We call the origin stories of Genesis 1-11 the Primeval Story, referring to the earliest ages of cultural development. The Primeval Story is a sweeping account of the earliest events, from the creation of the world to the spread of humanity over the face of the earth. But the writer only mentions those seminal events that fit his purpose.
The Primeval Story is not history as we ordinarily use the term. The earliest events of creation, for example, had no human eyewitnesses. Stories such as we find in the early chapters of Genesis are mostly myths and sagas. A literalistic approach to Genesis 1-11 would confuse history with myth and reality with symbol. Applying such terms as "myth" to Genesis in no way devalues or demeans the stories. They may not provide the earliest history exactly as it happened, but they do communicate Israel's deepest truths about the world in its relationship to God.
Source Analysis. One of the ways we will probe the Primeval Story is by isolating its early literary sources (see Part 1). The Primeval Story was constructed out of originally separate stories and genealogies. Of the two literary sources found in Genesis 1-11, the Yahwist source seems especially fascinated with the primeval period. Yahwist stories shape the plot of the Primeval Story. According to classical source analysis, the Yahwist narrative was written during the time of the Davidic monarchy or shortly thereafter. The growth of the Davidic kingdom and the development of cultural contacts with other nations inspired Israel's interest in stories with global connections. Israel was striving to understand its place in the larger world, including its God's relationship to other nations. The other literary source found in the Primeval Story is the Priestly source. It contributed its own versions of the creation and flood, along with some other, mostly genealogical, material. The Elohist source is not present at all.
