Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it : the ancient and medieval career of a Biblical text / Jeremy Cohen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohen, Jeremy, 1953- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. Genesis, I, 28--Criticism, interpretation, etc--History.

Bible.

Theological anthropology--Christianity--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Theological anthropology.

Theological anthropology--Christianity--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (368 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York : Cornell University Press, [1989]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This innovative, interdisciplinary book reconstructs the career of Genesis 1:28 ("Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it...") in Judaism and Christianity, from antiquity through the Reformation. Jeremy Cohen tracks the text through all the Jewish and Christian sources in which it figures significantly-in law, exegesis, homily, theology, mysticism, philosophy, and even vernacular poetry. In his view, the verse situates man and woman on a cosmic frontier, midway between the angelic and the bestial, charging them with singular responsibilities that bear directly on Jewish and Christian ideas of God's "chosen people."

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

CHAPTER I. Biblical Foundations

CHAPTER 2. Defining a Cosmic Frontier: Genesis 1:28 in the Aggadah

CHAPTER 3. Transformation in the Halakhah

CHAPTER 4. Medieval Rabbinic Applications: Jurisprudence, Exegesis, and Mysticism

CHAPTER 5. Christian Biblical Commentary

CHAPTER 6. The Primordial Blessing and the Law of Nature

Conclusion: A Look Forward and Back

Glossary of Names and Terms

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Nov 2019)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501745676

1501745670

OCLC:

1129214214