About Genesis
- Typically irreverent, Woody Allen says that the Bible suffers from an unbelievable main character. This may be so, but God/Yahweh dominates the Bible, and western civilization as well.
- Genesis has two sections: the foundation myths – creation, what God is, how we resemble God, and then the family sagas of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph – quite unpleasant people sometimes, but with an underlying pattern and purpose they don’t comprehend
- These two sections have extraordinary symmetry (see below)
- You will notice that there is no speculation about the characters in Genesis or their motives, no guesses about the psychology or what the people are thinking.
- ‘Poetry makes an art of leaving a lot unspoken’ – in the Bible, silence can be almost as important as what is said
- There is very little description of Nature or the settings of the story – the concentration is focused on human beings and their stories, not on any background
- Place names are given as a way of staking a claim on property and rights; in a pre-literate society, traditional stories describing ownership could be used to settle disputes
- The genealogies are a register of births and deaths, a record of inheritance rights
- A constant theme: human beings are the dominant animals on this planet – but we are not God. When we try to be God, we come to grief.
Where to find the stories in Genesis
1:1-2:4 CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
2:5 – 2:25 MAN AND WOMAN CREATED, GARDEN OF EDEN
3:1-24 SIN, EXPULSION
4 CAIN AND ABEL
5 FROM ADAM TO NOAH – THE GENERATIONS
6 BUILDING THE ARK
7 THE FLOOD
8 AFTER THE FLOOD
9 COVENANT WITH NOAH
10 GENEALOGY
11 BABEL
12 ABRAM AND SARAI
13 ABRAM AND LOT
14 ABRAM RESCUES LOT
15 COVENANT WITH ABRAM
16 BIRTH OF ISHMAEL
17 ABRAHAM AND SARAH – THE PROMISE
18:1-15 THREE ANGELS
18:16-33 ABRAHAM BARGAINS FOR SODOM
19:1-29 SODOM/GOMORRAH DESTROYED
19:30-38 INCEST WITH LOT
20 ABRAHAM AND SARAH AT GERAR
21:1-7 BIRTH OF ISAAC
21:8-21 EXPULSION OF HAGAR
21:22-34 BARGAINING FOR WATER RIGHTS
22:1-24 SACRIFICE OF ISAAC
23 SARAH DIES
24 ISAAC AND REBEKAH MARRY
25:1-18 DEATH OF ABRAHAM
25:19-34 ESAU AND JACOB
26 ISAAC AND ABIMELECH
27 STEALING THE BLESSING
28:1-9 FAMILY PLANS FOR ISAAC
28:10-22 JACOB’S DREAM
29 JACOB, LABAN AND HIS DAUGHTERS
30:1-24 JACOB AND HIS CHILDREN
30:25-43 JACOB PROSPERS
31 JACOB FLEES
32:1-21 RECONCILING WITH ESAU
32:22-32 WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL
33 MEETING OF JACOB AND ESAU
34 RAPE OF DINAH
35 RACHEL AND ISAAC DIE
36 GENEALOGY
37 JOSEPH IS SOLD AS A SLAVE
38 JUDAH AND TAMAR
39 JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR’S WIFE
40 THE PRISONERS DREAM
41 PHARAOH DREAMS
42 JOSEPH’S BROTHERS TRAVEL TO EGYPT
43 BENJAMIN TAKEN TO EGYPT
44 BENJAMIN IN CAPTIVITY
45 JOSEPH REVEALS HIS IDENTITY
46 JACOB’S FAMILY IN EGYPT
47 LIFE IN EGYPT
48 JACOB’S BLESSING
49 JACOB’S DEATH
50 JOSEPH RECONCILED, DIES
If you look closely, you’ll find that the episodes in the story of Abraham have a complex symmetry. Each story is balanced by a parallel story later in the text. Materials that do not fit this pattern are given in square brackets.
A Genealogical framework (11.10-32)
B Migration from Haran; separation from Nahor ([12.1-3] 12.4-5a)
C Building of altars; land promised (12.5b-9 [13.14-18])
D “Wife-sister” episode (12.10-20)
E Border agreement with Lot (13.1-13)
F Sodom episode and rescue of Lot (14.1-24)
G Covenant of sacrifice (15.1-21)
X Expulsion and rescue of Hagar (16.1-16)
G Covenant of circumcision (17.1-27)
F Sodom episode and rescue of Lot (18.1-19.38)
E Border agreement with Abimelech (21.22-34)
D episode (20.1-18)
C Building of altar (22.6); land secured (22.17b; 23.1-20
B Migration to Haran; reunification with Nahor’s line (24.1-67)
A Genealogical framework ([22.20-24] 25.1-18)
No More Excuses!!!
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses stuttered
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The disciples fell asleep while Jesus prayed
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was, well you know
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer…AND
Lazarus was dead!!
…no more excuses now. God can use anyone.
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Some paintings of Genesis stories
Compare the Book of Genesis and the Odyssey
- Two great sagas of the ancient world
- Similar themes: the dangers and rewards encountered on a great journey
- Odyssey, the product of city dwellers, has more sophisticated language, better imagery
- Genesis comes from nomadic herdsmen who are being pressured into living in towns
- Contrasting ideas of what a deity is
Genesis = God is ultimately benevolent, a creative force
Odyssey = the gods are capricious, anthropomorphic
- Themes: both explore the tragic and long-lasting effects of a single event
- Does Ithica = the Promised Land?
Some questions to debate
- Was Dinah raped? See Genesis 34
- Why did all the brothers hate Joseph? Genesis 37:1-35, Bible text is HERE
- What sort of a person is Isaac? His name comes from the Hebrew term Yiṣḥāq which literally means “He laughs/will laugh”. Was it the wrong name for this man? Bible text is HERE
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Genesis links
Noah and the Flood
Famous paintings
Potiphar’s Wife
is Egypt
Bible Women: Major Events
Marrying a husband, having children, living and dying
© Copyright 2006
Elizabeth Fletcher
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