Structure Was Good

A Structuralist Approach to the First Bible Creation Account

Abstract

In the field of Religious Studies, old lenses applied to old texts open up the possibility for new interpretations. The school of Structuralism calls for two foundational methods of studying texts to find more meaning: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. Albeit, historically, scholars have employed these two approaches against each other, this article illustrates that using the tools of structuralism in the first biblical creation account provides new insight into the narrative.