On Hebrew Poetry

The first chapter of Genesis tells of Creation.  Gen. 1:26, however, sets apart the creation of the human from all the rest of the story by using poetry.  One of my most basic requirements for the selection of a biblical translation is that it indicates where poetry is used -- not all translations do.  But poetry conveys meaning that prose cannot; it uses different techniques to convey meaning.  Without the use of poetry, we just do not get the same meaning as the author originally intended.

Here is an unexpected quote from Albert Einstein;  here, the great scientist honors the intuitive and mystical mind over the rational and scientific.  Poetry is neither "scientific" nor "rational," and yet it often conveys truth beyond both science and reason.

One of the most noticeable features of Hebrew poetry is parallelism, or repetition from one line to the next to convey meaning.  If the two lines say the same thing, we have synonymous parallelism, as in Psalm 19:  The heavens/ are telling/ the glory of God
               And the firmament /is proclaiming/ the work of his hands.

Notice the parallelism of the word-units, separated here by slashes.  Often the second line will add one new element to advance the thought one more step.  Here, the work of his hands parallels the glory of God, making creation (the work of his hands) echo His glory. 

The following translation of Genesis 1:26 keeps the original Hebrew word order and links the English words that are one word in Hebrew so that each clause has the same number of words or word-groups as in the original Hebrew:

and-created/ God/ the-human/ in-his-image;

in-the-image of/ God/ created-he/ him;

male/ and-female/ created-he/ them.

If we color-code (or draw lines) to match up the word-units, we uncover meanings that are difficult to explain any other way.  In all three clauses, we can parallel "created-he."  In the first two lines, we can parallel "in the image of" (or "in his image").  That leaves us to line up "the human" with "him" and "them," and then we have to do the same with "God" and "male and female."

The biblical writer, in speaking of God, alternates in Genesis between the singular and the plural forms ("Let us create man in our image and likeness." )  In speaking of "the human," he does the same thing: "him -them."  According to the literary structure, there is one nature (man=human) but 2 persons.  Adam is lonely and incomplete -- we could almost say "not fully human" -- until he finds Eve, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh."  He has discovered that Paradise and dominion over the earth have no meaning unless it is shared.  We are made for union and intimacy; to be "in the image of God" is to be in relationship, as He Himself is. 

The Hebrews were forbidden to make images, as all the people around them did.  So the biblical writer actually risks shocking his reader by saying that 'the human/ male-and-female' is "the image of God" on earth.  Even today, in countries such as Iran, there are "images" all over the country so that people will not forget who has dominion over the land.  The first thing that happens when a new leader emerges is the creation of new "images" (and maybe destruction of the old ones).

Biblical poetry seems to be telling us that if we want to see God, the creator of heaven and earth, we should look to 'his image and likeness:'  that is, mankind in union with (of the same breath with) his creator, his fellow - man, and with the earth itself.  That is the harmony of paradise, where God freely walks and talks with man, where man freely walks and talks with his companion(s), and where man freely walks and talks with all of the earth.