Common Denominator: Genesis notes

Showing posts with label Genesis notes. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Reading Notes on Genesis

Below are reading notes on Genesis, an 18 day read through the book. For my reading notes on the New Testament, see here.

1. Genesis 1:1-2:3 (Creation)
2. Genesis 2:4-3:24 (The Fall)
3. Genesis 4-5 (Cain and Abel)
4. Genesis 6-9 (The Flood)
5. Genesis 10-11 (The Tower of Babel)
6. Genesis 12 (The Call of Abram)
7. Genesis 13-14 (Melchizedek)
8. Genesis 15-17 (Hagar and Ishmael)
9. Genesis 18-19 (Sodom and Gomorrah)
10. Genesis 20-22 (Abraham and Isaac)
11. Genesis 23-24 (Isaac and Rebekah)
12. Genesis 25-26 (Birth of Jacob and Esau)
13. Genesis 27:1-30:24 (Jacob's Trickery, Flight, and Children)
14. Genesis 30:25-36:43 (Jacob's Departure from Haran)
15. Genesis 37-38 (Sibling Issues: Joseph, Tamar)
16. Genesis 39-41 (Joseph - from slave to ruler)
17. Genesis 42:1-47:26 (Joseph and his brothers)
18. Genesis 47:27-50:26 (Jacob's Testament)

18. Genesis 47:27-50:26 (Jacob's Testament)

And now, the final post of Genesis, for Genesis 47:27-50:26.

In these chapters:

As Jacob is about to die, he has Joseph swear he will bury him back in Canaan. Genesis 47:31 sounds like Jacob dies, but then he is still alive in Genesis 48.
In Genesis 48, Jacob blesses the two children of Joseph--Manasseh and Ephraim. He switches his hands to bless the younger, Ephraim, more than the older Manasseh, and he does so over Joseph's objections. This is because he also was the younger, blessed more than his older brother Esau.
Genesis 49 gives his testament blessings on his twelve sons and then dies. Judah is the most favored in this testament, which foreshadows in the story the future kingship of the Davidic line. The chapter uses both YHWH (49:18) and Shaddai (49:25) for God.
Genesis 50:1-14 gives the burial of Joseph back in Canaan by a large contingency from Egypt, including all of Jacob's family.
Perhaps the key verse of the entire Joseph cycle is 50:20: The brothers planned something for bad, but God used it for God.
Finally, Joseph dies. He wants to be buried back in Canaan eventually, although it will have to wait several hundred years.

Previous notes:
1. Genesis 1:1-2:3 (Creation)
2. Genesis 2:4-3:24 (The Fall)
3. Genesis 4-5 (Cain and Abel)
4. Genesis 6-9 (The Flood)
5. Genesis 10-11 (The Tower of Babel)
6. Genesis 12 (The Call of Abram)
7. Genesis 13-14 (Melchizedek)
8. Genesis 15-17 (Hagar and Ishmael)
9. Genesis 18-19 (Sodom and Gomorrah)
10. Genesis 20-22 (Abraham and Isaac)
11. Genesis 23-24 (Isaac and Rebekah)
12. Genesis 25-26 (Birth of Jacob and Esau)
13. Genesis 27:1-30:24 (Jacob's Trickery, Flight, and Children)
14. Genesis 30:25-36:43 (Jacob's Departure from Haran)
15. Genesis 37-38 (Sibling Issues: Joseph, Tamar)
16. Genesis 39-41 (Joseph - from slave to ruler)
17. Genesis 42:1-47:26 (Joseph and his brothers)

Here endeth Genesis.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

17. Genesis 42:1-47:26 (Joseph and his brothers)

I burned out on Genesis a couple months ago with only two posts left. No one seemed to be paying attention to the series anyway. But finish Genesis must I. Then I'll set this project aside till an angel appears and tells me to continue with Exodus.

So today is Genesis 42:1-47:26.
The First Trip to Egypt (Gen. 42)

Now the story reconnects. Joseph has been in Egypt for years. His father Jacob has thought him dead probably over a decade in the story. His brothers probably have more or less forgotten him. Now they are on a trajectory to meet him again.
Joseph recognizes them but they do not recognize him. All but Benjamin are with them. Joseph begins to toy with them. He accuses them of being spies.
Joseph makes them leave Simeon with him until they come back with Benjamin to prove that their story would pan out. Joseph cries for the first time, understanding in their language that Reuben is seeing this trouble as punishment (from God) for what they did to Joseph. Meanwhile, Joseph puts their silver back in their bags.
Reuben, the firstborn, continues to have regrets as before.

The Second Trip to Egypt (Gen. 42)

Soon the food runs out again. They must go back to Egypt. They have to take Benjamin. Now Judah promises he will make sure Benjamin comes back. They take presents.
Jacob invokes El Shaddai in 43:14, and 43:23 references "your El and the El of your father."
They "bowed low to pay him honor" (NIV) in 43:28. Significant for understanding the word "worship" is the fact that the most common word for worship in the NT is used here in the Greek translation of this verse (proskyneo).
As they leave, Joseph once again plants his sliver cup in Benjamin's bag as a pretext to keep them from leaving. Joseph's ability to practice divination is mentioned in 44:15.
Joseph finally cannot contain himself. He breaks down weeping. He reveals himself to them.
God let them sell him into slavery to save lives (45:5). Good examples of salvation language in these verses (e.g., 45:7). Joseph wants the family to move to Goshen in Egypt.

Jacob's Trip to Egypt

Jacob offers sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Elohim speaks to him and promises to bring his descendants back into the land of promise again. Sixty-six of Jacob's direct descendants go down to Egypt, and Genesis 46 gives the roll call. Jacob is finally reunited with Joseph.
Jacob's family have to live separate from the Egyptians because they detest shepherds. By contrast, pig herders were detestable to the Israelites. Herein is the real cultural to the prohibition on pork, not some supposed hygienic reason. The Egyptians apparently felt the same way about lamb.
Powerful words of Jacob in 47:9: "My years have been few and difficult."
Joseph ends up acquiring the lands of all but the priests for Pharaoh.

Sunday, June 08, 2014

16. Genesis 39-41 (Joseph - from slave to ruler)

On the home stretch with Genesis! Today is Genesis 39-41.

Joseph considers adultery with Potiphar's wife a sin against God. Still, Yahweh is loyal to Joseph and blesses Joseph despite his situation.
Interpretations belong to God. Joseph gets his interpretations from Elohim.
The cup bearer forgets all about Joseph once his situation changes. He's a reminder not to take our good fortune for granted, to be grateful for those who helped us when we were under less fortunate circumstances, and not to think we are better than those who knew us in more difficult times.
Pharoah has magicians as part of his consulting team.
God has made up his mind.
The "spirit of Elohim" is on Joseph. The people of Egypt will bow the knee before him.
Joseph is married to an Egyptian, Aseneth, whose father was priest of On (Heliopolis). A Jewish novel from around the time of Christ makes sure she is converted first, Joseph and Aseneth.

Friday, May 30, 2014

15. Genesis 37-38 (Sibling Issues: Joseph, Tamar)

Still running behind! Here is Wednesday's post, Genesis 37-38:

Family Lessons: I think most of us recognize several problems here. First, Joseph is immature and shouldn't talk about the concubines of his father. Second, Jacob shouldn't show favoritism to his children. Note also the sense of being a stranger in a foreign land that adds to the Bible's value to help the stranger in the land.
Don't Gloat: Again, Joseph is immature. Don't tell your brothers you're going to rule over them. Let time show them.
Older folk are wiser: Note that the older Jacob, as well as the older sons Reuben and Judah, are wiser about killing Joseph than the others.
Line of Christ: Tamar is in the line of Christ, as she is an ancestor of King David. The women in Jesus' genealogy seem to foreshadow the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God.
Don't blame the woman: Genesis 38 makes it clear that it is not Tamar who is to blame for the deaths of Er and Onan. It is because they were immoral. (P.S. Onan has nothing to do with Onanism.)
Levirite marriage: Even this early, it was cultural to practice Levirite marriage (really Levirite sex here), where it was the duty of younger brothers to "help" the wife of a deceased older brother have a male heir. See Deuteronomy 25:5-10.
Tamar wins: Judah sleeps with her, thinking she is a prostitute. Apparently it was okay for the man to go to a prostitute but not okay for someone in the family to be a prostitute.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

14. Genesis 30:25-36:43 (Jacob's Departure from Haran)

A little behind. Here's Sunday's post, Genesis 30:25-36:43.

Divination: As an indication of how undeveloped the understanding of God is at this point, Laban seems to practice a form of "divination," which Leviticus 19:26 forbids of Israel.
Two Tricksters: Laban makes an agreement about cattle, but then cheats Jacob. But Jacob shows that he flunked genetics. God no doubt has a good laugh with the angels, but accommodates.
Angel of Elohim: God prospers Jacob, reminds him of Bethel, tells him to go home.
Household gods: It was customary in many parts of the ancient world (including the Romans) even to have family gods. Rachel steals her family's gods, then shows that she is a trickster too in hiding them from her father.
The "Fear" of Isaac: Quite a unique name for Elohim, the "Fear" of Isaac and the God of Abraham. Laban and Jacob set a marker and make a covenant not to pass it to do harm, invoking the "Fear" of Isaac.
More angels of Elohim: They meet Jacob on his way.
Facing Esau: Jacob now has to face up to his brother. What will happen? It turns out well in the end.
"Face of God": In the meantime, Jacob wrestles with an angel of Yahweh, who Jacob will characteristically call God in this passage. Calls the place, "Peniel," "face of God." Jacob now receives the name, "Israel." Apparently some Israelites did not eat the tendon attached to the thigh because of this story.
El, God of Israel: We have seen El before: "El Elyon" ("God Most High"), "El Roi" ("God Sees"), "El Shaddai" ("God Almighty"), "El Olam" ("God Forever"). El was king of the Canaanite pantheon.
Dinah and Circumcision: Circumcision is alive and well at Shechem! Don't mess with our sister.
Back to Bethel: Another naming of Bethel (with Elohim). They get rid of their foreign gods and El Shaddai appears to Jacob with the same promises of blessing he had given to Abraham and Isaac.
Deaths of Rachel and Isaac: Rachel dies in childbirth, giving birth to Benjamin. She is buried near Bethlehem. Isaac also dies finally. Meanwhile, Reuben sleeps with his father's concubine.
The generations of Esau

Previous notes:
1. Genesis 1:1-2:3 (Creation)
2. Genesis 2:4-3:24 (The Fall)
3. Genesis 4-5 (Cain and Abel)
4. Genesis 6-9 (The Flood)
5. Genesis 10-11 (The Tower of Babel)
6. Genesis 12 (The Call of Abram)
7. Genesis 13-14 (Melchizedek)
8. Genesis 15-17 (Hagar and Ishmael)
9. Genesis 18-19 (Sodom and Gomorrah)
10. Genesis 20-22 (Abraham and Isaac)
11. Genesis 23-24 (Isaac and Rebekah)
12. Genesis 25-26 (Birth of Jacob and Esau)
13. Genesis 27:1-30:24 (Jacob's Trickery, Flight, and Children)

Next post Wednesday (eh, Thursday) on Genesis 37-38 (Sibling Issues: Joseph, Tamar)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

13. Genesis 27:1-30:24 (Jacob's Trickery, Flight, and Children)

Today we catch up with Genesis 27-30.

Jacob the Trickster: In 27:1-29, Jacob and his mother Rebekah conspire to cheat Esau out of his blessing. It is a classic story about how one parent sometimes shows favoritism to one child and another to another (something that should avoided by parents). This is a passage that uses Yahweh for God.
No Repentance: Hebrews 12 uses this part of the Esau story (compare Gen. 25 for the first part) to indicate that after selling his birthright, Esau could not inherit the blessing. He sought a place of repentance diligently, but couldn't find one. For Hebrews, this indicates that those who apostatize will not be able to find their way back.
Run away: Esau wants to kill Jacob after he steals his blessing. Rebekah plots to send Jacob away north to her home in Haran, to her brother Laban. She is a trickster like Jacob. She convinces Isaac to send him away using the excuse of marriage but she is also concerned about protection.
El-Shaddai: Here is the thread of God blessing Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and being called "El Shaddai."
Polygamy acceptable: Esau has many wives. The Pentateuch assumes without argument that having multiple wives is acceptable--there is no indication it was an issue at that time.
Stairway to Heaven: While Jacob is on his way north, he dreams of a stairway to heaven Yahweh blesses him as YHWH did Abraham and Isaac, and he gives him the same promise of countless descendants. The nearby town was called Luz, but Jacob gives it the name Beth-El, "house of God." Earlier, Abraham had worshipped Yahweh here as well, but now we learn how the place got its later name.
Rachel and Leah: Jacob meets his cousins (Laban's daughters) when he reaches Haran. He meets Rachel in a way similar to the way Abraham's servant had met Rebekah (at a well). Jacob wants to marry Rachel and works for seven years to get her. When the seven years are up, Laban (also a trickster), gives him Leah (the oldest) instead. But when Jacob agrees to work for seven more years, Laban gives him Rachel too.
Marriage customs: Several interesting cultural features to this story. Once again, polygamy is acceptable. The oldest daughter needs to be married first. Jacob works for them. Apparently, whatever ceremony and even the consummation of the marriage did not involve seeing the face (veiled). Quite possibly, Rachel was too young for marriage when Jacob arrived.
12 sons: The rest of Genesis 29 and half of 30 present the birth of Jacob's 12 sons, whose descendants will become the 12 tribes of Israel. It is noteworthy that Yahweh has compassion on Leah for being unloved. She has the first four sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah). Then Rachel's servant Bilhah has Dan and Naphtali. Then Zilpah, Leah's servant has Gad and Asher. Then Leah has Isaachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, a daughter. Finally, Rachel conceives and has Joseph.
Erotic herbs: There is a glimpse of ancient superstition in these stories. In Genesis 30 we see Rachel and Leah arguing over erotic herbs.

Friday, May 16, 2014

12. Genesis 25-26 (Birth of Jacob and Esau)

For today, Genesis 25-26:

Abraham's Death: Abraham dies at 175. After Sarah died, he took a second wife, Keturah, and had more children. Isaac inherits everything, although he gives gifts to his other sons and sends them east. He is buried in the same cave with Sarah and Elohim blesses Isaac.
Ishmael's Death: Ishmael has twelve sons and also dies at 137.
Jacob and Esau: Isaac prays to Yahweh, and Rebekah has twins: Esau and Jacob. It is prophesied that the older will serve the younger. Jacob comes out holding Esau's heal, and Esau is full of red hair. You wonder if one tradition of why Esau was also called Edom was because of his red hair.
Fate: Romans 9 uses this verse as an example of God's sovereign will deciding the fate of nations before either Jacob or Esau had done anything at all. Paul's point is that God can save the Gentiles through faith apart from keeping the Jewish Law if he wants to, because he's God. Differing Christian traditions explain this "predestination" differently.
The Birthright: Jacob reveals in this story for the first time that he is a trickster. When Esau is famished from hunting without result, Jacob is ready with stew. Esau is so hungry he exchanges his right as the firstborn for some red stew (and thus one tradition for why he is also called Edom). My guess is, that if God were mentioned in 25:27-34, he would be called Elohim.
Faithless Esau: Hebrews 12 makes a parable out of Esau's willingness to sell his birthright for food, perhaps relating to some temptation for the audience of Hebrews in their local synagogue that was thought to relate in some way to the atonement brought by sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple.
Promise to Isaac: The first few verses of Genesis 26 give us the same instructions and promises to Isaac that God had made earlier to Abraham, namely, Isaac is to be a stranger in the land, he will make his descendants as numerous as the stars, and the nations will be blessed through him.
Abimelech Again: This is now the third story where Abraham or Isaac tries to pass off his wife as a sister to keep out of trouble. The first was Abram, Sarai, Pharaoh, and Yahweh. The second was Abraham, Sarah, Abimelech, and Elohim. Now in this third one, it is Isaac, Rebekah, and Abimelech.
Beersheba again: Interestingly, we have the same players at the end of Genesis 26 that we had in Genesis 21. We have Philistines. We have Abimelech. We have Phicol the commander. We have wells in dispute in Gerar. We have a covenant of peace. We have an explanation for the naming of Beersheba. But in Genesis 26 it is Yahweh, while in Genesis 21 it is Elohim.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

11. Genesis 23-24 (Isaac and Rebekah)

Today's reading is Genesis 23-24.

Death of Sarah: Sarah dies at 127. Abraham buys some land from Ephron the Hittite where he, Isaac, and Jacob will also be buried.
Finding Rebekah: It was important to marry within your own people, not least to keep property within your clan. Accordingly, Abraham sends his chief servant back north to Haran to find a spouse for his son Isaac.
Yahweh and His Angel: This is a Yahweh passage. Abraham has confidence that Yahweh will send his angel before his servant so that the right woman will be located.
Endogamous Marriage: In a group culture, it is ideal to marry someone in the broader family so that property stays within the clan and the identity of the clan stays intact.
Done Deal: There is no ceremony. Gifts have been exchanged. The decision has been made. Rebekah goes in the tent that had been Isaac's mother and they're married.

Monday, May 12, 2014

10. Genesis 20-22 (Abraham and Isaac)

Today it's Genesis 20-22.

Still looking good at 90: Genesis 20:1-18 is the second instance of Abraham asking Sarah to pretend she isn't his wife so that someone will not kill him. In this case, it is the king of a city named Gerar, a man named Abimelech. The previous story was a Yahweh story. This one is an Elohim story. We find out in this story that Sarah was, in truth, Abraham's half-sister.
Sin: The sense of sinning here (חָטָא) is one of wronging another. You sin "against" someone by doing them wrong.
Isaac, the son of promise, is born.
Ishmael expelled: In Genesis 16, a Yahweh passage, Hagar runs away but is told to go back by an angel. In Genesis 21, after the birth of Isaac, an Elohim passage, Sarah expelled Hagar for good.
Paul's use of the story: Paul had no problem with reading the Old Testament allegorically. In Galatians 4. In his allegory, Sarah represents the heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of freedom, while Hagar represents the earthly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of slavery. Of course Jerusalem was not Jerusalem at the time of Moses, let alone Abraham. No first reader of Genesis would have thought anything close to the allegory the Spirit inspired Paul to see in these words.
A Covenant: Abraham makes an agreement with "Philistines" (perhaps more a word for where they're from than of their race at this point in time). Again we seem to have a sacred tree, a tamarisk tree. There he calls on El-Olam, "God forever" Is this another name for El-Shaddai and El-Elyon?
Binding of Isaac: Genesis 22 gives the "binding of Isaac." God asks Abraham to sacrifice the very child he gave as a fulfillment of promise. It is a testing. There is a fascinating shift in God language in the story. It is Elohim up until Abraham is ready to kill him, but Yahweh from the moment of salvation on, and the angel of Yahweh calls out to Abraham in the moment.
First-born Sacrifice: It is perhaps relevant to remember that sacrifice of one's firstborn to the gods was a known practice in parts of the ancient world. God merely asks Israel to consecrate its firstborn males, not to sacrifice them. In that sense, Abraham starts to do what might be somewhat normal, but then God steers him in a different direction.
Beloved Son: Some of the language God uses of Jesus at his baptism seems to allude to Isaac as Abraham's "son whom you love" (22:2). See Mark 1:11.
Blessing: Once again, Yahweh promises to bless the nations through Abraham, which Paul understands ultimately to refer to the possibility of justification by faith for the Gentiles.

Friday, May 09, 2014

9. Genesis 18-19 (Sodom and Gomorrah)

Genesis 18-19 finish out the week

Sacred trees: Genesis 18 switches back to YHWH. Once again, the LORD appears by way of messengers, yet it is understood as the LORD appearing. Once again, the LORD appears by the oaks of Mamre.
Ancient hospitality: Abraham runs to greet the three men, not because he knows they are angels, but because he is a righteous man. In the ancient world, kindness to strangers was a very important virtue in a world where travel could be very dangerous. Abraham thus contrasts significantly with Sodom in the next chapter.
Sarah laughs: Sarah gets criticized for laughing in this YHWH section. Abraham did not get criticized for laughing in the previous Elohim section.
God does what's right: Great quote--The LORD does what is right! There turn out not to be 10 righteous people in Sodom. After Abraham's intercession, Sodom will still be destroyed.
Lot's hospitality: Somehow there are now only two angels in Genesis 19. Lot shows the same virtue of welcoming strangers that Abraham did, welcoming them into his home.
Sodomy threatened: The men of the city want to rape the visitors. Think prison rape, not homosexuality. In fact, Lot offers them his daughters. These men would have been married and certainly had children. This is a heinous violation of the law of kindness to strangers and is an example of the violent impulse we also see in Judges 19.
Biblical afterlife of Sodom: Jesus compares the rejection of God's messengers in Matthew 10:14-15 to the atrocious attitude of Sodom to strangers. Hebrews 13:2 reminds that we should host strangers because sometimes they are angels. This was a common idea in the ancient world (see the story of Baucis and Philemon and Acts 14). Jude 7 condemns the men of Sodom for going after "strange" (angelic?) flesh.
Cities destroyed: God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot's wife turns into a pillar of salt.
Shameful Moabites and Ammonites: The story of Lot's daughters sleeping with him and bearing Moab and Ammon disgraced these neighbors of Israel. Their origins were scandalous.

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

8. Genesis 15-17 (Hagar and Ishmael)

Today we catch up with Genesis 15-17.

Genesis 15: Promise of Descendants

It was apparently customary at that time for a person like Eliezer to inherit a person like Abram's property if Abram did not have a son.
Yahweh again promises that he will make Abram's descendants to be very numerous. See Romans 4:18.
Genesis 15:6 is a little ambiguous in Hebrew. Paul and James went with the Greek interpretation of the verse, which suggests that God reckoned Abraham as "righteous" on the basis of his faith or faithfulness. This verse, along with Habakkuk 2:4 which may allude to Genesis 15:6, is thus a foundational Protestant verse. Interestingly, the Hebrew can also be translated to say, "And he trusted in YHWH, and [Abram] considered it to him [YHWH] as righteousness." In other words, Abram would have trusted God to keep his promise.
God makes a covenant with Abram in what was no doubt a familiar sacrificial ritual at the time, although it is somewhat bizarre to us today.
Prophecy of the time in Egypt. A key verse is the idea that the sin of the Amorites was not yet full. It's a picture of God waiting until a people has accumulated so much sin that it is time for judgment.

Genesis 16: Hagar and Ishmael

It was also not unusual at that time, apparently, for a barren wife like Sarai to offer one of her handmaids to her husband to fulfill her childbearing duties. Our sermons criticizing Abram or Sarai at this point often judge them by a New Testament or even modern sense of marriage rather than the Old Testament allowances of the time, which fully allowed for polygamy, concubines, and children by them.
We meet the "angel of Yahweh" or "the messenger of the LORD." After Hagar runs away, the messenger sends her back. A repeated feature of Genesis and Exodus is that when you see Yahweh's messenger/angel, you have seen God.

We have to be careful about anachronism. I personally consider it doubtful that Hagar had black skin, although there were some black Egyptians throughout Egypt's history. Even if Hagar had had black skin, race was not conceptualized in terms of color at this time but in terms of people groups. Basically, it would be anachronistic to accuse Abram or Sarai of racism of a color sort.
It would be similarly anachronistic to read the current conflicts between Jews and Arabs into this text. That is part of the current landscape in how these groups interpret this story, but Genesis was only expressing the conflict between Ishmaelites and Israelites at that time.

Genesis 17: Covenant of Circumcision

This chapter curiously shifts to calling God "Elohim" instead of Yahweh. God does not tell Abram that his name is Yahweh. He reveals himself to Abram as "El Shaddai" (אֵל שַׁדַּי), "God Almighty." Exodus 6:3 suggests that it is by this name that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew him.
God gives Abram the name Abraham and Sarai gets the name Sarah.
Circumcision becomes the sign of the covenant between God and the children of Abraham. Abraham at 99, Ishmael at 13, and all the other males in the household are circumcised. Sarah will be 90 when Isaac is born.
Paul makes an argument in Romans 4 that Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised. In that sense, Abraham is both the father of those Gentiles who are justified by faith and the father of those circumcised who also have faith.
Abraham laughs at the thought of a child at 99.

Sunday, May 04, 2014

7. Genesis 13-14 (Melchizedek)

Today covers Genesis 13-14

Nomad: Genesis 13 reminded me of Hebrews 11:9. Abram was a nomad who wandered across the land with much livestock. Lot too.
Bethel: Abram returns to area where he made an altar to Yahweh.
Lot Separates: Abram gives Lot the choice of where he will go. They both have become too prosperous to live together. Lot takes the Jordan Valley, near Sodom, near the Dead Sea.
Abram's Descendants: In the last part of Genesis 13, Yahweh promises to give Abram as many descendants as the dust of the earth. We will hear this promise again.
Sacred Trees: Abram settles by the (sacred) oaks of Mamre at Hebron in the south. In Genesis 12, Abram saw Yahweh near an oak of Moreh at Shechem further north. Again, Abraham didn't understand as much about God as we do and may have had animistic elements in his worship. The altar at Hebron is the third so far for Abram (Shechem, Bethel, Hebron).
Hammurabi?: It is difficult to make the time of Hammurabi coincide with a straightforward date for Abraham, but most Assyriologists apparently equate Amraphel in Genesis 14 with Hammurabi, the famous lawgiver of Babylon.
Tar Pits: Remnants of bitumen have apparently been found on the south side of the Dead Sea.
Melchizedek: Melchizedek was king of a city called Salem (traditionally, the place that would later become Jerusalem). He was also a priest of El-Elyon (אֵל עֶלְיֹֽון). God Most High. Possibly, in the Canaanite pantheon, this referred to El, the king of the gods, like Zeus in the Greek pantheon. Again, they didn't understand as much as we do. Throughout much of church history, he has been considered a Christophany (an appearance of Christ in the OT).
Tithe: Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of his possessions.
Hebrews 7: Hebrews will use the Genesis 14 story with Melchizedek in order to explain what a "priest after the order of Melchizedek" is in Psalm 110:4. As in Genesis 14, a priest like Melchizedek is also a king and isn't part of a hereditary priesthood. He isn't a priest because of his father or mother or genealogy... like Jesus.

Friday, May 02, 2014

6. Genesis 12 (The Call of Abram)

Today it's Genesis 12.

Outline of Genesis: Genesis 1-11 form a unit, the pre-history of Israel as it were, from creation to Abraham. The next section will cover the adventures of Abraham.
Abram's Call: The first half of Genesis 12 is Yahweh's initial call of Abram from Haran in the north down to Canaan. YHWH promises to bless Abram and make him into a great nation (12:2), to give the land to his seed (12:7), and that all the tribes of the earth will be blessed in him (12:3). These promises will appear throughout this part of Genesis.
Paul's arguments: Paul will use several of these promises when arguing with his Christian opponents. In Galatians 3:8, the blessing of the nations through him is reinterpreted in terms of justification by faith for the Gentiles. In Galatians 3:16, he will reinterpret the promise to Abraham's seed as a promise about Christ.
Sacred Trees: We shouldn't assume that Abram understood nearly as much about God as we now know. For example, sacred trees seem to play a role in his contact with God. There is a (sacred) oak of Moreh near Shechem. A sanctuary of Yahweh will eventually be here by this sacred oak, with the book of the Law placed in it (Joshua 24:26).
Sacred Sites: From Shechem, Abram goes on to Bethel and builds an altar to the Lord there. His grandson Jacob will have more than one experience of God there and will set up a sacred pillar there.
Lookin' Good at 65: The second half of the chapter gives us the first of three very similar incidents involving either Abraham and Sarah or Isaac and Rebekah. In this one, Abram and Sarai go to Egypt because of a famine and Pharaoh takes her into his household and makes her one of his wives. But YHWH sends some plagues on Pharaoh. Pharaoh finds out and expels them from Egypt.

Previous notes:
1. Genesis 1:1-2:3 (Creation)
2. Genesis 2:4-3:24 (The Fall)
3. Genesis 4-5 (Cain and Abel)
4. Genesis 6-9 (The Flood)
5. Genesis 10-11 (The Tower of Babel)

Sunday on to Genesis 13-14.

Thursday, May 01, 2014

5. Genesis 10-11 (Tower of Babel)

Today's notes are on Genesis 10-11.

Genesis 10 gives us the genealogies of the sons of Noah, with the familiar phrase, "These are the generations" (cf. 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:32). These names give us a treasure map of the ancient world, its key cities and peoples.
The first part of Genesis 11 gives us the Tower of Babel. The peoples gather in the land of Shinar, which is the area of Babylon. While we picture the tower as one that literally reached the heavens, it is perhaps more likely that Genesis has a ziggurat in view, which reached the heavens by way of the sanctuary at the top.

The last part of Genesis 11 gives us the genealogy of Shem leading up to Abram. It gives years like Genesis 5. It ends with Abram in Haran, to the far north of Israel, with him having come with his father from Ur in the land of the Chaldeans (the Babylonians). Joshua would recall how Abraham's father had worshiped many gods when he lived beyond the River Euphrates (Josh. 24:2-3).

Previous notes:
1. Genesis 1:1-2:3 (Creation)
2. Genesis 2:4-3:24 (The Fall)
3. Genesis 4-5 (Cain and Abel)
4. Genesis 6-9 (The Flood)

Tomorrow -- Genesis 12.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

4. Genesis 6-9 (The Flood)

Today's notes are on Genesis 6-9.

Sons of God: Who were the sons of God who went in to the daughters of men and had "Nephilim" as offspring? The book of 1 Enoch, quoted by Jude and possibly alluded to by 1 Peter, seems to think that these were fallen angels who had sex with human women. Another interpretation sees these as the descendants of Shem sleeping with the descendants of Cain.
God's regrets: If God knows everything, then he can't literally regret. This is anthropomorphism, picturing God in human terms. "Land" is a better translation than "earth," especially since we picture a globe when we see the word earth. They would have pictured a relatively flat world of much smaller proportions.
God/YHWH: The Flood story is often used as an example of the curious alternation in Genesis between Elohim and YHWH for God. For example, 6:19-22 use Elohim and say Noah should take two of every kind. Then immediately following, in 7:1-5, YHWH tells Noah to take 7 of every clean animal and repeats the command to take two of every other kind.
Fountains of Deep: The Flood comes from above and below. Windows in the dome of the sky allow water to fall from the waters above the firmament. But waters also come up from the deep under the ground. When the Flood is over, the springs of the deep and the rain from the sky stop.
Never Again: Noah builds an altar to YHWH (because of the 7 of the clean animals, he has extra to sacrifice), and YHWH promises never to destroy every living thing again. Then Elohim promises Noah he will never again destroy the earth by Flood. The rainbow is the sign of God's covenant with Noah.
Noahic Covenant: There seems to be some sort of transition from humanity being vegetarians to now eating meat. The only stipulation is that when humanity eats meat, it must not eat it with the blood in it. Similarly, humanity is not to shed blood. The two seem to be associated. The requirements of Acts 15:20 are sometimes thought to be based on this covenant.
Image of God: You can't murder because all humanity (men and women both) are in the image of God. The penalty for murder is death.
Getting Drunk: Noah gets drunk, gets naked, and his son Ham laughs. The purpose of this story is probably to indicate that the Canaanites were cursed. Canaan was the son of Ham, and the Canaanites were competitors with Israel for the land. The story is not, as some racist interpreters of the 1800s used to argue, an explanation for black skin. In fact, an argument can be made that Adam and Eve were darker skinned and that humanity only became lighter skinned over time.

Previous notes:
1. Genesis 1:1-2:3 (Creation)
2. Genesis 2:4-3:24 (The Fall)
3. Genesis 4-5 (Cain and Abel)

Next planned post--Thursday with Genesis 10-11.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Genesis 4-5

Today's notes are on Genesis 4-5.

We start with Cain and Abel. It's not entirely clear to me why Abel's sacrifice is accepted and Cain's is rejected. After all, there are grain offerings in Leviticus. But perhaps in Genesis, animal sacrifices are what God wants.
Whatever the reason Cain's sacrifice is accepted, this is a timeless verse: "If you do the right thing, won’t you be accepted? But if you don’t do the right thing, sin will be waiting at the door ready to strike! It will entice you, but you must rule over it."
The blood of Abel would echo throughout later Jewish literature, including the New Testament. Hebrews 12:24 compares the effective "speaking" of Christ's blood to that of Abel.
Genesis has a number of genealogies, key to ancient identity. Cain's is given here. The fact that Cain can find a wife makes us wonder if the Adam and Eve story really assumes that there are no other people around. Nothing is said about Cain's wife being a sister from his parents.
5:1 gives us the second instance in Genesis where a section begins with something like, "This is the book of the generations of..." In this chapter, God is called just Elohim again, rather than the YHWH of the previous three chapters.
The ages in the genealogies of Genesis 5 are much longer than usual.
Enoch is one of two people in the OT who does not die. God "takes" him.

Previous notes:
1. Genesis 1:1-2:3
2. Genesis 2:4-3:24

Next planned post--Tuesday with Genesis 6-9.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Genesis 2:4-3:24

I'm on a path to read a chapter of Genesis a day. Here is the third day, covering Genesis 2:4-3:24. I'm trying out the CEB for a fresh look.

Genesis 2:4-3:24

Adam and Eve: This is the Adam and Eve story, although the CEB uses "human" for Adam to highlight the fact that 'adam in Hebrew can simply mean a human (אָדָם).
Section start: I'm going with those translations that start the next section of Genesis at 2:4 with the phrase, "These are the generations of the skies and the land in their creating, on the day of the LORD God making land and skies" (my translation).
LORD God: Note the shift to "LORD God" here (יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים) from just "God" in Genesis 1 (אֱלֹהִים). This general way of referring to God will continue through chapter 4.
Second creation story: Genesis 2-3 are often thought of as a second creation story. If Genesis 1 has six days of creation, Genesis 2 happens on the "day" of creating.
Order: In this poetic version of the creation, the man is made first, then plants and trees, then animals, then finally the woman. We should assume that the presentation in Genesis 1 is similarly poetic in nature.
Soul in Hebrew: Notice the way a human being is conceptualized in an Israelite worldview in 2:7. God takes dust (body). God breathes into the dust (spirit, breath, רוּחַ), and the human becomes a living soul (נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּֽה). "Soul" in Hebrew is not a detachable part of a person like in Greek but a whole living being, both body and breath. Thus in Genesis 1, the living beings in the waters are "living souls" too (e.g., 1:20).
Tree of Life: Adam and Eve are not created immortal. It is only by eating from the Tree of Life that they might live forever. In that sense, Genesis presents them as created to die naturally.
Tree of Knowledge: Ironically, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil does not itself bring knowledge of good and evil. Rather, by choosing to eat from it, you come to know evil because you have thereby made an evil decision in your heart.
Helper: Eve is to be Adam's helper in 2:18. This doesn't put woman below man, since God is our helper.
Marriage: 2:24 is the classical text on marriage that Jesus himself quotes. Men and women pair up and start new families. Note that no shame attaches to nakedness at this point. Soon it will not be that way.
Snake: Genesis never uses the name "Satan," nor does it call the snake Satan. The first known Jewish writing to equate the two is the Life of Adam and Eve, from the first century BC. It is a significant growth point to realize 1) that we and the NT authors often see more in the OT than the original audiences did and 2) that this is ok.
Death: Adam and Eve don't die on the 24 hour day they eat the fruit, but the "day" of humanity's death begins. They are thrust out of the Garden. They cannot eat from the Tree of Life, so now they do not have the extra power of the Tree to live forever. They will now eventually die.
Original meaning: The Adam and Eve story originally expressed several features of human life. It gave the pattern of husband and wife pairing up. It expressed why snakes do not have legs and are a natural enemy of people. It expressed why women have painful childbirths and are subject to their husbands. It expressed why men have to work so hard to get the soil to yield fruit.
Christian meaning: For Paul in the NT, the Adam and Eve story explains the origins of sin (word not used in Genesis) and death. Because of Adam's sin, the power of Sin reigns on the earth. Because of Adam's sin, the creation is subject to decay.
Augustine's meaning: We get the idea of "the Fall" (word not used in the Bible) from Augustine in the 400s. To him, humanity became "totally depraved" after Adam's sin, with no good in us whatsoever (Paul does not say this). For him, the original sin was sexual desire and lust. The idea of a sin nature in us from the Fall comes from Augustine. For Paul, we sin because of the cosmic power of Sin over our weak flesh. Augustine thought that we sinned "in Adam" but Paul only thinks that we sin like Adam.
Other NT readings: 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is a difficult passage, because it seems to perpetuate the subjugation of Eve even though Christ has atoned for the sin of Adam. It should be put in the "unclear" verse category. Romans 16:20 also alludes to Genesis 3:15. Later Christians would take this as a prophecy of Christ crushing Satan, although the Bible itself never interprets the verse in this way.

Previous notes:
Genesis 1:1-2:3

Next planned post--Friday with Genesis 4-5.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Read Genesis with me? (Genesis 1:1-2:3)

It was fun, if it took some time, to walk through the New Testament these last 8 weeks. Why stop? I thought I'd slow the pace down to a chapter a day, and start taking notes on the Old Testament. I thought I'd commit one book at a time.

So anyone interested in reading through Genesis over the next 50 days or so, a chapter a day? I thought I'd start with Genesis 1 today. I won't post every day but mostly when I hit the end of recognizable units.
_____________________
Genesis 1:1-2:3

Genesis 1:1-2:3 might have been written as an introduction to the entire Pentateuch (meaning "five scrolls"). The five scrolls are of course Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Genesis is anonymous. It nowhere mentions its author. Later Jewish tradition would assume that Moses wrote it.
It is debated whether Genesis 1:1-3 in Hebrew speaks of the creation of the waters or whether the chaotic waters were pictured as already there when God began to create. Here is an alternative translation.
Probably the first thing an ancient would have noticed about Genesis 1 is the complete absence of other gods. In the Babylonian creation story, in the Greek creation story, creation is full of conflict between the gods. In Genesis 1, God speaks and it is done. That is all.
The creation is very orderly. Creatures are created according to certain kinds. The structure of the creation mirrors the Israelite week with six days and a Sabbath. People debate whether this is a more or less literal presentation, whether the days represent ages, whether it is more or less a poetic presentation of a Levitical worldview, etc...
The final picture of Genesis 1 seems to look something like below, which shouldn't surprise us, since God revealed himself in Scripture in the categories of those to which he was first speaking:

The climax of creation is the creation of humanity. Christians have long seen in the "Let us make humanity" a mirror of the Trinity. Obviously no Israelite would have taken it in that way--it took centuries even for Christians to agree on the Trinity. In its historical context, the Israelites would have more likely thought of God among the "gods" of Deuteronomy 32:8 or Psalm 82. But I personally have no problem at all with us reading Genesis 1 theologically in reference to the Trinity--God may have tucked away this possible reading for New Testament times, even though it seems quite certain that no one before the Christian era read it in that way.
The image of God in Genesis 1:27-28 in context seems to refer to the fact that man and woman are placed as rulers of the creation (governmental image), much as the state of humanity for which Psalm 8 thanks God. Later Christians would of course see in these words many other ways in which we mirror God. For example, we are like God in our ability to tell the difference between good and evil (moral image) and our ability to think (rational image). There's no evidence in Genesis 1 that it had such things in mind, but they are certainly true--good theological readings of the text.
God's creation is entirely good. There was nothing evil to what God had made.

The target for the next post is Wednesday on Genesis 2-3.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Sunday, June 08, 2014

Friday, May 30, 2014

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Friday, May 16, 2014

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Monday, May 12, 2014

Friday, May 09, 2014

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Friday, May 02, 2014

Thursday, May 01, 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Friday, April 25, 2014

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Monday, April 21, 2014

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