A Critical Analysis: Genesis

Ryan Smith

CST 100-DE

Dr. Joe Slunaker

Aug. 1st, 2020

 Introduction
The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible. It introduces the creation of the earth,

man, and all else. It opens with the phrase, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the

earth” and continues to introduce Adam and Eve as the first humans to be created by God and

placed in the Garden of Eden. The fallout between man and God is also introduced in Genesis

after Adam and Eve were lured by a serpent who influenced them to disobey God's command.

Without regard to the subsequent books, Genesis appears as a chronology of epic tales that show

a semi-tragic saga of a world that experiences a series of misfortunes despite the contrary

intentions of the creator.

Author
The book of Genesis was written by Moses. It is the initial installment of the Torah,

which consists of five sections that are the foundational work of the Old Testament. The Torah is

also identified as the Pentateuch which consists of Israel’s origin narrative; detailing how the

nation acquired its population, its land, and its’ faith. Moses introduces many characters whose

number of mentions vary with regard to their importance to the story, thus resulting in the second

longest book of the Bible.

Sources and Dates

Three literary traditions have been identified in Genesis. They include the Yahwist,

Elohist, and the Priestly strains. The Yahwist is believed to have been written as early as 950

BCE. The term Yahwist borrows from the term Yahweh which refer to God. The term Yahweh

means “He who makes that which has been made”. The Yahwist is a Judaean version of the holy

story. The Elohist strain describes God as Elohim and traces back to the northern kingdom of

Israel. The Elohist strain was written between 900-700 BCE. The Priestly strain, which traces its

origin back to the 5th century BCE, derived its term due to its cultic interests and rules for priests[
CITATION Gra14 \l 1033 ]. Each strain contains materials and content that surpass the time when

the strains were collected in a common book, making Genesis a book with ancient written and

oral traditions.

Genesis’s place in Biblical Storyline

Despite the book of Genesis containing accounts borrowed from earlier documents,

different events can be used to trace back when the books were compiled to a common book as it

currently appears. One of the verses in the book, Genesis 12:6 states, "Abram passed through the

land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh and the Canaanites were then

in the land”. The verse shows that Genesis must have been crafted after Canaanites were entirely

cast out from the region between Shechem and Moreh. Genesis 13:3 states, “And he went on his

journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning,

between Bethel and AI, (7) the Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land”[ CITATION

Cal18 \l 1033 ]. The verse also indicates that Genesis was compiled after the Perizzites and the

Canaanites stopped residing in the region between Ai and Bethel. These events suggest that the

book of Genesis was compiled after Joshua’s conquest of Ai, Bethel, and Schechem, which were

refuge cities. Joshua’s victory occurred when the people of Israel came into the land during 1428

BC.

Literary Structure
The book of Genesis is split into two primary sections. The primeval and ancestral

history. The primeval history covers chapters 1 to 11 while the ancestral history covers chapters

12 to 50. Primeval history introduces the author's ideology of the nature of the deity and

humankind's association with God. The primeval section of the Bible details the origins and

primeval history explaining the beginning of all in existence. It states that the primary beliefs

regarding God’s creation of the Heavens and Earth as well as the events that occurred following.
 Chapter 1: The days of Creation
The author introduces six units of time that are well balanced into two contrasting parts.

These accounts detail four creative deeds within a span of three days. Everyday kicks-off with

the statement “God says” ending with “evening, and morning” of the same day. The progressive

creation of heavens, dry land, and the waters is done in the first three days which undo chaos.

The subsequent three days of progression sees the creation of these entities in matching order.

The creation story climaxes with man's creation.

Chapter 2: The Seventh Day

God rests and the creations are declared good. It also focuses on the creation of man

describing how God breathes life into the clay giving it life. Man is placed in the Garden of Eden

where he was instructed to care for it and to avoid eating the forbidden fruit. A woman is created

to join him as his helper and a companion as he was lonely.

Chapter 3: The Fall

Chapter three “The Fall” describes why the human condition contrast's the creator's ideal

world. The Fall explains how evil began suggesting it is an outcome of man making poor

decisions. The deceiving serpent lures Eve and Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. Resultantly, after

interrogation from God, Adam and Eve are banished from the garden.

Chapter 4: Cain and Abel

The children of Adam and Eve are introduced adding on the description of human nature.

Jealousy leads to Cain murdering Abel and he denies it during his interrogation with

God[ CITATION Eva12 \l 1033 ]. The murder of Abel leads to banishment and the extinction of

Cain’s generation.

Chapter 5: The Genealogies

 God gives humanity a fresh start. It describes ten generations leading up to Noah. It

accounts a divine and orderly event in history.

Chapter 6:1-8 The Marriage between Terrestrial and Celestial beings

This story contains different parallels in alternative traditional cultures. The activity

occurs under God’s control and describes his judgment of regret and great wickedness as a result

of creating humans. Noah is the only one left holding faith to God.

Chapter 6:9 - 9:17 The Great Flood

The Great Flood is destruction of creation. Noah builds an ark after receiving instructions

from God to do so. God commanded Noah to take seven pairs of every kid of animals and his

family on the ark because God found Noah and his generation righteous. The rain kept on falling

for forty days straight flooding everything on Earth but only Noah and his family are saved.

Following the emergence of dry land, Noah and his family present sacrifices to God as a sign of

the return to harmony between God and Man. God sends the sign of a rainbow as an indication

of the covenant made between them.

Chapter 9:18-29 The Cursing of Noah and his Son

Noah was blessed with a fruitful vineyard, but because of his drunkenness he was cursed.

During one of the occasions, while Noah was drunk, He got undressed and started to act in an

indifferent manner. His son Ham saw Noah and disclosed the scene in public. After Noah knew

about the incident He cursed the descendants of Ham.

Chapter 10: 1-32 The Table of Nations

In this story we learn about seventy people who are considered to be the complete

foundation of all races that exist on earth. The Japeth nations are situated to the west and north.
Shem is the founder of the populations of Mesopotamia, Arabia, and the Israelites; Ham’s

generation consists of the Egyptians and Canaanites.

Chapter 11:1-9 The Tower of Babel

Humans once again go against the creator’s will by attempting to construct a tower that

reaches the heavens, they had common speech and language. Lord descends down on Earth and

confuse their speech and language. People were unable to understand each other, God dispersed

the people and they stopped building the tower that reached heaven.

Chapter 11:10-32
This section of Genesis focuses only on the generations from Shem’s descent. Abraham

is introduced ten generations after Shem similarly to how Noah comes ten generations after

Adam. Unlike the prior chapters which indicate the great widths of God’s good deeds to

humanity, this chapter focus on one family getting to know God more intimately.

The Ancestral History

The ancestral history describes Israel’s history as God’s chosen people. It mentions the

traditions of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. The ancestral history is believed to be written in the

middle Bronze Age in 2000 and 1500 BCE.

Chapter 12:1-7 God selects Abraham

God’s command is unexpected and rigid. He commands Abraham, “Go…to the land I

will show you”. Lord commands Abraham to leave his country and family and move to the land

God shows. Lord says to Abraham, “ I will bless you and make your descendant into a great

nation”. Abraham was 75 years old when God commanded him to leave the city of Haran, He lift

with his nephew Lot, wife Sarai and slaves along with the things he possessed in Haran.

Abraham moved to the land of Canaan and built an alter there for God,
 Chapter 12:7 - 25:11 The story of Abraham
From chapter 12 to 25, the sections contain accounts of Abraham’s story. The author

details Sarah’s and Abraham’s travel and stay in Egypt including Sarah’s interactions with the

palace of the pharaoh. In these chapters Abraham's arrival in the Promised Land is described and

his parting ways with Lot. Chapter 14 contains the story when Abraham moves to Egypt, Sarai

was taken to the palace of Pharaoh by the officials. Lord inflicts plague among Pharaoh’s

household, later on Abraham and his wife are ordered to leave the city. Sarai later on gives birth

to Ishmael, the son is also known as Isaac. Isaac marries Rebekah and the death and burial of

Abraham are mentioned in chapter 25.

Chapter 37 - 47:27 the Trials and Triumphs of Joseph

This story introduces Joseph as Jacob’s favorite son because of that his other brothers

used to hate him. Joseph had a dream in which he saw that he became a king, his brothers hated

him more because of this dream. Joseph was abducted by his brothers and sold to slavery ending

up in Egypt. Chapter 39 describes Joseph’s encounters in Potiphar’s house, an official of

Pharaoh. He became successful with that Egyptian master. Joseph was a very handsome man and

master’s wife asked Joseph to “ Lie with him” Joseph refused. It kept on going for days but one

day Joseph escaped leaving his cloak in the hands of master’s wife. She cried out to the servants

that Joseph came to lie with me. In chapter 40 he experiences imprisonment after master hears

his wife’s story. From chapter 41 to 46, the book details Joseph’s rise to power under the

pharaoh’s administration and favor, he was thirty years old then[ CITATION Eva12 \l 1033 ]. Also, it

is this section that Joseph reconnects with his brothers and family who later on migrate to Egypt

to get the grains because the famine was hitting the world.
 Chapter 47 - 50
Chapter 47 to 50 describes Jacob’s preparing for his death and his final will and

testament. He was instructing his sons to bury him with his ancestors in the cave that is located

in fields of Ephron. After finishing the instruction Jacob drew his feet in bed and breathed his

last. Jacob blesses his sons and grandchildren with power, strength, the blessing of fresh grains

and to achieve justice.

Major Themes and Theological Message

One of the primary themes in the book of Genesis is that of Israelites being God’s chosen

people. This theme of divine promises brings together the patriarchal cycles. God declares the

election of Israel through the patriarchs suggesting his decision to appoint Israel as his special

people and promised to safeguard their future. He promises to be faithful to the patriarchs’

subsequent generations and expects Israelites to be faithful to him and his promises. God's

promise to the chosen people includes three sections; offspring, blessings, and land[ CITATION

Gon10 \l 1033 ]. Fulfilling the promise relied on the patriarch siring a male heir. The ancestors

remain faithful to God and each is blessed with a son with Jacob having twelve, who form the

tribes of the chosen Israelites. Each subsequent generation receives better fulfillment. The

generations flow down until Joseph who leads to the Israelites arriving and settling in Egypt

making him the means for God fulfilling the promise to his chosen people.

Another theme in the book of Genesis is man's disobedience of God's will. Adam's

defiance of God's command by eating a fruit from the forbidden tree signifies man's initial act of

disobedience. After Adam's disobedience, it results in the expulsion of humans from the Garden

of Eden. Also, the wrath of God that led him to flood the earth following forty days of rainfall

was an act aimed at destroying the humans who once again had betrayed God[ CITATION Gon10 \l
1033 ]. Cain lying directly to God about his brother’s death also shows the proliferation of

evilness leading God to cast out Cain and others like him who willingly went against his will.

One of the theological messages that stand out in the book of Genesis is ethical

monotheism as a fundamental mark of these ancient biblical stories. The foundational tenets of

Israel's monotheism are broken down by fusing vivid narratives into a drama aimed at expressing

the scripture’s presumed salvation plans[ CITATION Gon10 \l 1033 ]. The plans include God's

creation, in the beginning, God's special intervention in creating man and woman who lead to the

origin of all humans and races as well as an original state of moral happiness and integrity.

Reflection on the book

Genesis presents a form of the myth of creation. It is a work of literature detailing the

origin of man and earth in its entirety. It contains the narrative of patriarchs and heroes as well as

the foundation of culture. The author aims to link prominent families of their era to a historic

past that traces to heroes. Resultantly, it leads to less distinction between facts, myths, and

legends. Additionally, the book preserves Israelites' traditions showing its value to be of high

regard and does not omit anything. The ancient stories are antiquarian which serves as evidence

of the value of Israelites' traditions to the world.

 References

Calvin, J. (2018). Commentaries of the First Book of Moses Called Genesis. . Lulu. com.

Evans, C. A. (2012). The book of Genesis: composition, reception, and interpretation. Brill.

Gonzales, R. R. (2010). Where Sin Abounds: The Spread of Sin and the Curse in Genesis with

Special Focus on the Patriarchal Narratives. . Wipf and Stock Publishers.

Graves, R. &. (2014). Hebrew Myths: The book of Genesis. Rosetta Books.