A new glimpse of Day One : an intertextual history of Genesis 1.1-5 in Hebrew and Greek texts up to 200 CE
Abstract
This thesis is an unconventional history of the interpretation of Day One, Genesis 1.1-5, in Hebrew and Greek texts
up to c. 200 CE. Using the concept of ‘intertextuality’ as developed by Kristeva, Derrida, and others, the method for
this historical exploration looks at the dynamic interconnectedness of texts. The results reach beyond deliberate
exegetical and eisegetical interpretations of Day One to include intertextual, and therefore not necessarily deliberate,
connections between texts. The purpose of the study is to gain a glimpse into the textual possibilities available to
the ancient reader / interpreter. Central to the method employed is the identification of the intertexts of Day One.
This is achieved, at least in part, by identifying and tracing flags that may draw the reader from one text to another.
In this study these flags are called ‘intertextual markers’ and may be individual words, word-pairs, or small phrases
that occur relatively infrequently within the corpus of texts being examined. The thesis first explores the
intertextuality of Genesis 1.1-5 in the confines of the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint. The second half of the
thesis identifies and explores the intertexts of Day One in other Hebrew texts (e.g. the Dead Sea Scrolls, Sirach) and
other Greek texts (e.g. Philo, the New Testament) up to c. 200 CE. The thesis concludes with a summation of some
of the more prominent and surprising threads in this intertextual ‘tapestry’ of Day One. These summary threads
include observations within the texts in a given language and a comparative look at the role of language in the
intertextual history of Day One.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Generic
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/
Collections
Except where otherwise noted within the work, this item's licence for re-use is described as Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Generic
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.