The Priestly Vision of Genesis 1

Mark S. Smith explores the nuances of what would become the premiere creation account in the Hebrew Bible and the serene priestly theology that informed it. That vision of an ordered cosmos, Smith argues, is evidence of the emergence of a mystical theology among priests in post-exilic Israel, and the placement of Genesis 12 at the beginning of Israels great epic is their sustained critique of the theology of divine violence that saturated ancient near eastern creation myths.