Overview of the Bible: Book of Genesis

 

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.