Notes for Introduction

1. Hashshamayim, 'the heavens,' appears twice again, in vv19-20, but there the referent is the sky in which the birds fly rather than the cosmic sphere.

2. Benno Jacob, cited in Genesis by Gerhard von Rad (OTL; London: SCM Press, 1961), 75.

3. Adapted from J. T. Walsh, "Gen 2:4-3:34: A Synchronic Approach," Journal for Biblical Literature 96 (1977):161-77. This chiastic flow is also evident in my own detailed analysis of the two chapters (in order not to clutter the explanation here, click here to view the detailed analysis).