Pentateuch: Genesis

The Book of Genesis stands as one of the most important books of the entire Bible, but despite the familiarity of its stories, the meaning and significance of the narratives are not always readily apparent. To help readers come to a clear understanding of this important book, Bill Arnold moves through Genesis section by section, exploring its main themes and sorting through its difficult interpretive issues. Encountering the Book of Genesis also features numerous illustrations, sidebars addressing contemporary concerns, and various study aids.

The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture does what very few of today's students of the Bible could do for themselves. With the aid of computer technology, the vast array of writings from the church fathers - including much that is available only in the ancient languages - have been combed for their comment on Scripture. From these results, scholars with a deep knowledge of the fathers and a heart for the church have hand-selected material for each volume, shaping, annotating and introducing it to today's readers. Each portion of commentary has been chosen for its salient insight, its rhetorical power and its faithful representation of the consensual exegesis of the early church.

Contents: Prologue (1:1-2:3) -- Book 1 : The account of the heavens and the earth (2:4-4:26) -- Book 2 : The account of Adam's descendants (5:1-6:8) -- Book 3: The account of Noah and his family (6:9-9:29) -- Book 4 : The account of Shem, Ham, Japheth and their descendants (10:1-11:9) -- Book 5 : The account of Shem's descendants (11:10-26) -- Book 6 : The account of Terah's descendants (11:27-25:11) -- Book 7: The account of Ishmael's descendants (25:12-18) -- Book 8 : The account of Isaac's descendants (25:19-35:29) -- Book 9 : The account of Esau's descendants (36:1-37:1) -- Book 10 : The account of Jacob's descendants (37:2-50:26) -- Bibliography.

This is a complete revision of the Gold Medallion-winning commentary series. It is up to date in its discussion of theological and critical issues and thoroughly evangelical in its viewpoint.

The central thesis underlying this study of Genesis is that the God who is revealed as a character in Genesis is always a savior. In Genesis, David Cotter, helps readers discern a structure in the book whereby the least and the weakest are the object of God's saving help. Cotter begins with an introduction to the methodology that is used throughout the book. The introductory essay deals with the theory of Hebrew narrative and the challenges posed to biblical exegesis by contemporary literary theory. The theme of the commentary itself is that the God who is revealed as a character in Genesis is always a savior.

[v. 1] Genesis 1-11 --
[v.2] Genesis 12-36 --
[v.3] Genesis 37-50.

This volume of Ancient Christian Texts offers a first-time English translation of Severian of Gabala's In cosmogoniam and a fresh translation of a portion of Bede the Venerable's Libri quatuor in principium Genesis. Severian, bishop of Gabala in Syria, who early on was a friend of John Chrysostom, later turned against him and opposed him at the Synod of Oak in 403. Though displaying his own strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, Severian still represents the so-called Antiochene school with its preference for literal over allegorical interpretation of texts. The text derives from the six homilies found in Migne's Patrologia graeca, volume 56, together with a seventh homily found only in the 1613 Eton edition of John Chrysostom's works, edited by Henry Savile, and falsely attributed to Chrysostom.

The Anchor Bible Commentary is the collaborative effort of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from around the world.

Presents an interpretation of Genesis, written especially for teachers and preachers, discussing the central purpose of the message in Genesis, and its significance for Christian ethics and theology.

Gordon Wenham's study of the first fifteen chapters of the Book of Genesis is part of the Word Biblical Commentary which seeks to serve the needs of scholars, teachers, students, ministers, and anyone seeking theological understanding of Scripture.

This book makes available to English-speaking students a work that in the original German has achieved the status of a theological classic. This revised edition contains the extensive changes prepared by the author before his death. The introduction has been largely rewritten and the early chapters of the commentary have been reworked with equal thoroughness. In every phase of the panoramic pageant the reader sees the God of Israel reaffirming the terms of his covenant and working out his great historical purposes in spite of, and even through, the disobedient acts of willful, headstrong men.

Augustine's "On Genesis against the Manichees" and "On Genesis Literally Interpreted: An Unfinished Book" represents the first two of five explanations of the beginning of the Book of Genesis that he undertook between 388 and 418. This translation includes an introduction and notes to the text.

In this enlightening study, renowned twentieth-century theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers a careful textual analysis of the story of creation, approaching the biblical tale of Genesis with the eye of a philosopher and the soul of a true Christian.

Looks at the wisdom of nature and of man as seen through an interpreation of the book of Genesis.

In Reading the Fractures of Genesis, David M. Carr shows how understanding the history of the formation of the book of Genesis impacts a reading of the book's final form. According to Carr, a clear understanding of Genesis can be obtained only when one takes seriously its complex and fractured nature, a multivoiced text that developed over many centuries. Drawing on the best in European and North American scholarship to present this new approach to Genesis, he produces a provocative interpretation that helps to bridge the widening gap between opposing methodological camps in the study of Genesis.

Contents: One hundred fifty years of comparative studies on Genesis 1-11 : an overview / Richard S. Hess -- Genesis and ancient Near Eastern stories of creation and flood : an introduction / David Toshio Tsumura -- The genealogies of Genesis 1-11 and comparative literature / Richard S. Hess -- The origins of civilization according to biblical and cunieform texts / G. Castellino -- A new look at the Babylonian background of Genesis / W.G. Lambert -- A new Babylonian "Genesis" story / A.R. Millard -- The Eridu Genesis / Thorkild Jacobsen -- Eridu, Dunnu, and Babel : a study in comparative mythology / Patrick D. Miller, Jr. -- The double creation of mankind in Enki and Ninmah, Atrahasis I 1-351, and Genesis 1-2 / Isaac M. Kikawada -- The rivers of paradise / E.A. Speiser -- King lists of the old Babylonian period and biblical genealogies / Abraham Malamat -- The Old Testament genealogies in recent research / Robert R. Wilson -- The incantation series Bīt Mēseri and Enoch's ascension to heaven / Rykle Borger -- The "table of nations" (Genesis 10) : its general structure and meaning / J. Simons -- Genesis 10 : some archaeological considerations / D.J. Wiseman -- The name of Babylon / I.J. Gelb -- In search of Nimrod / E.A. Speiser -- The "Babel of tongues" : a Sumerian version / Samuel Noah Kramer -- Theme in Genesis 1-11 / D.J.A. Clines -- The earth in Genesis 1 / David Toshio Tsumura -- "Male and female he created them" : Genesis 1:27b in the context of the priestly account of creation / Phyllis A. Bird -- Genesis 2:4b-3:24 : a synchronic approach / Jerome T. Walsh -- Genesis 2-3 : the theme of intimacy and alienation / Alan Jon Hauser -- Sanctuary symbolism in the garden of Eden story / Gordon J. Wenham -- Lamech's song to his wives (Genesis 4:23-24) / S. Gevirtz -- From analysis to synthesis : the interpretation of Genesis 1-11 / Bernhard W. Anderson -- The coherence of the flood narrative / Gordon J. Wenham -- The "tower of Babel" as a clue to the redactional structuring of the primeval history (Genesis 1:1-11:9) / J.M. Sasson.

This collection of essays examines exegetical encounters between Christians and Jews on the book of Genesis. Eminent scholars present outstanding studies on the subject of 'Exegetical Encounter' to illuminate the history of relations between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity.
Contents: Adam alone in Paradise : a Jewish-Christian exegesis and its implications for the history of asceticism / Dmitrij F. Bumazhov -- Will and grace : apsects of judaising in Pelagianism in light of Rabbinic and patristic exegesis of Genesis / Burton L. Visotzky -- The Christian and the rabbinic Adam : Genesis Rabbah and patristic exegesis of Gen 3:17-19 / Hanneke Reuling -- Critical gnostic interpretations of Genesis / Gerard P. Luttikhuizen -- 'Be you a lyre for me' : identity and manipulation in Eden / Michael E. Stone -- What did Cain do wrong? : Jewish and Christian exegesis of Genesis 4:3-6 / Robert Hayward -- Creating women's voices : Sarah and Tamar in some Syriac narrative poems / Sebastian P. Brock -- Genesis 15 in rabbinic and patristic interpretation / Günter Stemberger -- 'And Abraham had faith, ' but in what? : Ephrem and the rabbis on Abraham and God's blessings / Judith Frishman -- Abraham's angels : Jewish and Christian exegesis of Genesis 18-19 / Emmanouela Grypeou, Helen Spurling -- Keeping it in the family : Jacob and his Aramean heritage according to Jewish and Christian sources / Alison Salvesen -- Early rabbinic exegesis of Genesis 38 / Stefan C. Reif -- Origen's view of 'Jewish fables' in Genesis / Marc Hirshman.

Contents: The peace is shattered in Jacob's family (Genesis 37) -- Joseph's fall and rise (Genesis 39:1-23) -- Preparation for Joseph's exaltation (Genesis 40:1-23) -- Joseph's exaltation (Genesis 41:1-32) -- Joseph's exaltation and duties in Egypt (Genesis 41:33-57) -- The first journey of the brothers to Egypt (Genesis 42) -- The second journey of the brothers to Egypt (Genesis 43) -- The silver cup (Genesis 44) -- Joseph reveals himself and offers forgiveness (Genesis 45) -- Jacob blesses the Pharaoh (Genesis 47:7-10) -- Ultimate forgiveness (Genesis 50:15-21).

Contents: 1. The Problem of Form. -- 2. Myth and Tradition in Ancient Historiography -- pt. 1. Primeval History in Antiquity. -- 3. Mesopotamian Traditions on the Primeval History. -- 4. Greek Traditions About the Primeval Age -- pt. 2. Primeval History of the Yahwist. -- 5. The Story of Paradise. -- 6. The Story of Cain and Abel. -- 7. The Marriage of the Sons of God. -- 8. The Story of the Flood. -- 9. The Table of Nations. -- 10. The Primeval History as a Whole -- pt. 3. The Patriarchs. -- 11. Genealogies and Itineraries. -- 12. The Theme of the Patriarchal Promises. -- 13. The Land-Promise Theme in the Old Testament. -- 14. The Promise Theme Within the Abraham-Isaac Stories. -- 15. The Jacob Story. -- 16. Jacob and the Story of Joseph.

Contents: Beginning -- Yahweh Brought Us Out of Egypt -- Sing to the Lord -- Yahweh our God Made a Covenant with Us -- Hear O Israel the Statutes and Decrees -- I Will Make of You a Great Nation -- In the Beginning How It All Came to Be -- The Lord Planted a Garden in Eden -- The Beginning of the End

The studies published in this volume bring surprising and oft-neglected aspects of the famous narrative to light. There are contributions from art history relating to the Aqedah, as well as essays regarding its reception and interpretation in modern times.
Contents: Genesis 22 : human sacrifice and theology in the Hebrew Bible / E. Noort -- Sacrificing a child in ancient Greece : the case of Iphigeneia / J.N. Bremmer -- The sacrifice of Isaac in 4Q225 / F. García Martínez -- Abraham, Job and the book of Jubilees : the intertextual relationship of Genesis 22:1-19, Job 1-2:13 and Jubilees 17:15-18:19 / J.T.A.G.M. van Ruiten -- The Aqedah and its interpretations in Midrash and Piyyut / W.J. van Bekkum -- The Bodmer poem on the sacrifice of Abraham / A. Hilhorst -- The lamb on the tree : Syriac exegesis and anti-Islamic apologetics / G.J. Reinink -- Ibrāhīm's sacrifice of his son in the early post-Koranic tradition / F. Leemhuis -- Abraham's sacrifice in early Jewish and early Christian art / E. van den Brink -- Three Italian sacrifices : Lorenzo Ghiberti, Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio / J.L. de Jong -- Kierkegaard's reading of the sacrifice of Isaac / A.F. Sanders -- The sacrifice of Abraham as a (temporary) resolution of a descent conflict? : a gender-motivated reading of Genesis 22 / Heleen Zorgdrager -- Isaac threatened by the knife of psychoanalysis? / P.M.G.P. Vandermeersch -- Bibliography of recent studies / M. Popović.