Is the Genesis creation account just one of many Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) creation myths, or is it unique?
Just like Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Babylon had their origin stories, so did Israel. But this is where the similarities end. While there may be some conceptual overlap between Ancient Near East and the Israelite creation accounts, a straightforward comparison of the these stories demonstrate substantial and irreconcilable differences. Let’s briefly consider these differences.
The Differences Between Genesis and Ancient Near Easter Creation Myths
For example, in the Genesis narrative, the one God creates by his word, ex nihilo (out of nothing), with no help and no conflict with competing forces. The creation of heaven and earth is a peaceful and beautiful event, absent of warfare between the gods. Indeed, there are no “gods” in the Genesis creation account. The point of the narrative is to establish Yahweh as the one true and living God, without an ontological rival. Due to its origin in God, every aspect of the creation is classified as “good.”
In Babylon’s creation account, the Enuma Elish, Marduk defeats the primordial mother Tiamat and splits her dead body into two pieces, fashioning one piece into the sky and one into the earth. The Akkadian account, the Atrahasis Epic, does not say anything about the creation of the world as such; this text focuses mainly on the creation of mankind. In the Egyptian Memphite tradition, Ptah works with pre-existing material to establish the creation. He is also the supreme source of all other gods. The Akkadian and Sumerian accounts describe a pantheon of gods involved in the creation and acting by committee.
When it comes to the creation of man, Genesis describes a process where God forms the man and the woman in his image (Gen 1:26ff), endowing them them an inherent dignity and granting them rulership over the entire creation. Work itself is a gift, given to God’s image-bearers before the fall (Gen 2:15).
In the other ANE creation accounts, the gods create humans out of a need for labor. The Enuma Elish depicts Marduk making humans are from his blood and setting them upon the earth to serve the gods and to build their shrines. The Atrahasis Epic begins by bewailing the gods’ need for help:
When the gods instead of man
Did the work, bore the loads,
The gods’ load was too great,
The work too hard, the trouble too much,
The great Anunnaki made the Igigi
Carry the workload sevenfold.
The lesser gods (the Igigi) were created to bear the work of digging irrigation canals. The Igigi eventually rebeled against the other gods, which lead to the need for a womb-goddess to create humans who would take the place of the Igigi and dig the canals.
The one true God, however, is in no need of human labor—his command for the man and woman to exercise dominion over and subdue the earth is for their benefit and blessing, and God’s first command to the man was to enjoy the lavish abundance of the garden that God had created (Gen 2:16).
Genesis: A Direct Attack on False Religion
Why is the Genesis account so starkly different from these other accounts? Because the Genesis account is true, and the others are not. The Genesis creation narrative is itself is a polemic against the ANE religions and their gods.
God creates by himself (Gen 1:1); the neighboring gods create by committee. God creates with a word (Gen 1:3ff), the surrounding gods create through combat. The ANE religions had gods of light and darkness. God creates the light and the darkness and separates them according to his own plan and purpose (Gen 1:3).
Egypt had gods of earth and sky; the one true God creates both and names them. These elements are not gods to be appeased or feared, but aspects of the creation that God crafted and upholds for man’s benefit.
The polemic continues through the remaining narrative, as Moses describes God’s creation of the sun, moon, and stars. Egypt had a sun god, a moon god, and gods of various stars. But the sun and moon were not fearsome deities—they were two lights in the sky that God had established to designate seasons, days, and years. The billions of stars in sky? Moses treats them as an after thought—”and the stars” (1:16). The stars are not gods, nor are they the centerpiece of creation. Earth is the centerpiece because it is the place God will place his image.
In Egypt, only the king was God’s image. The Genesis creation account designates all people as God’s images who bear the unique privilege of representing God on earth and exercising dominion in his stead.
To Whom Will You Compare Me?
About 700 years after Moses penned Genesis, God asked Israel a rhetorical question through the mouth of Isaiah: “To whom will you compare me? (Isaiah 40:25; see also 40:18; 46:5) The answer was meant to be obvious. When you place the Holy One of Israel alongside any other god, the difference is undeniable. God has no rival, no competitor. He is nothing like the gods of the world.
Now that Christ has come, we can see unsurpassed glory of God with even greater clarity (2 Cor 4:6). There is no god like the God of the Bible. The one who creates with a mere word is also the one who, out of compassion for his rebellious image-bearers, does what no other god would ever do: send his own Son to bear their punishment, die, and rise from the dead (Is 53:5-6; Rom 4:25), so he might offer a free pardon (Rom 4:5; Eph 2:8; Titus 3:4-7), renew his image in them by his Spirit (Col 3:10; 2 Cor 3:17-18), and restore his image-bearers to their rightful place as rulers of an earthly kingdom (Rev 2:26-27).
The God of Scripture is the living God. The Bible is true. Christ is real. If you know him, rejoice that he has made the truth so clear. If you do not know him, turn to him today in repentant faith, trusting only in the righteousness of Christ and not your own. If you turn to Christ with sincere faith, God will save you, and you will get to experience his incomparable greatness and goodness of God for all eternity (Eph 2:7).
