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In Enuma Elish the gods build Marduk a temple where they rest from their work after creation. In Genesis, the first creation story also closes with divine rest, with God declaring the seventh day is special, highlighting how creation is like a temple.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Enuma Elish VI
The Seven Tablets of Creation
Ancient Near East
'Now, lord, seeing you have established our freedom What favour can we do for you? Let us make a shrine of great renown: Your chamber will be our resting place wherein we may repose. Let us erect a shrine to house a pedestal Wherein we may repose when we finish (the work).' When Marduk heard this,
Date: 1800 - 1750 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis 2:2
Hebrew Bible
1 The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them. 2 By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation. 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.
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Notes and References
… There are some other themes in the Enuma Elish that seem to function quite differently in Genesis 1. For example, Marduk’s general demonstration of his power through destroying and creating a constellation by force of his command (IV:19–26) is analogous to the broader command structure of Genesis 1, but much more focused. Similarly, God’s ceasing of work on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2–3) corresponds to and yet contrasts with the rest that Ea enjoys in his heavenly temple after conquering Apsu (I:75) and that the lower gods enjoy in Marduk’s temple (VI:50–54). Notably, the temple theme so crucial to this latter theme of “rest” and to the Enuma Elish in general is not specifically paralleled by elements in Genesis 1. Nevertheless, the Priestly narrative of the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness according to the “pattern” (תבנית) revealed by God on Sinai (Exodus 25:9, 40; 26:30; see also 27:8) represents a Priestly counterpart to and transformation of the building of Marduk’s Esagila temple on the pattern of Ea’s Apsu temple in heaven (VI:57–66) …
Carr, David McLain
The Formation of Genesis 1-11: Biblical and Other Precursors
(p. 12) Oxford University Press, 2020
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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