Notes on Genesis 2003 Edition Dr. Thomas L. Constable Introduction TITLE Each book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah [instruction] by the Jews) originally received its title in the Hebrew Bible from the first word or words in the book.1 The Hebrew word translated "in the beginning" is beresit. The English title "Genesis," however, has come to us from the Latin Vulgate translation of Jerome (Liber Genesis). The Latin title came from the Septuagint translation (the Greek translation of the Old Testament made about 300 years before Christ). "Genesis" is a transliteration of the Greek word geneseos, the Greek word that translates the Hebrew toledot. This Hebrew word is the key word in identifying the structure of Genesis, and the translators have usually rendered it "account" or "generations" (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2). DATE The events recorded date back to the creation of the world. Many Christians believe the earth is millions of years old. They base this belief on the statements of scientists and understand Scripture in the light of these statements. Likewise, many Christians believe that the human race began hundreds of thousands of years ago for the same reason. Most evangelicals who take the Scriptures seriously believe that the earth is not much older than 10,000 years. They base this on the genealogies in Scripture (Gen. 5; 10; 11; et al.), which they understand to be "open" (i.e., not complete). Evangelicals usually hold to a more recent date for man's creation, also for the same reason. A smaller group of evangelicals believes that the genealogies are either "closed" (i.e., complete) or very close to complete. This leads us to date the creation of the world and man about 6,000 years ago.2 1There are three divisions in the Hebrew Bible: The Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings. The Torah was originally one book, but by the time of Christ it had been divided into the five books that we have. The Jews regarded the stories in the Torah as divine instruction for them as well as the commandments and sermons since they too teach theology and ethics. 2I shall discuss the question of how we should interpret the genealogies in the exposition of the chapters where they occur. Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable Published by Sonic Light, http://www.soniclight.com/ 2 Dr. Constable's Notes on Genesis 2003 Edition Liberal interpreters have placed the date of composition of Genesis much later than Moses' lifetime. If one accepts Mosaic authorship, as most conservative evangelicals do, the date of composition of Genesis must be within Moses' lifetime (ca. 1525-1405 B.C.). This book was perhaps originally intended to encourage the Israelites to trust in their faithful, omnipotent God as they anticipated entrance into the Promised Land from Kadesh Barnea or from the Plains of Moab.3 Moses may have written it earlier to prepare them for the Exodus,4 but this seems less likely. WRITER The authorship of the Pentateuch has been the subject of great controversy among professing Christians since Spinoza introduced "higher criticism" of the Bible in the seventeenth century. The "documentary hypothesis," which developed from his work, is that Moses did not write the Pentateuch, as most scholars in Judaism and the church until that day believed. Instead, it was the product of several writers who lived much later than Moses. A redactor (editor) or redactors combined these several documents into the form we have now. These documents (J, E, D, P, and others) represent a Yahwistic tradition, an Elohistic tradition, a Deuteronomic tradition, a Priestly tradition, etc.5 The evidence that Moses wrote the Pentateuch is conclusive if one believes that Jesus Christ spoke the truth when He attributed authorship to Moses (Matt. 19:8; Mark 7:10; Luke 18:29-31; 20:37; 24:27; John 7:19). Jesus Christ did not specifically say that Moses wrote Genesis, but in our Lord's day the Jews regarded the Pentateuch (Torah) as a whole unit. They recognized Moses as the author of all five books. Consequently they would have understood what Jesus said about any of the five books of Moses as an endorsement of the Mosaic authorship of them all.6 3Eugene H. Merrill, "A Theology of the Pentateuch," in A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, p. 30. See Walther Zimmerli, "Abraham," Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 6 (1978):49-60. 4E.g., Kenneth Kitchen, "The Old Testament in its Context: 1 From the Origins to the Eve of the Exodus," Theological Students' Fellowship Bulletin 59 (1971):9. 5You can learn more about this influential theory by studying the subject of Old Testament Introduction. For a good survey of the history of scholarly opinion, see Allen P. Ross, "Genesis," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 15-18; R. Norman Whybray, Introduction to the Pentateuch, pp. 12-27; Kenneth A. Mathews, Genesis 1—11:26, pp. 63-85; or Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1—15, pp. xxv-xlii. 6Oswald T. Allis' The Five Books of Moses is a classic rebuttal of the denial that Moses wrote all five books. No one has discredited it, though liberal scholars have ignored it. More recently, Kenneth Kitchen's series of six articles, "The Old Testament in its Context" in Theological Students' Fellowship Bulletin (1971-72), especially the sixth article, refuted "the fashionable myth" (p. 9) of the evolution of Israel's religion as proposed by Julius Wellhausen and his followers. Another excellent rebuttal by a Jewish scholar, Umberto Cassuto, is his The Documentary Hypothesis. For a review of other subsequent approaches scholars have pursued in the study of Genesis (i.e., the form-critical, tradition-historical, and rhetorical-critical), see Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing, pp. 27-35. Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1—17, pp. 11-38, also gave such an overview. 2003 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on Genesis 3 SCOPE The events recorded in Genesis stretch historically from Creation to Joseph's death, a period of at least 2500 years. The first part of the book (ch. 1—11) is not as easy to date precisely as the second part (ch. 12—50). The history of the patriarchs recorded in this second main division of the text covers a period of about 300 years. The scope of the book progressively and consistently narrows. The selection of content included in Genesis points to the purpose of the divine author: to reveal the history of and basic principles involved in God's relationship with people.7 PURPOSE Genesis provides the historical basis for the rest of the Bible and the Pentateuch, particularly the Abrahamic Covenant. Chapters 1—11 give historical background essential to understanding that covenant, and chapters 12—50 record the covenant and its initial outworking. The Abrahamic Covenant continues to be the basic arrangement by which God operates in dealing with humanity throughout the Pentateuch and the rest of the Bible. "The real theme of the Pentateuch is the selection of Israel from the nations and its consecration to the service of God and His Laws in a divinely appointed land. The central event in the development of this theme is the divine covenant with Abraham and its . promise to make his offspring into the people of God and to give them the land of Canaan as an everlasting inheritance."8 Genesis provides an indispensable prologue to the drama that unfolds in Exodus and the rest of the Pentateuch. The first 11 chapters constitute a prologue to the prologue. "Two opposite progressions appear in this prologue [chs. 1—11]: (a) God's orderly Creation with its climax in His blessing of man, and (b) the totally disintegrating work of sin with its two greatest curses being the Flood and the dispersion at Babel.9 The first progression demonstrates God's plan to bring about perfect order from the beginning in spite of what the reader may know of man's experience. The second progression demonstrates the great need of God's intervention to provide the solution for the corrupt human race."10 7See the chart "Chronology of Genesis," in John Davis, From Paradise to Prison, p. 29. 8Moses H. Segal, The Pentateuch: Its Composition and Its Authorship and Other Biblical Studies, p. 23. 9Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, p. 13. 10Ross, "Genesis," p. 21. 4 Dr. Constable's Notes on Genesis 2003 Edition THEOLOGY "The subject matter of the theology in Genesis is certainly God's work in establishing Israel as the means of blessing the families of the earth. This book forms the introduction to the Pentateuch's main theme of the founding of the theocracy, that is, the rule of God over all Creation. It presents the origins behind the founding of the theocracy: the promised blessing that Abraham's descendants would be in the land. "Exodus presents the redemption of the seed out of bondage and the granting of a covenant to them. Leviticus is the manual of ordinances enabling the holy God to dwell among His people by making them holy. Numbers records the military arrangement and census of the tribes in the wilderness, and shows how God preserves His promised blessings from internal and external threats. Deuteronomy presents the renewal of the covenant. "In the unfolding of this grand program of God, Genesis introduces the reader to the nature of God as the sovereign Lord over the universe who will move heaven and earth to establish His will.