The image of God

In Genesis 1:26, 27; 5:1; and 9:6 two terms occur, “image” and “likeness,” that seem to indicate clearly the biblical understanding of essential human nature: humans are created in the image and likeness of God. Yet the texts in which these terms are used are not entirely unambiguous; the idea they point to does not appear elsewhere in Scriptures, and the concept is not too prominent in the rabbinic interpretations. What the image and likeness of God, or the divine image, refers to in the biblical texts is not made explicit, and, in light of the fact that the texts are dominated by psychosomatic conceptions of the nature of humanity (i.e., involving both soul and body), it is not possible to escape entirely the implication of “bodily” similarity. What the terms meant in their context at the time and whether they reflect mythological usages taken over from other Middle Eastern thought are by no means certain. However, according to Akiba, the most prominent 2nd-century-ce rabbi, the “image” of God seems to mean the unique human capacity for a spiritual relationship with him; this interpretation thus avoids any suggestion of a physical similarity between God and humans.

The earthly-spiritual creature

A dualistic interpretation of humanity was offered in parts of the ancient Jewish community that were deeply influenced by Greek philosophical ideas. In this understanding, the divine likeness is identified with the immortal, intellectual soul as contrasted to the body. Other ancient and modern thinkers have understood the likeness as ethical, placing particular emphasis on freedom of the will. Clearly, no doctrine of humanity can be erected on the basis of these several verses alone—a broader view must be taken. A careful examination of the biblical material, particularly the words nefesh, neshama, and ruaḥ—which are often too broadly translated as “soul” and “spirit”—indicates that these terms must not be understood as referring to the psychical side of a psychophysical pair. A human being does not possess a nefesh but rather is a nefesh, as Genesis 2:7 says, “wayehi ha-adam le-nefesh ḥayya” (“…and the man became a living being”). Humans are, for most of the biblical writers, “a unit of vital power,” not a dual creature separable into two distinct parts of unequal importance and value. While this understanding of human nature dominated biblical thought, in apocalyptic literature (2nd century bce–2nd century ce) the term nefesh was viewed as a separable psychical entity with existence apart from the body. This conception of human nature was not entirely divorced from the unitary biblical view, but a body-soul dualism (see mind-body dualism) was effectively present in such literature. In the Alexandrian version of Hellenistic Judaism, the orientation toward Greek philosophy, particularly the Platonic view of the soul imprisoned in the flesh, led to a clear-cut dualism with a negative attitude toward the body. Rabbinic thought remained closer to the biblical position, at least in its understanding of the human being as a psychosomatic unit, even though the temporary separation of the components after death was an accepted position.

The biblical view of the human as an inseparable psychosomatic unit meant that death was understood to be human dissolution. Although a human being ceased to be, this dissolution was not utter extinction. Some of the power that functioned in the unit may have continued to exist, but it was not to be understood any longer as life. The existence of the dead in sheol, the netherworld, was not living but the shadow or echo of living. For most biblical writers this existence was without experience, either of God or of anything else; it was unrelated to events. To call it immortality is to empty that term of any vital significance. The concept of sheol, however, along with belief in the possibility of the miraculous restoration of dead individuals to life and even the idea of the revival of the people of Israel from the “death” of exile, provided a foothold for the development of belief in the resurrection of the dead body at some time in the future. The stimulus for this may have come from ancient Iranian religion, in which the dualistic cosmic struggle is eventually won by life through the resurrection of the dead. This idea appeared in sketchy form in postexilic writings (Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2). In this view there is life only in the psychosomatic unit now restored. This restoration was bound up with the eschatological hope of Israel and was limited to the righteous. In subsequent apocalyptic literature, a sharper distinction between body and soul was entertained, and the latter was conceived of as existing separately in a disembodied state after death. Although at this point the doctrine of the resurrection of the body was not put aside, the direction of thinking changed. The shades of sheol were now thought of as souls, and real personal survival—with continuity between life on earth and in sheol—was posited. Greek ideas, with their individualistic bent, influenced Jewish thought, so that the idea of a resurrection that was in some way related to a final historical consummation began to recede. True life after death was now seen as release from the bondage of the body, so that in place of or alongside of the afterlife of physical resurrection was set the afterlife of the immortal soul.

It was not the status of the soul, however, that concerned the biblical and rabbinic thinkers. Instead, the latter’s discussions of biblical themes emphasized the ethical import of the composite nature of human beings. Humans are in a state of tension or equilibrium between the two foci of creation, the “heavenly” and the “earthly.” They necessarily participate in both. But this means that they are the only creatures who can truly serve their creator, for they alone, partaking of both sides of creation, may choose between them. It is this ability to make an ethical choice that is the distinguishing mark of humans. It is not derived from the “heavenly” side but resides in the dual nature of human existence. This view is clearly not a type of body-soul dualism in which the soul is the source of good and the body the basis of evil. Such an attitude, however, did appear in some rabbinic material and was often affirmed in medieval philosophical and mystical speculations and by some of the later moralists. An important development of biblical-rabbinic ideas, these later commentaries represent authentic attempts to come to terms with other currents of thought and with the problems and uncertainties inherent within the earlier materials themselves.

The ethically bound creature

Humankind is then viewed as ethically involved. The central theme of the first 11 chapters of Genesis focuses on this responsibility, for the implicit assumption of the pre-patriarchal stories is the human ability to choose between obedience and disobedience. Rabbinic Judaism, taking up the covenant-making episode between God and Noah (Genesis 9:8–17), developed it as the basis of humanity’s ethical obligation. All humanity, not merely Israel, is engaged in a covenant relationship with God, which was spelled out in explicit precepts—variously enumerated as 6, 7, or even 10 and occasionally as many as 30—that reflect general humanitarian behaviour and are intended to assure the maintenance of the natural order by the establishment of a proper human society. The covenant with Israel was meant to bring into being a community that would advance the development of this society through its own obedience and witness.

Human nature, viewed ethically, was explained in Rabbinic Judaism not only as a tension between the “heavenly” and “earthly” components but as a tension between two “impulses.” Here again, fragmentary and allusive biblical materials were developed into more-comprehensive statements. The biblical word yetzer, for example, means “plan,” that which is formed in human minds. In the two occurrences of the word in Genesis (6:5; 8:21), the plan or formation of the human mind is described as raʿ, perhaps “evil” in the moral sense or maybe no more than “disorderly,” “confused,” “undisciplined.” Other occurrences in the Bible do not have this modifier. Nonetheless, the Aramaic translations (Targumim) invariably replaced it with bisha (“wicked”) wherever it occurred. Rabbinic literature created a technical term, ha-raʿ (“the evil impulse”), to denote the source within humans of their disobedience, and subsequently the counter-term yetzer ha-ṭov (“the good impulse”) was used to indicate humans’ obedience. These terms more clearly suggest the ethical quality of human duality, while their opposition and conflict point to human freedom and the ethical choices humans must make. Indeed, it is primarily within the realm of the ethical that Judaism posits freedom, recognizing the bound, or determined, quality of much of humans’ natural environment or physiological makeup.

This ethically free creature stands within the covenant relationship and may choose to be obedient or disobedient. Sin, then, is ultimately deliberate disobedience or rebellion against the divine sovereign. This is more easily observed in relation to Israel, for it is in this connection that the central concern of Judaism is most evident and discussed in greatest detail. The covenant relationship is not limited to Israel, because, according to Judaic tradition, all humankind stands within a covenant relation to God and is commanded to be moral and just; therefore, the same choice is made universally. In technical language, the acceptance of divine sovereignty by the people of Israel and by individuals within that community is called “receiving the yoke of the kingship.” This involves intellectual commitment to a basic belief, as expressed by the Deuteronomic proclamation: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one!” It also imposes obligations regarding communal and individual behaviour. These two responses are understood to be inextricably bound, so that rejection of the divine sovereign is manifest as denial of God both intellectually and practically. It amounts to “breaking the yoke of the kingship.” In more specific terms, sin is sometimes summed up under three interrelated headings: idolatry, murder, and illicit sexual behaviour, each of which involves rebellion, for it involves activities that deny—if not God’s existence—his commanding relationship and the requirement of human response. Such behaviour destroys the community and sets individual against individual, thus thwarting the ultimate purpose of God, the perfected human society.

If humans are free to choose rebellion and to suffer its consequences, they are also able to turn back to God and to become reconciled with him. The Bible—particularly the prophetic writings—is filled with this idea, even though the term teshuva (“turning”) came into use only in rabbinic sources. Basically, the idea grows out of the covenant: the opportunity to return to God is the result of God’s unwillingness—despite human failures—to break off the covenant relationship. Rabbinic thought assumed that even the direst warnings of utter disaster and rejection imply the possibility of turning back to God, motivated by remorse and the desire for restoration. Divine readiness and human openness are the two sides of the process of reconciliation. What was expressed in prophetic literature in relation to the immediate historical and political situation was stated in the synagogal liturgy in connection with pentateuchal and prophetic lessons and the homilies developed from them. Thus, the divine invitation was constantly being offered. Humans are called upon to atone for their rebellion by positive action in the other direction and are summoned to reconstitute wholeness in their individual and communal life.

Jewish existence, as it developed under rabbinic leadership following the two disastrous rebellions against Rome, was an attempt to reconstitute a community of faith expressed in worship in an ordered society in which the individual would live a hallowed life of response to the divine will. Although this plan was not spelled out in detail, it was probably understood to be the paradigm for the eventual reconstruction of humanity.

Medieval and modern views of man

Although the Jewish view of human nature was centrally concerned with ethics, metaphysical issues, however rudimentary in the beginning, were also included in the developing discussion. Medieval philosophers, for example, sought an accommodation between the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the concept of the immortality of the soul. The greatest of them, Moses Maimonides (1135–1204), propounded an extremely subtle position that equated immortality with the cleaving of the human intellect to the active intellect of the universe, thus limiting it to philosophers or to those who accepted a suitable philosophical theology on faith. Little or no consensus was evident in the modern period, though the language of resurrection or immortality was still used, even when its content was uncertain. Alongside this lack of agreement, however, Judaism’s basic affirmation about human nature remained the same: a human being is to be understood, however else, as a creature who makes free ethical choices for which he is responsible.