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"have dominion over"
The
Meaning of Dominion
by Ellen
F. Davis
The notion that God
intends humans to “have dominion over” other living things (Genesis 1:26, Genesis
1:28) rightly
makes many readers of the Hebrew Bible uncomfortable, knowing as we do the
abuses that notion has seemed to lead to in the modern period.
Human activity is a
key factor in the currently galloping rate of species extinction.
The factory farming
of animals and fish is a major driver of environmental degradation in North
America and, increasingly, around the world — not to mention the suffering of
creatures who live out their short, unhealthy lives in Confined Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFOs).
Certainly, this kind
of “dominion” — more honestly termed “domination” — is unlike anything
the biblical writers (or their premodern readers) could have imagined.
Yet unquestionably
the first chapter of the Hebrew Bible takes a “special species” perspective with
respect to humans; three times we are told that humans (only) are made “in
the image of God.”
In order to
understand what that special role might entail, we need to consider both the
wording and the immediate literary context of the key phrase that appears
alongside it and is normally rendered, “have dominion over.”
The common
translation “have dominion over” is problematic, above all because “dominion”
is so readily confused with “domination.”
Since the
Renaissance, Gen 1:26 has frequently been invoked in the West to support the
project of “conquering,” “commanding,” or “enslaving” nature through scientific
and technological means.
Another difficulty
with the common translation is that the Hebrew phrase (radah b-) includes a
preposition that is in most cases not equivalent to the English preposition “over.”
A more
satisfactory translation of that crucial verse might be “Let us make
humankind in our image, according to our likeness, so they may exercise skilled
mastery among [or, with respect to] the fish of the sea and among the birds of
the air.”
These
are the same creatures that were specially blessed by God — “Be fruitful and
multiply” (Genesis
1:22) — on
the fifth day of creation, before humans were created.
We fulfill our role
in the created order only when we recognize our responsibility to help
perpetuate other creatures’ fruitfulness.
Although Genesis does
not specify what exactly the exercise of skilled mastery entails, an important
clue appears in the immediately following verses (Genesis 1:29-30).
The chapter is
otherwise terse, but it goes into surprising detail as God describes the ample
food available for every living being.
There are grains and
fruit trees for humans and herbage for the nonhuman creatures — vegan food
chains in a world where no blood has yet been shed!
We can infer that the
human role is to live in such a way as to honor this divinely ordained, secure
food supply.
This is a sobering
view of human “dominion,” in this age of habitat destruction and
extinction, when countless species are dying off precisely because human
activity has disrupted their food chains.
Ellen
F. Davis
Professor,
Duke Divinity School
Ellen F.
Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical
Theology at Duke University Divinity School. Her research interests focus on
how biblical interpretation bears on the life of faith communities and their
responses to urgent public issues, particularly the environmental crisis and
interfaith relations. Her most recent book, Scripture, Culture, and
Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible (Cambridge University Press,
2009), integrates biblical studies with a critique of industrial agriculture
and food production.
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