Genesis A, Genesis B
. . . are found in Junius XI in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; . . . Both Junius
XI and the Exeter Book date from the latter part of the tenth century and were
copied at a time when the Anglo-Saxons took a great interest in their culture’s
poetic tradition. The authors of these poems are not known, nor are the
original dates of composition. (Daniel Anlezark, “Introduction,” in Old
Testament Narratives [Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 7; Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 2011], vii)
Pre-Lapsarian
Nature and Status of Adam and Eve
It did not then seem fitting to the guardian of the skies that Adam
should be alone any longer, the keeper and custodian in paradise, the new
creation. Therefore the high king, the Lord almighty, furnished support; the
origin of life’s light created a woman and then gave her as a help to the dear
man. He drew that substance from Adam’s body, and carefully pulled a rib from
his side. He was fast asleep and softly slumbered, felt no soreness, no share
of pain, nor did any blood come from the wound, but the prince of angels drew
out from his body a living bone, the man unwounded, from which God made a noble
woman.
He put life into her, an eternal soul. They were like the angels when
Eve, Adam’s bride, was adorned with a spirit. Beautiful in youth, they both
were born into the world by the creator’s powers. They did not know how to do
or commit sin, but the burning love of the Lord was in the breast of both. Then
the happy-hearted king, creator of all things, blessed the first two of the
human race, father and mother, woman and man. Then he made speech:
“Now be fruitful and multiply, fill the all-green earth with
offspring, the progeny of you two, with sons and daughters. The salt water and
all the worldly creation shall remain under your rule. Enjoy fruitful days and
the sea’s bounty and the birds of heaven. Blessed cattle and wild beasts are
given into the power of you two, and those living things that treat the land,
and that fecund race that stirs up the current across the whale-road. All who
obey you two.” (“Genesis A,” in Old Testament Narratives [trans. Daniel
Anlezark; Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 7; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 2011], 15, 17)
Noah’s
sacrifices and his “righteousness” not
being imputed:
Then our savior, the guardian of the kingdom of heaven, spoke to Noah,
in a holy voice: “A native seat is again opened up for you, delight on land,
rest from the voyage, fair upon the earth. Go walking safely out of the ark,
and from the tall building lead your household onto the earth’s lap, and all
the offspring that I kindly saved from the wave attack, while the sea
triumphantly devoured the third homeland.” He did so and obeyed the Lord with
great eagerness climbed over the current-wall, as the voice commanded him, and
then led from the vessel the survivors of the rages.
Then Noah, the prudent one, prepared a sacrifice, and from all his
possessions that the Lord had given the wise man for his benefit, he quickly
took a portion as an offering, and then the bright-minded man dedicated the oblation
to God himself, the king of the angels. Indeed our savior made it known when he
blessed Noah together with his sons that he had given that tribute in thanks and
that in his youth he had merited by good deeds that almighty God was generous
with graces for him, the righteous with blessings. Then the Lord, the ruler of
glory, still spoke a word to Noah: “Multiply and propagate, enjoy glory with cheerful
peace; will the earth, increase all things. Into your power is given dominion
and the holdings of the sea, birds of the heaven and wild beasts, the earth all
green and fecund cattle. (“Genesis B,” in Old Testament Narratives [trans.
Daniel Anlezark; Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 7; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 2011], 107, 109)
Genesis B
Retelling Genesis 20 and Abraham Instructing Sarah to Tell Pharaoh They are
Siblings:
Abraham made a speech—he saw the radiant gabled halls and lofty cities
of the Egyptians shining brightly—then the husband, the wise-minded man, began
to instruct his bride in words: “When many proud men in Egypt have gazed with
their eyes on your face, then the princely men will think, woman of elven
beauty, that you are my radiant bedfellow, who some man wishes to have for
himself. Then I might fear that some hostile man will deprive me of life by the
weapon’s edge because of his sexual desire.
“Sarah, say that you are my sister, a blood relative, when the alien men
of this country enquire what the relationship might be between us two
foreigners, arriving from afar. Firmly conceal the true explanation from them;
thus you shall save my life, if the Lord of peace, our ruler, allows me longer
life in the kingdom of this world, the one almighty, as did before. He ordained
this journey for us, that we should desire welfare, seek mercy and help among
the Egyptians.”
Then the courageous man went journeying, Abraham with his possessions,
into Egypt, where the countrymen were alien to him, friends unknown. Many proud
men, resplendent in wealth, spoke in words about his wife’s beauty; it seemed
to many of them, to the king’s attendants, that the woman was noble in bearing.
They made that known to their nation’s lord and before the prince, that they
accounted for few women fairer, but Sarah much more so, they praised her beautiful
countenance with words, until he summoned the lovely woman to his own hall. (“Genesis
B,” in Old Testament Narratives [trans. Daniel Anlezark; Dumbarton Oaks
Medieval Library 7; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2011], 129, 131)
