Adam and Eve

I came across this quote from Hugh Nibley in Jeff Bradshaw's commentary on the book of Moses and thought it was very insightful:

"The perfect union of Adam and Eve excited the envy and jealousy of the Evil One, who made it his prime objective to break it up... His first step (or wedge) [was] to get one of them to make an important decision without consulting the other. He approached Adam in the absence of Eve with a proposition to make him wise, and being turned down he sought out the woman to find her alone and thus undermine her resistance more easily. It is important that he was able to fine them both alone."
(In God's Image and Likeness: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Book of Moses 1:249-50).

Genesis 32 - Jacob's Wrestle

Jacob Wrestling With The Angel by Gustave Dore.

One of the most puzzling stories found in the Old Testament (aka Hebrew Bible) is the story related in Genesis 32: 22-30 about Jacob's contest with the "man" (איש - 'ish).

The story begins with Jacob and several of his family crossing the Jabbok River at night. Jacob  for some reason is left alone and then begins wrestling with the aforementioned man which continues until the break of dawn at which time the man bestows a new name and blessing upon the head of Jacob after realizing that he is unable to defeat him.

The identity of the "man" is not explicity stated in the text but verse 30 implies that the "man" may have been God himself since Jacob declares at the conclusion of the account that he had seen him. Other possibilities have been explored as noted by Esther Hamori in the introduction to her book When Gods Were Men where she states: "The figure defined as an 'ish who wrestles with Jacob (Genesis 32:23-33) has been identified in modern scholarship as an angel, a demon, a man, God, and various other alternatives" (1). Rabbi Louis Ginzberg's compilation of aggadah in his work the Legends of the Jews states that it was the archangel Michael who wrestled with Jacob and Josephus agrees it was an angel but does not provide a name.

Assuming the figure was a heavenly one it seems inconceivable that the wrestling match would last more than just a few seconds or that Jacob would be able to wrestle the being to a stand still. There are elements of the account that suggest there was more going on than is immediately apparent. In verse 24 the word "wrestled" is translated from אבק (abaq) the definition of which is given by Strong as "A primitive root; probably to float away (as vapor)... to bedust, that is grapple: - wrestle". The reason that the concepts of dust and vapor are linked with wrestling in Biblical Hebrew is that when two individuals wrestled they kicked up a significant amount of dust into the air and became covered in the substance themselves. The author of this account may have used this terminology to conceal what was really happening. The imagery of floating away as vapor is reminiscent of Nephi's description of being carried away in the spirit in 1 Nephi 11:1 and the description of Moses being caught away in Moses 1:1. Additionally, we learn from Moses in the Pearl of Great Price that part of Enoch's vision entailed being clothed upon with glory (see Moses 7:3-4). The imagery of being covered in dust as a result of wrestling may have been intended to invoke this idea.


In verses 27-28 of Genesis 32 after requesting a blessing from the heavenly ministrant Jacob is given the new name of Israel which can be translated as one who prevails with God. Receipt of a new name was a feature of some ancient coronation rituals. The image to the right shows two of the names for Pharaoh Tutankhamun - his birth name and his regnal name. At his birth he was named Tutankhaten (which means "living image of Aten") but subsequently changed it to Tutankhamun ("living image of Amun) on account of pressures to disavow his predecessors policy of worshipping Aten to the exclusion of the rest of the Egyptian pantheon. The cartouche on the left bears the name Tutankhamun. The cartouche on the right bears his regnal name which he assumed at his coronation at the age of nine years. His royal name was Nebkheperure ("Lord of the forms of Re).

Additionally, we know that several of the kings of Judah were given royal names upon their ascension to the throne. That list includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Eliakim became Jehoiakim
• Jeconiah became Jehoiachin
• Mattaniah became Zedekiah

Therefore, Jacob's receipt of a new name may be an indication that this account is to be understood in the context of a coronation. This is reinforced by the fact that Jacob is also called a "prince" (שרה - sarah) by the heavenly messenger.

There is one last element in the account which has caused a great deal of debate among Bible scholars and that is when the man touches Jacob's thigh and it becomes disjointed. In verse 32 the Biblical writer mentions that the Israelites of his day did not eat the corresponding sinew on the animals which were used for food in commemoration of this event. The sinew was emblematic of a person's strength and vigor. Saying that the heavenly messenger put his sinew out of joint may have been a way of saying that Jacob's strength was spent by his encounter with the divine.

It is common for those who commune with divine beings to have their strength exhausted by the experience. Moses experienced this in his great theophany (see Moses 1:9-10) as did Joseph Smith in his encounter with the resurrected Moroni (see JS-H 1:48).

Another possibility is that this part of the story refers to another element of Near-eastern ritual. New Kingdom temple rituals were designed to guide the Pharaoh and other high officials through the hazards of the underworld and into the presence of Osiris. This is illustrated beautifully in the papyrus of the scribe of Hunefer found in the British Museum.

In the papyrus, the initiate (in this case Hunefer's scribe, in white) is required to answer the questions posed by numerous divine beings along the top of the papyrus. They ask questions of him to determine his worthiness to proceed along his path. In the lower portion of the image he is taken by the hand of Anubis who guides him to a scale where his heart is weighed against the feather of Maat which represents truth. Having passed the test he is brought before the partition separating him from Osiris by Horus where he enters the presence of Osiris and himself becomes an Osiris for eternity.

As the initiate passed through the partition or veil to join with Osiris he was welcomed by a ritual embrace. A representation of this is found on the back side of the holy of holies in the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt. The picture to the left was taken by me when I visited the Karnak Temple in 1999. While it is damaged it is possible to see the ritual embrace of the initiate on the left and the deity on the right.

Clearer images of the ritual embrace can be found in Nibley's book The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, an Egyptian Endowment on page 431 (see below).  Regarding this image Nibley wrote:

"The climax and culmination of the coronation rites was a ritual embrace of father and son designated as shn, the word becoming a terminus technicus for the coronation itself... The shn-rite was taken over from the coronation into the funerary rites, but in either sphere it deals with the embracing of an otherworldly father" (430-1).

This ritual embrace may be alluded to in verse 25 of Genesis 32. Just as the initiate in Egyptian temple rituals was welcomed into the presence of deity following their successful completion of certain tests (or might we say contests?) so Jacob may have experienced something similar in his diving encounter near the Jabbok River.

The description from Nibley's book reads as follows: "Figure 136. (B) The four sides of an eleven-foot pillar, one of eight from the jubilee chapel of Senwosret, show the pharaoh being embraced by four different gods in four different ways, just as the accompanying inscriptions are similar but never the same. Thus the divine family welcomes their son back home. Senwsret I pillar, ca. 1940 B.C. Courtesy of Cairo Museum."

Noah

The Lord Fulfilleth All His Words, by Clark Kelley Price

The account of the prophet Noah as found in Genesis is a fascinating and generally misunderstood pericope which is highly symbolic and recapitulates the story of the creation and the fall. Jeffrey Bradshaw has written some very insightful material on the symbols behind the Noah story which can be found in his books and in  Meridian Magazine. Bradshaw points out a number of parallels between the creation story and the flood. In this post I will mention just a few for the sake of brevity. Additionally, Bradshaw sheds light upon the troubling story of Noah's drunkenness which seems out of character for a prophet of God. As we will see this account as it has come down to us has been subject to misunderstandings and mistranslations and when understood properly does not need to cause concern.

Creation

Ancient Hebrews conceived of the existence of a primordial sea of chaos out of which creation emerged. According to this conception the first piece of ground to emerge from chaos was the primordial hillock. Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, upon which the 1st and 2nd temples were built, was associated with this primordial hillock by the Israelites. The primordial hillock was also associated with the Garden of Eden and was considered the axis mundi or the point at which heaven and earth were joined.

Bradshaw writes that the ark built by Noah was designed as a temple with its three decks corresponding to the three areas (most holy place, holy place and outer court) of the Jerusalem temple. He also points out that other than the tabernacle and temple the ark is the only structure mentioned in the Bible whose design was revealed through revelation. 

Genesis 8 states that after drifting across the water the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Ararat is depicted as the primordial mountain upon which the ark/temple rests just as the temple sat upon Mount Moriah. The animals and Noah's family leaving the ark to re-populate the earth can be likened to the placing of animals and man on the earth at the creation. Upon leaving the ark the command to "multiply and replenish the earth" was renewed with Noah and his family as it was originally given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. (compare Gen. 1:28 & Gen 8:17)

Noah's Tent

The story of Noah's drunkenness within his tent is found in Genesis 9:20-27 and many have supposed this incident to be a moment of indiscretion by an otherwise righteous prophet. However, there may be more to the story than is suggested by our modern English translations of the Bible. Bradshaw cites the writings of Rabbi Shim'on in the Zohar where he explains that Noah's tent is to be understood as the tent of the Shekinah or the Divine Presence of Jehovah. This tent, built at the foot of Mount Ararat, therefore, is analogous to the portable Tabernacle which Moses built at the foot of Mount Sinai. (ref)

Tissot, Noah in Vision

What, then are we make of Noah's being drunken and uncovered in the tent? Bradshaw mentions a statement attributed to Joseph Smith in which the prophet explained that Noah was not drunk but was in a vision. Bradshaw's article also cites the Genesis Apocryphon which describes Noah and his family engaging in a ritual drinking of wine after which Noah is shown a vision in which he sees the destiny of his posterity. Therefore, as Bradshaw explains "Noah's drinking of the wine should be seen in a ritual context and not merely as a spontaneous indulgence that occurred at the end of a particularly wearying day." (ref)

Noah's nakedness can be explained by looking at the example of Saul when he joined Samuel's group and "stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night." (1 Sam. 19:24) Bradshaw cites Robert Jamieson who explained that Saul's nakedness in this instance means that he was “divested of his armor and outer robes." (ref)

Hugh Nibley has offered another explanation that the nakedness of Noah referred to the priestly garment which he wore which was the garment of skins given to Adam which had been passed down through the generations. Nibley goes on to explain that Ham either stole the garment from Noah or made a copy of it. (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.5, pp. 169-170). If this was the case then it would appear that Ham was cursed because he intruded into the sanctuary tent while his father was enwrapped in vision dressed in his priestly vestments. Ham then made an unauthorized copy of the garment and claimed priestly authority by virtue of possessing the counterfeit. 

Understanding the account of Noah in light of the information Jeff Bradshaw has gathered  brings greater appreciation for this story and dispels the more controversial aspects. Additionally, viewing this account in light of the temple creation drama helps the reader understand the account as it was intended to be understood.

Facsimile 2, Figure 2

For the past week or two I've been reading the new Hugh Nibley book "One Eternal Round". There is a paragraph or two that talks about figure 2 in facsimile number 2 (the hypocephalus) on pages 109 - 110 that I thought was really interesting. Here it is:

"Any point on the rim of a speeding wheel is going either up or down, and no matter how fast the vehicle is moving, that point must stand dead still when it touches the earth - or else the wheel would be skidding. One might call it a singularity, moving up and down at the same time. Yet it is clearly displayed in the important 17th chapter of the Book of the Dead. There we see the sun on the horizon, but it is neither yesterday nor tomorrow...

"The same idea is expressed in Facsimile 2, Figure 2, the two faced god that represents the sun at the zenith and symbolizes the joining together of Re and Osiris... The two come together at, and only at, the indefinable instant of time when the sun reverses its course from a southerly to northerly direction. The Egyptian text explains that this is indeed the combined oneness of Re (who looks forward to the day) with Osiris (who is looking back on it). At that moment his two faces are in both worlds at once, and on some hypocephali the figure is drawn with a double body as well. But it is only for an unthinkable instant, the passing of time from past to future, the fatal paradox or the moment in which we are all living."

I also thought I would add Joseph Smith's commentary on this figure:

"Fig. 2. Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets; as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord."

In BYU Studies, vol. 17 (1976-1977) p. 268 Michael Rhodes gave a translation of facsimile 2 and this is what he had to say about figure 2:

"A two-headed deity wearing the double-plumed crown of Amen, with Ram's horns mounted on it. On his shoulders are jackalheads, and he is holding the jackal standard of Wepwawet. To his right is an altar with offerings on and around it. In most hypocephali, he is holding the ankh, or symbol of life, in his right hand. Also to his right a line of hieroglyphics reading: "The name of this Mighty God.

"P.J. de Horrack considers this to be Amen-Re; the two heads illustrating the hidden and mysterious power of Amen combined with the visible and luminous power of Re. fn William Petrie agrees that it is Amen-Re, but sees the two heads as representing the rising and setting sun. fn That the deity is a form of Amen is clear from the fact that he is wearing the double plume crown mentioned in chapter 162 of the Book of the Dead, but why he has jackals' heads on his shoulders and is holding a jackal standard is not so evident. The jackal is generally is used as a symbol of Anubis and Wepwawet, both funerary gods. Anubis being specifically the god assigned to guide the dead through the afterworld to the throne of Osiris. Perhaps due to the funerary character of the hypocephalus, it was thought that Amen should also carry emblems indicative of his power over that realm as well.

"Again, we can compare here the significance ascribed to these characters by Joseph Smith. Where the hypocephalus depicts the two-headed deity holding the symbol of life or power over death, Joseph mentions "holding the key of power." Where an altar is shown, Joseph identifies the principle of "sacrifice upon an altar" as revealed by God to Abraham. A hidden power seems to be associated with the name of the two-headed God, who probably serves as a guide for the dead bring them into the presence of God. This might concur with Joseph's explanation that this figure "stands next to Kolob," as a guide surely must do if the is going to be able to lead the dead to God."

Abraham

This is a short clip from the film "Faith of an Observer". Hugh Nibley tells the story from the Midrash of when Abraham was promised his son Isaac.

Joseph's Coat of Certain Marks

This comes from Hugh Nibley:

The idea of a garment of many colors is an invention. If you look in your Bible every time it mentions many colors the word colors (even in the commentary) is in italics [the word in italics is actually many] because it is put in there by modern editors. It’s found in no ancient source. It’s not a garment of many colors at all. A garment of certain marks is the term that’s used here. We’ll see what it is in a second. “This garment had belonged to Abraham, and it already had a long history.” It’s history was lengthy because it went back to the Garden of Eden, you see. That’s the garment; it’s the only one. Just as we treat the story of Cain and Abel, we trivialize this. We say, “Joseph was the youngest kid, so his father favored him and gave him a pretty garment of many colors.” There is no mention in any ancient source of a garment of many colors. That’s an invention of modern editors trying to explain it. But here it was the garment he gave him. It was the garment of the priesthood. No wonder they were jealous of him, they being the elder brothers and he the younger in the patriarchal line coming down from Abraham. This garment had belonged to Abraham and had come down to Joseph instead of to the other brethren...

When Joseph’s brethren returned to give the coat back to Jacob, other ancient documents and literature as well as understanding the meaning of the source languages help us understand what happened next:

Here we have “I detect, I perceive, I note.” (He’s blind, you see.) “the odor, the spirit, the smell of Joseph, if you do not think me out of my head from old age and a bit barmy.” It talks about the spirit that is in it, the east wind that has brought it, etc. And this is a very important thing: “When they placed it upon the face of Jacob, he smelled also the smell of the Garden of Eden. For behold there is not in all the earth another garment that has that smell in it.” This is a unique thing; this is the garment. “For there is not in any other garment on earth of the winds of the garden of Eden, unless it is in this one garment.” So you can see why the brethren were so jealous; it was the garment of the priesthood. The commentator says he recognized that it was Joseph’s garment by feeling it first because it had three marks in it.

-Nibley Teachings of the Book of Mormon 3:51-52 from templestudy.com