon the animals is not to be regarded as a mere, pious wish that they be fruitful and multiply, but, just as illustrates so well,

V. 22.

28, it bestows upon them the power of self-propagation. In throughout the Bible, God's blessing is never a mere wish, but always contains the means of self-fulfilment if only properly applied. '. 26. The words, "Let ns make man in our image", are probably a survival of the older version of this myth, which spoke, not of one God, but of many gods (cf. Ill, 22). The present monoin

V.

fact,

form of the story is the result of the adaptation of the myth to the standpoint of the Jewish religion. In this connection it may be remarked that frequently Jewish Biblical students are startled, and even shocked, when the thought is first presented to them that this creation-story, and also the floodstory and a number of other Biblical traditions and thoughts were borrowed from Babylonian mythology and literature. A moment's consideration, however, suffices to show that there is nothing unnatural or shocking in this fact, and that the admission of its correctness detracts not one whit from the credit and glory of Judaism. Nations, like individuals, must live alongside of each other and exchange cultural products of intellect and spirit, even as they exchange material products of field and factory. It would be a sorry people, just as it would be a sorry individual, which had to discover and learn everything for itself through its own, ofttimes bitter, experience, and could not learn from contact with other peoples and acquaintance with their history and thought. Israel is no exception to this rule. Throughout its history it has always been able to exchange the best of its knowledge and culture for the best of the knowledge and culture of its neighbors, the Babylonians among others. But Israel has never been a parasite upon the world; it has always given in exchange value received, and on the whole the theistic

original Babylonian

balance of credit

Xor

is

in

its

favor.

Not even Shakespeare created the plots of all his immortal plays. The great majority he borrowed from one source or another. But in their original sources these plots would have had little or no permanent interest for the world, and would in time have been lost or forgotten. It was Shakespeare's genius that made these plots live and become the literary treasures of the world. Somewhat similarly, though to a degree far more exalted, is

this

all.

as the genius of a God-inspired people surpasses infinitely the genius

of an individual, even a Shakespeare, Israel borrowed this creation-