 |  |
"When the gods in their assembly had created (great beasts)
They made perfect the mighty monsters,
They caused the living creatures to come forth;
The cattle of the field, the wild beast of the field, and the creeping things of the field.
. . . . . . . for the living creatures."
The god Ea, is mentioned in the mutilated lines that follow, and as this god is usually
the one to whom the creation of man is assigned, it seems very probable that the
Babylonian account of the creation of man was written on this same tablet. A fragment
of a hymn has the following:--
"Mayest thou be great, for a noble companion art thou. Let thy manhood be
increased. With the dominion of all the gods I have caused thy hand to be filled."
These words seem an echo of Gen. 1: 26. An ancient magical text of Accadian origin (a
people from whom the Babylonians learned much) has a line, Assat ina udli nis uttam,
"the woman from the flank of man was called", which is parallel with Gen. 2: 21, 22.
It is probable that the last tablet made reference to the Sabbath. The Sabbath was
called Udu Khulgul, an "unlawful day", and Salum, "rest or completion". A gloss in a
lexicographical tablet explains the word Sabbattum by Yum nukh libbi, "The day of rest
for the heart". Those who are acquainted with the Hebrew language will see how closely
related the Assyrian and the Hebrew are. In another list Sabattu is explained as a
synonym of gamaru, "to complete, to finish". So in Gen. 2: 1-3 we read, "Thus the
heavens and the earth were finished. . . . on the seventh day God ended (same word
finished). . . . and He rested on the seventh day. . . .".
We have not quoted or even indicated the grotesque and "turbid mass of idolatrous
fancies" which occupies the bulk of these tablets, neither do we suggest that a
comparison with the inspired record is possible. Referring to the truth revealed in
Rom. 1: 18-24, we quote the words of the Rev. John Urquhart:--
"The Chaldean Genesis is itself a testimony that revelation is a fact. The story is built
upon outlines which perfect knowledge of creation's mysteries could alone have
furnished. And the Genesis of the Bible is also itself the proof that He Who gave the first
revelation gave us the second revelation, that men may know Him Who is behind all
things and in all things--the living God, our Maker, and our Father."
This we shall have illustrated again when we consider the tablets dealing with the Flood.