2. It s Scripture, but it s the key, or the legend, on the map

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1 I. The Torah Five Books of Moses, The Law A. Genesis a. Greek: Origin b. Hebrew: In the beginning B. Exodus a. Greek: The Going Out (from Egypt) b. Hebrew: (These are the) names C. Leviticus a. Greek: Relating to the Levites b. Hebrew: And He called D. Numbers a. Greek: Numbers b. Hebrew: In the desert E. Deuteronomy a. Greek: Second Law b. Hebrew: (These are the) words II. Genesis as narrative A. What Genesis is not 1. Not biological textbook 2. Historical treatise 3. Personal diary B. What it is 1. It s the beginning 2. It s Scripture, but it s the key, or the legend, on the map 3. It s a story, written with other books in mind, it s a narrative that assumes familiarity with the culture and the story of Scripture, both of which we are largely unfamiliar with

2 C. The point is not to answer your questions, but to teach you how to ask the right questions; D. Though the book comes first, it wasn t necessarily the one written first. This is Scripture, the Word of God for us, but it didn t come down like this Each book, Genesis included, it is written with a history behind it and a goal in mind by a specific author or authors. III. Structure A. Toledot -- These are the generations focus on connection to family/tribe; larger social setting, not individual. No story of Adam and Eve or story of Abraham, but rather there are the generations of, within which is the story 1. Gen 2:4 of the heavens and the earth Adam (ha adam from adamah the ground. ) 2. Gent 5:1 of Adam Seth Noah 3. Gen 6:9 of Noah Shem Terah 4. Gen 10:1, 2, 7, 20, 21-22, 31, 11:10 of the Sons of Noah 5. Gen 11:27 of Terah Abraham IV. The Text A. Genesis 1 God as Supreme Deity 1. God creates the earth: he (re)habilitates; makes functional ; heals, mends, etc. a. Earth in a state of tohu wabohu, without form and void, i.e., desolate and in ruins; a shambles; spirit is rooah, same as mighty wind b. Differentiated from Heaven

3 2. Creates light and night w/o regards to Sun and Moon (ANE deities, Marduk, the god of Babylon, was a Sun god; these are thus shown powerless) 3. God submits the winds and the waters to His will a. Baal, Absu, and others: Major Canaanite/Babylonian storm/water gods; in ANE, prayer to storm gods or god of rain, fertility, considered vital to society; w/o his/her blessing, crops die=city dies. b. God battles against the darkness and the waters c. Made the waters bring forth creatures, but is said to create the seamonster, (Chaos related to one of the heads of the Babylonian Pantheon, Tiamat) 4. God creates animals (and humans) on the sixth day, after he s brought forth all the things we would normally consider human things, i.e., planting fruit trees, vegetables, etc. 5. Not an anthropocentric story! The first four chapters are about the creation of the heavens and the earth, of which humans are a part; not a story about humans, and this world that was made for them. Part of the point of Genesis is to remind us that we too are like the grass and flower that wither it is a word against our arrogance. B. Genesis 2 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth 1. Gen 2:1-4 is the hinge between the two narratives; the narrowing of the first 2. Creation of Man

4 a. Man created to till the earth ; to keep things in order, to keep it as good as God made it..; notice God s gentle breath into the nostrils, as opposed to the might wind (the rooah, the spirit over the waters b. But to enjoy it ; the Hebrew for God put him in the garden is yannichehu, to make one enjoy their stay, from save verb as Noah c. Note; The garden is located with in the rivers which supported the mighty kingdoms of the region; 3. Giving of the Law indication that it is the law of God, not the fruit of the ground (tree of life), that gives life. Cf. Deuteronomy 8: Building of woman a. God is said to intend to find a companion for Adam; forms from the ground things like adam (who is from the adama, the ground); but he finds none of them pleasing, he wants something from him, or rather built from him; his own creation ; same verb as building of Nineveh and Babel Gen 10:11; 11:5, the eventual oppressors of Israel and Judah; b. The woman, as the city, his creation (not as the female gender) brings about his destruction C. Genesis 3 Temptation & Sin, Punishment & Exile a. Because of disobedience, there is enmity in creation; 1. He who is from the ground will now have to work in sweat and toil (whereas before it was enjoyable) to get something out from that which he came; only to return to it

5 2. Her who was built, will now produce children from her womb in pain; the death of a city, and exile ; D. Genesis 4 Cain & Abel 1. Curse of Adam and Eve doesn t stop God s blessing of fruitfullness and multiplication; it is only the enjoyment, or nuah (cf. Noah) of it that is taken. 2. Cain, just as Adam, a tiller of the ground who failed the test before him (God warned Cain as well), yet he acted w/o care and killed a quarter of humanity! a. Unlike Adam, whose punishment was a cursed ground ( cursed is the ground because of you, Cain is cursed himself ( you are cursed from the ground ) b. He must now become a wanderer, not only living outside the garden, but away from it, and wandering (Land of Nod, is a play on wandering ) c. Instead of wandering, he built a city, named after his son (magnifying himself and his progeny, as opposed to Eve s shout of thanksgiving for God s gift of her son Cain); His name Enoch, comes from the word meaning dedication, as in he dedicated his son to himself, instead of to the Lord, which the Law commands; his son Lamek (a play on malek, or king in Hebrew, something like Gink for king ) takes on kingly (and divine) perogatives by taking multiple wives, making himself lawgiver, judge and executioner. E. Genesis 5 Generations of Adam (within generations of heavens and earth)

6 1. The word book is specifically used: this is a sign that we re beginning a new story; not just a new chapter! 2. Noah (enjoy) is named to comfort for the toil and hard work of tilling the ground 3. The ages are indicative of a genre, not necessarily longer life spans ; Babylonian and other ANE lists of kings and rulers of cities would list ridiculous years of reign for each king, in an attempt to push back (and thus give a feeling of perpetuity) the dynasties of old; at any rate, 4. Enoch, the 7 th in line, follows the law of God ; being dedicated instead of a dedication of another (365 years walks w/ God instead of dying like the rest 5. Lamech (777 years, an idea of kingly divinity, as in Cain s line, but with a twist) begets Noah and names him (the first to have his name explained since Adam/Seth. F. Genesis 6 These are the generations of Noah 1. Begins new story that goes until 9:29; flood isn t a separate story, but within Noah s Generations reflecting the promise/blessing of God continues despite the flood 2. Sons of God name for kings in ANE, ravishers of others children (sons of men: normal folks, i.e. Ezekiel & Christ son of man ) cf. 1 Sam 8:11-17 ; 3. So bad had the ways of Cain/Lamech gotten, that people went around, doing whatever they wished; taking people s wives, etc (cf. II Samuel 11-13, David and Bathsheba Solomon)

7 4. But Noah walked with God and pleased God 5. Ark (tebah) not same as Ark of covenant, but the same as the basket of Moses 6. Genesis 9 shaming of Noah a. So Noah too goes past the boundary and abuses that which God gave to him; 7. Genesis 10 generations of Noah s sons a. Sons of sons broken up by category, not ethnicity; the enemies of Israel are under Ham (means anger, or ire ) and those far away and distant or from Japheth (means openness, like the frontier) b. Indicates that all of humanity is within the Scriptural story; reference to Lud and Cush, the farthest regions of the known world then, are indicative of this as well. 8. Genesis 11 Babel a. Instead of dwelling in the plain, they choose to build a city b. God scatters them that they might fulfill his purpose ; instead of theirs c. Resonance with the arrogance of Babylon who wanted to make a name (shem) for themselves, yet the generations of Shem come right after, detailing the beginnings of the generations of Abraham. d. God uses man s desire to make a name for himself as a means to create a nation for Himself.