GENESIS

The word "genesis" means "beginning". The book of Genesis records God's first revelations to the Israelite community, beginning with an account of the creation of the world and everything in it. It lays the foundation on which our knowledge of God and his plan of salvation is built. This information is communicated with beauty and versatility using various literary forms including stories, genealogies, reports, poetry and metaphors.

Authorship

For centuries Jews and Christians have believed that Moses wrote Genesis as well as the other four books that together make up the Pentateuch. He lived many centuries after the events described, but wrote about them drawing on divine revelation as well as on stories that had been kept alive in the conversations and traditions of the Israelite community.

Interpretation

The book of Genesis can be interpreted from numerous perspectives. Some interpret it literally, while others look at it from a spiritual perspective. Some delve into it to find historical information; others use its material to help them understand the impact of religion on culture. Those interested in the society of ancient Israel use Genesis to study the relationships between families and tribes. Those interested in literature focus on its literary genres and on how these communicate the stories of the people. Others are fascinated by the ideas in the book, including the idea of God's choice of some people and the covenants he made with them. Others investigate the world view of the ancestors of Israel. Feminists refer to Genesis to promote gender equality, while environmentalists glean messages about protecting nature and the environment. Missiologists refer to the stories of the fall and the call of Abraham to explain the foundations of mission.

Each of these approaches has something to contribute. Thus this commentary draws on insights from a wide variety of sources, adding our South Asian perspective to theirs to enrich our efforts. But above all, this commentary is informed by the words of Moses, who reminded his fellow Israelites that these accounts of "former days, long before your time" were revealed so that they "might know that the Lord is God" (Deut 4:32-40). We must never forget that great truth as we embark on the study of Genesis.

We also need to remember that Genesis does not set out to provide answers to all the questions we have today. We are not told everything we might want to know about the creation; the genealogical lists are not as complete as we might like; the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph leave us wondering what else happened. But while God has not provided all the information we want, he has given us all we need to grasp the main truths that the sovereign God created the world and that he is working out his plan of salvation for humanity.

Theological Themes

Genesis is theological history in narrative form. It provides God's perspective on creation and the fall and traces the beginnings of his plan of redemption. It addresses so many themes that it would be impossible to explore them all in this commentary. In Genesis we gain insight into God's purposes as we explore creation and the care of the environment and become aware of sin and forgiveness, of election and covenant, and blessing and prosperity. The book also has much to teach about justice, judgement and grace. It explains how God's promises began to be fulfilled, explaining how he gave children to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so that their offspring could become a large community in the land he promised to give them. The rest of the Bible will show how his promise continues to be fulfilled as the covenant community becomes the instrument of salvation for humanity.

Genesis also covers practical issues such as work and slavery, the making of covenants, land ownership and the resolution of conflicts, resources for a growing population, the image of God and gender equality, the defence of kith and kin, and the administration of a nation.

Relevance to South Asia

Genesis still speaks to us today. We, like the Israelites of old, have to acknowledge anew that "the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below" and that "there is no other" (Deut 4:39). We also have to consider what Genesis has to say about our ethics. Are our attitudes towards creation, the environment, stewardship, labour, power, authority and human development in line with God's standards?

Outline

1:1-11:32 God, Humankind and Nature
1:1-2:25 Creation
1:1-2:3 The first story of creation
1:1-2 In the beginning
1:3-25 Six days of creation
1:26-31 Creation of beings in the image of God
2:1-3 Completion and rest

2:4-25 Second story of creation
2:4-14 A garden to live in
2:15-17 A purpose to live for
2:18-25 A companion to live with

3:1-24 Transgression and Punishment
3:1-13 Temptation and fall
3:14-19 Punishment
3:20-24 Hope amid despair

4:1-26 The First Generations
4:1-8 Cain and Abel
4:9-16 Cain's punishment
4:17-24 Cain's offspring
4:25-26 Seth and the start of corporate worship

5:1-32 Genealogy: From Adam to Noah
6:1-9:29 Noah, Flood and Covenant
6:1-8 Wickedness increases
6:9-22 The building of the ark
7:1-24 The flood
8:1-22 Leaving the ark
9:1-17 God's covenant with Noah
9:18-29 Noah and his sons

10:1-32 Genealogy: From Noah to the Nations
10:1-5 Descendants of Japheth
10:6-20 Descendants of Ham
10:21-32 Descendants of Shem
11:1-9 The Scattering of the Nations
11:10-32 Genealogy: from Shem to Abram

12:1-25:18 The Story of Abraham
12:1-9 The Call of Abram
12:10-20 Abram and Sarai in Egypt
13:1-14:16 Abram and Lot
13:1-4 Return to Canaan
13:5-13 Separation from Lot
13:14-18 Renewal of God's promise
14:1-16 Rescue of Lot

14:17-24 Meeting with Two Kings
14:18-20 Meeting with Melchizedek
14:21-24 Meeting with the king of Sodom

15:1-21 God's Covenant with Abram
15:1-6 The promise of descendants
15:7-21 Sealing the covenant

16:1-16 The Birth of Ishmael
16:1-6 Sarai and Hagar
16:7-16 Hagar in the wilderness

17:1-27 An Everlasting Covenant
17:1-8 Confirmation of an everlasting covenant
17:9-14 The sign of the covenant
17:15-22 Sarah and Ishmael
17:23-27 Abraham's obedience

18:1-15 The Lord Visits Abraham and Sarah
18:16-19:38 Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah
18:16-33 Abraham pleads for Sodom
19:1-9 The evil in Sodom
19:10-29 Angels rescue Lot
19:30-38 Lot's daughters and their children

20:1-18 Abraham and Abimelek
21:1-21 Isaac and Ishmael
21:1-7 The birth of Isaac
21:8-14 Sending Ishmael away
21:15-21 God hears the cry of the child

21:22-34 Treaty with Abimelek
22:1-19 Abraham's Faith Tested
22:20-24 Genealogy: Nahor
23:1-20 The Death of Sarah
24:1-67 Isaac and Rebekah
24:1-14 Sending the servant
24:15-31 Meeting Rebekah
24:32-60 Arranging the marriage
24:61-67 Meeting each other

25:1-18 The Death of Abraham

25:19-27:46 The Story of Isaac
25:19-28 The Sons of Isaac
25:29-34 Selling the Birthright
26:1-33 Isaac Experiences God
26:1-6 Renewed promise and obedience
26:7-11 Renewed fears and lies
26:12-22 Prosperity and problems
26:23-33 Blessing and treaties

26:34-27:46 Problems with His Sons
26:34-35 Esau's marriages
27:1-46 Sibling rivalry
27:1-40 Stealing the blessing
27:41-46 Jacob is sent away

28:1-36:43 The Story of Jacob
28:1-22 Flight from Canaan
28:1-5 Jacob sent to find a wife
28:6-9 Esau seeks a wife
28:10-22 Journey of dreams and vows

29:1-30:43 Jacob in Harran
29:1-30 Jacob and his wives
29:31-30:24 Jacob's children
30:25-43 Jacob's flocks

31:1-55 Return to Canaan
31:1-21 Jacob's flight from Laban
31:22-42 Laban's pursuit
31:43-55 Jacob's covenant with Laban

32:1-33:20 Encountering Esau
32:1-21 Preparing to meet Esau
32:22-32 Wrestling with God
33:1-20 Meeting Esau

34:1-35:29 Living in Canaan
34:1-31 Rape and revenge
35:1-15 Jacob returns to Bethel
35:16-29 Death of Rachel and Isaac

36:1-43 Genealogy of Esau

37:1-50:26 The Story of Joseph
37:1-36 Joseph the Son
37:1-11 Joseph's dreams
37:12-36 Joseph sold as a slave

38:1-30 Judah and Tamar
39:1-41:40 Joseph the Slave
39:1-23 Joseph in Potiphar's household
40:1-23 Joseph interprets dreams in prison

41:1-40 Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams
41:41-45:28 Joseph the Saviour
41:41-57 Joseph administers Egypt
42:1-38 Jacob's sons go to Egypt
43:1-34 The brothers return to Egypt
44:1-34 Joseph's plan and Judah's plea
45:1-28 Joseph's place in God's plan

46:1-47:27 The Move to Egypt
46:1-27 Travel to Egypt
46:28-47:12 Settling in Goshen
47:13-27 The severe famine

47:28-50:14 Jacob's Last Days
47:28-31 Jacob's last wish
48:1-22 Jacob blesses Joseph
49:1-28 Jacob blesses his twelve sons
49:29-50:14 Jacob's death and burial

50:15-21 The Faith of Joseph
50:22-26 Joseph's Last Wishes and Death

COMMENTARY

1:1-11:32 God, Humankind and Nature

What people believe about creation has important consequences for how they live. For example, the religious practices of those who believe that the universe arose from the sexual union of male and female deities often involve fertility rites similar to those of the Canaanite cult of Baal described in the OT. Thus it is appropriate that the Bible begins with chapters that assert that God created and controls the world and that he has appointed human beings to act as stewards of it. Sadly, they also show how human disobedience destroyed the relationship between God, humankind and nature, with disastrous consequences. Yet God in his mercy still reaches out to fallen humanity.

1:1-2:25 Creation

Every culture has its own story of the creation of the world. Some in South Asia claim the universe emanated from the ultimate reality, known as Brahman, just as sparks arise from fire. Such stories have arisen because human beings want to know how the world around them came into existence and want to be able to explain such things as the existence of evil.

The creation myths of ancient West Asia are among the oldest we know, dating back hundreds of years before the time of Moses. Some scholars suggest that the creation story in the Bible is simply the Israelites' adaptation of earlier stories told by their neighbours. There are certainly resemblances between these stories. However, there are also remarkable differences between them. It makes sense to conclude that the inspired account in the Bible is intended to correct the defects of other earlier explanations of the source of the universe.

Genesis begins with not one but two accounts of the story of creation. These accounts are not contradictory, but they differ in their emphasis. Both reveal God's creative power and purpose, his blessings for human beings and animals, and the diversity of his plan and the co-existence of all created things. Their teaching about God as creator is clearly an important article of faith, for there are many references to it in both the OT and the NT (Job 37:14-19; Pss 8; 19:1-6; 104:30; Isa 42:5; Jer 31:35-37; Mark 13:19; Col 1:16; 1 Tim 4:4; Rev 4:11; 10:6).

1:1-2:3 The first story of creation

The first story of creation gives us details about what was created on which day and ends with God having completed his work and resting on the seventh day. The main function of this account is to emphasise the orderly manner in which God created. He set everything in place systematically, to function without any confusion. Thus, the role of the heavenly bodies is to give light, while the land is to produce crops and the sea is for the fish. We learn that plants are to bear fruit and that humans are to multiply and rule over all God's creatures. This story also provides us with God's point of view on his creation: "it was very good" (1:31).

1:1-2 In the beginning The opening words of Genesis and the Bible are in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (1:1). These words make it clear that God existed before creation and that he created the world out of nothing. It did not just evolve by itself over a long period of time, nor did God make it out of pre-existent raw materials.

When was this "beginning"? We are not told. The word does not refer to a particular year or time. It simply means "first of all" and refers to the first act of creation. Some preachers have tried to calculate this date, but their methods are flawed. We should not become distracted by trying to debate when creation occurred or how long it took. The Bible's focus is on the fact that it was God's work and that he created everything that exists in "the heavens and earth" and everywhere in between.

It is also important to note that this Creator is distinct from the things he created. There is no suggestion that the heavens and earth simply emanated from the body of God or that he is inseparable from his creation.

We are told nothing about the form of this Creator or where he abides. All that we know at this stage in Genesis is that he exists and that his Spirit was hovering over the waters (1:2). He was not a remote creator – he was involved with his creation from the outset.