#16: The Inevitability of Evil? The Evil Inclination and the Flood

In this podcast, we discuss the first place an “evil inclination” is mentioned in the Bible: the description of the state of humanity before and after the Flood, seen through divine eyes. Unlike the defined “yetzer hara” in later Rabbinic literature, the human “evil inclination” of the Bible is closer to what we will see in future episodes in Second Temple literature: it describes the human tendency toward evil.

Listen to this episode to learn:

How does the evil inclination attempt to solve the problem of theodicy (justifying God in the face of evil)?
How can we understand the decision after the Flood despite the “unchanging” human inclination?
How did Second Temple Jews relate to this story?

Thanks again to Melissa Kantor, who joins me as my trusty interlocutor.

As always, I look forward to your comments and questions! Please comment below.

11 Responses to "#16: The Inevitability of Evil? The Evil Inclination and the Flood"

Rocky Jackson says:

April 9, 2017 at 8:27 pm

Hum having trouble finding the podcast!
1. Miryam Brand says:
  
  April 9, 2017 at 8:55 pm
  
  Hi Rocky,
  
  Sorry about that – there were technical issues! You should see it now.
  1. Rocky Jackson says:
    
    April 9, 2017 at 10:42 pm
    
    Kinda figured, maybe it was the Russians , the evil ones…
    
    Lololol sorry couldn’t resist!
    1. Miryam Brand says:
      
      April 9, 2017 at 11:54 pm
      
      😀
Laurie Laine says:

April 17, 2017 at 8:48 pm

Thank you so much for your studies on this subject. I think we could try to figure ourselves out the rest of our lives and still not know why we do bad things. I also enjoyed your questions Melissa. I had never put together the separation of people and animals. I wonder if this, in part was for the animals protection? I see in our domestic animals that if taught, they can be corrupted. Thanks again and look forward to hearing more.
David Fischer says:

April 25, 2017 at 4:55 pm

I don’t think it is Noah that is perfect. I think it is his generations that are perfect. Perfect is generations means he had no Watcher blood (DNA) in him. He had no Watchers (Fallen Angels) in his ancestry. When God sends the flood and kills all other men, only Noah and his descendants will remain meaning there will be no more Watcher descendants.
David Fischer says:

April 25, 2017 at 4:57 pm

I don’t think it is Noah that is perfect. I think it is his generations that are perfect. Perfect is generations means he had no Watcher blood (DNA) in him. He had no Watchers (Fallen Angels) in his ancestry. When God sends the flood and kills all other men, only Noah and his descendants will remain meaning there will be no more Watcher descendants.

David
Daniel Rosenberg says:

June 5, 2017 at 2:58 am

Thank you, Dr. Brand! I’m enjoying the careful foundations you set in this series.

I wonder, in this particular podcast (I _am_ a few weeks behind): while God seems to be surprised at the revelation that humans’ yetzer seems inevitably to trend to the evil, is there any discussion about the decision to create humans with a yetzer (which animals fundamentally lack, with any moral valence)?
1. Miryam Brand says:
  
  June 5, 2017 at 10:19 pm
  
  My pleasure, Rabbi Rosenberg! 😉
  The actual decision to create humans with a yetzer is not directly explained by either Biblical or Second Temple texts — most simply do not address this as a decision separate from the decision to create humans. The pseudepigraphic 4 Ezra, written shortly after the Destruction of the Second Temple, comes closest to addressing the implied decision to not remove the evil heart that is inherited from Adam (while still punishing humans for sinning) by having Ezra bemoan this tragic aspect of the human condition directly. The Psalms of Solomon does mention the “testing” aspect of the inclination to sin, but without any deeper insight into divine motivation.
  
  I recommend listening to the Ben Sira episodes for some insight into a range of rationales for the existence of the evil inclination popular during the Second Temple period, even if they fall short of an actual motivation for the yetzer’s creation.
  
  Thank you for your questions and comments — I look forward to your feedback!
Christopher Fisher says:

October 11, 2017 at 8:43 pm

You start to answer the question “Did God regret making humans?” but then you get sidetracked.

I was hoping for an unambiguous statement such as Yale Professor Christine Hayes posits:

The character “Yahweh” in the Hebrew Bible should not be confused with the god of western theological speculation (generally referred to as “God”). The attributes assigned to “God” by post-biblical theologians — such as omniscience and immutability — are simply not attributes possessed by the character Yahweh as drawn in biblical narratives. Indeed, on several occasions Yahweh is explicitly described as changing his mind, because when it comes to human beings his learning curve is steep. Humans have free will; they act in ways that surprise him and he must change tack and respond.
1. Miryam Brand says:
  
  October 23, 2017 at 7:24 pm
  
  Yes, this is not the only place God changes his mind in the Bible, and Jeremiah even hopes for it. 😉

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