New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition

1911 Pages·1994·9.23 MB·English

by  Gordon J. Wenham, J. Alec Motyer, Donald A. Carson, R. T. France, Theodore Savory

New Bible Commentary
21st Century Edition
Consulting editors:
D. A. Carson
Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois,
USA
R. T. France
Principal, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, UK
J. A. Motyer
formerly Principal, Trinity College, Bristol, UK
G. J. Wenham
Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education,
Cheltenham, UK
GENESIS
Introduction
Title
The title Genesis comes from the Greek translation (the Septuagint) and means ‘origin, source,
creation’, whereas the Hebrew title (taken from the book’s opening words) is ‘In the beginning’.
Both titles aptly suggest the book’s subject-matter, for it describes the origins of the universe, the
world, mankind, human institutions (such as marriage), the nations and, above all, the people of
Israel. God’s creative work in bringing all these things into being is focused in Genesis.
Another title, now more rarely used, is ‘The First Book of Moses’. This title highlights the
fact that Genesis is the first part of a five-volume work, traditionally ascribed to Moses,
otherwise called the Law or the Pentateuch. Genesis puts the lawgiving at Sinai (the subject-
matter of Exodus to Deuteronomy) into historical perspective and provides a theological key to
the interpretation of the laws and stories contained in those books.
Place and contents
Like the other books of the Bible, Genesis is primarily theological, i.e. it is concerned with
describing who God is, how and why he acts and how he deals with mankind. Often the activity
of God in human affairs is not obvious, either in our everyday life or even in some parts of the
Bible (e.g. the book of Esther). But in Genesis, especially in the early chapters, God is the central
actor. Here he constantly speaks and acts, displaying his power and character. Modern Christian
readers, brought up to believe in one all-powerful holy God, may not be surprised by the
religious content of Genesis. But ancient readers, coming to the book from a background of the
many gods of paganism, would have been astonished by it.
The God of Genesis is not one of many localized gods of limited knowledge and power but
the almighty Creator of the whole universe and Lord and Judge of all. It is this God who created
mankind, cares for them and judges their misdeeds. It is this God who spoke to Abraham,
prompting him to leave his homeland, settle in Canaan (the land of Israel) and bring up his
family there. God promised Abraham that his descendants would dwell in Canaan, and Genesis
records how, despite numerous mistakes, these promises gradually began to be realized. In the
following biblical books a more complete fulfilment of these promises is described. It is this
divine perspective that gives Genesis its unity and is central to the author’s understanding, and it
needs always to be borne in mind as we attempt to relate the stories of Genesis to history.
Genesis is not interested in events for their own sake but for what they disclose about the nature
of God and his purposes.
Genesis and history
Many individuals pass across the stage of world history in Genesis. Yet, for the most part, their
recorded deeds concern their own private families, not national or international affairs. The
concern with birth and death, family disputes, grazing and burial rights etc. that characterizes
these stories makes it plain that for the writer of Genesis the characters he described were real
historical individuals. They are not personifications of clans or the products of his imagination.
Yet can we be sure that the stories in Genesis are really historical? As yet, no patriarchal
marriage document or evidence of, for example, Jacob’s visit to Paddan Aram or Joseph’s work
as vizier of Egypt has been discovered outside the Bible. This is hardly surprising given the very
small proportion of information committed to writing in ancient times and the small fraction of
texts that have survived and been discovered by archaeologists. This makes the chances of
demonstrating the reality of one of the patriarchs remote, apart from what we find in the Bible.
But there are many pointers in Genesis to the antiquity of its traditions, and these make it
unlikely that the stories were the creation of religious ‘novelists’ writing long after the era they
profess to describe, as some scholars suggest.
First, the names of the patriarchs are names that were frequently used in the early second
millennium BC but only very rarely later. Names like Jacob, Isaac and Ishmael were standard
names among the early Amorites (c. 1800 BC) but went out of fashion later. Other names in the
patriarchal narratives, e.g. Serug, Nahor and Terah, confirm that the patriarchs came from the
area of Haran.
Secondly, the social customs of the patriarchs fit those mentioned in ancient Near Eastern
texts. Some of the practices (e.g. the custom of a man giving his daughter a dowry when she
married) changed very little in two thousand years and so do not help us date the stories of the
patriarchs exactly. They simply show the stories were true to life, whenever they were written.
However, there are some customs which do seem to have changed with time, e.g. adopting a
slave as an heir (Gn. 15) or calling the eldest boy rab (Gn. 25:23), and these place the biblical
stories in an early period. Similarly, many features of the Joseph story find better parallels in
second-millennium Egyptian texts than in later ones, and this again supports the antiquity of the
stories about Joseph.
Thirdly, the religion and morality of the patriarchs appear to be earlier than what is found in
other books of the Pentateuch. Sometimes the practice and beliefs of the patriarchs contradict the
demands of the later law. For example, Abraham married his half-sister (Gn. 20:12; cf. Lv. 18:9),
Jacob married two sisters (Gn. 29:21–30; cf. Lv. 18:18) and Jacob erected a stone pillar (Gn.
28:18); cf. Lv. 26:1; Dt. 16:21–22). In Genesis, God nearly always introduces himself as El, e.g.
El Shaddai (‘God Almighty’; Gn. 17:1), El Elyon (‘God Most High’; Gn. 14:19). Later (after Ex.
6:3), Yahweh, ‘the LORD’, became the standard Israelite name for God.
These observations tend to confirm that the patriarchal stories are historical, though
obviously we can never prove the details of particular incidents. But when we come to chapters
1–11 we are treading on different ground. Most of these stories deal with periods long before
writing was invented, so they cannot be ‘history’ in the strict sense of the term or be verified by
evidence from outside the Bible. However, Genesis does try to arrange the stories
chronologically and explain things in terms of cause and effect. These are the hallmarks of
history writing, so that T. Jacobsen has coined the term ‘mytho-historical’ to describe such
literature (JBL, 100 (1981), p. 528). ‘Myth’ has negative overtones, so ‘proto-history’ is probably
a better way to describe Genesis 1–11. In the present state of knowledge it is difficult to know
how to relate these chapters to modern scientific discovery. It is more helpful (see below on the
theology of Genesis and in the commentary) to read these chapters against the background of
beliefs current in the ancient Near East. Then they will be seen to be offering a powerful critique
of the belief in many gods. The writer of Genesis seems to assume the historicity of Adam, Eve
and their descendants, for he links them all together in long family trees that end with Abraham.
This shows that for him Adam was a real individual like Abraham or Isaac.
Authorship
The authorship of Genesis has been one of the most discussed issues in biblical studies, so for a
fuller explanation of the issues the reader should look at the article on the Pentateuch. However,
the major viewpoints and the stance taken in the commentary are as follows:
Traditionally, Moses (c. 1300 BC) was regarded as the main author of Genesis and the
following four books. However, it was accepted that certain remarks (e.g. 12:6; 36:31) showed
that some parts of the book had been added later. The text of Genesis does not claim Moses as its
author, in any case.
From the nineteenth century onwards main-line critical scholarship minimized the role of
Moses in the composition of the Pentateuch. Indeed, the most widely-accepted view came to be
that Genesis was composed from three major sources J (tenth century BC), E (ninth century BC),
and P (sixth century BC). Genesis, it was held, went through a series of modifications with new
material being added with each new edition.
Since the 1970s there have been many questions raised about the J, E, P documentary theory,
with some scholars contesting the dating of the sources and others doubting their very existence.
So far, no theory has emerged to replace the old source-critical consensus, so it is still assumed
in many textbooks and commentaries.
While this critical debate has continued, it has become widely accepted that the
commentator’s first job is to explain the present form of the text. Whether the author of Genesis
used many sources or just one, what matters is the book as it stands. It is a beautifully
constructed whole, full of vividly told stories, that convey a vision of God and his truth which is
presupposed throughout the rest of the Bible. So what this commentary focuses on is the present
final form of the text. This may well be considerably earlier than is often supposed (for fuller
discussions see the article on the Pentateuch). Whoever wrote Genesis, in whatever period, was
more interested in telling us about God than in giving us clues to his own identity.
Theology
The book of Genesis splits into two unequal parts. Chapters 1–11, the proto-history, focus on the
origins of the human race, and chapters 12–50, the period of the patriarchs, focus on the origins
of Israel. The much greater attention devoted to the patriarchs shows what was the chief concern
of the author. So, in reviewing the main theological themes of Genesis, chapters 12–50 will be
dealt with first and then chapters1–11, which give background to the choice of Abraham and his
descendants.
Theology of Genesis 12–50
The key theological themes of Genesis 12–50, indeed of the whole Pentateuch, are set out in
12:1–3: ‘The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s
household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless
you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” ’
Here God makes four promises to Abraham: that he will be given a ‘land’ (1); that he will
become a ‘great nation’ (2); that he will enjoy a special (covenant) relationship with God (3); and
that through him all the nations will be blessed (3). Whenever God addresses the patriarchs in
Genesis he refers to these promises, very often amplifying or making them more specific. For
example, a ‘land’ (12:1) becomes ‘this land’ (12:7), ‘all the land you see … for ever’ (13:15) and
‘the whole land of Canaan … as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after
you’ (17:8).
To grasp the importance of the promises in Genesis the reader should look at all God’s
speeches in the book noting the changes in wording between one passage and the next (12:1–3,
7; 13:14–17; 15:1–7, 13–21; 16:11–12; 17:1–21; 18:10–32; 21:12–13, 17; 22:11–18; 25:23;
26:2–5, 24; 28:13–15; 31:3; 32:27–29; 35:1, 9–12; 46:3–4). These changes show that God makes
the promises ever more specific and dogmatic as the patriarchs respond in faith and obedience.
But even their misbehaviour does not nullify the promises; it serves only to slow their fulfilment.
Not only does God make promises, but the patriarchs often mention them, or their friends or
foes unwittingly allude to them (15:2, 8; 16:2; 17:17–18; 21:6–7; 24:7–8, 35–40, 60; 26:22, 28–
29; 27:27–29; 28:2–4, 20–22; 29:32;30:24, 27; 31:5–16, 29, 42, 49–50; 32:9–12; 33:5, 10–11;
34:10, 21; 35:3; 41:52; 45:5–11; 48:3–22; 50:5, 19–21, 24–25). These quotations from, or
allusions to, the promises indicate how important they were to the human actors in the story and
to the writer of Genesis.
What is more, the episodes from the patriarchs’ lives recorded in Genesis illustrate the
fulfilment of the promises. Presumably, the author of Genesis (like the evangelist John; see
20:30–31) knew much more about the patriarchs than he chose to tell. He picked out those
episodes that showed how the promises came true, albeit slowly. D. J. A. Clines in The Theme of
the Pentateuch (JSOT Press, 1979) has aptly defined the theme of the Pentateuch as the partial
fulfilment of the promises to the patriarchs. Thus, in reading Genesis we must ask about every
incident: how does this contribute to the fulfilment of the promises of land, nationhood, covenant
relationship and blessing to the nations?
Clearly, not every aspect of these promises is in focus in every episode. Nor does their
fulfilment proceed straightforwardly—there are many hiccoughs and setbacks. Genesis is most
obviously concerned with the promise of descendants, that Abraham’s offspring will become a
great nation. Yet, after the mention of Sarah’s barrenness in 11:30, it is not till 21:1 (twenty-five
years later) that the promised son, Isaac, is born. Similarly, Isaac’s wife Rebekah conceived only
after Isaac had prayed for a child for twenty years (25:20, 26). Similarly, Rachel, Jacob’s true
love and only real wife in his eyes, was dismayed to find her rival Leah and Jacob’s slave wives
bearing child after child before she bore one (30:23), and then she died giving birth to a second
(35:16–19). By the end of Genesis (46:27) Abraham’s descendants numbered seventy, which is
hardly a great nation. Although they increased dramatically during the period of Egyptian
slavery, the promise of innumerable offspring still seems some way from complete fulfilment
even in Exodus.
As for the land promise, all that Abraham acquired was a burial plot for his wife (23:1–20).
Isaac gained permission to use some wells (26:22–23), and Jacob bought a shoulder of land near
Shechem (33:19; cf. 48:22). At the end of Genesis none of Abraham’s descendants was living in
Canaan, the land of promise; they had all migrated to Egypt. Indeed, entry to the land, though it
is the dominating concern of Exodus to Deuteronomy, was not secured till the book of Joshua.
Some of the slowness in the fulfilment of the promises may be ascribed to unbelief or
disobedience by the patriarchs (e.g. 12:10–20; 16:1–14; 27:1–45). Whatever they did, however,
one aspect of the promise repeatedly proved true: God was with the patriarchs, blessing those
who blessed them and cursing those who cursed them (12:3). Thus, despite the mortal danger
Abraham believed himself to be in Egypt and Gerar, and his faithless fear which placed his wife
in jeopardy, both Abraham and Sarah emerged safely and indeed enriched financially from their
stays in foreign parts (12:10–20; 20:1–15). Similarly, Isaac prospered despite the opposition of
the Philistines (ch. 26). Jacob was conscious that God went with him as he fled for his life to
Paddan Aram, and it was through God’s help that he was able to escape the clutches of his
double-crossing father-in-law and return in peace to a reconciliation with the brother who had
planned to murder him (28:20–21; 31:42; 33:11). Above all, the career of Joseph demonstrated
that God was with him, as he rose from prison cell to Pharaoh’s deputy (39:5, 23; 41:39).
Yet even here the promise was only partially fulfilled. God did make a covenant with
Abraham (15:18), confirm it (17:7) and guarantee it (22:15–18). But these general covenants
were just preambles to, and a foretaste of, the great covenant of Sinai to be made with
Abraham’s descendants.
Finally, there was a partial fulfilment of the promise to the nations. Through Abraham’s
efforts, the king of Sodom was rescued (14:17), and through his prayers, the childless women of
Gerar conceived (20:17). Most dramatically of all, Joseph was instrumental in saving many lives,
not just his own family’s but the Egyptians’ and those of other nations too (41:57). He pointed
out that this was part of God’s plan (45:5–7; 50:20–21).
Theology of Genesis 1–11
Why was it necessary for God to choose Abraham, and who was the God who made these
promises? How does Abraham fit into world history? It is these questions that Genesis 1–11
addresses.
Genesis 12–50 shows that the twelve tribes were the twelve sons or grandsons of Jacob
(29:32–30:24; 35:18; 48:16). Israel’s nearest neighbours were descended from Jacob’s brother
(Edom from Esau; 25:26; 36:1) or uncles (Ishmael; 25:12) or distant cousins (Moab and Ammon;
19:36–38). The table of nations in Genesis 10 shows how Israel was related to seventy other
peoples known to the writer of Genesis. Israel, like the tribes of Syria and Arabia, was ultimately
descended from Shem, one of Noah’s sons (10:21–28). The most distant nations known to Israel,
including the Medes, Greeks and other Mediterranean peoples, are traced to Japheth, another son
of Noah (10:2–5). Ham, Noah’s disgraced son, is said to have been the ancestor of Israel’s
inveterate enemies, including the Egyptians, Babylonians and Canaanites (10:6–20). Thus,
through this table of nations, Israel’s place among the nations of the ancient Near East is defined.
These opening chapters of Genesis also define Israel’s view of God over against the
prevailing beliefs in many gods in the ancient orient. That the biblical story of mankind from
creation to flood finds parallels in other ancient literature (such as the Atrahasis and Gilgamesh
epics and the Sumerian Flood Story) has often been noticed. But even more significant is the
way that Genesis, by retelling what to the author’s contemporaries were familiar stories, presents
a new, indeed revolutionary, view of God and his relationship to the world and mankind.
Ancient orientals believed in a multitude of gods of limited power, knowledge and morality,
so that religion was a dicey business. You could never be quite sure whether you had chosen the
right deity, or whether he or she could bring you health and salvation. But the God of Genesis
was unique and without equal. He was all-powerful, creating the whole universe (even the sun,
moon and stars, often thought to be gods in their own right) by a simple command. He sent the
flood and he stopped the flood. He saved Noah and his family because Noah was righteous, not
because of favouritism. The God of Genesis was supremely concerned with human welfare.
Unlike the Mesopotamian myths, which tell how the gods created mankind as an afterthought to
provide themselves with food, Genesis declares that mankind was the goal of God’s creation
whom God provided with food (1:26–29).
Yet though the creation of mankind was God’s crowning achievement he was, according to
Genesis, totally flawed as ‘every inclination of the thought of his [man’s] heart was only evil all
the time’ (6:5). It was human sin, not human fertility (as in the Atrahasis epic), that provoked the
flood. And this profound pessimism about human nature and society again distinguishes
Genesis’ theology from other ancient oriental beliefs. Mesopotamians (like many modern
thinkers), for example, were believers in progress. They held that the Babylonian civilization was
the most advanced and enlightened of all time. Genesis declares it was one of the most decadent
(6:1–4; 11:1–9). Genesis traces an ‘avalanche of sin’, unleashed by Adam’s disobedience,
aggravated by Cain’s murder and climaxed in the illicit marriages of 6:1–4, which eventually
triggered off the flood. This great act of decreation was followed by a new creation as the new
earth emerged from the waters, and Noah, a sort of second Adam, stepped out to till the land. But
like the first Adam he too fell; his son Ham acted even worse; and human sinfulness reached
another peak as the men of Babel attempted to build a tower that reached heaven. This led to
another act of universal judgment in the scattering of the nations across the globe.
But it was a man who came from Ur, the centre of this corrupt civilization, that God called to
leave his homeland, move to a new one and build a new nation, so that all the nations of the
world should find blessing. For despite its gloom about human sin, Genesis is a fundamentally
optimistic book. It declares that God’s purpose for mankind, first intimated at his creation
(chapters 1–2), will ultimately be achieved through the offspring of Abraham.
Further reading
F. D. Kidner, Genesis, TOTC (IVP, 1967).
D. Atkinson, The Message of Genesis 1–11, BST (IVP, 1990).
J. G. Baldwin, The Message of Genesis 12–50, BST (IVP, 1986).
J. H. Sailhammer, Genesis, EBC (Zondervan, 1990).
G. J. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, WBC (Word, 1987).
———, Genesis 16–50, WBC (Word, 1994).
Outline of contents
1:1–2:3 Prologue: God creates the world

1:1–2 The beginning of creation

1:3–23 Creation continued

1:24–31 The creation of animals and
mankind

2:1–3 The holy seventh day
2:4–4:26 The account of the heavens and the earth

2:4–3:24 The Garden of Eden

4:1–26 The first human family

5:1–6:8 The account of Adam’s line

5:1–32 Adam’s family tree

6:1–8 Human-spirit marriages and
their aftermath

6:9–9:29 The account of Noah

6:9–8:22 The story of the flood

9:1–17 God’s covenant with Noah

9:18–29 Ham’s sin

10:1–11:9 The account of Shem, Ham and Japheth

10:1–32 The Table of Nations

11:1–9 The Tower of Babel

11:10–26 The account of Shem

11:27–25:11 The account of Terah and the story of
Abraham

11:27–12:9 The call of Abram
12:10–20 Abram in Egypt

13:1–18 Abram and Lot separate

14:1–24 Abram rescues Lot

15:1–21 The covenant promise

16:1–16 The birth of Ishmael

17:1–27 The covenant of circumcision

18:1–19:38 The overthrow of Sodom

20:1–18 Sarah and Abimelech

21:1–21 Isaac and Ishmael part

21:22–34 Treaty with Abimelech

22:1–24 The sacrifice of Isaac

23:1–20 The burial of Sarah

24:1–67 Rebekah’s call to marriage

25:1–11 The last days of Abraham

25:12–18 The account of Ishmael

25:19–35:29 The account of Isaac and the stories of
Jacob and Esau

25:19–35 First encounters of Jacob and
Esau

26:1–33 Isaac and the Philistines

26:34–28:9 Jacob cheats Esau of his
blessing
28:10–22 Jacob meets God at Bethel

29:1–30 Jacob marries Rachel and
Leah

29:31–30:24 The birth of Jacob’s sons

30:25–31:1 Jacob outwits Laban

31:2–32:2 Jacob leaves Laban

32:3–33:20 Jacob and Esau are
reconciled

34:1–31 Dinah avenged by her
brothers

35:1–29 Journey’s end for Jacob and
Isaac

36:1–37:1 The account of Esau

37:2–50:26 The account of Jacob

37:2–36 Joseph’s brothers sell him
into Egypt

38:1–30 Tamar humbles Judah

39:1–47:31 Joseph in Egypt

48:1–50:26 The last days of Jacob and
Joseph

The commentary has been structured according to the divisions suggested by the text itself;
these do not always coincide with the medieval chapter divisions. Genesis is notable for dividing
itself into ten major sections, each beginning, ‘This is the account of’ (2:4; 5:1; 6:9 etc.). These
ten ‘accounts’ are prefaced by a prologue (1:1–2:3), describing God creating for six days and
resting on the seventh. The accounts themselves alternate between quite long narratives (e.g.