Overview of the Bible: Book of
Genesis
Title: English: Genesis – origin(s) Hebrew: B’reshit – in the beginning (head
of)
Date of
writing: 1446 – 1406
BC or earlier (Gen. 5:1)
Date of
Narrative: Creation (4004
BC or 4158 BC [K-D, I:414]) to about 1600 BC
Structure:
|
Intro: The story of creation 1:1 – 2:3 |
|
|
1. Toledoth of heaven and earth, 2:4 - 4:26 2. Toledoth of Adam, 5:1 – 6:8 3. Toledoth of Noah, 6:9 – 9:29 4. Toledoth of son of Noah, 10:1 – 11:9 5. Toledoth of Shem, 11:10-26 |
6. Toledoth of Terah, 11:27 – 25:11 7. Toledoth of Ishmael, 25:12-18 8. Toledoth of Isaac, 25:19 – 35:29 9. Toledoth of Esau, 36 10. Toledoth of Jacob, 37 – 50 |
Toledoth – “signifies
literally the generation or posterity of anyone, then the development of these
generations or of his descendants” (Keil-Delitzsch, I:71).
Main
themes:
|
Creation: |
|
Non-living realm |
Living souls realm |
|
|
Form |
2. Firmament |
5. birds and fish |
|
1. initial light |
Emptiness |
3. grains and trees |
6. animals and humans |
|
|
Darkness |
4. celestial lights |
7. Sabbath |
Light – the
godly people are witnesses and bearers of light into the world (Gen. 5:23;
15:5; 32:31; 37:9-11; 41:6)
Family patterns:
Husband-wife, Father-son, brother-brother relationship
Sin:
breaking the boundaries, eliminating others, rejection of witness
Main Characters:
|
Before after the Flood |
After the Flood |
|
Adam, Eve Kain, Abel Lamech Seth, Enoch (5:23) Noah and Shem, Ham, and Japheth |
Nimrod, Melchizedek (king of Salem) Abram/Abraham (17:5), Sarai/Sarah Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Esau Judah, Joseph, Potiphar, Pharaoh |
Creationist
outline of the Book:
|
|
|
Before the Flood |
After the Flood I |
After the Flood II |
|
|
Form/Father |
2:25 – 3:24 |
9:20-28 |
Isaac |
|
1:1 – 2:24 |
Empty/Son |
4:1-26 |
10:1 – 11:26 |
Jacob |
|
|
Dark/H. Spirit |
5:1 – 6:8 |
Abraham |
Joseph |
Reflection
in other parts of the Bible:
Theme of
Creation: Ex. 25 – 31 (7 speeches creating the Tabernacle); Is. 1:2; 65:17-18;
Justification
by faith: 15:6 – Habakkuk 2:4 – Galatians 3–4
Lutheran
teaching:
Creation: Small/Large
Catechism part I
Baptism: Formula
of Concord, Epitome XII:8 Gen. 17 – Col. 2:11-12
Holy
Communion: Formula of Concord, SD VII:75-76
Lutheran Hymnody:
Gen. 28 – Nearer
my God to Thee (LW, 514).
Gen. 3 – O
sing of Christ (LSB, 362).
Relevancy
of the Book:
Reading the
Book of Genesis, we see that God is a loving creator of the world. And the
within this world we can learn the proper patterns of behavior (personal,
family, and society), relying on the grace of God.
Memory
verses:
1:26 God said:
“Let us make ADAM in our own image, after our own likeness. And let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over
the livestock and all the earth and over every creping thing that creeps on
earth”.
50:20 You
meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many
people should be kept alive, as they are today.
