A Sanctuary in Time: Exploring Genesis 1’s Memory of Creation

Since the days of Wellhausen, pentateuchal scholarship has essentially agreed that Gen 1 and Gen 2 are from two distinct sources. Furthermore, they agree that Gen 1 was added in front of Gen 2 at a relatively late period during the Pentateuch's compositional history. Moving beyond these agreements, this thesis asks why Gen 1, and its cultural memory of creation, was added in front of Gen 2? In other words, what motivated a later group to come along and add Gen 1? As such, this thesis argues that Gen 1 was intentionally added in order to primarily elevate the Sabbath to a position and status equal to the Temple/Tabernacle. In mnemonic terms, then, Gen 1 is a countermemory that resulted in a shift away from sacred space toward sacred time. A mnemonic shift from the sanctuary in Jerusalem to a sanctuary in time.