How to Read Genesis?

Old Testament scholar and author John Walton (Old Testament Professor at Wheaten and author of Zondervan’s NIV Application Commentary on Genesis) offers some important reminders with regard to how we should approach a reading of the book of Genesis. First and foremost, says Walton, we have to approach Genesis for what it is, which is an ancient text.  Therefore, we must interpret it through a lens of what we know of the Ancient Near East and attempt to ask the questions the original author(s) would have been asking. 

Here’s a video with Dr. Walton explaining these very matters:

Related to the above video, John Walton discusses the content of Genesis 1 and how it should be read. The account in Genesis is not intended to be an account of material origins, says Walton. Therefore, if that is so, the Bible has no narrative of material origins—and if that is so, we don't need to defend the Bible's narrative of material origins against science's narrative of material origins.  I think it’s imperative that we ask contextual questions about what the original authors would have been trying to convey through the text of Genesis ch.1 and not laying on the text questions it wasn’t meant to answer (e.g., creationism vs. evolution, literal or non-literal, etc.).

Check out what Professor Walton has to say:

Q+A - Should Genesis be Read Literally and Historically?

First and foremost,  we have to approach Genesis for what it is, an ancient text.  Therefore, we must interpret it through a lens of what we know of the Ancient Near East and attempt to ask the questions the original author(s) and audience would have been asking, not what we (modern day readers) would be asking and wondering when it comes to the origin of all things.

So I think it’s imperative that we ask contextual questions uncovering what the original authors would have been trying to convey through the text of Genesis ch.1-11 (such as monotheism, human significance, and human and cosmological connectedness) and not laying on the text questions it wasn’t meant to answer (e.g., creationism vs. evolution, literal or non-literal, the age of the earth, the ever expanding cosmos, etc.).

There are many aspects of Genesis 1 that simply do not make scientific sense - for example, the sun was created on the 4th day when vegetation was created on the 3rd day.  When Christians speaks of 7 literal days and use the biblical time-line to date the age of the earth there are also significant scientific problems.  

Now, for those who really want to hold to a view of Genesis being literal history and a true account for the order of creation and the age of the earth, there are some suitable (but challenged) answers and/or theories to these questions. But to view the purpose of the Genesis text as answering these questions is a hermeneutical error.  Modern science did not play a role in the mind of the original audience.  We must be careful not to approach Genesis this way. 

As with all literature, there are interpretative rules which need to be applied.  For example, we do not read the newspaper the same we read Moby Dick and we do not read The Hobbit the same way we read Who Moved My Cheese.  Genre, type of literature, must play a big role.

Genesis 1 is song or a poem (rhythm and repetition), not historical narrative.  (for example):

• the repetition of "it was good"
• the building of the days - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc...
• the Hebraic symbolism of 7 - being the number of completion

In comparison, listen to the introduction to Luke's Gospel, which is historical narrative: "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.  With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you..."

Clearly different and thus we must interpret them differently.

Also, something we must consider when reading Genesis, which is an Ancient Near Eastern piece of literature, are the other Ancient Near Eastern writing styles and cultures.  Archaeologist and other academic fields have uncovered many writings from times that predate the Hebrew culture - thus predate when our Bibles where written.

Most scholars agree, Genesis is an anthology - a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler or compliers (which one of them I believe to be Moses) over time. It is more highly unified than most anthologies, however, because all of the material falls into one congruent narrative. But it’s not like modern day history; it’s primarily a collection of what may be called hero stories – intermittent tales focused on a central character with whom the reader is to identify with – interspersed with genealogies. Even more specific, the first three chapters belong to a genre known as origin stories and the rest of Genesis also has affinities with the epic genre.

There are certain motifs that ring true in almost all Ancient Near Eastern literary findings on mythology, epics, and/or origins.  For example, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Epic of Atrahasis, and and the Tale of Adapa we find very similar themes and motifs found in the Bible:

• tricky and evil serpents 
• gardens
• food that gives and takes away life
• floods that kill of human race except one man, his close family/friends and some animals 
• In Sumerian list of the Kings we find lineages with extremely long life spans - indicating the significance of their rule

For more about the Bible and how it's similar to other ancient wittings, listen to "Hello, My Name Is..." (from the Grace Church podcast).

The bottom line...I think the question of whether Genesis, and in particular Genesis 1 -11, being a historically accurate account of what happened or not is not a hill we should die on!  That's not the point of the text.

The text is to be read theologically and typologically:

• It reveals to us the Maker of all things, the origin of all life - God 
• It reveals that all of creation was wonderful and good
• It reveals that all of humanity is significant and is the pinnacle of all creation -  for we, and we alone, are created in the image of God
• It reveals that all of humanity - since Adam means "man" and Eve means "woman", rebelled against God's created order; we were expelled from God's presence (typologically expressed as a "garden"); and the shalom of God (peace and perfect order) was replaced with a brokenness and an ever present evil.  Thus, it reveals that life is not as it should be.

I think Christians far too often get their undies all in a bundle over things that we should not be overly concerned with.  We end up looking foolish and, even worse, arrogant and spiteful because of this.

And let's be rational objective about both views...

If God is eternal and sovereign, as Genesis describes no matter how you read it, literally or non-literally, couldn't he create something outside of the scientific norms?  Couldn’t he have created plant life one day and the sun the next?  Couldn’t he create a rock that's a 60 billion years in a nanosecond?  Couldn't he have created species to have such strong DNA similarities with only small percentages of difference which separate a human from a dog?  Couldn’t he do that?  I think so.

And if God is eternal and sovereign, as Genesis describes no matter how you read it, literally or non-literally, couldn't he have simply chosen to reveal himself to the Hebrew people in a way that was culturally relevant - using symbolism and motifs they were already familiar with?  Do you even think that a finite people could even understand how the only infinite Being actually created everything?  Do you you think they, or we for that matter, could even understand how he actually did it all?  Don't you think there will be always be a wonder to how God works and how things came and come together?  I think so.

All the scientific questions are extremely interesting and worth peacefully discussing and contemplating. But let's NOT superimpose modern questions, that really make little difference in the whole scheme of things, onto these wonderful ancient documents that were meant to reveal the only true God who made everything, the purpose of humanity, what went wrong in the world (i.e., why there is death, pain, heartache, and suffering), and how, in the Gospel of Christ, promised in Genesis 3:15 and as N.T. Wright expresses it, God is putting everything in the cosmos back to rights again.

For more on the message of Genesis and how we can apply it's truth to our life - check out our teachings from our series entitled, Genesis: The Promise, on the Grace Church podcast.

As always, grace + peace to all of you.

Intro. to Torah + Genesis

They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Deuteronomy 32:47

Intro to the Torah:
The Old Testament and Its Divisions - The 39 books of the O.T. can be divided as such:

• Pentateuch/Torah: Genesis - Deuteronomy
• Israel’s History: Joshua - Esther
• The Writings: Job - Song of Solomon
• Major Prophets: Isaiah - Daniel
• Minor Prophets: Hosea - Malachi

The division of O.T. books in the Hebrew Bible (Tanach) is a bit different from that in our English Bibles. (Ours finds its divisions by way of the second-century B.C. Greek translation known as the Septuagint.) The Hebrew Bible is divided into three parts:

• The Law (Torah or “books of Moses”)
• The Prophets (the Former Prophets, including Joshua through Kings [minus Ruth], and the Latter Prophets, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve [the so-called Minor Prophets]),
• And the Writings (the Psalms [including Lamentations], the Wisdom books [Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs], Daniel, and the four narrative books of Ruth, Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles).

 
The Significance of Torah and A Vision of Jesus:
Torah – (Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, "Instruction"), also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: Πεντάτευχος from πεντα- penta- [five] and τεῦχος teuchos [tool, vessel, or book]). For the Hebrew, the Torah was to be much more than 613 laws to obey. The actual laws, along with the worship/sacrificial rituals within them, were very important; but the essence (that to which the Torah points) and “heart” of the law was always most important and it was to dominate one’s passions, working its way into every category of life.

See Deut. 6:1-9; 32:47; Psalm 1:2; 119:34, 77, 165, 174

Why? Torah was the very Word of God and so connected to its sovereign author that some rabbinical teachings even personified the Torah. Torah, being the Word of God, in their minds, preexisted creation and God created everything through his Word. Thus Genesis chapter 1 records God (Elohim) as speaking the cosmos into existence.

This is also why John introduced Jesus in his Gospel by saying, “In the beginning was the Word….Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5). He linked, not only the Greek word logos (word) to Jesus, he also linked the Hebrew belief of things being made through Torah and that Torah was the light of the world (a common rabbinical teaching) to the work and essence of Christ himself.

The significance of all this is that the only to know and experience God for the Hebrew was through the Torah (especially after the temple was destroyed). John is/was saying the Torah has “now become flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:13); meaning, God is now closer than ever! Furthermore, another common rabbinical expression about the Torah was that it was the truth, the life, and the way! Sound familiar? In John, retelling of some Jesus’ last words to his disciples, he writes:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.
From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” ~ John 14:6-7

The Book of Genesis:Questions about Title, Authorship, Date, and Original Audience:
The English title “Genesis” comes from the Greek translation of the Torah called, Pentateuch, and it means “origin,” a perfect title because Genesis is all about origins. The Hebrew title, Bereshith = “in [the] beginning”, from the first phrase in the book, serves as its title and is suggestive as to what the book is about. Genesis tells of the beginning of God’s story – creation, human disobedience, and divine redemption – while it also begins the Torah/Pentateuch, the story of God’s choosing and making a covenant with a people through whom he would bless all peoples (Gen 12:2–3).

In the strict sense, Genesis (and all of Torah for that matter) is written anonymously. But traditionally Genesis, like the rest of the Torah, has been ascribed to Moses and even labeled “the Books of Moses” (2 Chron. 25:4; Ezra 6:18; Neh 13:1; ect…). The other books of the Torah relate Moses' life and his role in bringing Israel to the borders of Canaan, and parts of these books are expressly said to have been written by Moses (e.g., Num. 33:2; Deut. 31:24). Genesis is clearly an introduction to the books that follow, so it is natural to suppose that if Moses was responsible for their composition, he must also have been the author of Genesis (cf. John 5:46).

Genesis reflects an origin in the second millennium b.c. For example, the flood story finds its best parallels in the Atrahasis and Gilgamesh epics and in the Sumerian flood story, which were composed in 17 centaury b.c.; while the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 find a parallel in the Sumerian King List, dated about 1900 b.c. As far as the patriarchal stories are concerned, many features show that they are at home in the early second millennium. Their names are typical of that period, and many family customs correspond to what is known from that era. The rise of Joseph to be vizier (the highest official in Ancient Egypt), though not mentioned in Egyptian texts, is quite feasible in the era of the Hyksos (Semitic rulers of Egypt, c. 1600 b.c.). Whatever date is preferred for Moses and the composition of the Torah, several centuries must have separated him from the patriarchs, during which the stories about them were presumably passed on by word of mouth.

The World of Genesis:
Genesis describes events in the ancient Near East from the beginnings of civilization to the relocation of Jacob's (Israel's) family to Egypt. The stories of Genesis are set among the oldest civilizations known to man (in ancient Mesopotamia).

The Division of Genesis:
The narrative of Genesis itself comes in two basic parts: a “prehistory” (chapters 1–11), the stories of creation, human origins, the fall of humanity, and the relentless progress of evil – all against the backdrop of God’s enduring patience and love – and the story of the beginning of redemption through Abraham and his seed (chapters 12–50), with focus on the stories of Abraham (11:27–25:11), Jacob (25:12–37:1), and Joseph (chapters 37–50).\

Things to Keep in Mind When Reading Genesis:
Most scholars agree, Genesis is an anthology - a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It is more highly unified than most anthologies, however, because all of the material falls into the overall genre of historical narrative. But it’s not like modern day history; it’s primarily a collection of what may be called hero stories – intermittent tales focused on a central character with whom the reader is to identify with – with interspersed genealogies. Even more specific, the first three chapters belong to a genre known as the story of origins. Genesis also has affinities with the epic genre because the story is one of universal history (chapters 1–11) and the origins of the nation of Israel (chapters 12–50).