GENESIS key concepts

Transcription

1 10 GENESIS spotlight on GENESIS key concepts The covennt is God s progrm of reveltion. The focus of cretion is the estblishment nd mintennce of order nd opertion. The stories in the Bible re stories bout God. bout The purpose of this first book of the Bible is to begin the story of God nd his continuing reltionship with his cretion, including his disppointments nd the ctions he tkes to overcome obstcles. God showed his mstery s he creted order in the cosmos nd brought order to his reltionship with people through the covennt. Though God creted everything just right, sin liented people from God so tht they no longer hd n ccurte ide of wht he is like. This is why God mde covennt with chosen people, Abrhm nd his fmily, reltionship tht gve God mens for giving people n ccurte picture of wht he is like. Genesis tells how, despite mny obstcles, the covennt ws estblished. Genesis 1 11 trces the blessing recorded in Genesis 1: The genelogies show people being fruitful nd multiplying. At the sme time these chpters depict the dvnce of sin, first in the disobedience of Adm nd Eve, then in Cin s murder of his brother Abel, nd finlly in the escltion of violence nd corruption tht resulted in the flood. After the flood, the people not only continued their movement wy from God but lso mde vin ttempt to reestblish his presence by building stirwy for him to come down from heven nd be worshiped on erth (the Tower of Bbel). Now in ddition to the problem of bringing people bck to God (Eden problem), there ws the problem of restoring the lost knowledge of wht God is like (Bbel problem). Humn inititive, first by Adm nd Eve, then by the builders of Bbel, hd devstting results. God s covennt with Abrhm represents God s inititive to provide mens by which God could revel himself to the world through Abrhm nd his fmily nd how the entire world could be blessed through them. The covennt blessings tht served s benefits to Abrhm nd his fmily were extensions of the originl blessings in Genesis 1. The ptrirchl nrrtives in Genesis trce the dvnce of the covennt nd its blessings nd, t the sme time, show the mny obstcles. As these obstcles were overcome, one by one, God demonstrted his mstery. key verses Genesis 1:28: Be fruitful nd increse in number. Genesis 12:3: All peoples on erth will be blessed through you [Abrhm]. Genesis 50:20: You intended to hrm me, but God intended it for good to ccomplish the sving of mny lives. key techings God estblished nd mintins order in the cosmos. God overcomes obstcles to crry out his purposes. God revels himself to his people. God s grce exceeds ll logic.

2 over ev ery liv ing cre ture tht moves on the ground. e 29 Then God sid, I give you ev ery seedber ing plnt on the fce of the whole erth nd ev ery tree tht hs fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. f 30 And to ll the bests of the erth nd ll the birds in the sky nd ll the cre tures tht move long the ground ev ery thing tht hs the breth of life g in it I give ev ery green plnt for food. h And it ws so. 31 God sw ll tht he hd mde, i nd it Q&A Are these literl 24-hour dys? Regrdless of whether the dys of cretion were figurtive or literl 24-hour periods, this pssge is truthful description of wht took plce. It indictes tht there is intelligence, mening nd purpose behind ll existence. In other words, the word of God directed the method of cretion s well s the source of cretion (see Ps 33:6,9; Heb 11:3). Yet humn beings hve been given the privilege of exploring, through scientific investigtion, how God my hve engineered these events nd how long he took to do so. Mny understnd the six dys of cretion s representing long periods of time becuse the sun, which mrks 24-hour dy, wsn t creted until the fourth dy. And the word dy is used in chpters 1 2 in three distinct wys: (1) s pproximtely 12 hours of dylight (see Ge 1:5); (2) s 24 hours (see Ge 1:14) nd (3) s period of time involving, t the very minimum, the whole cretive ctivity from dy one to dy seven (see Ge 2:4, where the word tht is trnslted when is the sme word tht is elsewhere trnslted dy). The light (see Ge 1:3) could not hve come from the erth s sun if the sun ws not creted until the fourth dy. The light could hve come from other sources tht God provided in the universe prior to the cretion of the sun. We cn only speculte bout wht the tmospheric conditions might hve been t tht time. QSB 2 Thus GENESIS 2:16 13 ws very good. j And there ws eve ning, nd there ws morn ing k the sixth dy. the hev ens nd the erth were com plet ed in ll their vst r ry. l 2 By the sev enth dy m God hd fin ished the work he hd been do ing; so on the sev enth dy he rest ed from ll his work. n 3 Then God blessed the sev enth dy nd mde it holy, o be cuse on it he rest ed p from ll the work of creting q tht he hd done. Adm nd Eve 4 This is the c count r of the hev ens nd the erth when they were cre t ed, s when the Lord God mde the erth nd the hev ens. 5 Now no shrub hd yet p pered on the erth nd no plnt hd yet sprung up, t for the Lord God hd not sent rin on the erth u nd there ws no one to work the ground, 6 but strems b cme up from the erth nd w tered the whole sur fce of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed v mn c w from the dust x of the ground y nd brethed into his nos trils the breth z of life, nd the mn be cme liv ing being. b 8 Now the Lord God hd plnt ed gr den in the est, in Eden; c nd there he put the mn he hd formed. 9 The Lord God mde ll kinds of trees grow out of the ground trees d tht were ples ing to the eye nd good for food. In the mid dle of the gr den were the tree of life e nd the tree of the knowl edge of good nd evil. f 10 A riv er g w ter ing the gr den flowed from Eden; h from there it ws sep rt ed into four hed w ters. 11 The nme of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the en tire lnd of Hvi lh, i where there is gold. 12 (The gold of tht lnd is good; r o mt ic res in d j nd onyx re lso there.) 13 The nme of the sec ond riv er is the Gi hon; it winds through the en tire lnd of Cush. e 14 The nme of the third riv er is the Tigris; k it runs long the est side of Ash ur. And the fourth riv er is the Eu phr tes. l 15 The Lord God took the mn nd put him in the Gr den of Eden m to work it nd tke cre of it. 16 And the Lord God com mnd ed the mn, lso tught in Ecc 11:5; Jer 10:16; Jn 1:3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2. The positive, life-oriented teching of v. 1 is beutifully summrized in Is 45:18. 1:2 erth. The focus of this ccount. formless nd empty. The phrse, which ppers elsewhere only in Jer 4:23, gives structure to the rest of the chpter (see note on v. 11). God s seprting nd gthering on dys 1 3 gve form, nd his mking nd filling on dys 4 6 removed the emptiness. drkness... the wters. Completes the picture of world witing God s light-giving, order-mking nd life-creting word. nd. Or but. The wesome (nd, for ncient people, ferful) picture of the originl stte of the visible cretion is relieved by the mjestic nnouncement tht the mighty Spirit of God hovers over cretion. The nnouncement nticiptes God s cretive words tht follow. Spirit of God. He ws ctive in cretion, nd his cretive power continues tody (see Job 33:4; Ps 104:30). hovering over. Like n egle tht hovers over its young when they re lerning to fly (see Dt 32:11; cf. Is 31:5). 1:3 God sid. Merely by issuing his royl decree, God brought ll things into being (Ps 33:6,9; 148:5; Heb 11:3). Let there be light. God s first cretive word clled forth light in the midst of the primevl drkness. Light is necessry for mking God s cretive works visible nd life possible. In the OT it is lso symbolic of life nd blessing (see 2S 22:29; Job 3:20; 30:26; 33:30; Ps 49:19; 56:13; 97:11; 112:4; Is 53:11; 58:8,10; 59:9; 60:1,3). Pul uses this word to illustrte God s re-creting work in sin-drkened herts (2Co 4:6).

3 14 GENESIS 2:18 people history rcheology rtifcts relibility The Isrelite Town nd Home (Jer 9) The typicl Isrelite town followed the sme bsic design throughout the Iron Age ( BC). Exmining its lyout, Westerner might feel bewildered by n evidently unorgnized rry of wlls nd streets. But this ws no lbyrinth; the pths nd wlls first joined together fmilies nd only secondrily connected ll the fmily units into single community. Ech home probbly housed nucler fmily but ws lso prt of n extended fmily compound. This fmilil structure, ptrirchl socil unit bsed on ptrilinel descent, ws bsed on the concept of fther s house (Hebrew bet v). The lrger fmily unit consisted of the pternl hed, long with his wife, his sons nd their wives, the grndchildren nd finlly the slves. 1 When Dvid ws youth his grown brothers were still prt of the bet v of Jesse in Bethlehem (see 1S 16). Similrly, in Genesis 12:1 God commnded the lredy ging Abrm to leve his bet v. The four-room house ws the most common type of Isrelite residence. Most were two-story, rectngulr structures, but the distinctive feture ws the lyout of the rooms. The min floor ws entered through door t the center of the (short) front wll, which led into long hllwy flnked on both sides by other corridor-like rooms. Across the bck of the house ws the fourth room. Actully, the four rooms could be subdivided into number of different configurtions. Even so, this bsic design, long with modified version clled the three-room house, set the stndrd for Isrelite rchitecture. Such houses often hd internl pillrs of stone or wood. Wlls were composed of sun-dried mud bricks (with plster on the outer wlls) nd were built up on few courses of foundtion stones. Wooden bems served s the bse for the second story, s well s the ceiling for the ground level. The roof consisted of compressed, mud-cked twigs plced over wooden bems nd topped with plster, combintion in constnt need of mintennce. Windows were probbly slits in the wlls necessry for ventiltion, since chimneys were not used, but still kept smll for security purposes. The nnexes or subdivisions locted by rcheologists within some of these houses my hve been widow s qurters for grndmothers. Servnts shred the fmily compound. The function of the four-room house within Isrelite culture remins debted, but it ws well suited to the griculturl nture of Isrelite society. 2 The three prllel rooms my hve been inspired by the need to ccommodte stlls for domestic nimls. In the coldest months livestock would hve remined in these stlls, providing some wrmth not only for the nimls but lso for the fmily upstirs. The cross-room t the bck probbly functioned s storge comprtment ( house excvted t Shechem included storge pit in this re). The flt roof served s kind of summer ptio (cf. Ac 10:9), s well s plce to bthe (see 2S 11:2). 3 Most towns were surrounded by wll for security. Mny hd double or csemte wll, often with homes integrted into it. Sometimes the bcks of houses served s the outer defensive wll of the city, n rrngement especilly common during the Iron II period. The min gte in the outer wll ws not just the plce through which people could exit nd enter but lso the primry meeting plce. Inhbitnts would continuously see one nother going nd coming nd would meet there fter dy in the fields. Trveling merchnts encountered the townspeople t the gte, which becme the site for the city mrket. Legl issues were discussed there s well. There re countless references in the Bible to the gte s the socil, commercil nd judicil hub of city (e.g., Ru 4:1; 2Ki 7:1; Ps 127:5). 4 The design of Isrelite towns nd houses in mny wys mirrored Isrel s socil vlues nd customs. These trditionl structures endured through mny historicl chnges. Trgiclly, the remins of these cities often ttest to violent destruction nd to chotic uphevls tht brought recurrent disruption nd turmoil to settled, grrin society. Jeremih 9 nticiptes such scenrio. ASB See lso The Ancient City on pge XXXX. Storehouse t Beersheb Preserving Bible Times; Dr. Jmes C. Mrtin 1 See The Isrelite Fmily on pge XXXX. 2 See Food nd Agriculture on pge XXXX. 3 See Bthing on pge XXXX. 4 See The City Gte on pge XXXX.

4 20 GENESIS 6:14 people in focus joshu Filling Moses Shoes Like ll the Isrelites, Joshu begn in humble surroundings. He ws born slve in Egypt nd followed Moses cross the Red Se to freedom. He first ppers in the Bible s militry commnder. Soon fter escping from Egypt, the Isrelites confronted new enemy, nd Moses turned to Joshu to led their very first bttle (see Ex 17:9 15). A month lter, when Moses climbed crggy Mount Sini to meet with God, Joshu ws t his side. He reported to Moses the noise coming from the cmp, noise tht turned out to be the Isrelites reveling round the golden clf, signling their gret spiritul rebellion (see Ex 32:17). Joshu rose to become Moses trusted number-two mn, n ssistnt who served Moses during lmost every mjor crisis. Moses chnged his ide s nme from Hoshe, which ment help or slvtion, to Joshu, mening The Lord sves. (The Greek form of Joshu is Jesus.) Becoming Number One On the verge of entering Cnn, Moses turned to Joshu gin, choosing him s one of 12 spies he sent to collect informtion bout the lnd. Ten cme bck frightened with predictions of doom. Only Joshu nd Cleb hd fith tht God would keep his promises to the Isrelites despite the militry odds. Joshu lerned bout the hzrds of ledership from tht spy trip: On his return, thousnds of ngry Isrelites clled for his public stoning (see Nu 14). But he stood firm, nd God rewrded him. Of ll the Isrelites who hd left Egypt, only he nd Cleb were llowed to enter the promised lnd not even Moses ws grnted tht honor. As Moses deth nered, God nd Moses mde Joshu their uncontested choice for new leder for Isrel. It ws time for number two to become number one. Joshu mde remrkbly smooth trnsition into ledership. In fct, Joshu s life prlleled tht of Moses in mny wys. The mircle of crossing the Jordn River poignntly replyed Moses crossing of the Red Se. Moses encountered God directly t the burning bush; Joshu met God s specil representtive, the commnder of the rmy of the Lord, nd took off his shoes t the meeting s Moses hd (see Jos 5:13 15). Both Moses nd Joshu wrote the lw on stones; Moses creted permnent record for Isrel, nd Joshu erected monument for the ntion to pss by on the wy into the new lnd (see Jos 8:32). Both leders pleded with God on behlf of their people. And both ended their terms with stirring speeches tht reviewed history nd chllenged the people to mke criticl choice. Well-Rounded Leder Moses, who grew up in the courts of Phroh, obviously received better eduction thn Joshu. He showed philosophicl bent. Joshu, on the other hnd, ws ction-oriented nd prgmtic, perfect militry mn. He knew how to follow orders s well s how to give them. The Bible, which never glosses over its heroes flws, revels some of Joshu s mistkes. In one incident in the desert, he ws rsh (see Nu 11:26 30). During the first bttle of Ai nd the trety negotitions with the Gibeonites, he cted impulsively gin, not first seeking God s dvice. And, fced with his first mjor defet t Ai, he unchrcteristiclly dissolved in fright, erning God s stern rebuke: Stnd up! Wht re you doing down on your fce? (Jos 7:10). Aprt from these few incidents, Joshu s life ws mrked by unusul fith nd obedience. Joshu never let the press of militry ction interfere with worship nd the renewl of the covennt. When Joshu divided up the lnd (n immense bureucrtic burden tht tkes up the lst hlf of this book), he did so with wisdom nd firness, selecting his own portion only fter ll others hd chosen. The Bible records this simple legcy: Isrel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshu (24:31). History would record how rrely tht occurred in the life of this troublesome ntion. Life Questions Often when populr leder pstor, politicin, techer retires from office, something slips. Wht mde Joshu such n effective replcement? SB

5 22 GENESIS 8:4 insight Wht Job Teches bout Suffering Job 36:15 Why me? Almost everyone sks this question when terrible suffering strikes. An utomobile ccident, dignosis of cncer, long-term disese like rthritis ech of these rises intense questions bout why God llows pin. Over the centuries, suffering Christins hve gined help nd comfort from studying the book of Job. The book gives no compct theory of why good people suffer. Nevertheless, the following insights into the problem of suffering do come out of the book of Job. principles from job 1. Some suffering is cused by Stn. Chpters 1 nd 2 mke the importnt distinction tht God did not cuse Job s problems. He llowed them, but Stn ctully cused the pin. 2. God is ll-powerful nd good. Nowhere does the book of Job suggest tht God lcks power or goodness. Some people sy tht God is wek nd powerless to prevent humn suffering. Others, clled deists, ssume tht he runs the world t distnce, without personl involvement. In Job, God s power is never questioned; only his firness is questioned. And in his finl summtion speech, God used splendid illustrtions from nture to prove his power. 3. Suffering doesn t lwys come s result of sin. The Bible supports the generl principle tht mn reps wht he sows, even in this life (see Gl 6:7; lso Ps 1:3; 37:25). But other people hve no right to pply tht generl principle to prticulr person. Job s friends tried with ll their persusive power. However, when God rendered the finl verdict, he sid simply, You hve not spoken the truth bout me, s my servnt Job hs (Job 42:7). The Old Testment includes other exmples of people who suffered through no fult of their own, such s Abel (see Ge 4) nd Urih (see 2 S 11). And Jesus spoke out ginst the notion tht suffering is cused by sin (see Lk 13:15; Jn 9:1 7). 4. God will rewrd nd punish firly in finl judgment fter deth. Job s friends, long with most Old Testment folk, did not hve clerly formed belief in n fterlife. Therefore, they expected tht God s firness his pprovl or dispprovl of people hd to be shown in this life. Other prts of the Bible tech tht God will rewrd nd punish firly fter deth. 5. God does not condemn doubt nd despir. God did not condemn Job s nguished responses, only his ignornce. Job did not tke his pin meekly; he cried out in nguish to God. His strong remrks scndlized his friends (for exmple, see Job 15:1 16), but not God. Ironiclly, despite his bitter speeches, Job erned God s prise, while his pious friends were soundly rebuked. 6. No one person hs ll the fcts bout suffering. Neither Job nor his friends hd enough fcts. Job concluded tht God ws unfir, treting him like n enemy. His friends mintined tht God opposed Job becuse of his sin. All of them lter lerned tht they hd been viewing the sitution from very limited perspective, blind to the rel struggle being wged in heven. 7. God is never totlly silent. Elihu mde tht point convincingly, reminding Job of drems, visions, pst blessings (see Job 33), even the dily works of God in nture (see Job 37). God lso referred to nture s giving evidence of his wisdom nd power. Although he my seem silent, some evidence of him cn be found. 8. Well-intentioned dvice cn sometimes do more hrm thn good. Job s friends were clssic exmples of people who let their pride nd sense of being right interfere with their compssion. They repeted pious phrses nd rgued theology with Job. His response: If only you would be ltogether silent! For you, tht would be wisdom (Job 13:5). 9. God sks for fith. God refocused the centrl issue from the cuse of Job s suffering to his response. The rel issue t stke ws Job s fith whether he would continue to trust God even when everything went wrong. 10. Suffering cn be used for higher good. In Job s cse, God used time of very gret pin to win n importnt, even cosmic, victory over Stn. Looking bckwrd, but only looking bckwrd, we trust God. Job is often cited s n Old Testment picture of Jesus Christ, who lived perfectly innocent life but endured gret pin nd deth. The terrible event of Christ s deth ws lso trnsformed into gret victory. Thousnds of yers lter, Job s questions hve not gone wy. People who suffer still find SB

6 GENESIS 10:11 25 The Suffering Servnt Who is this mysterious figure? Isih s four songs bout suffering servnt re mong the richest nd most closely studied pssges in the Old Testment (see Is 42:1 9; 49:1 13; 50:4 9; 52:13 53:12). This chpter illustrtes why the servnt songs sprked fierce debtes mong the rbbis seeking to understnd them. The first prt stirs nticiption for glorious time when God will restore the holy city nd people will shout to Jeruslem, Your God reigns! (Is 52:7). It looks s if Isrel will gin revenge on its enemies t lst. But the uthor goes on to explin how God will redeem Jeruslem by introducing the mysterious figure of the suffering servnt, whose ppernce is disfigured beyond tht of ny humn being (Is 52:14). Who is this suffering servnt? And how will such wekened person chieve gret victory, even bringing light to ll ntions? guided tour Is 52 Jewish scholrs puzzled over these pssges for centuries. Mny considered them the most significnt prt of the entire Hebrew Scriptures, yet they could not gree on exctly wht the prophet ment. A Ntion or Person? Sometimes the verses spek of the servnt s the ntion of Isrel s whole: You re my servnt, Isrel, in whom I will disply my splendor (Is 49:3). In other plces, the servnt seems to refer to specific individul, gret leder who suffers terribly. Isih presents the servnt s the deliverer of ll humnkind. Yet it portrys him s more of trgic figure thn hero: He ws oppressed nd fflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he ws led like lmb to the slughter (Is 53:7). An Answer From the New Testment The ide of the suffering servnt did not relly ctch on in the Jewish ntion. They longed for victorious Messih, not suffering one. The imge of the suffering servnt went underground, s it were, lying dormnt for centuries. In very drmtic scene erly in his ministry, Jesus quoted from one of the servnt pssges in Isih: Then he rolled up the scroll, gve it bck to the ttendnt nd st down. The eyes of everyone in the syngogue were fstened on him. He begn by sying to them, Tody this scripture is fulfilled in your hering (Lk 4:20 21). At lst, link snpped into plce for some, but not for ll, of Jesus listeners. The Messih hd come t lst not s conquering generl, but s crpenter s son from Nzreth. Life Questions If you hd been Jew in Jesus dy, would you hve been disppointed in the Messih? Why did Jesus choose to come s suffering servnt rther thn s, perhps, triumphnt rmy generl? SB The Hmites 10:6-20pp 1Ch 1: The sons of Hm: Cush, p Egypt, Put q nd C nn. r 7 The sons of Cush: Seb, s Hv i lh, t Sb th, R mh u nd Sbtek. The sons of R mh: Sheb v nd De dn. w 3:4 You will not certinly die. The bltnt denil of specific divine pronouncement (see 2:17). 3:5 God knows. The serpent ccuses God of hving unworthy motives. In Job 1:9 11; 2:4 5 he ccuses righ teous Job of the sme. your eyes will be opened, nd you will be like God. The sttement is only hlf true. Their eyes were opened, to be sure (see v. 7), but the result ws quite different from wht 8 Cush ws the f ther c of Nim rod, x who becme mighty wr rior on the erth. 9 He ws mighty y hunter z be fore the Lord; tht is why it is sid, Like Nim rod, mighty hunt er be fore the Lord. 10 The first cen ters of his king dom were Bb ylon, Uruk, b Ak kd nd Kl neh, c in d Shinr. e d 11 From tht lnd he went to As syr i, e where he built Nin e veh, f Re ho both Ir, f C lh the serpent hd promised. knowing good nd evil. See note on 2:9. 3:6 good for food... plesing to the eye... desirble for gining wisdom. Three spects of tempttion. Cf. Lk 4:3,5,9; 1Jn 2:16. 3:7 they relized they were nked. No longer innocent like children, they hd new wreness of themselves nd of ech other in their nkedness, which now produced in them

7 26 GENESIS 10:12 R&R reflect nd respond love The best plce to begin good story is t the beginning. The gretest story the truest of ll true stories is no different. Once upon time, God begn telling story true story. Our story. This story begins once upon time, but not once upon our time. Before time s we know it ws even creted, there ws Hero: God himself. red Pre-Grden of Eden nd pre-world, God enjoyed perfect love within himself. We don t know wht God did during this time when only he existed. But we do know tht becuse God is good, everything ws perfect. God longed to shre tht goodness nd love with others. So somewhere in the story, he mde millions of mighty beings who served nd worshiped him ngels. Unfortuntely, one ngel, Stn, wsn t content with his mgnificent sttus. A couple of Scripture pssges seem to symboliclly spek of this ncient trgedy. The ngel s hert becme proud on ccount of [his] beuty (Ezekiel 28:17). He rebelled nd convinced other ngels to join him. God ws betryed. His kingdom s perfect hrmony ws destroyed. God cst Stn (lso known s Lucifer or the devil) nd the other tritors out of his kingdom. But for the ske of shring his love, he took nother risk. He creted people. think When we think of God, we tend to see him s the uthor of the story, the controller of ll things. We see him sitting fr wy, detched, pulling the levers nd pushing the buttons nd running the stuff of life. But tht s not the cse. While God is indeed the uthor of the story, his hert nd emotions re involved becuse t his core God is love (1 John 4:8). And becuse he wnts us to truly love him, nd becuse true love is lwys choice, he gives us the freedom to choose him nd the freedom to reject him. When the Author mkes himself vulnerble to be rejected or loved by the chrcters in the story, he s not just the Author nymore. He s in the story. live God hs chosen to be ffected by you. Your choices ffect him becuse he loves you. Deeply. next level God grieves when we reject him. Red Genesis 6:5 6. For your next devotionl, go to pge 8. TGR 12 nd Re sen, which is be tween Nin e veh nd Clh which is the gret city. 13 Egypt ws the f ther of the Ludites, Anmites, Lehbites, Nphtuhites, 14 Pthrusites, Ksluhites (from whom the Philistines g cme) nd Cph to rites. h 15 Cnn i ws the f ther of Sidon j his first born, k nd of the Hit tites, l 16 Jeb u sites, m Am o rites, n Gir g shites, o 17 Hi vites, p Ar kites, Si nites, 18 Ar vd ites, q Zemrites nd Hmthites. r Lter the Cnnite s clns scttered 19 nd the borders of Cnn t reched from Si don u towrd Ge rr v s fr s Gz, w nd then to wrd Sodom, Gomorrh, Admh nd Zeboyim, x s fr s Lsh. 20 These re the sons of Hm by their clns nd lnguges, in their territories nd ntions. The Semites 10:21-31pp Ge 11:10-27; 1Ch 1: Sons were lso born to Shem, whose old er brother ws J pheth; Shem ws the n ces tor of ll the sons of Eber. y 22 The sons of Shem: Elm, z Ash ur, Ar phx d, b Lud nd Arm. c 23 The sons of Arm: Uz, d Hul, Ge ther nd Me shek. b 24 Ar phx d ws the f ther of c Shelh, nd She lh the f ther of Eber. e 25 Two sons were born to Eber: One ws nmed Pe leg, d be cuse in his time the erth ws di vid ed; his broth er ws nmed Joktn. 26 Jok tn ws the f ther of Almodd, Sheleph, Hzrmveth, Jerh, 27 Hdorm, Uzl, f Diklh, 28 Obl, Abimel, Sheb, g 29 Ophir, h Hvilh nd Jobb. All these were sons of Jok tn. 30 The re gion where they lived stretched from Me sh to wrd Se phr, in the est ern hill country. 31 These re the sons of Shem by their clns nd lnguges, in their territories nd ntions. forth or cquired. c 1 Or hve cquired d 8 Smritn Pentteuch, Septugint, Vulgte nd Syric; Msoretic Text does sense of shme (see note on 2:25). they... mde coverings. Their own feeble nd futile ttempt to hide their shme, which only God could cover (see note on v. 21). 3:8 grden. Once plce of joy nd of fellowship with God, it becme plce of fer nd of hiding from God. 3:9 Where re you? A rhetoricl question (see 4:9). 3:12 The womn you put here... gve me. The mn blmes God nd the womn nyone but himself for his sin. 3:13 The serpent deceived me. The womn blmes the serpent rther thn herself. 3:14 Cursed. The serpent, the womn nd the mn were ll judged, but only the serpent nd the ground were cursed