6 posts tagged “genesis”

Biblical scholars have long realized that the flood myth in the Bible is compilation of two older but parallel stories, one from the northern kingdom of Israel (called the E source) and the other from the southern kingdom of Judah (called the J source). These stories were combined by some priestly group (the P source) in Jerusalem after the northern kingdom was destroyed by Assyria in 720 BC. The influx of northern refugees into the south required that a new common history be created by merging the slightly different traditions of their common religion. The editorial P source was very concerned with an orderly history which explains its emphasis on genealogy and the covenant theology which gives a framework in which to understand Israel's history (both is triumphs and defeats). A review of a book that attempts to recreate the J source can be found here. What follows is my attempt at separating the two parallel sources.

Rationale for the Flood

J source

6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

P source editorial introduction

9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
 

E source

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

Comments

In this New International Version of the Bible "LORD" is a translation of the Hebrew word "Yahweh" while God is a translation of the Hebrew word "Elohim". These two different terms for the divinity are the primary characteristics of their respective sources.

Construction Commands

E source

13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark (P editor insert) —you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

J Source

7:1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."

 5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

Comments

Verse 15 in Hebrew is:  300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high (about 140 meters long, 23 meters wide and 13.5 meters high).

Notice the difference between the sources in the number and type of animals that Noah was to bring onto the ark.

E Source

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

J Source

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

P Source adds this editorial summary

13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

The Flood Begins

J Source

 17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.

E source

18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.  24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

The Flood Ends

E source

8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

J Source

 6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. 13 By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

Comments

Notice that the drying of the earth took much longer in the E source (more than 10 months) than in the J source (two months). Apparently the rest of the E source flood ending was deleted since it does not go all the way to the dry land stage.

Out of the Ark

E Source

 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."

 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

J Source

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

 22 "As long as the earth endures,
       seedtime and harvest,
       cold and heat,
       summer and winter,
       day and night
       will never cease."

Final Comment

Notice how well the story line of each source flow together, a flow that is lost in the combined version.

Also notice that this flood myth is not based on a raging river flood analogy. Instead the extra water came from a combination of springs and rain that smoothly rose.

The main point of the Adam and Eve story is to explain why and how humans became different from animals. Humans have a choice of natures, either good and evil, like God and unlike animals. Humans were originally created to be pets in a garden but because they gained knowledge God threw them out of the garden so they would not become immortal like full gods. Wouldn't an all knowing God know this beforehand? Why did God not want humans to become like gods?

The first part of the story is here.

The Genesis Text  (New International Version)

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

 11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

 12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
      The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
       "Cursed are you above all the livestock
       and all the wild animals!
       You will crawl on your belly
       and you will eat dust
       all the days of your life.

 15 And I will put enmity
       between you and the woman,
       and between your offspring and hers;
       he will crush your head,
       and you will strike his heel."

 16 To the woman he said,
       "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
       with pain you will give birth to children.
       Your desire will be for your husband,
       and he will rule over you."

 17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'

       "Cursed is the ground because of you;
       through painful toil you will eat of it
       all the days of your life.

 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
       and you will eat the plants of the field.

 19 By the sweat of your brow
       you will eat your food
       until you return to the ground,
       since from it you were taken;
       for dust you are
       and to dust you will return."

 20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Comment

serpent - Many bronze serpents have been discovered throughout the Near East and dating to between 1,500 and 500 BC indicating that it had some kind of religious significance.  Numbers 21:8 reports that Moses had a bronze serpent made for curing snake bite which was later destroyed by King Hezekiah in a religious reform (2 Kings 18:4). Because snakes shed their skins they were seen as being "reborn" and thus in a certain sense immortal. They came to be associated with healing because of this (see the Roman god of healing Asclepius).

Interestingly, Babylonian and Sumerian pictures exist showing two people seated by a tree with a snake nearby.

Egypt's 12th dynasty (1990-1780 BC has a story entitled the "Isle of the Serpent" where a giant golden colored serpent rules an island paradise called the island of Ka. Egyptians considered Ka as the immortal essence of both gods and men.

The identification of a serpent and woman as something wicked in literature seems to have originated with the Hittites as shown in this letter from King Hattusilis I (1650 - 1620 B.C.) about the betrayal of his nephew whom he had made his heir.  (reprinted in The Secret of the Hittites by C.W. Ceram; Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1955).

    ". . . I, the king, called him my son, embraced him, exalted him and gave him the tenderest care.  But lo! how the boy has behaved during my illness.  It is indescribable!  He shed no tears, he showed no pity.  Cold he is, and heartless.  Therefore I, the king, summoned him to my couch.  Well then!  who henceforth will raise up his nephew like a son?  To the words of the king he has never harkened.  but to the words of his mother, the serpent, he has hearkened.  Brothers and sisters brought evil counsels to him again and again.. . ."

Babylonian and Assyrian tablets record a legend involving a tree and snake. The story begins with a serpent and an eagle happily living together on the same tree until for some reason the eagle eats the serpent's young.  The serpent went weeping to the sun god, Shamash, who told him to hide in the belly of a dead ox in order to catch the eagle when he came to devour the carcass. The serpent did this, caught the eagle by his "heel" and threw him into a pit.  Soon afterwards Etana, a shepherd, needing the "plant of birth" which grew only in heaven also sought out Shamash who adivised him to rescue the eagle and have the eagle fly him up to heaven.  Yet when Etana could no longer see the earth and sea he panicked and let go.  There the tablets end. (reported on page 114 of the book entitled Ancient Iraq by Georges Roux, Penguin Books, 1992)

Eve - meaning life or living thus the lady of life like the Sumerian NINTI.

us - a council of gods

cherubim - plural form of cherub. These are normally lions with wiings that guarded holy places in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The sphinx is probably a cherub. They did not become baby angels until medieval times.

References

Anchor Bible Dictionary with David Noel Freedman as editor-in-chief, Doubleday, 1992.

 In the words of the Anchor Bible editors, David Noel Freeman and the late William Foxwell Albright: "The Anchor Bible is a project of international and interfaith scope: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries contribute individual volumes.  The project is not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine.  Prepared under our joint supervision, THE ANCHOR BIBLE is an effort to make available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the biblical record.  THE ANCHOR BIBLE is aimed at the general reader with no special formal training in biblical studies; yet it is written with the most exacting standards of scholarship, reflecting the highest technical accomplishment."

This is the second creation story in Genesis. The first one given in chapter 1 of Genesis is the version from the northern kingdom (Israel) called the "E" source. This one, from the southern kingdom (Judah), uses Yahweh as the name for God and it is called the "J" source. In this version God is much more human-like.

If any doubt exists that this originally was a version of creation separate from the 7 days creation in the first chapter of Genesis one only needs to look at the first sentence "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created".

The Genesis Text  (New International Version)

Genesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
 
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

 18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

 23 The man said,
       "This is now bone of my bones
       and flesh of my flesh;
       she shall be called 'woman, '
       for she was taken out of man."

 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Comment

Lord God - Hebrew "Yahweh Elohim".  Yahweh is the proper name of God and is translated as Lord throughout this translation and in the King James version.  It is also one of the key words used to identify the J source. Elohim was the northern kingdom's term for God (the divinity) so here the priestly editors who first combined the creation stories are either equating the two or making Yahweh an aspect of the greater Elohim concept of divinity.

 shrub - Hebrew "siyach" also meaning bush.  The reason plants did not yet exist is because no rain had yet fallen. Man was not to be created not out of rain water but out of the water which welled or misted up out of the ground.  This contradicts the earlier E source creation story which has vegitation created before man.

field - Hebrew "sadeh" from a root meaning "to spead out".  Also can mean land or plain.

plant- Hebrew "sadeh" from root meaning "to be green".  Can also mean grass or green plants.

streams- Hebrew "ed" also meaning mist or "a water that swells up from the ground."  Significantly the Sumerian paradise is watered the same way.

 dust - Hebrew "apar" also meaning dirt, clay, soil, lumps of earth.  Significantly, the Sumerian creation story also has man being formed out of dirt or clay by a god in contrast to the later Babylonian story which has man created out of the blood of the god who led a strike of the minor gods against their working conditions.  This refusal to work eventually led the major gods to form man as the worker replacement.

 being - Hebrew "nephesh" from "naphash" meaning "to take a breath".  Can also mean soul.

 Eden  - from Summerian meaning "plain" and having the implication of luxury, delight, abundance, and lushness as indicated by the west semitic root "dn".  Based on the intersection of its rivers, the was thought to be a plain in the Zagros and Ararat mountains east of the Mesopotamian valley in modern day .

tree of life - a "tree of life" is a very common symbol from almost all cultures. Here is a clay image from Sumerian times where one can see it is already associated with a snake or serpent. Because snakes shed their skins they were seen as being "reborn" and thus in a certain sense immortal. They came to be associated with healing because of this (see the Roman god of healing Asclepius).

river - Hebrew "nahar" also meaning flow.  Some translations have "A river rises in Eden to water the garden,".

 Havilah - Hebrew "Chaviylah (Hawila)".  Since this land is the source of the fragment resin bdellium, gold, and onyx the most likely location of Havilah is the coast of Arabia.  Genesis 25:18 reports that the sons of Ishmael ranged from Havilah, which is close to Egypt, all the way to Asshur (Assyria). {thus the Pishon is probably the Persion Gulf to Red Sea Coastal water route surrounding the Arabian Peninsula.

Cush  - Hebrew "Kuwsh" meaning black. Often identified with Ethiopia because of this meaning.  Here it refers to the original Black Sea homeland of the Kassites who over ran Mesopotamia after 1595 BC because Genesis 10:8 reports that Cush is the ancestor of the major Mesopotamian cities and is a brother of  Canaan.  {the Gihon thus may be the Black Sea, Volga river, Capian Sea water route surrounding Asia Minor}

Tigris - the great eastern river.

Euphrates  -  the great western river. 

beast - this contradicts the E source version in which the beasts are created befor man.

ribs - In the Sumerian garden of delight story ribs become associated with the lady who makes live (or gives life) because of a coincidence that the Sumerian word for rib (TI) when used as a verb means "to live".  In that story a goddess named NINTI (NIN means lady) is born to heal a major god whose rib hurts.  So NINTI, the lady of the rib, is also the lady who gives life, and this association seems to have stuck through time.

 Woman - Hebrew "ishshah"

 Man - Hebrew "ish" is used here instead of "adam".

References

Anchor Bible Dictionary with David Noel Freedman as editor-in-chief, Doubleday, 1992.

 In the words of the Anchor Bible editors, David Noel Freeman and the late William Foxwell Albright: "The Anchor Bible is a project of international and interfaith scope: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries contribute individual volumes.  The project is not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine.  Prepared under our joint supervision, THE ANCHOR BIBLE is an effort to make available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the biblical record.  THE ANCHOR BIBLE is aimed at the general reader with no special formal training in biblical studies; yet it is written with the most exacting standards of scholarship, reflecting the highest technical accomplishment."

This originated from the E source but it has probably been organized and edited by the priests (P source) who gave it the 7 day chronology in order to explain the Sabbath.

From the Revised Standard Version - 1952

Genesis 1:9 And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. " And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth. " And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth. "And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens. " 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. " 23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds. " And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. " 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. "And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Comment

Seas - Hebrew "yam" from the root meaning "to roar".  Note that this word for sea is different from the word for the chaotic primeval sea ("tehom").

 us - God seems to have company here.  Some interpret it as meaning Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were in on the decision but these beings would be unknown to the author and it would imply that they were separate dieties instead  of manistations of the one divinity.  Others suggest that the word "us" derives from using the plural "Elohim" used here yet this is not likely as the word "us" is also used by Genesis 11:7 in a context that only references the singular Yahweh. The best explanation is that "us" refers to the council of the gods attested to in Mesopotamian creation traditions. This is supported by psalm 82, which based on its ancient Hebrew style, may be as old as the time of the judges:

 Psalm 82:1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgement:  2  I say, "You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you;"

The fact that strict monotheism was not yet established as part of the religion indicates that these sources are quite old in Biblical terms.

man - Hebrew "adam".  When capitalized adam becomes the first man.

image - Hebrew tselem" from root meaning "to shade" or "to shadow".

food - Significantly God does not provide animal products as food for men or beasts here. This allowance only occurs later in Genesis 9:3 (P source). This is probably an example of the priestly editors adding to the text in order to clarify  an important theological point.

seventh day - This probable insertion by the priestly editors explains the origination of the Sabbath. While the priestly editors may have added words (for "clarification") they do not seem to have delete words from the original E material.

References

Anchor Bible Dictionary with David Noel Freedman as editor-in-chief, Doubleday, 1992.

 In the words of the Anchor Bible editors, David Noel Freeman and the late William Foxwell Albright: "The Anchor Bible is a project of international and interfaith scope: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries contribute individual volumes.  The project is not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine.  Prepared under our joint supervision, THE ANCHOR BIBLE is an effort to make available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the biblical record.  THE ANCHOR BIBLE is aimed at the general reader with no special formal training in biblical studies; yet it is written with the most exacting standards of scholarship, reflecting the highest technical accomplishment."

This originated from the E source but it has probably been organized and edited by the priests (P source) who gave it the 7 day chronology in order to explain the Sabbath.

From the Revised Standard Version - 1952

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

6 And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. " 7 And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

From Speiser

1 When God set about to create heaven and earth - 2 the world being then a formless waste, with darkness over the seas and only an awesome wind sweeping over the water - 3 God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. 4 God was pleased with the light that he saw, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and he called the darkness Night. Thus evening came, and morning -  first day.

6 God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the water to form a division between the waters." And it was so. 7 God made the expanse, and it divided the water below from the water above it. 8 God called the expanse Sky. Thus evening came, and morning - second day.

From the New International Version

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

 6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Comment

God - Hebrew "Elohim" which is the plural of the supreme Canaanite creator god, EL, who derives from the Amorite supreme god EL or IL. The Amorites had a different culture than the Sumerians but with their overthrow of the Sumerian city of Ur in 2004 the Amorites came to dominate Mesopotamia. As a result Genesis is a mix of Sumerian and Amorite influences. The plural form seems to be used because the Israelites came to differentiate between the different aspects or attributes or roles of EL. Thus the attribute of EL which took care of the city of was EL-Bethel, the attribute which represented the power of creation was EL-Elyon (translated in the Bible as God Most High), the representation of the royal El was EL-Olam (translated as Everlasting God), the aspect of EL which took care of the mountains was EL-Shaddai (translated as God Almighty).

When EL in total (the divinity) was meant both the Canaanites and Hebrews used the plural form "Elohim" as singular in the same way the plural word "United States" is used as a singular word. Christianity does the same thing by representing different aspects of the single divinity in the concept of the Trinity.  There is God the Father, God the Christ, and God the Holy Spirit in differing divine roles. The Father represents the role of creation, the Christ represents the role of authoritative communication as from a king (the Word), and the Holy Spirit represents the role of motivation.

 The southern kingdom's name for God, "Yahweh", did not appear until after the Exodus for Exodus 6:3 says "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as EL-Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them."  (or from the New International Version "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.", which is a rather silly translation).

So even in the Biblical tradition different aspects of the single divinity were separated out in a fashion simlar to that seen in Hinduism and Wicca.

heavens - Hebrew "shawmahyim" (plural).  From an unused root meaning "to be lofty". It can also mean "skies" but in either case it represents the transparent shells which held the moon, sun, and 5 known planets. These shells revolved around around the earth. The five planets known to the ancients were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Beyond the 7th heaven was the divine realm containing the stars . So 7th heaven was the last shell before reaching the house of Elohim (what we would call heaven today). In many places in the Bible stars seem to be divine servents called the "heavenly hosts". This passage from Job 38:4 seems to make the connection:

4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
       Tell me, if you understand.

 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
       Who stretched a measuring line across it?

 6 On what were its footings set,
       or who laid its cornerstone-

 7 while the morning stars sang together
       and all the angels ^{(literally sons of God)} shouted for joy?

being or was - Hebrew "hayah". The root of this word is "to exist" and not "to be" like our English words "is", "was", etc. Thus the emphisis is on some real existance, some real state of being. So the chaotic Deep was thought to be eternal and pre-existant with God.

without form - Hebrew "tohuw".  From an unused root meaning to lie waste.  Form and anti-form (chaos) are major concepts in the Mesopotamian and Hindu tradition as seen in their creation stories.

face or surface - Hebrew "pauiym". This is a plural word so "face" is a surface that is changeable or changing as in faces.

deep or sea - Hebrew "tehom" A feminine voiced word meaning the chaotic primeval ocean which is also called the abyse.  The word is related to the Babylonian TIAMAT who is the goddess and personification of the primeval ocean.

Spirit - Hebrew "Ruwach" also meaning wind and breath. Many other languages also associate breath, wind, and spirit.  The word spirit derives from the Latin "spiritus" whose verb spirare means "to breath" (seen in the words inspire, expire).  Breath or spirit is the animating force.  When it goes so does life.  The Greek work "psyche" also means breath although in English it has connotations of mental activity.  Consequently some translations use the phrase "wind moving over the waters" here. The use of wind would make the Biblical version more consistent with the Semitic cultural tradition for in the Babylonian story of creation (Enuma Elish) it was the wind that defeats TIAMAT allowing the waters to be separated.

moving or hovering - Hebrew "rachaph" also meaning "shake and flutter" so it was a chaotic moving spirit or wind.

waters - Hebrew "mayim". A plural word. This is the normal generic water. 

firmament or expanse - Hebrew "raqiya" meaning an extended solid surface beaten out of something metallic. The fact that the writter of this passage had to explicitly state "And God called the firmament Heaven " indicates that the idea of seven heavens was new to the general population who still thought that the sky consisted of one dome. In addition the firmanent separates the waters above it which produce the rain from the waters below it (sea, lakes, rivers, and underground water). Rain was not though to come from clouds but from holes in the firmament, some ancient texts even suggest stars are those holes.

Heaven or sky - Hebrew "shawmahyim".  The same plural word which was translated as heavens in verse 1 but here translated as singular. This is a classic example of how translaters in an attempt to fit old writing to modern concepts will deliberately take liberties with the translation by rendering it less  "literal".

Edit (Marth 10, 2007) Added the Speiser translation and comments for "waters", "face", and "being", from Strong's Hebrew dictionary

.References

The Anchor Bible Genesis by E.A. Speiser, Doubleday, 1964:

Anchor Bible Dictionary with David Noel Freedman as editor-in-chief, Doubleday, 1992.

 In the words of the Anchor Bible editors, David Noel Freeman and the late William Foxwell Albright: "The Anchor Bible is a project of international and interfaith scope: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries contribute individual volumes.  The project is not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine.  Prepared under our joint supervision, THE ANCHOR BIBLE is an effort to make available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the biblical record.  THE ANCHOR BIBLE is aimed at the general reader with no special formal training in biblical studies; yet it is written with the most exacting standards of scholarship, reflecting the highest technical accomplishment."

Earliest Existing Documents for Genesis

Modern translations of Genesis and most of the Old Testament derive from ancient Bible copies known as the Masoretic Text (MT), and the Septuagint, (LXX).  The earliest complete Hebrew language Masoretic Text dates from 1009 A.D. (the Codex) although it is based on the earlier though now incomplete 915 A.D. Aleppo Codex.  Earlier more partial fragments dating to around 880 A.D. have been found in an old synagogue. Other fragments dating to 135 A.D. were found hidden in the cliffs of the Wadi Murabbat by the participants in Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Romans.  The earliest Genesis fragments are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (300 B.C. to 68 A.D.) but these have verses which are slightly different from each other in addition to being slightly different from the standard Masoretic Text suggesting that different versions circulated in outside the tradition preserved by the Israelite scribes.

The Septuagint was the early Christian Greek version of the Old Testament whose first translation from Hebrew began around 100 B.C. in . Based on the many minor differences between available copies the translation of the Hebrew must have occurred over a period of time by different authors using different versions of the Hebrew text.  Many complete copies exist from around 1500 A.D. onward and fragments go back to the first century B.C. yet no consistent trail of translation can be found linking the existing complete texts with the earliest fragments as with the Masoretic text.  Consequently most Bible translators now base their English translations on the Masoretic Text using the Septuagint only to correct those few places where the Masoretic text seems corrupted.

The  Formation of  Genesis as a Book

The Hidden Book in the Bible

Richard E. Friedman

The book of Genesis is a combination of three different sources or traditions called J, E, and P.  The J and E traditions are mainly differentiated by their use of differing names for God with the J tradition calling God "Yahweh"  and the E tradition calling God Elohim (the plural of the Canaanite creator god EL).  Earlier English generations knew Yahweh as Jehovah and it is translated as Lord in the King James version ("Yaheweh" is linguistically closer to the Arabic "Allah" than the Indo-European "God" so it is obvious that both Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are referring to the same being).

These source can be further differentiated by other word usage. For example, J uses the word "create" while E uses the word "make" (in Hebrew of course).  The E  source, in general, is orderly and philosophical while J has the style of a story teller where God is very human like.  The E source is also concerned about linking Jacob with the name of the northern Hebrew kingdom, Israel. Also the E tradition is more influenced by the Babylonian traditions while the J source is influenced by the more ancient Sumerian traditions.  

All this points to the E source as coming from the northern kingdom of Israel so it must have been written after King Solomon's time of 970 B.C. when the northern kingdom first became independent yet before its destruction by Assyria in 720 B.C. The J source belongs to the southern kingdom of Judah and it must have been written between 884 and 700 B.C. based on its reference to Calah in the table of nations (Genesis chapter 10) which was the capital of Assyria between 884 and 700 B.C.  Both, however, must have included earlier oral traditions although based on the history revealed in table of nations the furthest folk memory seems to go back no farther than 1250 B.C.  Thus one can imagine each source as being a collection of separate writings located in the various holy places of each kingdom.

The later P source is indicated by the priestly concerns of genealogy and covenant event interpretations.  It has some parallel passages with the J source and can be differentiated from it by word usage.  Based on its reference to the Scythians in the table of nations who only arrived in the area after 680 B.C. it must have been written after that date.  Most scholars suspect that all three traditions were combined by the P source priests in Jerusalem sometime after the destruction of the northern kingdom by Assyria in 720 B.C. when large numbers of northern refugees settled in  the sourth requiring the need for a new combined tradition.

The book entitled "The Hidden Book in the Bible" by Richard Elliott Friedman is the best scholarly reconstruction of the J source.

 References

The Anchor Bible Genesis by E.A. Speiser, Doubleday, 1964:

Anchor Bible Dictionary with David Noel Freedman as editor-in-chief, Doubleday, 1992.

 In the words of the Anchor Bible editors, David Noel Freeman and the late William Foxwell Albright: "The Anchor Bible is a project of international and interfaith scope: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries contribute individual volumes.  The project is not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine.  Prepared under our joint supervision, THE ANCHOR BIBLE is an effort to make available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the biblical record.  THE ANCHOR BIBLE is aimed at the general reader with no special formal training in biblical studies; yet it is written with the most exacting standards of scholarship, reflecting the highest technical accomplishment."