INTRODUCTION

Bill T. Arnold

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511807404.003

I - INTRODUCTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014

Bill T. Arnold

Show author details

Bill T. Arnold: Affiliation:
Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky

Book contents

Get access

Summary

The book of Genesis addresses the most profound questions of life. Who are we? Why are we here? And, more to the focus of Genesis, who is God, how does God relate to the universe, and what are the origins of God's chosen people, Israel? Many cultures, ancient and modern, have produced similar philosophical speculations about the nature of God, humanity, and cosmic origins, but none has left the impact on world history and thought as enduring as that of Genesis.

The book is comprised of two large blocks of material, the Primeval History (Gen 1–11) and the ancestral narratives (Gen 12–50). These have been linked together in order to express a certain theological perspective, intended to establish the background necessary for reading the rest of the Pentateuch and beyond. Essential to that perspective in Genesis is the careful identification of the national God of ancient Israel, Yahweh, with the Sovereign God of creation as well as the self-revealing, promise-giving, and covenant-making God of Israel's ancestors. The God encountered in Genesis is therefore also the God of the plagues, the exodus from Egypt, the covenant, the law, the monarchy, the prophets, and the exile and restoration. Genesis is preparatory to a larger story.

This commentary will hold two commitments in focus related to methodology. (Unless the reader is especially interested in questions of method or composition, it may be advisable to skip the rest of this introduction and move directly to the commentary itself.

Type: Chapter
Information: Genesis , pp. 1 - 19

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807404.003 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hiebert, Theodore, The Yahwist's Landscape: Nature and Religion in Early Israel (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 80–82Google Scholar

Clark, W. Malcolm, “The Flood and the Structure of the Pre-Patriarchal History,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 83 (1971): 184–211CrossRef Google Scholar

Steinberg, Naomi A., “The Genealogical Framework of the Family Stories in Genesis,” Semeia 46 (1989): 41–50Google Scholar

Jacobsen, Thorkild, “The Eridu Genesis,” Journal of Biblical Literature 100 (1981): 513–29CrossRef Google Scholar

Miller, Jr. Patrick D., “Eridu, Dunnu, and Babel: A Study in Comparative Mythology,” Hebrew Annual Review 9 (1985): 227–51Google Scholar

Hess, Richard S. and Tsumura, David T., eds., “I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood”: Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1–11 (SBTS 4; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1994), 129–42 and 143–68

Cross, Frank M., Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1973)Google Scholar

Damrosch, David, The Narrative Covenant: Transformations of Genre in the Growth of Biblical Literature (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987)Google Scholar

Malamat, Abraham, “The Proto-History of Israel: A Study in Method,” in The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth: Essays in Honor of David Noel Freedman in Celebration of His Sixtieth Birthday, eds. Meyers, Carol L. and O'Connor, Michael P. (ASOR Special Volume Series 1; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1983), 303–13Google Scholar

Seters, John, Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992), 22Google Scholar

Arnold, Bill T., “History and Historiography, OT,” The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld. 5 vols. Nashville: Abingdon, 2006–. 2: 833–37

Petersen, David L., “The Formation of the Pentateuch,” in Old Testament Interpretation: Past, Present, and Future. Essays in Honor of Gene M. Tucker, eds. Mays, James L., Petersen, David L., and Richards, Kent H. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 31–45Google Scholar

Hoftijzer, Jacob, “Holistic or Compositional Approach? Linguistic Remarks to the Problem,” in Synchronic or Diachronic? A Debate on Method in Old Testament Exegesis, ed. Moor, Johannes Cornelis (OtSt 34; Leiden, New York: E.J. Brill, 1995), 98–114Google Scholar

Childs, Brevard S., Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), 145Google Scholar

Westermann, Claus, Genesis 1–11: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Pub. House, 1984)Google Scholar

Westermann, Claus, Biblischer Kommentar, Altes Testament: Genesis, eds. Herrmann, Siegfried and Hans Walter Wolff (Volume I/1; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag des Erziehungsverein, 1974), 4Google Scholar

Blenkinsopp, Joseph, The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible (ABRL; New York: Doubleday, 1992), 59Google Scholar

Janzen, J. G., Abraham and All the Families of the Earth: A Commentary on the Book of Genesis 12–50 (ITC; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1993), 4Google Scholar

Schreiner, Josef, “tôlĕdôt,” Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren. Translated by J. T. Willis, G. W. Bromiley, and D. E. Green. 15 vols. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1974–. 15:582–88

Fleming, Daniel E., “Genesis in History and Tradition: The Syrian Background of Israel's Ancestors, Reprise,” in The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions, eds. Hoffmeier, James K. and Millard, A. R. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2004), 193–232Google Scholar

Fleming, Daniel E., “Mari and the Possibilities of Biblical Memory,” Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 92 (1998): 41–78Google Scholar

Hoffmeier, James K., “The (Israel) Stela of Merneptah,” The Context of Scripture. Edited by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. 3 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1997–2002. 2.6:40–41

Maidman, M. P., “Historiographic Reflections on Israel's Origins: The Rise and Fall of the Patriarchal Age,” in Hayim and Miriam Tadmor Volume, eds. Amnon Ben-Tor, Israel Eph‘al, and Machinist, Peter (ErIsr 27; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2003), 120–128Google Scholar

Gmirkin, Russell E., Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch (Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 433.15; New York: T&T Clark, 2006)Google Scholar

Hallo, William W., Origins: The Ancient Near Eastern Background of Some Modern Western Institutions (SHCANE 6; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996), 314–15Google Scholar

Finkelstein, Israel and Mazar, Amihai, The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel (SBLABS 17; Leiden/Atlanta: Brill/Society of Biblical Literature, 2007), esp. 57–59Google Scholar

Levin, Yigal, “Understanding Biblical Genealogies,” Currents in Research: Biblical Studies 9 (2001): 11–46Google Scholar

Tengström, Sven, Die Toledotformel und die literarische Struktur der priesterlichen Erweiterungsschicht im Pentateuch (ConBOT 17; Lund: Gleerup, 1982)Google Scholar

Wilson, Robert R., Genealogy and History in the Biblical World (YNER 7; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977)Google Scholar

Hendel, Ronald S., Remembering Abraham: Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 9–13CrossRef Google Scholar

Hess, Richard S., “The Genealogies of Genesis 1–11 and Comparative Literature,” Biblica 70 (1989): 241–54;Google Scholar

Hess, R. S. and Tsumura, D. T., I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood (1994), 58–72

Crüsemann, Frank, “Human Solidarity and Ethnic Identity: Israel's Self-Definition in the Genealogical System of Genesis,” in Ethnicity and the Bible, ed. Brett, Mark G. (Biblical Interpretation Series 19; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996), 57–76Google Scholar

Andriolo, Karin R., “A Structural Analysis of Genealogy and World View in the Old Testament,” American Anthropologist 75 (1973): 1657–69CrossRef Google Scholar

Knoppers, Gary N., “Intermarriage, Social Complexity, and Ethnic Diversity in the Genealogy of Judah,” Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001): 15–30CrossRef Google Scholar

Cross, Frank M., From Epic to Canon: History and Literature in Ancient Israel (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 73–83Google Scholar

Coats, George W., Genesis, with an Introduction to Narrative Literature (FOTL 1; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1983), 10Google Scholar

Long, Burke O., The Problem of Etiological Narrative in the Old Testament (BZAW 108; Berlin: Töpelmann, 1968)CrossRef Google Scholar

Millard, Alan R., “Story, History, and Theology,” in Faith, Tradition, and History: Old Testament Historiography in its Near Eastern Context, eds. Millard, A. R., Hoffmeier, James K., and Baker, David W. (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1994), 37–64Google Scholar

Gunkel, Hermann, Genesis: Translated and Interpreted, trans. Biddle, Mark E. (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1997), 381–83Google Scholar

Gunkel, Hermann, The Legends of Genesis: The Biblical Saga and History, trans. Carruth, William H. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964), 77–117Google Scholar

Hallo, William W., “Biblical History in Its Near Eastern Setting: The Contextual Approach,” in Scripture in Context: Essays on the Comparative Method, eds. Evans, Carl D., Hallo, William W., and White, John B. (PTMS 34; Pittsburg: Pickwick Press, 1980), 1–26Google Scholar

Arnold, Bill T., “Pentateuchal Criticism, History of,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2003., 622–31

Carr, David M., Reading the Fractures of Genesis: Historical and Literary Approaches (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 12–13Google Scholar

Nielsen, Kirsten, “Intertextuality and the Hebrew Bible,” in Congress Volume, Oslo 1998, eds. Lemaire, André and Sæbø, Magne (VTSup 80; Leiden: Brill, 2000), 17–31CrossRef Google Scholar

Barton, John, “Intertextuality and the ‘Final Form’ of the Text,” in Congress Volume, Oslo 1998, eds. Lemaire, André and Sæbø, Magne (VTSup 80; Leiden: Brill, 2000), 33–37CrossRef Google Scholar

Mathewson, Daniel B., “A Critical Binarism: Source Criticism and Deconstructive Criticism,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 26 (2002): 3–28CrossRef Google Scholar

Kofoed, Jens B., Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2005), 113–63

Hess, Richard S., Israelite Religions: An Archaeological and Biblical Survey (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2007), 46–59Google Scholar

Polak, Frank H., “Linguistic and Stylistic Aspects of Epic Formulae in Ancient Semitic Poetry and Biblical Narrative,” in Biblical Hebrew in Its Northwest Semitic Setting: Typological and Historical Perspectives, eds. Fassberg, Steven E. and Hurvitz, Avi (PIAS 1; Winona Lake, Ind./Jerusalem: Eisenbrauns/Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2006), 285–304Google Scholar

Weinfeld, Moshe, The Promise of the Land: The Inheritance of the Land of Canaan by the Israelites (Taubman Lectures in Jewish Studies 3; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 1–21Google Scholar

Emerton, John A., “The Date of the Yahwist,” in In Search of Pre-Exilic Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, ed. Day, John (JSOTSup 406; London: T & T Clark International, 2004), 107–29Google Scholar

Emerton, John A., “The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel and Ancient Hebrew History Writing,” in Biblical Hebrew in Its Northwest Semitic Setting, eds. Fassberg, S. E. and Hurvitz, A. (2006), 33–49

Coote, Robert B. and Ord, David R., The Bible's First History: From Eden to the Court of David with the Yahwist (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989)Google Scholar

Mendenhall, George, “The Nature and Purpose of the Abraham Narratives,” in Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of Frank Moore Cross, eds. Miller, Jr. Patrick D., Hanson, Paul D., and McBride, S. D. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), 337–57Google Scholar

Friedman, Richard E., The Hidden Book in the Bible (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998)Google Scholar

McEvenue, Sean, “The Elohist at Work,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 96 (1984): 315–32CrossRef Google Scholar

Ska, Jean L., “Gn 22, 1–19: Essai sur les niveaus de lecture,” Biblica 69 (1988): 324–37Google Scholar

Carr, D. M., Reading the Fractures of Genesis (1996), 36–37

Vervenne, Marc, “Genesis 1,1–2,4: The Compositional Texture of the Priestly Overture to the Pentateuch,” in Studies in the Book of Genesis: Literature, Redaction and History, ed. Wénin, André (BETL 155; Leuven/Sterling, Va.: Leuven University Press/Uitgeverij Peeters, 2001), 35–79Google Scholar

Emerton, J. A., “The Priestly Writer in Genesis,” Journal of Theological Studies 39 (1988): 381–400CrossRef Google Scholar

Koch, Klaus, “P – kein Redaktor! Erinnerung an zwei Eckdaten der Quellenscheidung,” Vetus Testamentum 37 (1987): 446–61Google Scholar

Renaud, B., “Les généalogies et la structure de l'histoire sacerdotale dans le Livre de la Genèse,” Revue biblique 97 (1990): 5–30Google Scholar

Hurvitz, Avi, “Once Again: The Linguistic Profile of the Priestly Material in the Pentateuch and its Historical Age: A Response to J. Blenkinsopp,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 112 (2000): 180–191CrossRef Google Scholar

Weinfeld, Moshe, The Place of the Law in the Religion of Ancient Israel (VTSup 100; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2004)CrossRef Google Scholar

Zevit, Ziony, “Philology, Archaeology, and a Terminus a Quo for P's ḥaṭṭāʾt Legislation,” in Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law, and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom, eds. Wright, David P., Freedman, David N., and Hurvitz, Avi (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1995), 29–38Google Scholar

Milgrom, Jacob, Leviticus 17–22: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 3A; New York: Doubleday, 2000), 1319–67Google Scholar

Knohl, Israel, The Sanctuary of Silence: The Priestly Torah and the Holiness School (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994)Google Scholar

Dozeman, Thomas B. and Schmid, Konrad, eds., A Farewell to the Yahwist? The Composition of the Pentateuch in Recent European Interpretation (SBLSymS 34; Boston: Brill, 2006), 1–7

Levin, Christoph, “The Yahwist: The Earliest Editor in the Pentateuch,” Journal of Biblical Literature 126/2 (2007): 209–30CrossRef Google Scholar

Hartley, John E., Genesis (NIBCOT 1; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000), 16–17

Seters, John, The Edited Bible: The Curious History of the “Editor” in Biblical Criticism (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2006)Google Scholar

Westermann, Claus, Genesis 12–36: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Pub. House, 1985), 105–13Google Scholar

Hamilton, Victor P., The Book of Genesis. Chapters 1–17 (NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990), 38–59Google Scholar

Wenham, Gordon J., Genesis 1–15 (WBC 1; Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1987), xlv–liiiGoogle Scholar

Rad, Gerhard, “The Theological Problem of the Old Testament Doctrine of Creation,” in The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), 131–43Google Scholar

MacDonald, Neil B., Metaphysics and the God of Israel: Systematic Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Milton Keynes, Bucks/Grand Rapids, Mich.: Paternoster/Baker Academic, 2006), 3–113Google Scholar

Book contents

I - INTRODUCTION

Summary

Access options

References

Save book to Kindle

Save book to Dropbox

Save book to Google Drive