Genesis 37 and Matthew 21: pursuing order notwithstanding earth’s chaos

Genesis 1 Update

My query to Search Assist (): What is the chief message in Genesis 1:26?

Answer: God created humanity in His own image and likeness, granting them authority over all living things on Earth. This verse emphasizes the special status of humans in creation and their responsibility to govern the world.

Conclusion: accepting that God is a metaphor for a mystery --- whatever constrains the consequences of human choices, I feel I have affirmation of my opinion: I have the opportunity to limit chaos in my way of living.

Highlights this study:

1.       Joseph’s is a story of cunning and hate among three ethnicities descended from 3 mates of Abram: Arabs from Hagar, Jews from Sarah, and a dispersed culture from Keturah.

2.       People who do not accept Genesis 1:26 power, authority, and responsibility to pursue order in earth’s chaos will not enjoy their journey in life.

1Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

2These are the generations of Jacob: when Joseph was seventeen years old, being a shepherd, he was with his brothers with the flocks, and he was a lad, [and was] with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil tales about them to their father.

3And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was a son of his old age; and he made him a fine woolen coat.

4And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, so they hated him, and they could not speak with him peacefully.

5And Joseph dreamed a dream and told his brothers, and they continued to hate him.

6And he said to them, "Listen now to this dream, which I have dreamed:

7Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves encircled [it] and prostrated themselves to my sheaf."

8So his brothers said to him, "Will you reign over us, or will you govern us?" And they continued further to hate him on account of his dreams and on account of his words.

9And he again dreamed another dream, and he related it to his brothers, and he said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream, and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were prostrating themselves to me."

10And he told [it] to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will we come I, your mother, and your brothers to prostrate ourselves to you to the ground?"

11So his brothers envied him, but his father awaited the matter.

12And his brothers went to pasture their father's flocks in Shechem.

13And Israel said to Joseph, "Are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "Here I am."

14So he said to him, "Go now and see to your brothers' welfare and the welfare of the flocks, and bring me back word." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

15Then a man found him, and behold, he was straying in the field, and the man asked him, saying, "What are you looking for?"

16And he said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me now, where are they pasturing?"

17And the man said, "They have traveled away from here, for I overheard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers, and he found them in Dothan.

18And they saw him from afar, and when he had not yet drawn near to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.

19So they said one to the other, "Behold, that dreamer is coming.

20So now, let us kill him, and we will cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'A wild beast devoured him,' and we will see what will become of his dreams."

21But Reuben heard, and he saved him from their hand[s], and he said, "Let us not deal him a deadly blow."

22And Reuben said to them, "Do not shed blood! Cast him into this pit, which is in the desert, but do not lay a hand upon him," in order to save him from their hand[s], to return him to his father.

23Now it came to pass when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his shirt, of the fine woolen coat which was upon him.

24And they took him and cast him into the pit; now the pit was empty there was no water in it.

25And they sat down to eat a meal, and they lifted their eyes and saw, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites [Arabs] was coming from Gilead, and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and lotus, going to take [it] down to Egypt.

26And Judah said to his brothers, "What is the gain if we slay our brother and cover up his blood?

27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh." And his brothers hearkened.

28Then Midianite [descendants of Keturah and thus not Israelites] men, merchants, passed by, and they pulled and lifted Joseph from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver [pieces], and they brought Joseph to Egypt.

29And Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he rent his garments.

30And he returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone! And I where will I go?"

31And they took Joseph's coat, and they slaughtered a goat, and they dipped the coat in the blood.

32And they sent the fine woolen coat, and they brought [it] to their father, and they said, "We have found this; now recognize whether it is your son's coat or not."

33He recognized it, and he said, "[It is] my son's coat; a wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn up."

34And Jacob rent his garments, and he put sackcloth on his loins, and he mourned for his son many days.

35And all his sons and all his daughters arose to console him, but he refused to be consoled, for he said, "Because I will descend on account of my son as a mourner to the grave"; and his father wept for him.

36And the Midianites sold him to Egypt, to Potiphar, Pharaoh's chamberlain, chief of the slaughterers.

Matthew 21

New King James Version

The Triumphal Entry

21 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to ^[a]Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

^4 [b]All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

⁵ “Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

⁶ So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, ^[c]and set Him on them. ⁸ And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹ So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹² Then Jesus went into the temple ^[d]of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

¹⁴ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were ^[e]indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praise’?”

¹⁷ Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

The Fig Tree Withered

¹⁸ Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹ And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”

²¹ So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. ²² And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

²³ Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

²⁴ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward ^[f]relent and believe him.

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers

³³ “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. ³⁴ Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. ³⁵ And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. ³⁷ Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

⁴¹ They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will ^[g]render to him the fruits in their seasons.” [This is a metaphor for accepting Genesis 1:26 – accepting the world’s chaos and pursuing order.]

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³ “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. [If you do not accept Genesis 1:26, you will not benefit from your life.] ⁴⁴ And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

⁴⁵ Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they ^[h]perceived that He was speaking of them. ⁴⁶ But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

Footnotes

1. Matthew 21:1 M Bethsphage
2. Matthew 21:4 NU omits All
3. Matthew 21:7 NU and He sat
4. Matthew 21:12 NU omits of God
5. Matthew 21:15 angry
6. Matthew 21:32 regret it
7. Matthew 21:41 give
8. Matthew 21:45 knew

Ezekiel 18 and Matthew 5; Stages 2-3 pursue goodness, prevent badness to annihilate evil.

Highlights:

1.       V2 descendants feel despair due to Judaism’s bad behavior.

2.       V5-8 good behavior means not eating sacrificial foods, worshipping idols, being promiscuous, harming someone, not fulfilling promises, robbing, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, charging interest, wronging someone, or judging someone falsely.

a.       Goodness may and can be pursued by both the weak and the strong.

b.       The code of Ur-Nammu, 4100 years ago, cautioned elites not to take advantage of the poor, widows, and orphans.

c.       Religions and nations devised philanthropy and welfare, in order to skim the revenues.

3.       V10-13 if a son chooses bad behavior (toward his brother[i]), he will die.

4.       V14-17 if a son chooses good behavior, despite his father’s offenses, the son will live.

5.       V18-20 each person will live or die, contingent on whether they choose goodness not badness

a.       V21-23 those who reform from badness to goodness live

b.       V24-28 those who reformed but returned to badness die

6.       V29- Judaism is wrong to doubt goodness.

A.      Perhaps 1700 years later, in Matthew 5, an advanced-ancient expression of goodness is attributed to Yeshua (an ancient Judean name yet repressed feature of Judaism).

a.       V3-10 suggests good behavior is key to both life and mystery

b.       V22 opposes anger toward a brother.

c.       V48 suggests pursuit of perfectly good behavior.

d.       The Judeo-Christian who closes their mind to Yeshua rejects at least 55%, perhaps 90% of humankind’s happenings. Consider taking 14 minutes for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na22KkydPRs.

                                                               i.      People who reject Yeshua cannot acquire his influence to goodness.

B.      I support other civic citizen’s opportunities to heartfelt hopes:  It takes un-like-mindedness to address mystery and chaos.

a.       I am grateful that I fell in love with a reliable Louisiana French Catholic woman.

b.       But I never relinquished my opportunity to discover and practice goodness.

c.       Consequently, in my 82^nd year, I overcame a 75-year hope to feel I am like-minded; thanks to Nomads, discovered Yeshua; and more warmly pursue his influence.

d.       I perceive many people, non-believers and believers, pursue goodness without discovering Yeshua.

C.      Yeshua-influence dominates happenings on earth because of goodness-which-motivates good behavior.

a.       Consider, for example, Matthew 18:15-17, process for resolving human-conflict.

                                                               i.      Forgiveness without processing V15 terminates Yeshua’s influence.

                                                             ii.      Completion through V17 can conclude in negotiated division on earth.

b.       A couple years later, consider Matthew 18:18: there is no higher power.

D.      If Ralph Waldo Emerson had lived beyond age 79 and pursued civic collaboration, he might have discovered Yeshua and been more impactful in “Divinity School Address”, 1784.

a.       Harvard banned him for 30 years, until he became famous on other topics.

b.       Also, he did not cite Jesus’ speech and instruction to good behavior.

Note: Genesis 16:11-12 erroneously suggests that it is OK for Isaac, the second born, to regard Ishmael “a donkey of a man”. The younger son ought-not slight the older. Perhaps Middle-East peace will lead to retraction of Genesis 16’s harm as well as attention to goodness-which-motivates-good-behavior to humankind.         1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

---

[i] Genesis 16:11-12, "Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your affliction. And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone's hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell."

Jonah: two different societies motivate Jonah to improve personal goodness

Preface.

Scholars think Jonah lived about 2800 years ago. The Sumerian Perception developed about 5500 years ago:  On earth, humankind has the power, authority, and responsibility (PAR) to pursue goodness to life.

I think the Book of Jonah primitively expresses the consequences of fearing PAR and looking to mysterious higher power to usurp human opportunity to good behavior. Moreover, both ship mates and citizens of Nineveh shame Jonah to improve personal goodness.

In Christian literature, Paul, the opportunist-entrepreneur, projected Yeshua’s precocious political savvy (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshua) onto Jewish literature to pretend ancient prophecy. On such pretense, Paul constructed Christ. The Jewish apostles whom Yeshua chose fall prey to Paul the self-appointed spokesman for the Gentiles. See the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15. 

Today, there are perhaps 0.2 million Messianic Jews (Christians) and 14.5 million other Jews. I wonder if there are any Jews who think Yeshua will return to be king and priest for Israel.

Key thoughts:

1:1-3 Jonah observed wickedness in Nineveh and thought [“the word of the Lord”] he should influence them to goodness but did not act.

1:4-9 Consequently in trouble, he told his companions his intentions might not have been moral [“I fear the Lord God of heaven”]. Companions each prayed to “his god”.

1:12 Jonah professed guilt.

1:14-16 Jonah’s companions independently prayed and sacrificed to “the Lord” (rather than their “gods” per V5), then threw Jonah into the sea.

2:2-11 Jonah prayed and sacrificed to “the Lord his God” for rescuing him.

3:1-4 Jonah thought again [“the word of the Lord”] he should influence them to goodness and this time, Jonah went to Nineveh and predicted doom because of evil behavior.

3:5-10 The “people of Nineveh believed in God” and influenced the king. “God” observed the reform and “the Lord” relented.

4:1-9 Jonah was displeased that the people of Nineveh independently effected reform, making public Jonah’s doubt of “a gracious and merciful God”. He complained to “the Lord” and “the Lord God” responded with a shade tree that withered.

4:10-11 “And the Lord” explained mercy to Nineveh, who chose reform despite ignorance.

The text: Green highlight for emphasis, orange letters re-Pauline Christ)
Jonah 1 https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16183/jewish/Chapter-1.htm

1And the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying:

2Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it, for their evil has come before Me.

3And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from before the Lord, and he went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid its hire, and went down into it to come with them to Tarshish from before the Lord.

4Now the Lord cast a mighty wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, and the ship threatened to be broken up.

5And the sailors were frightened, and each one cried out to his god, and they cast the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them, and Jonah went down to the ship's hold, lay down, and fell fast asleep.

6And the captain approached him and said to him, "Why do you sleep? Get up, call out to your God, perhaps God will think about us, and we will not perish."

7And they said, each one to his fellow, "Come, let's cast lots, so that we will know because of whom this evil has befallen us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

8And they said to him, "Tell us now, because of whom has this evil befallen us? What is your work and whence do you come? What is your land, and from what people are you?"

9And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, Who made the sea and the dry land."

10And the men were very frightened, and they said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from before the Lord, because he had told them.

11And they said to him, "What shall we do with you, so that the sea subside from upon us, since the sea is becoming stormier?"

12And he said to them, "Pick me up and cast me into the sea, so that the sea may subside from upon you, for I know that, because of me, this mighty tempest is upon you."

13And the men rowed vigorously to return to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming stormier upon them.

14And they called to the Lord and said, "Please, O Lord, let us not perish for the life of this man, and do not place upon us innocent blood, for You, O Lord, as You wish, You have done."

15And they picked Jonah up and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased storming.

16And the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they made sacrifices to the Lord and made vows.

Jonah 2

1And the Lord appointed a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

2And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God, from the belly of the fish.

3And he said: I called out from my distress to the Lord, and He answered me; from the belly of the grave I cried out, You heard my voice.

4And You cast me into the deep in the heart of the seas, and a river surrounded me; all Your breakers and Your waves passed over me.

5And I said, "I have been driven away from before Your eyes," Indeed, I will continue to gaze upon Your Holy Temple.

6Water has surrounded me even to the soul, the deep encompassed me; the Red Sea hangs over my head.

7To the bottom of the mountains I descended, the earth-its bars are closed on me forever; but You brought up my life from Gehinnom, O Lord, my God.

8When my soul grew faint upon me, I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came to You to Your Holy Temple.

9Those who keep worthless futilities abandon their kindness.

10But I-with a voice of thanks will I sacrifice to You; what I vowed I will pay, for the salvation of the Lord.

11And the Lord said to the fish, and it spewed Jonah onto the dry land.

Jonah 3

1And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying:

2Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and proclaim upon it the proclamation that I speak to you.

3And Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a walk of three days.

4And Jonah commenced to come into the city, one day's walk, and he proclaimed and said, "In another forty days Nineveh shall be overturned!"

5And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and donned sackcloth, from their greatest to their smallest.

6And the word reached the king of Nineveh, whereupon he rose from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes.

7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh: By the counsel of the king and his nobles, saying: Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep shall taste anything; they shall not graze, neither shall they drink water.

8And they shall cover themselves with sackcloth, both man and beast, and they shall call mightily to God, and everyone shall repent of his evil way and of the dishonest gain which is in their hands.

9Whoever knows shall repent, and God will relent, and He will return from His burning wrath, and we will not perish.

10And God saw their deeds, that they had repented of their evil way, and the Lord relented concerning the evil that He had spoken to do to them, and He did not do it.

Jonah 4

1Now it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was grieved.

2And he prayed to the Lord and said, "Please, O Lord, was this not my contention while I was still on my land? For this reason I had hastened to flee to Tarshish, for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, with much kindness, and relenting of evil.

3And now, O Lord, take now my soul from me, for my death is better than my life."

4And the Lord said: Are you deeply grieved?

5And Jonah had gone out of the city, and had stationed himself on the east of the city, and there he made himself a hut and sat under it in the shade until he would see what would happen in the city.

6Now the Lord God appointed a kikayon, and it grew up over Jonah to be shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort, and Jonah was overjoyed with the kikayon.

7Now God appointed a worm at the rise of dawn on the morrow, and the worm attacked the kikayon, and it withered.

8Now it came to pass when the sun shone, that God appointed a stilling east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah's head, and he fainted, and he begged to die, and he said, "My death is better than my life."

9And God said to Jonah; Are you very grieved about the kikayon? And he said, "I am very grieved even to death."

10And the Lord said: You took pity on the kikayon, for which you did not toil nor did you make it grow, which one night came into being and the next night perished.

11Now should I not take pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are many more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well?   [Genesis 1:26-28, chabad.org: I read Judeo-Christian literature to consider and apply perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political philosophy, religiously referenced by Semite (pre-Israel) scribes of 3900 years ago, in Genesis 1:26-28, in my paraphrase and extension to civic integrity:   Female-and-male-human-being may and can choose to practice the power, the authority, and the responsibility to pursue goodness and constrain wickedness on earth. Civic citizens may and can develop statutory justice. I call this the Sumerian Perception. Political and religious philosopher Yeshua affirmed Genesis 1:26-28, contributing ideas in each Matthew 18:18 (no peace-power above humankind), Matthew 19:3-8 (mutual spousal-loyalty and unity not to be divided), Matthew 5:48 (in good behavior, pursue personal perfection, which also affirms Deuteronomy 18:13), Matthew 19:4-6 again (don’t divide/lessen goodness), John 10:34 (humans who resist and avoid wickedness are gods facing death, as in Psalm 82:1-7), and in other direct dialogue, such as “go and sin no more”. Psalm 82 says nothing about resurrection, which could be church doctrine only. Discussion I think Genesis 1:26-28 informs humankind to flourish in goodness rather than accommodate badness and allow evil. Quoting chabad.org below, And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and they shall rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heaven and over the animals and over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth." And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 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 sea and over the fowl of the sky and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth." Accepting the power, the authority, and the responsibility to have dominion over life on earth is human being (verb). Reliable human-beings discover and practice goodness to actual reality. Sumer-mythology holds that 3 goddesses and 3 gods -- Namma, An, Ki, Enki, Ninhursag, and Gestu – both created and activated existence. A list of major Sumerian gods and relation to primitive opinion about the beginning follows: Name Gender Earth/Psychology Feature Power Offspring 1 Nammu goddess* primeval waters creation An and Ki 2 An god* sky universal authority, kings gods &godesses 3 Ki goddess* earth gods &godesses 4 Enlil god wind, air, storms creator,father,caring judge Nanna & Utu 5 Nanna god moon light,divine justice plants 6 Utu god sun,justice,truth,morality light,divine justice plants 7 Inanna goddess love,beauty,eros,justice,war escaped the underworld 8 Ereshkigal goddess death,doom Underworld 9 Enki god* water,male fertility,wisdom Prophesied Great Flood civilization.art 10 Gula goddess healing Doctors surgery 11 Ninhursag goddess* mountains,rocky ground royal guardian wildlife 12 Gestu god* blood of humankind intelligence The pronoun and plurality change in Genesis 1:26-28 may be an artifact of the ancient scribe’s confusion if not weakness in transitioning primitive polytheism to the monotheistic opinion. Genesis 1 marks discovery by polytheistic Sumer civilization, which I call “The Sumerian Perception” and transitions to a Semitic-speaking faction’s pursuit of monotheism, which leads to Israel’s Hashem then on to Christianity’s blood sacrifice, appropriately the Judeo-Christian Perception Note: unlike chabad.org, quoted above,  OJB uses “Elohim” in Genesis 1 and 2, excepting “G-d” in 1:24-31. V 27 seems to equate the two entities. Septuagint uses “ὁ θεὸς”, or “God” throughout Genesis 1. I use “The phrase, the god or whatever constrains human choice”, hoping to express religious humility to whatever the god is. Again, since theism is a human construct, I use the phrase, “the god, whatever it may be”, to express objection to any doctrinal God yet reserve humility to ineluctable evidence and remaining unknowns about that which constrains the consequences of human choices. Make no mistake, I write opinion, because I do not know the ineluctable truth.]