Yeshua the Last Adam, part 1
Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 7:11 pm
A new, last Adam.
The apostle Paul writes of the 'last Adam';
1Co_15:45 So also it has been written, "The" first "man", Adam, "became a living soul;" the last Adam a life-giving Spirit.
The apostle Paul compares 'the first man, Adam' to the 'last Adam', Mashiach. Adam was a 'type' of coming last Adam;
Rom 5:14 but death reigned from Adam until Moses, even on those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the coming One.
Exactly how was the apostle Paul deriving this concept that Adam was a 'figure' of the last Adam?
There are a couple of verses which would help demonstrate the principle of what happened in the Beginning is acting as a declaration of what is to come;
Isa_46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Ecc_1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Befall the fall of Adam, Adam was what the Most High had intended man to be. Embedded in this intent is the declaration of what shall be.
This however does not entirely answer the question of how the apostle Paul derived the concept of a 'last Adam', was he revealing a way to read the Torah which would culminate with a restoration of the original intent of Adam, a new Adam?
Although no explicit verse in the Tanach speaks about a 'new Adam', it is certainly evident that a restoration of Eden was intended to be seen in Zion.
Isa 51:3 For the LORD shall surely comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of singing.
A restored Eden would certainly imply a 'new, or last Adam'.
When we read Revelation 22 that is indeed what we see, New Jerusalem intermixed with Eden type imagery;
Rev 22:2 In the midst of its street and of the river, from here and from there, was a tree of life producing twelve fruits: according to one month each yielding its fruit. And the leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations.
With this hope of a restored Eden in mind could there have been a 'background' hope of a 'last Adam'?
There is a thread that weaves it way through the Tanach that links certain figures together. Adam was told be fruitful and multiply and rule over the animals. There is this dual aspect of being fruitful and having dominion that the Most High had intended for Adam.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the seas, and over birds of the heavens, and over all beasts creeping on the earth.
But Adam sins, what his fruitfulness produces is a seed of righteous and wicked children which leads to an increase of unrighteousness.
Following this commission of being fruitful and having dominion we come to Noach.
Noach is presented as a 'new Adam';
Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons. And He said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
Gen 9:2 And your fear and your dread shall be on all the animals of the earth, and on every bird of the heavens, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hands.
What was spoken to Adam is now given to Noach. This link begins a cycle of expectation and ultimately disappointment in the Torah.
Just as the commission to Adam ended in an increase of wickedness [resulting in the flood], the commission to Noach ultimately ends at the Judgment at Babel.
This link between Adam and Noach is an important cycle to grasp. Important because the expectation of a 'new Adam' does not end with Noach.
Although this link is not explicitly stated there is evidence from the first century that Adam and Noach was linked together;
QG 2:17 17 Why did the deluge take place in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, and in the seventh month, and on the twenty-seventh day of the month? [Genesis 7:11]. 17. Perhaps it happened that the just man was born at the beginning of the month, at the first beginning of the commencement of that very year which they are accustomed to call the sacred year, out of honor, otherwise the sacred historian would not have been so carefully accurate in fixing the day and month when the deluge began to the seventh month and the twenty-seventh day of the month. But, perhaps, by this minuteness he intended manifestly to indicate the precise time of the vernal equinox, for that always occurs on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month. But why was it that the deluge fell on the day of the vernal equinox? Because about that time the birth and increase of everything take place, whether living creatures or plants; therefore the vengeance and punishment inflicted brings with it the more terrible and dreadful threats, as happening at the period of plenty and fertility of the sheaves of corn, and indeed, in the very midst of that productiveness, and bringing the evil of utter destruction as a reproof of the impiety of those who are exposed to the punishment. For behold, says he, all nature contains its own productions within itself in the greatest abundance, namely, wheat and barley, and everything else which is produced from seed, brought on to complete generation, as, also, it begins to generate the fruits of trees; but you, like mortals, corrupt its mercies, perverting the divine gifts, and purposes, and mysteries. But if the deluge had taken place at the autumnal equinox, when there was nothing growing on the earth, but when all the crops were collected into their proper storehouses, it would not have, in any degree, been looked upon as a punishment, but rather as a benefit, as the water would have cleansed the plains and the mountains. But as the first man who was produced out of the earth was also created at the same season of the year, he whom the divine writer calls Adam, because in fact it was on every account proper that the grandfather, or original parent, or father of the human race, or by whatever name we may choose to designate that original founder of our kind, should be created at the season of the vernal equinox, when all earthly productions were full of their fruit; but the vernal equinox takes place in the seventh month, which is also called the first in other passages, with reference to a different idea. Since, therefore, the first beginning of the generation of our race, after the destruction caused by the deluge, commenced with Noah, men being again sown and procreated, therefore he also is recognized as resembling the first man born of the earth, as far as such resemblance or recognition is possible. And the six hundredth year has for its origin the number six; and the world was created under the number six, therefore, by this same number does he reprove the wicked, putting them to shame because he would, unquestionably, never, after he had created the universe by means of the number six, have destroyed all the men who lived on the earth under the form of six, if it had not been for the preposterous excess of their iniquities. For the third power of six and the minor power is the number six hundred, and the mean between both is sixty, since the number ten more evidently represents the likeness of unity, and the number a hundred represents the minor power.
Philo writing in the first century connects both Adam and Noach together. Given that Eden and Adam [before his fall] was the original intent of the Most High it would make sense that He attempts to recreate that original intent in Noach.
Philo even describes the events with Noach as a second Creation;
QG 2:56 56 Why was it that God, blessing Noah and his sons, said, "Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and rule over it; and let your fear and the dread of you be upon all beasts, and upon flying fowls, and upon reptiles, and upon the fishes which I have placed under your hand?" [Genesis 9:1]. 56. This devotion of the inferior animals to man, God also at the beginning of the creation bestowed on the sixth day upon man, after he had created him in his own image; for the scripture saith, "And God made man; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth; and be ye lords over it, and be ye rulers of the fishes, and of the flying fowls, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." And did he not by these words evidently intimate that Noah, at the beginning of what we may call the second creation of mankind, was found equal in honor to that creature who in the first instance was made as to his form in the likeness of himself? Therefore he equally assigned both to the one and to the other the principality and power over all the creatures that live upon the earth. But do thou diligently take notice that he showed this man, who at the time of the deluge was the only just man and the king of all the creatures which live upon the earth, to be equal in honor, not to the identical man who was first created and formed out of the earth, but to that one who was made according to the likeness and form of the true incorporeal entity, to whom also he gives power, making him a king, not the very created man (or the man formed out of the earth), but him who is according to his form and similitude, that is to say, incorporeal. Wherefore also the creation of that man, who as to his form is incorporeal, was marked to have taken place on the sixth day, in accordance with the perfect number six; but the creation of that man who was created after the completion of the world and subsequent to the generation of all animals on the seventh day, because it is after that that the manly figure was fashioned out of clay. Therefore after the days of generation he says, "on the seventh day of the world;" for God had not yet rained upon the earth, and no man did exist who could cultivate the earth. And then he proceeds to say, "But God formed a man out of the clay of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Therefore how he can be made worthy of the same kingly power according to the image of the man thus formed, he, I mean, who is the beginning of the second creation of mankind, is indicated by the letter of the history that relates these events. But with reference to the inward sense of the passage we must give an explanation in the following manner. God wills that the souls of wise men should increase in the magnitude and multitude of the beauty of their virtues, and should fill the mind as if it were the earth with those beauties, leaving no portion empty and void so as to become occupied by folly. And he wills also that they should rule over, and strike terror into, and inflict alarm upon all beasts; that is to say, he wills that all wickedness should be subdued by their will, since wickedness is of an untamed and savage nature. Also he willed that they should be lords over all flying fowls, which by reason of their lightness are raised on high, being armed with courage and empty pride, and which thus cause the greatest mischief, being scarcely controlled at all by fear. Moreover, he made them rulers over all creeping things, which are the symbols of destructive vices, for they creep through the whole soul, namely, concupiscence, desire, sadness, and cowardice, striking and goading; as also they are indicated by the fishes, which eagerly cultivate a moist and delicate life, but one which is far from being sober, wise, or lasting.
What if this cycle extended beyond Noach?
This commission is then given to Avraham, where the Most High promises Avraham to be fruitful, this is then closely tied together with kingship through his seed.
Gen 17:1 And when Abram was ninety nine years old, Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to him, I am the Almighty God! Walk before me and be perfect;
Gen 17:2 and I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you very much.
Gen 17:3 And Abram fell on his face. And God spoke with him, saying,
Gen 17:4 As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5 And your name no longer shall be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. For I have made you a father of many nations.
Gen 17:6 And I will make you very fruitful, exceedingly. And I will give you for nations. And kings shall come out of you.
Gen 17:16 and I have blessed her and have also given to you a son from her. Yea, I have blessed her and she shall become nations; kings of people shall be from her.
Yet Avraham was also considered to be a king, below is a translation of the Septuagint;
Gen 23:6 but hear us; thou art in the midst of us a king from God; bury thy dead in our choice sepulchres, for not one of us will by any means withhold his sepulchre from thee, so that thou shouldest not bury thy dead there.
And this is how the text was understood in the first century atleast by Philo;
Somn. 2:243-244 243 And this sacred word is divided into four beginnings, by which I mean it is portioned out into four virtues, each of which is a princess, for to be divided into beginnings, does not resemble divisions of place, but a kingdom, in order that any one, after having shown the virtues as boundaries, may immediately proceed to show the wise man who follows them to be a king, being elected as such, not by men, but by the only free nature which cannot err, and which cannot be corrupted; 244 for those who behold the excellence of Abraham say unto him, "Thou art a king, sent from God among us;" [Genesis xxiii. 6] proposing as a maxim, for those who study philosophy, that the wise man alone is a ruler and a king, and that virtue is the only irresponsible authority and sovereignty.
This commission of being fruitful and having dominion then was also applied to Avraham. Yet even Avraham ultimately fails [with the saga of his wife, Genesis 20] and his seed falls into enmity with eachother [Yishmael and Yitzchaq, Genesis 21].
We are not given much information about Yitzchaq. But what we do see is that just like Adam, Noach and Avraham, his seed develops enmity against eachother [Yaakov and Esau, Genesis 27] and he repeats the sin of Avraham [Genesis 26], so yet again we have a cycle of expectation and disappointment.
The commission is then given to Yaakov;
Gen 35:11 And God said to him, I am thy God; increase and multiply; for nations and gatherings of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.
Gen 35:12 And the land which I gave to Abraam and Isaac, I have given it to thee; and it shall come to pass that I will give this land also to thy seed after thee.
Again fruitfulness and dominion is linking Yaakov to Avraham, Noach and Adam. Yet Yaakov ultimately sins also and his seed also has enmity with eachother [Yoseph and his brothers].
This cycle of expectation and disappointment then leads on to Yoseph. If what has been proposed so far is correct, and there is embedded within the text of Genesis a cycle of expectation and disappointment it is then significant that we have two central figures, one at the beginning of Genesis, Adam, and one at the end of Genesis, Yoseph.
Yoseph is then being presented as a new Adam.
The phrase 'ruach 'Elohim' [Spirit [of] 'Elohim] is used in Genesis 41:38.
Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his slaves, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
This is significant, as the only other place in Genesis to use this phrase is in Genesis 1;
Gen 1:2 Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
In Genesis 1:2 ורוח אלהים [and Spirit [of] 'Elohim] is used. To the reader of Genesis when Genesis 41:38 was read it would surely bring to mind the account of Creation.
What if this was intentional? To bring about a contrast of two figures, Adam and Yoseph?
Let us briefly compare Adam to Yoseph;
Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has taught you all this, there is no one wise and intelligent like you.
Gen 41:40 You shall be over my house, and at your mouth all my people shall kiss the hand. Only in respect to the throne will I be greater than you.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on the hand of Joseph; and he clothed him with fine linen robes, and put a golden chain on his neck.
Gen 41:43 And he caused him to ride in a chariot which was the second to him. And they cried before him, Bow the knee! And he put him over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without a word from you not a man shall lift his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph by the name of Zaphnath-paaneah. And He gave him Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, for a wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:46 And Joseph was a son of thirty years as he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the face of Pharaoh and passed over in all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:47 And the land produced by handfuls in the seven years of plenty.
Gen 41:48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and he put food in the cities, the food of the field which is around each city he put into the middle of it.
Gen 41:49 And Joseph heaped up grain like the sand of the sea, exceedingly much, until he ceased to count it, because it was without number.
Gen 41:50 And two sons were born to Joseph before the year of the famine came in, whom Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, bore to him.
Gen 41:51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh; for he said, God has made me forget all my toil, and all the house of my father.
Gen 41:52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim; for he said, God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil [Genesis 3:6-7]; Yoseph was considered to be wise and intelligent [Genesis 41:39].
Adam was given dominion over the entire earth [Genesis 1:26]; Yoseph was given dominion over all Egypt [Genesis 41:40-41].
Adam was clothed by the Most High [Genesis 3:21], Yoseph was clothed by Pharaoh [Genesis 41:42].
Adam was given a wife [Genesis 2:22]; Yoseph was given a wife [Genesis 41:45].
Adam was placed in a fruitful Garden [Genesis 2:8-9]; Yoseph was now in a fruitful land [Genesis 41:47].
Adam was to toil in his sweat amidst the cursed soil producing thorns and thistles [Genesis 3:17-19]; Yoseph forgets his toil [Genesis 41:51] and is fruitful in the land of his affliction [Genesis 41:52].
What we see in Genesis 41 is the inauguration of the new Adam in Yoseph, but alas, at the end of Genesis he dies. The cycle ends ultimately in disappointment awaiting its final fulfillment.
The apostle Paul writes of the 'last Adam';
1Co_15:45 So also it has been written, "The" first "man", Adam, "became a living soul;" the last Adam a life-giving Spirit.
The apostle Paul compares 'the first man, Adam' to the 'last Adam', Mashiach. Adam was a 'type' of coming last Adam;
Rom 5:14 but death reigned from Adam until Moses, even on those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the coming One.
Exactly how was the apostle Paul deriving this concept that Adam was a 'figure' of the last Adam?
There are a couple of verses which would help demonstrate the principle of what happened in the Beginning is acting as a declaration of what is to come;
Isa_46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Ecc_1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Befall the fall of Adam, Adam was what the Most High had intended man to be. Embedded in this intent is the declaration of what shall be.
This however does not entirely answer the question of how the apostle Paul derived the concept of a 'last Adam', was he revealing a way to read the Torah which would culminate with a restoration of the original intent of Adam, a new Adam?
Although no explicit verse in the Tanach speaks about a 'new Adam', it is certainly evident that a restoration of Eden was intended to be seen in Zion.
Isa 51:3 For the LORD shall surely comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of singing.
A restored Eden would certainly imply a 'new, or last Adam'.
When we read Revelation 22 that is indeed what we see, New Jerusalem intermixed with Eden type imagery;
Rev 22:2 In the midst of its street and of the river, from here and from there, was a tree of life producing twelve fruits: according to one month each yielding its fruit. And the leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations.
With this hope of a restored Eden in mind could there have been a 'background' hope of a 'last Adam'?
There is a thread that weaves it way through the Tanach that links certain figures together. Adam was told be fruitful and multiply and rule over the animals. There is this dual aspect of being fruitful and having dominion that the Most High had intended for Adam.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the seas, and over birds of the heavens, and over all beasts creeping on the earth.
But Adam sins, what his fruitfulness produces is a seed of righteous and wicked children which leads to an increase of unrighteousness.
Following this commission of being fruitful and having dominion we come to Noach.
Noach is presented as a 'new Adam';
Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons. And He said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
Gen 9:2 And your fear and your dread shall be on all the animals of the earth, and on every bird of the heavens, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hands.
What was spoken to Adam is now given to Noach. This link begins a cycle of expectation and ultimately disappointment in the Torah.
Just as the commission to Adam ended in an increase of wickedness [resulting in the flood], the commission to Noach ultimately ends at the Judgment at Babel.
This link between Adam and Noach is an important cycle to grasp. Important because the expectation of a 'new Adam' does not end with Noach.
Although this link is not explicitly stated there is evidence from the first century that Adam and Noach was linked together;
QG 2:17 17 Why did the deluge take place in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, and in the seventh month, and on the twenty-seventh day of the month? [Genesis 7:11]. 17. Perhaps it happened that the just man was born at the beginning of the month, at the first beginning of the commencement of that very year which they are accustomed to call the sacred year, out of honor, otherwise the sacred historian would not have been so carefully accurate in fixing the day and month when the deluge began to the seventh month and the twenty-seventh day of the month. But, perhaps, by this minuteness he intended manifestly to indicate the precise time of the vernal equinox, for that always occurs on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month. But why was it that the deluge fell on the day of the vernal equinox? Because about that time the birth and increase of everything take place, whether living creatures or plants; therefore the vengeance and punishment inflicted brings with it the more terrible and dreadful threats, as happening at the period of plenty and fertility of the sheaves of corn, and indeed, in the very midst of that productiveness, and bringing the evil of utter destruction as a reproof of the impiety of those who are exposed to the punishment. For behold, says he, all nature contains its own productions within itself in the greatest abundance, namely, wheat and barley, and everything else which is produced from seed, brought on to complete generation, as, also, it begins to generate the fruits of trees; but you, like mortals, corrupt its mercies, perverting the divine gifts, and purposes, and mysteries. But if the deluge had taken place at the autumnal equinox, when there was nothing growing on the earth, but when all the crops were collected into their proper storehouses, it would not have, in any degree, been looked upon as a punishment, but rather as a benefit, as the water would have cleansed the plains and the mountains. But as the first man who was produced out of the earth was also created at the same season of the year, he whom the divine writer calls Adam, because in fact it was on every account proper that the grandfather, or original parent, or father of the human race, or by whatever name we may choose to designate that original founder of our kind, should be created at the season of the vernal equinox, when all earthly productions were full of their fruit; but the vernal equinox takes place in the seventh month, which is also called the first in other passages, with reference to a different idea. Since, therefore, the first beginning of the generation of our race, after the destruction caused by the deluge, commenced with Noah, men being again sown and procreated, therefore he also is recognized as resembling the first man born of the earth, as far as such resemblance or recognition is possible. And the six hundredth year has for its origin the number six; and the world was created under the number six, therefore, by this same number does he reprove the wicked, putting them to shame because he would, unquestionably, never, after he had created the universe by means of the number six, have destroyed all the men who lived on the earth under the form of six, if it had not been for the preposterous excess of their iniquities. For the third power of six and the minor power is the number six hundred, and the mean between both is sixty, since the number ten more evidently represents the likeness of unity, and the number a hundred represents the minor power.
Philo writing in the first century connects both Adam and Noach together. Given that Eden and Adam [before his fall] was the original intent of the Most High it would make sense that He attempts to recreate that original intent in Noach.
Philo even describes the events with Noach as a second Creation;
QG 2:56 56 Why was it that God, blessing Noah and his sons, said, "Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and rule over it; and let your fear and the dread of you be upon all beasts, and upon flying fowls, and upon reptiles, and upon the fishes which I have placed under your hand?" [Genesis 9:1]. 56. This devotion of the inferior animals to man, God also at the beginning of the creation bestowed on the sixth day upon man, after he had created him in his own image; for the scripture saith, "And God made man; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth; and be ye lords over it, and be ye rulers of the fishes, and of the flying fowls, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." And did he not by these words evidently intimate that Noah, at the beginning of what we may call the second creation of mankind, was found equal in honor to that creature who in the first instance was made as to his form in the likeness of himself? Therefore he equally assigned both to the one and to the other the principality and power over all the creatures that live upon the earth. But do thou diligently take notice that he showed this man, who at the time of the deluge was the only just man and the king of all the creatures which live upon the earth, to be equal in honor, not to the identical man who was first created and formed out of the earth, but to that one who was made according to the likeness and form of the true incorporeal entity, to whom also he gives power, making him a king, not the very created man (or the man formed out of the earth), but him who is according to his form and similitude, that is to say, incorporeal. Wherefore also the creation of that man, who as to his form is incorporeal, was marked to have taken place on the sixth day, in accordance with the perfect number six; but the creation of that man who was created after the completion of the world and subsequent to the generation of all animals on the seventh day, because it is after that that the manly figure was fashioned out of clay. Therefore after the days of generation he says, "on the seventh day of the world;" for God had not yet rained upon the earth, and no man did exist who could cultivate the earth. And then he proceeds to say, "But God formed a man out of the clay of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Therefore how he can be made worthy of the same kingly power according to the image of the man thus formed, he, I mean, who is the beginning of the second creation of mankind, is indicated by the letter of the history that relates these events. But with reference to the inward sense of the passage we must give an explanation in the following manner. God wills that the souls of wise men should increase in the magnitude and multitude of the beauty of their virtues, and should fill the mind as if it were the earth with those beauties, leaving no portion empty and void so as to become occupied by folly. And he wills also that they should rule over, and strike terror into, and inflict alarm upon all beasts; that is to say, he wills that all wickedness should be subdued by their will, since wickedness is of an untamed and savage nature. Also he willed that they should be lords over all flying fowls, which by reason of their lightness are raised on high, being armed with courage and empty pride, and which thus cause the greatest mischief, being scarcely controlled at all by fear. Moreover, he made them rulers over all creeping things, which are the symbols of destructive vices, for they creep through the whole soul, namely, concupiscence, desire, sadness, and cowardice, striking and goading; as also they are indicated by the fishes, which eagerly cultivate a moist and delicate life, but one which is far from being sober, wise, or lasting.
What if this cycle extended beyond Noach?
This commission is then given to Avraham, where the Most High promises Avraham to be fruitful, this is then closely tied together with kingship through his seed.
Gen 17:1 And when Abram was ninety nine years old, Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to him, I am the Almighty God! Walk before me and be perfect;
Gen 17:2 and I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you very much.
Gen 17:3 And Abram fell on his face. And God spoke with him, saying,
Gen 17:4 As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5 And your name no longer shall be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. For I have made you a father of many nations.
Gen 17:6 And I will make you very fruitful, exceedingly. And I will give you for nations. And kings shall come out of you.
Gen 17:16 and I have blessed her and have also given to you a son from her. Yea, I have blessed her and she shall become nations; kings of people shall be from her.
Yet Avraham was also considered to be a king, below is a translation of the Septuagint;
Gen 23:6 but hear us; thou art in the midst of us a king from God; bury thy dead in our choice sepulchres, for not one of us will by any means withhold his sepulchre from thee, so that thou shouldest not bury thy dead there.
And this is how the text was understood in the first century atleast by Philo;
Somn. 2:243-244 243 And this sacred word is divided into four beginnings, by which I mean it is portioned out into four virtues, each of which is a princess, for to be divided into beginnings, does not resemble divisions of place, but a kingdom, in order that any one, after having shown the virtues as boundaries, may immediately proceed to show the wise man who follows them to be a king, being elected as such, not by men, but by the only free nature which cannot err, and which cannot be corrupted; 244 for those who behold the excellence of Abraham say unto him, "Thou art a king, sent from God among us;" [Genesis xxiii. 6] proposing as a maxim, for those who study philosophy, that the wise man alone is a ruler and a king, and that virtue is the only irresponsible authority and sovereignty.
This commission of being fruitful and having dominion then was also applied to Avraham. Yet even Avraham ultimately fails [with the saga of his wife, Genesis 20] and his seed falls into enmity with eachother [Yishmael and Yitzchaq, Genesis 21].
We are not given much information about Yitzchaq. But what we do see is that just like Adam, Noach and Avraham, his seed develops enmity against eachother [Yaakov and Esau, Genesis 27] and he repeats the sin of Avraham [Genesis 26], so yet again we have a cycle of expectation and disappointment.
The commission is then given to Yaakov;
Gen 35:11 And God said to him, I am thy God; increase and multiply; for nations and gatherings of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.
Gen 35:12 And the land which I gave to Abraam and Isaac, I have given it to thee; and it shall come to pass that I will give this land also to thy seed after thee.
Again fruitfulness and dominion is linking Yaakov to Avraham, Noach and Adam. Yet Yaakov ultimately sins also and his seed also has enmity with eachother [Yoseph and his brothers].
This cycle of expectation and disappointment then leads on to Yoseph. If what has been proposed so far is correct, and there is embedded within the text of Genesis a cycle of expectation and disappointment it is then significant that we have two central figures, one at the beginning of Genesis, Adam, and one at the end of Genesis, Yoseph.
Yoseph is then being presented as a new Adam.
The phrase 'ruach 'Elohim' [Spirit [of] 'Elohim] is used in Genesis 41:38.
Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his slaves, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
This is significant, as the only other place in Genesis to use this phrase is in Genesis 1;
Gen 1:2 Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
In Genesis 1:2 ורוח אלהים [and Spirit [of] 'Elohim] is used. To the reader of Genesis when Genesis 41:38 was read it would surely bring to mind the account of Creation.
What if this was intentional? To bring about a contrast of two figures, Adam and Yoseph?
Let us briefly compare Adam to Yoseph;
Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has taught you all this, there is no one wise and intelligent like you.
Gen 41:40 You shall be over my house, and at your mouth all my people shall kiss the hand. Only in respect to the throne will I be greater than you.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on the hand of Joseph; and he clothed him with fine linen robes, and put a golden chain on his neck.
Gen 41:43 And he caused him to ride in a chariot which was the second to him. And they cried before him, Bow the knee! And he put him over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without a word from you not a man shall lift his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph by the name of Zaphnath-paaneah. And He gave him Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, for a wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:46 And Joseph was a son of thirty years as he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the face of Pharaoh and passed over in all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:47 And the land produced by handfuls in the seven years of plenty.
Gen 41:48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and he put food in the cities, the food of the field which is around each city he put into the middle of it.
Gen 41:49 And Joseph heaped up grain like the sand of the sea, exceedingly much, until he ceased to count it, because it was without number.
Gen 41:50 And two sons were born to Joseph before the year of the famine came in, whom Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, bore to him.
Gen 41:51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh; for he said, God has made me forget all my toil, and all the house of my father.
Gen 41:52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim; for he said, God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil [Genesis 3:6-7]; Yoseph was considered to be wise and intelligent [Genesis 41:39].
Adam was given dominion over the entire earth [Genesis 1:26]; Yoseph was given dominion over all Egypt [Genesis 41:40-41].
Adam was clothed by the Most High [Genesis 3:21], Yoseph was clothed by Pharaoh [Genesis 41:42].
Adam was given a wife [Genesis 2:22]; Yoseph was given a wife [Genesis 41:45].
Adam was placed in a fruitful Garden [Genesis 2:8-9]; Yoseph was now in a fruitful land [Genesis 41:47].
Adam was to toil in his sweat amidst the cursed soil producing thorns and thistles [Genesis 3:17-19]; Yoseph forgets his toil [Genesis 41:51] and is fruitful in the land of his affliction [Genesis 41:52].
What we see in Genesis 41 is the inauguration of the new Adam in Yoseph, but alas, at the end of Genesis he dies. The cycle ends ultimately in disappointment awaiting its final fulfillment.