Two passages in the first few chapters of Genesis are often referred to when analyzing what humanity’s role in Creation is intended to be, one from each telling of the Creation story. Today, let’s focus on four keywords found in these passages.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
-- Genesis 1:26-28, NASB
Subdue: “Kabash” – Bringing into a state of shalom (harmony, wholeness).
Rule: “Radah” – Authority as bearers of God’s image, as a shepherd cares for the sheep. We’ll return to the idea of “ruling” later, digging deeper into God's vision for rulers and their conduct.
7 Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed…15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it.
-- Genesis 2:7-8, 15, NASB
Cultivate: “Abad” – to serve, to work, with reverence.
This is the same word used in the oft (mis)quoted Joshua passage, in which Joshua recounts the history of the tribes of Israel and directs them to choose whom they will worship and serve:
14 Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
-- Joshua 24:14-15
Tend: “Shamar” – to preserve, to care for, to guard.
Subdue, harmonize, make whole. Rule, shepherd, care. Cultivate, serve, work. Tend, preserve, guard.
‘Subdue’ and ‘rule’ and their counterpart ‘dominion’ are translations historically used to justify humanity’s failure, our exploitation of the land. When examined deeper, however, we see they do not condone exploitation. They call us to amplify the good that God built into Creation rather than suck it dry.
Sometimes, Christians refer to our role as ‘stewards’ of the earth. While this understanding of our call is sincere and well-meaning, especially when framed as caretakers of a land that is the Lord’s, stewardship is not the whole picture. Our call is more extensive, more profound, and more beautiful than that. What does it look like to shepherd the earth? To harmonize and preserve it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Thank you for this. Yes, I am pretty direct in my own work about my thinking that “stewardship” is a completely inadequate- and dangerous - model for our responsibility within the Earth community, because it still sets humans up as separate from the rest of the natural world. I love what you suggest here.