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§ 1.

—Biblical Data:

The first book of the Torah, and therefore of the whole Bible, is called by the Jews "Bereshit," after the initial word; by the Septuagint and by Philo it is called Γύνεσις (κόσμου) = "origin" (of the world), after the contents, and hence "Genesis" has become the usual non-Hebrew designation for it. According to the Masorah, it is divided into ninety-one sections ("parashiyyot"), forty-three of which have open or broken lines ("petuḥot"), and forty-eight closed lines ("setumot"); or into forty-three chapters ("sedarim") and twenty-nine sections ("pisḳot"); for reading on the Sabbath, into twelve lessons; according to the division adopted from the Vulgate, into fifty chapters with 1,543 verses.

§ 2.

Nature and Plan.

Genesis is a historical work. Beginning with the creation of the world, it recounts the primal history of humanity and the early history of the people of Israel as exemplified in the lives of its patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their families. It contains the historical presupposition and basis of the national religious ideas and institutions of Israel, and serves as an introduction to its history and legislation. It is a well-planned and well-executed composition of a single writer, who has recounted the traditions of his people with masterly skill, combining them into a uniform work, without contradictions or useless repetitions, but preserving the textual and formal peculiarities incident to their difference in origin and mode of transmission.

§ 3.

The author has treated the story as a series of ten "generations" ("toledot"); namely, (1) of heaven and earth, ch. 2:4-; (2) of Adam, -6:8; (3) of Noah, 6:9-; (4) of Noah's sons, -11:9; (5) of Shem, 11:10-26; (6) of Terah, 11:27-25:11; (7) of Ishmael, 25:12-18; (8) of Isaac, 25:19-; (9) of Esau,; (10) of Jacob, -1.

§ 4.

Contents.

§ 5.

§ 6.

§ 7.

§ 8.

§ 9.

Aim of Work.

In the choice, connection, and presentation of his material the narrator has followed certain principles incident to the purpose and scope of his work. Although he adopts the universal view-point of history, beginning with the Creation and giving a review of the entire human race, he yet intends to deal particularly with Israel, the people subsequently chosen by God, and to give an account of its origin and of its election, which is based on its religious and moral character. His chief point of view, therefore, is that of narrator of tribal and religious history; and only the details that bear on this history are reported.

§ 10.

It is his primary intention to show that the people of Israel are descended in a direct line from Adam, the first man created by God, through legitimate marriages in conformity with Israelitish moral ideals, e., monandric marriages. Offshoots branch from this main line at central points represented by Adam, Noah, Shem, Eber, Abraham, and Isaac, though their subsequent legitimacy can not be guaranteed. Linguistically the descent from the main line is always indicated by the word , vouching for the paternity; while descent in a branch line is indicated by . This is the explanation of the interchange of these two words, a phenomenon which has never yet been correctly interpreted. The line branching off at any one central point is always fully treated before the next member of the main line is mentioned. Only such matters are related in regard to the branch lines as are important for the history of humanity or that of Israel. No fact is ever introduced merely on account of its historical or antiquarian value. In the main line the interest is concentrated upon the promised, long-expected generations of Isaac—Jacob, his sons and grandsons—who safely pass through all dangers and tribulations, emphasis being laid on their religious and moral character.

§ 11.

The events are related in definite chronological order, the chief dates being as follows:

The year of the Creation is the year 3949 before the common era.

The ten generations before the Flood attain to ages varying between 777 years (Lamech) and 969 years (Methuselah), with the exception of Enoch (365 years). Those of the ten generations after the Flood vary between 600 years (Shem) and 148 (Nahor). All the reasons for the details of this chronology have not yet been discovered. Oppert has declared (in "R. E. J." 1895, and in Chronology) that the figures are connected with ancient Babylonian chronological systems. The variations found in the Septuagint and in the Samaritan Pentateuch were introduced for certain purposes (see Jacob in "J. Q. R." 12:434 et seq.). The correctness of the Masoretic figures, however, is evident from the context.

§ 12.

Anachronisms such as various critics allege are found in Genesis do not in reality exist; and their assumption is based on a misunderstanding of the historiographic principles of the book. Thus the history of a generation no longer of importance is closed and the death of its last member noted, although it may not be contemporaneous with the next succeeding generation, to which the attention is then exclusively directed. This view explains the apparent contradictions between 11:32 and 11:26, 12:4; also between 25:7 and 25:26; 21:5 and 25:20; 35:28 (Jacob was at that time 120 years old) and 47:9; 37:2, 41:46; etc. In ch. Dinah is not six to seven years old, nor Simeon and Levi eleven and ten respectively, but (35:27, 37:1 et seq., 33:17) each is ten years older. The events in ch. do not cover twenty-three years—from the sale of Joseph in his seventeenth year to the arrival of Judah's grandsons in Egypt (46:12) in Joseph's fortieth year—but thirty-three years, as the words (elsewhere only in 21:22 and 1 Kings 11:29) refer back in this case to 33:17. The story is introduced at this point to provide a pause after ch.

§ 13.

Nor are there any repetitions or unnecessary doublets. If ch. were an account of the Creation differing from that found in ch. , nearly all the events would have been omitted; it is, however, the story in detail of the creation of man, introduced by a summary of what preceded. Neither are there two accounts of the Flood in ch. -, in which no detail is superfluous. The three accounts of the danger of Sarah and Rebekah, ch. , , and , are not repetitions, as the circumstances are different in each case; and ch. refers expressly to ch. The account in 19:29 of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the rescue of Lot, is but a summary introducing the story that follows, which would not be comprehensible without 19:14,23,28. Repeated references to the same place (Beth-el, 28:19, 35:15), or renewed attempts to explain the same name (Beer-sheba, 21:31, 26:33; comp. 30:20 et seq.), or several names for the same person (26:34, 27:46-36:2 for Esau's wives) are not contradictions. The change of Jacob's name into that of "Israel" is not narrated twice; for 32:29 contains only the announcement by the messenger of God. Apparently no exegete has noted that is a parenthesis often found in prophetic speeches ("Not Jacob—thus it will be said [e., in 35:10]—shall be thy name"); is an impossible construction in Hebrew; 32:4 et seq. and 33:1 et seq. do not prove, contrary to 36:6-7, that Esau was living at Seir before Jacob's return. The account of the sale of Joseph as found in 37:1-25,28,29-36; 1 et seq. does not contradict 37:25-27,28;; forthe Midianites were the middlemen between the brothers and the Ishmaelites, on the one hand, and between the latter and Potiphar, on the other. Potiphar is a different person from the overseer of the prison; and Joseph could very well say that he had been stolen, e., that he had been put out of the way ( 15).

§ 14.

It is the purpose of the book, on its religious as well as its historic side, to portray the relation of God to humanity and the behavior of the latter toward Him; His gracious guidance of the history of the Patriarchs, and the promises given to them; their faith in Him in spite of all dangers, tribulations, and temptations; and, finally, the religious and moral contrasts with Hamitic (Egyptian and Canaanite) behavior.

§ 15.

Religion of Genesis.

Being a historical narrative, no formal explanations of its religious views are found in Genesis; but the stories it contains are founded on such views, and the author furthermore looks upon history as a means of teaching religion. He is a historian only in virtue of being a theologian. He inculcates religious doctrines in the form of stories. Instead of propounding a system he describes the religious life. The book therefore contains an inexhaustible fund of ideas. The most important among these, regarding God, the Creation, humanity, and Israel's Patriarchs, may be mentioned here.

§ 16.

There is only one God, who has created heaven and earth (that is, the world), and has called all objects and living beings into existence by His word. The most important point of the theology of Genesis, after this fundamental fact, is the intentional variation in the name of God. It is the most striking point of the book that the same God is now called "Elohim" and now "Yhwh." In this variation is found the key to the whole book and even to the whole Pentateuch. It is not accidental; nor are the names used indifferently by the author, though the principle he follows can not be reduced to a simple formula, nor the special intention in each case be made evident.

§ 17.

"Yhwh" is the proper name of God (= "the Almighty"; see Exodus 3:12 et seq., 6:2), used wherever the personality of God is to be emphasized. Hence only such expressions are used in connection with "Yhwh" as convey the impression of personality, e., anthropomorphisms. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, face, hand, heart are ascribed only to "Yhwh," never to "Elohim." These anthropomorphisms are used merely to suggest the personal life and activity of God, and are not literal personifications, as is conclusively proved by the fact that phrases which would be actual anthropomorphisms—e.g., "God sees with His eyes"; "He hears with His ears"; "one sees God's face" ("head," "body," etc.)—never occur. The expression "Yhwh's eyes" indicates divine knowledge of what may be seen through personal apperception; "Yhwh's ears," what may be heard; = "God's anger" indicates the reaction of God's moral nature against evil; "Yhwh's mouth" indicates the utterances of the God who speaks personally; "Yhwh's face" indicates immediate personal intercourse with the God who is felt to be present; "Yhwh's hand" indicates His sensible manifestations of power; "Yhwh's heart" indicates His thoughts and designs. The phrase "Yhwh, a personal God," characterizes fully the use of this name. A person or a nation can have personal relations with the personal Yhwh only; and only He can plan and guide the fate of either with a personal interest. Yhwh is the God of history and of the education of the human race. Only Yhwh can exact a positive attitude toward Himself, and make demands upon man that are adequate, e., moral: Yhwh is the God of positive morality. A personal, inner life longing for expression can be organized into definite form and find response only if Yhwh be a personal, living God. Yhwh is the God of ritual, worship, aspiration, and love.

§ 18.

"Elohim" is an appellative, and the general name for the divinity, the superhuman, extramundane being, whose existence is felt by all men—a being that possesses intelligence and will, exists in the world and beyond human power, and is the final cause of all that exists and happens. "Yhwh" is concrete; "Elohim" is abstract. "Yhwh" is the special," Elohim" the general, God. "Yhwh" is personal; "Elohim." impersonal. Yet there is no other Elohim but Yhwh, who is "ha-Elohim" (the Elohim).

The following points may be observed in particular: (a) "Elohim," as genitive of a person, indicates that the latter has superhuman relations (23:6; similarly of an object, 28:17,22). (b) It also indicates ideal humanity (33:10; comp. 32:29).

(c) "Elohim" expresses the fate imposed by a higher power. The statement "A person is prosperous" is paraphrased by "Elohim is with him," which is distinctly different from "Yhwh is with him." While the former indicates objectively a person's prosperity with regard to a single event, the latter expresses the higher intentions and consecutive plans of the personal God in regard to the person in question. Abimelech says to Abraham, "Elohim is with thee in all that thou doest" (21:22), while he says to Isaac, "Yhwh is with thee," and "thou art now the blessed of Yhwh" (26:28,29). For Abimelech had at first tried in vain to injure Isaac; but later he convinced himself () that evidently () it was the Yhwh worshiped by Isaac that designedly protected and blessed the latter. Again, in 21:20: "And Elohim was with the lad"; for Ishmael did not belong to the chosen line, concerning which God had special plans. Yhwh, however, is always with Israel and its heroes (26:3,28; 28:15 [32:10,13]; 46:4; Exodus 3:12; Numbers 23:21; Deuteronomy 2:7; 20:1; 31:8,23; Joshua 1:5,9,17; 3:7; Judges 2:18; 6:12,16; 1 Samuel 3:19; 16:18; 18:12,14; 20:13; 2 Samuel 7:3, 5:10; 1 Kings 1:37; 2 Kings 18:7). Particularly instructive is Jacob's vow, 28:20 et seq., "If Elohim will be with me . . . then shall Yhwh be my Elohim." Adverse fate especially is, out of fear, euphemistically ascribed to the general Elohim, the impersonal God, rather than to Yhwh 42:28).

(d) As "Elohim" designates the universal ruler of the world, that term is used in ch. in the story of the Creation; but in order to designate this Elohim as the true God the word "Yhwh" is always addedin the following chapters (, ). (e) In so far as man feels himself dependent upon Elohim, whom he needs, the latter becomes his Elohim. As the term "Elohim" includes the idea of beneficent power, this relation becomes, on the part of God, that of the omnipotent patron, and, on the part of man, that of the protégé, the one who needs protection and offers respect and obedience (17:7, 28:22). The same interpretation applies to "Elohim" followed by the genitive of a person. (f) Elohim is the religious meeting-ground between the believer in Yhwh and persons of a different faith (14:22; 20:13; 21:23; 39:9; 41:16,25,28,32,38). (g) "Elohim" is the appellation of God used in connection with the person who is inclined toward Yhwh, but whose faith is not yet fully developed; for the one who is on the way to religion, as Melchizedek (ch. ) and Abraham's servant (ch.; comp. Jethro in Exodus and Balaam in Numbers; see §§ 28, 31). (h) "Elohim" represents God for those whose moral perception has been blunted by sin (3:3,5); from the mouths of the serpent and the woman instead of "Jahweh" is heard "Elohim"; they desire to change the idea of a living God, who says, "Thou shalt," into a blurred concept of an impersonal and indefinite God. But the God who pronounces judgment is Yhwh (ch. ,; on Cain, ch.; in connection with the Flood, 6:3-8; the tower of Babel, 11:5 et seq.; Sodom and Gomorrah, 18:19; Er and Onan, 38:7,10). (i) Although the personality of Elohim is indistinct, he yet is felt to be a moral power making moral demands. The moral obligation toward him is the negative virtue of the "fear of God," the fear of murder (20:11), unchastity (39:9), injustice (42:18), and renunciation (22:12). (k) "Elohim" also means the appearance of the Deity, and hence may be synonymous with "mal'ak." It may also designate an object of the ritual representing or symbolizing the Deity (35:2).

§ 19.

"Elohim" is more explicitly defined by the article; "ha-Elohim," e., "the Elohim" or "of the Elohim," is sometimes used to identify an "Elohim" previously mentioned (17:18; comp. verse 17; 20:6,17; comp. verse 3). The single, definite, previously mentioned appearance of an Elohim is called "ha-Elohim," being as such synonymous with "Mal'ak Yhwh" (22:1,3,9,11,15), both speaking for Yhwh (verse 16; comp. 48:15). "Ha-Elohim," when derived from "Elohim," is a preparation for "Yhwh"; when derived from "Yhwh" it is a weakening of the idea of God (see §§ 31 et seq.). Although these examples do not exhaust the different uses of these two names, they are sufficient to show the author's intentions.

§ 20.

A rare term for "God" is "El Shaddai" (17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:13, 48:13; "Shaddai" in 49:25). The usual translation and interpretation, "Almighty," is entirely unsupported. The term, when closely examined, means "the God of faith," e., the God who faithfully fulfils His promises. Perhaps it also means a God of love who is inclined to show abundant love.

§ 21.

God as a personal being is not only referred to in anthropomorphistic and anthropopathic terms, but He also appears to man and speaks with him. Thus He speaks with Adam and Eve, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Hagar, Abimelech, Isaac, Jacob, and Laban. But He appears only from the time of Abraham, and in different ways. An Elohim "appears" to Abimelech and Laban in a dream at night (20:3, 31:24); a mal'ak Yhwh appears to Hagar (16:7 et seq.), being called in verse 13 simply "Yhwh." Yhwh appears to Abram (12:7, 15:1); in a vision (12:1,7) apparently accompanied by darkness, a pillar of smoke, and fire; in Yhwh, who is subsequently called "Elohim" (verses 9, 15, 19), appears, and then ascends (verse 22); in Yhwh appears in the form of three men who visit Abraham, but these speak as one Yhwh in verses 13, 17, 20, 26, and 33, who then leaves, while the two messengers go to Sodom. Yhwh appears to Isaac on a certain day (26:2), and again that night (verse 24). Jacob is addressed in a dream by Yhwh (28:12 et seq.). In 31:3 Yhwh speaks to Jacob; Jacob says (verse 11) that a mal'ak of Elohim appeared to him in a dream. In 35:9 Elohim again appears to him, in reference to the nocturnal encounter with a "man" (32:14 et seq.), and ascends (35:13). In 46:2 Elohim speaks to him in a vision of the night.

Hence, the appearance of God means either a dream-vision, or the appearance of a messenger sent by God, who speaks in His name, and may therefore himself be called "Elohim of Yhwh."

§ 22.

"Mal'ak of God" signifies, in the first place, the fortunate disposition of circumstances (24:7,40; comp. 48:16), in which case it is parallel to "ha-Elohim," the divine guidance of human life; more often, however, it denotes the "angels" ("mal'akim"), messengers of God in human shape who carry His behests to men and who seem to enter and leave heaven through a gate (28:11); e.g., "Yhwh's messenger" (16:7,11; 22:11,15); "Elohim's messenger" (21:17; in the plural, 19:1,15; 28:12; 32:2); or "ha-Elohim's messenger" (31:11). The "man" who wrestled with Jacob likewise seems to have been a mal'ak (32:25,29,31), and the men whom Abraham entertained and who saved Lot were also mal'akim (, ). According to the popular belief, it is disastrous to meet them (16:13, 32:31). On this point, more than on any other, the author seems to have followed popular ideas.

§ 23.

It appears from the foregoing that the conception of God found in Genesis is throughout a practical, religious one. God is treated exclusively with reference to His dealings with the world and with man, and to the interest that He takes in man's fate and behavior. He guides, educates, and punishes. He assigns to the first of mankind a habitation in Eden, sets them a task, and commands them not to do a certain thing. When they break this command He punishes them; but even after that He cares for them. Although punishing the murderer Cain, He affords him protection; the cruelties and unnatural sins of the generation of the Flood arouse His sorrow and anger; He humiliates the pride of the men who are planning to build a tower that shall reach to heaven; He utterly destroys with fire and brimstone the sinful generation of Sodom and Gomorrah. The punishments are either the natural consequences of sin—the first of mankind haverobbed the earth, which had willingly offered the fruit of its trees, hence it is cursed and paralyzed, and can no longer give its fruit freely, so long as Adam is living; Eve has succumbed to desire, hence she has become the slave of desire; Cain has defiled the earth by murder, hence he has deprived it of its strength—or they correspond exactly to the sins; e.g., men build a tower in order to remain united, hence they are dispersed; Jacob wishes to rule his brother, therefore he must humiliate himself before that brother; he deceives, and is deceived in return; he dresses up in a goatskin in order to obtain a blessing fraudulently, therefore he is terribly deceived and plunged in sorrow through a goatskin; Judah advises the sale of Joseph as a slave, therefore he himself is forced to offer himself as a slave.

God, on the other hand, is pleased with the pious, with Enoch and Noah, and especially with Abraham's unshakable faith (15:6); his righteousness and justice, which he recommends to his children and household (18:19); his implicit obedience, which is ready to make the supreme sacrifice (22:12,16). For Abraham's sake God saves Lot (19:19); blesses Abraham's son Isaac (26:5), his children, and his children's children; protects them through all dangers; prevents others from doing evil to them (12:17, , , 20:3, , 31:24); and leads them in a marvelous manner. He gives commands to men, and binds them to Himself by covenants and promises. They are the objects of His designs, as they are His work.

§ 24.

The Creation.

The entire universe is the work of God; this proposition is the necessary consequence of the idea of God as found in Genesis and the Pentateuch and in the whole Bible generally. From this arises doubtless the author's belief that God created the world out of nothing. He does not say how this primal act of creation was accomplished. In the beginning the earth was a desolate watery chaos ("tohu wa bohu"), over which the spirit of God brooded, and which God divided into heaven and earth and arranged and peopled in six days. The living beings are created in an orderly sequence, proceeding from the inorganic to the organic, from the incomplete to the complete, man being the crown. In the beginning God creates light together with time and the day. The outer firmament separates the waters above and below it; then when the lower waters recede the land appears; the earth produces grass and trees; and plants and animals are created, each "after its kind," and endowed with the faculty of propagating within their kind in their respective elements. Every organic being, therefore, is endowed with a nature of its own, which the Creator intends it to keep by pairing only with its own kind. The lights that God has fixed in the firmament serve to separate the day from the night; they shall be for "signs, periods, seasons, and years," and shall give light to the earth. The sun is the greater light, that rules the day; the moon is the lesser light, that rules the night.

§ 25.

The Creation is, in the judgment of God, good in particular, and very good in general, e., fit for life, commensurate to its purpose, salutary, harmonic, and pleasing. The book expresses an optimistic satisfaction and pleasure in the world, a lively veneration for God's arrangements and the peculiar dignity of each being as determined by God. The simplicity, sublimity, depth, and moral grandeur of this story of the Creation and its superiority to every other story dealing with the subject are universally recognized.

§ 26.

Humanity.

Man, the crown of Creation, as a pair including man and woman, has been made in God's image. God forms the first man, Adam, out of earth ("adamah"). This indicates his relation to it in a manner that is fundamental for many later laws. Man is a child of the earth, from which he has been taken, and to which he shall return. It possesses for him a certain moral grandeur: he serves it; it does not serve him. He must include God's creatures in the respect that it demands in general, by not exploiting them for his own selfish uses. Unlawful robbery of its gifts (as in paradise), murder, and unchastity anger it, paralyze its power and delight in producing, and defile it. God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of man, whom He formed out of earth. Therefore that part of him that is contrasted with his corporeal nature or supplements it—his life, soul, spirit, and reason—is not, as with the animals, of earthly origin, existing in consequence of the body, but is of divine, heavenly origin. Man is "toledot" (2:4) of heaven and earth.

The creation of man also is good, in the judgment of God; the book, therefore, is cognizant of nothing that is naturally evil, within man or outside of him. After God has created man, He says: "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (2:18). In order that man may convince himself that there is no being similar to him among all the creatures that have been made, God brings all the animals unto Adam, that he may name them, e., make clear to himself their different characteristics. Hence man, looking for a being like unto himself among the animals, finds language. God thereupon creates woman out of the rib of man, who gladly recognizes her as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh"; meaning that the mature man may and shall leave the paternal house, where he has been merely a dependent member of the family, and, urged by the longing for a sympathetic being that will supplement him, shall live with the woman of his choice, and found with her a family of his own, where the two shall be combined in an actual and a spiritual unity. In this passage the relation between man and woman is expressed, and also the nature of marriage, which is a life partnership in which one helps and supplements the other. Procreation is not its purpose, but its consequence. God has given to man, as to all living beings, the faculty of multiplying.

§ 27.

God gives to man dominion over the earth and over all living beings. The food of the first man consists solely of the fruits of the field, that of the animals being grass (1:29). His occupation is to cultivate and watch over the Garden of Eden (2:15), the only restriction placed upon its enjoymentbeing that he shall not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the Garden of Eden men go naked and know no shame; this feeling is aroused only after they have broken God's command, and then He makes them garments of skins to cover their nakedness.

§ 28.

All men on earth are descended from the first pair, Adam and Eve, and are therefore also of the image of God. This statement expresses the unity of the whole human race. Man is a created being, made in the image of God, and all men are related: these doctrines are among the most fundamental and weighty of the whole Bible.

The branch descended from Cain, the fratricide, the eldest son of the first pair, is the founder of civic and nomadic culture. The branch descended from Seth develops along religious lines: from Elohim (Seth, in 4:25) through ha-Elohim (Enoch, in 5:22) to Yhwh (Noah, in 6:8). But punishment has been made necessary on account of Adam's sin; the human race must be destroyed on account of its cruelties and excesses. A new race begins with Noah and his sons, and God promises that He will neither curse the earth again, nor destroy all living beings, but that, on the contrary, "seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (8:22). He blesses Noah and his family, that they may multiply and fill the earth and be spiritually above the animals. He permits men to eat meat, but forbids them to eat blood, or meat with the blood thereof. God will demand the blood (life) of every man or animal that spills it. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed" (9:6). God enters into a covenant with Noah and his descendants, promising them that He will not again send a general flood upon the earth, and instituting the rainbow as a token thereof (ch. ). The God whom all the Noachidæ worship is Elohim (9:1,7,8,12,16,17), Yhwh being worshiped by Shem and his descendants. All the peoples dispersed over the earth are grouped as descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The genealogy of these peoples which the author draws up in ch. according to the ethnographic knowledge of his time, finds no parallel in its universality, which includes all men in one bond of brotherhood. In this way have originated the peoples that shall be blessed in Abraham.

§ 29.

Israel's Patriarchs.

Terah, the descendant of Shem and Eber, has three sons, one of whom, Abraham, is destined by God for momentous events. He shall leave his home; and God says to him: "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (12:2-3). God often repeats the promise that Abraham's descendants shall be as numerous as the stars in heaven and as the sand on the seashore (15:5, 22:17); that He will make him a father of many nations, and cause him to be exceedingly fruitful; that kings and nations shall be descendants of him and Sarah (17:5,6,16); that he shall become a great people; that all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him (18:18, 22:18); and that his descendants shall receive the entire land of Canaan as a hereditary possession (13:14 et seq., 15:7, 17:18). But before all this comes to pass Israel shall be sorely oppressed for four hundred years as servants in a strange land, after which they shall go out with rich possessions, and God shall judge their oppressors (15:13 et seq.). In confirmation of these promises God enters twice into a covenant with Abraham: the first time (15:18 et seq.) as an assurance that his descendants shall possess Canaan; and the second time, before Isaac's birth, as a sign that He will be their God. In token thereof God changes Abram's and Sarai's names into "Abraham" and "Sarah" (), combining His own name with theirs, and institutes the circumcision of all the men of Abraham's household and their male descendants as an eternal sign of the covenant between Himself and Abraham. Abraham acknowledges Yhwh (14:22), builds altars to Him (12:7,8; 13:18); calls upon His name (12:8, 13:4, 21:33); shows an invincible faith in His promises, whatever present circumstances may be; is ready for the greatest sacrifice; and proves himself, by his human virtues—his helpfulness, unselfishness, hospitality, humanity, uprightness, dignity, and love of peace—worthy of divine guidance.

§ 30.

Of Abraham's two sons Ishmael shall be blessed, and become the father of twelve princes and the progenitor of a great people (16:10, 17:20, 21:18). Ishmael himself becomes an archer, lives in the wilderness, and marries an Egyptian woman (21:20 et seq.). But the one to inherit the promises and the land is Isaac (17:21, 21:12), Sarah's son. Therefore his father chooses for him a wife from among his own relations (ch. ). God renews to him the promises given to Abraham (26:3,24). Isaac is truly the son of his great father, though he has a somewhat passive nature. He also builds an altar to Yhwh, and calls upon His name (26:2).

§ 31.

Isaac's sons are twins; Esau, the elder, scorns the rights of the first-born, leaving them to Jacob (25:34). Esau is a hunter, whose fate it is to live by the sword and be subject to his brother, though in time he will throw off his yoke (27:40). He is also called "Edom," and subsequently lives in the land of that name in the mountainous region of Seir. He is loved by his father, but Rebekah loves Jacob; and when Esau marries a Canaanite woman, Isaac, deceived by a trick, blesses Jacob, who, before he sets out for Haran, receives from his father Abraham's blessing also (28:4). Jacobattains to right relations with God only after mistakes, trials, and struggles. He knows Yhwh, whose hand he has seen in his father's life (27:20); he recognizes Him in the divine appearance (28:16); but he has not experienced God in his own life. God has not yet become his God; hence he avoids the name of Yhwh so long as he is in a strange country (30:2; 31:7,9,42,53; 32:3); but the narrator does not hesitate to say "Yhwh" (29:31; 31:3; 38:7,10), that name being also known to Laban (30:27,30) and his daughters (29:32 et seq., 30:24). Not until a time of dire distress does Jacob find Yhwh, who becomes for him Elohim when the vow turns to a prayer. He has overcome Elohim, and himself receives another name after he hasamended his ways (e., has gained another God), namely, "Israel," e., "warrior of God." God now gives him the same promises that were given to Abraham and Isaac (35:11 et seq.), and Jacob builds an altar to God ("El"), on which he pours a drink-offering. Similarly he brings offerings to the God of his father when he leaves Canaan to go with his family to Egypt, God promising to accompany him and to lead his descendants back in due time. Jacob finds the name of Yhwh again only on his death-bed (49:18).

§ 32.

With Jacob and his twelve sons the history of the Patriarchs is closed; for the seventy persons with whom Jacob enters Egypt are the origin of the future people of Israel. God does not appear to Jacob's sons, nor does he address them. Joseph designedly avoids the appellation "Yhwh"; he uses "Elohim" (39:9; 8; 41:16,51,53; 45:5,9; 48:9; 1. 25; "ha-Elohim," 41:25,28,32; 42:18 [44:16]; 45:9; and the Elohim of his father," 43:23). The narrator, on the other hand, has no reason for avoiding the word "Yhwh," which he uses intentionally (39:2,3,5). Yhwh takes a secondary place in the consciousness of Israel while in Egypt, but becomes all-important again in the theophany of the burning bush.

The book prescribes no regulations for the religious life. The Patriarchs are represented in their family relations. Their history is a family history. The relations between husband and wife, parents and children, brother and sister, are displayed in pictures of typical truthfulness, psychologic delicacy, inimitable grace and loveliness, with an inexhaustible wealth of edifying and instructive scenes.

§ 33.

Scientific Criticism.

Since the time of Astruc (1753) modern criticism has held that Genesis is not a uniform work by one author, but was combined by successive editors from several sources that are themselves partly composite, and has received its present form only in the course of centuries; its composition from various sources being proved by its repetitions, contradictions, and differences in conception, representation, and language. According to this view, three chief sources must be distinguished, namely, J, E, and P. (1) J, the Jahvist, is so called because he speaks of God as "Yhwh" In his work (chiefly in the primal history, ch. -, as has been asserted since Budde) several strata must be distinguished, J¹, J², J³, etc. (2) E, the Elohist, is so named because down to Exodus 3 he calls God "Elohim." A redactor (R^JE) at an early date combined and fused J and E, so that these two sources can not always be definitely separated; and the critics therefore differ greatly in regard to the details of this question. (3) P, or the Priestly Codex, is so called on account of the priestly manner and tendencies of the author, who also calls God "Elohim." Here again several strata must be distinguished, P¹, P², P³, etc., though only P² is found in Genesis. After another redactor, D, had combined Deuteronomy with JE, the work so composed was united with P by a final redactor, who then enlarged the whole (the sequence J, E, D, P is, however, not generally accepted). Hence the present Book of Genesis is the work of this last redactor, and was compiled more than one hundred years after Ezra. The works of J, E, and P furnished material for the entire Pentateuch (and later books), on whose origin, scope, time, and place of composition see see PENTATEUCH.

As it would take too much space to give an account of all the attempts made to separate the sources, the analysis of only the last commentator, namely, of Holzinger, who has made a special study of this question, will be noted. In his "Einleitung zum Hexateuch" he has given a full account of the labors of his predecessors, presenting in the "Tabellen" to his work the separation into sources laid down by Dillmann, Wellhausen, Kuenen, Budde, and Cornill. The commentary by Gunkel (1901) is not original as regards the sources.

§ 34.

P2.	J.		E.	Redaction, Secondary Sources, and Glosses.
	J1.	J2.
	________________	______________
i-3.	2:4b-9bα, 15bβ?, 16, 17*, 18-25.			2:4a gloss or R. In and Rs. 2:6 transposed, 17aα*. Amplifications: 2:9bβ. 10-14, 15abα, in 19, then 3:15bβ, 18b, 20 ?, 22, 23b, 24.
	3:1-15bα, 17, 18a, 19, 21, 23a.
	4:1*?, 2-16a, 17a, 17b?, 18-21.	4:1*?, 17b?, 25, 26.		4:1*, 16aRj.
5:1-3*, 4-19, 20-24*, 25-27, 28 without , 30-32.		In 5:28 .		5:1-3*, 20-24*.
6:9-22.	6:1-3a, 4a*.	6:5-8.		6:3b, in 4a, 4b gloss, 7* (17*?), 19f.
7:6. 11, 13-16a, 17a*, 18-21 (24?).		If., 3b-5.. (8f.*). 10, 7,* 16b, 12, 17b, 22ff.*		7:3aR, 7-10*, 16b transposed. 17a*, 22. f.* (24R?).
8:1a, 2a, 1b (3b ?), 4f., 13a, 14-19		. . . 6a, 2b, 3a, . . . 6b-12, 13b, . . . 20, 21aαb, 22.		8:1-3, order of R (3bR ?), 21aβRj.
9:1-3,8-17,28f.	9:20-27.	9:18a, 19.		9:4-7Ps, 10b*, 18bRJ.
10:1a, 2-7, 20, 22f., 31f.	10:9 (8, 10-12 ?)	10:10b (8, 10-12 ?). 13-15, 18b, 19, 21, 25-30.		10:16-18a JEs, 24R.
11:10-26,27,31,32.	11:1-9	. . . 28-30.
. . . 4b, 5.	12:1-4a, . . . 6-8, 10-20.			12:9Rje.
13:6abα, 11b, 12abα.	13:1f., 5, 6bβ, 7-11a, 12bβ,13,18.			13:3f. Rje, 14-17Rje, with the use of certain elements from J ?.
				Very late (narrative worked over by E ??).
	15:1*, 2a, 3b, 4, 6, 7, 9a, 10a, 11, 12aα (b?).		15:1*, 3a, 2b, 5, 12aβ.	15:9b, 10bR ?, in 12b , 13-165JEs, 18bβγ (from on) Rd, 19-21JEs.
16:1a, 3, 15, 16.	16:1b, 2, 4-8, 11-14.			16:9f. Rje.
17:1-27.				17:10*.
	18:1-15,16,20,21, . . . 22a, 33b.			18:17-19JEs, 22b-33aJs.
19:29.	19:1-28,30,38.			19:4*, 9*, 23-26*, 24*.
			20:1-17.	If.*, 18 gloss.
21:1b, 2b-5.	21:1a, 2a*, 7, 6b, 33*.		21:6a, 8-21, 22-32.	21:2a*, 33*-(also transposed), 34Rje.
	22:20bβ-24.		22:1-13,14aα? (βb*?), 19.	22:14,15-18, JEs, 20aα, Rej.
				24:1f.*, 61f.*
25:7-11a, 12-17, 19, 20, . . . 26b.	25:1-4,5,11b, 18.			25:5,11b transposed, 6 redactional. In JE is transposed by R.
26:34,35.	26:1aαb, 2aα, 3aα, 6, 7-14, 16f., 19-33; 25:21-20a, 27-34.			25:21*, 25a* (27*?), 26:1aβγ, 2aβb, 15, 18 Rje, 3aβ-5Rd.
	27:1-4*, 5-10,14f., 17,18a, 19?, 20, 24-27, 28b, 29aγδb, 30aα, 30b-32, 35-38*, 39a, 40, 41-45*.		27:1bβγ, 4b, 11-13, 16, 18b, 19 ?, 21 23, 28a, 29aαβ, 30aβ, 33f.*, 39b.	27:33 abbreviated by Rje, 36aRj.
28:1-9.	28:10,13-16 (* ?), 19a.		28:11f., 17f., 20-22.	28:19b gloss.
29:24,28b, 29	29:2-14a, 14b, 15a ?, 26 in part, 31-35.		29:1,14b, 15a?, 15b-23, 25 26*, 27, 28a, 30.
30:1aα (?), 4a, (?), 9b ?, 22a ?	(1aα, 4a ??), 3bβ, 4b ? (7b* ?), 9-13, 14-16, 20αβ, 20b, ? 27, 22bβ, 24b, 25 ?, 27. 29-43*.		30:1aβ-8*, 17, 18*, 19, 20aα, 20b ?, 22bα, 23, 24a, 26 ?, 28, traces in 29-43.	In 30:14b , in 7 , in 10, 12 glosses by R. V. 18* (); traces of E in 29-43; comp. 32f., 35, 39f.
31:18aβγδb (from on).	31:1b, 3, 21b, 25, 27 (44b ?), 46, 48, 51, 52, 53a.		31:1a, 2, 4-16*, 17, 18aα, 19-21a, 22-24, 26.	31:10-12, fragments from the Elohistic parallel to 30:32-42,47 gloss.
	32:4-14a, 23, 25-29, 32b.		32:1-3,14b-22, 24, 30-32a.	32:10-13Js?, 23f.*, 25-32*, 35 gloss.
33:18a.	33:1-10*, 11b, 15, 16?, 17aβb, 18b?.		: traces in 1-10, 11a, 12-14, 16 ?, 17aα ?, 18b ?, 19, 20.	33:1-10; traces of E in 4, 5b, 10; in 19 is a gloss.
	34:1*, 2a to *, 2b without , 3abα, 5aαγb, 7a (b ?), 11,12, 13a**, 19, 25a**, 26*, 20b-31.		34:1*, 2a to *, in 2b , 3bβ, 4, 6*, 8*, 9, 10abαβ, 13a**, 14*, 15abα (+ equivalent for bβ), 16-18a, 20-24, 25a**b, 27a(α)β, 28, 29a.	: diaskeuasis in part, especially 10bγ, 13b, 15bβ.—Rje: 18b, 20-20b.
35:6a, 9-13a*, 15, 22b-29.	35:17,21,22a.		35:1-5,6b, 7, 8, 14*, 16, 18f. ?, 20.	35:10-12 abbreviated by R and transposed, 13b dittography from 14.
36:6-8 (basis 9-14, 29 ?), 40-43.	36:15-19,31-39.			36:1-5, R 9-14, R based upon P, 20-36 R (20-28 from J ?, 29 from P ?, 21b gloss), 31*.
xxxvii, 1.	37:3f., 12-18, in part 21, 23bβ, 25-27, 28aγ, 32*, 33*, 35.		37:5a, 6-8a, 9-11, 12-18, in part 19f., 22, 23abα, 24, 28aαβb, 29f., 31, 34, 36.	In 37:2 source ? 5bγbRje; 12-18 adapted by Rje from J and E.
	38:1-30 (J1).
	39:1*, 2-6a*, 7aβ-23*.		(: traces in 2-5, 6b.	in , also 7aRje, glosses: 8b, 10bβ, 20aβ, 23(a ?)b.
	1bβb, 3 from on, 5b (traces), 14bβ, 15b.		1aα, 2, 3 beginning, 4, 5a, 6-23*.
41:36 ?, 46ab ?, 47 ?.	: numerous traces.		41:1-35*, 37-45*, 47-57*.	: traces of later diaskeuasis ( in part).
	42:2a, 4b, 5, 6 in part, 7, 11a, 27, 28 to , 38.		42:1,2b, 3, 4a, 6, in part 8-10, 11b-26, rest of 28, 29-37.	: in 27 Rje. Traces of later diaskeuasis (, 5, 7, 13, 19, 32).
	43:1-13,15-23a, 24-34.		43:14,23b.	: diaskeuasis in 14 ?.
	44:1-34.
	45:1a, 2a, 2bα, or 2bβ, 4b, 5aαγ, 7*, 10aα, 13f., 28.		45:1b, 2bβ, or 2bα, 4a, 5aβb, 6, 7*, 8f., 10aβγb-12, 15-18, 21 in part, 22-27.	45:19f., 21 in part, secondary recast.
46:6f. (8-27 ?).	46:1aα, 28-34.		46:1b-5a*.	46:1aβRje, 1b-5a*, secondary 3bβ, 5b, 8-27Ps(?).
47:5b, 6a, 7-11, 27b, 28.	47:1-4,5a, 6b, 13-26, in part 27aα*β, 29-31*.		47:12,13-26 in part.	47:13-26, adapted from J and E, with traces of secondary recast 30aγR.
48:3-6.	48:2b (8a ?), 9b, 10a, 13f., trace in 15b, 17-19, 20 in part.		48:1,2a, 8 (a) b,9a, 10b, 11f., 15ab*, 16, 20 in part, 21f.	48:7 gloss.
49:1a, 28bβ-32, 33aαb.	49:2-27,33aβ.			49:6Rj or Rje, interpolation, single interpolations to 2-27 (10, 18?, 25f.), 28abαR.
1. 12f.	1. 1-11*, 14*, traces in 18, 21.		1.: traces in 2, 10f., and in 14, 15-26*.	1. 22b secondary, 24b*, traces of the diaskeuasis.

§ 35.

Objections.

Serious objection may be brought to this analysis of sources on the following grounds: (1) It is unsupported by any external proof whatever; there is no authentic information showing that the Pentateuch, or Genesis in particular, was compiled from various sources, much less have any such sources been preserved in their original form. (2) Hence the critics must rely solely upon so-called internal evidence. But the subjective state of mind with which the final decision rests is unstable and deceptive. It is hazardous to apply modern criteria and rules of composition and style to such anancient and peculiar work, whose origin is entirely unknown. (3) Even if it be demonstrated that Genesis has been compiled from various sources, yet the attempt to trace the origin of each verse and of each part of a verse will never meet with success; the critics themselves confess that the process of combination was a most complicated one. (4) If the contradictions and repetitions said to be found in the book really existed, this would not necessarily prove that there had been more than one author; for the literatures of the world furnish numerous similar examples. The existence of such repetitions and contradictions, however, has never been demonstrated.

(5) The theory of sources is at best a hypothesis that is not even necessary; for it is based on a total misconception of the dominant ideas, tendencies, and plan of the book. Its upholders have totally misconceived the theology of Genesis; transforming the interchange of the name of God, which is the soul of the book, into an external criterion for distinguishing the different authors. They have not understood the reason for the variation in the use of and , which in itself is a proof of uniform composition; and they have, therefore, missed a second fundamental idea, namely, that implied in the genealogies and their intimate relation to the Israelitic concept of the family. In criticizing the unequal treatment of the various portions of the material, the theory misconceives the different degrees of their importance for the author. Difference in treatment is proof, not of different authors, but of different subjects and of the different points of view in one author. (6) This would also explain the variations in the language of different passages. But criticism on this point runs in a circle, diversity of sources being proved by differences of language, and vice versa. (7) The separation into sources in particular is based on numberless exegetic errors, often of the most obvious kind, showing not only a misconception of the scope and spirit of the book, and of its mode of narration, but even of the laws of language; and this separation is in itself the greatest barrier to a correct insight into the book, in that it encourages the student to analyze difficult passages into their sources instead of endeavoring to discover their meaning.

§ 36.

Notwithstanding all these objections, however, it can not be denied that various portions of Genesis palpably convey the impression of difference in origin and a corresponding difference in conception; but as the impression that the work gives of having been uniformly planned in every detail is still stronger, the explanation given in § 2 is here repeated; namely, Genesis has not been compiled from several sources by one redactor or by several redactors, but is the work of one author, who has recorded the traditions of his people with due reverence but independently and according to a uniform plan. Genesis was not compiled from various books.

§ 37.

Historical Criticism.

The historicity of the Book of Genesis is more or less denied, except by the representatives of a strict inspiration theory. Genesis recounts myths and legends. It is generally admitted that the primal story is not historical (ch. -); but critics vary in ascribing to the stories of the Patriarchs more or less of a historical foundation. For details see the articles under their respective names; here only a summary can be given:

1. The story of the Creation can not be historically true, for the reasons (1) that there can be no human traditions of these events; (2) its assumption of a creation in six days, with the sequence of events as recounted, contradicts the theories of modern science regarding the formation of the heavenly bodies during vast periods of time, especially that of the earth, its organisms, and its position in the universe. The popular view of Genesis can not be reconciled with modern science. The story is a religio-scientific speculation on the origin of the world, analogous to the creation-myths found among many peoples. The similarities to the Babylonian creation-myth are most numerous and most striking. The extent of its dependence on other myths, the mode of transmission, and the age and history of the tradition and its adaptation are still matters of dispute.
2. The story of the Garden of Eden (ch. , ) is a myth, invented in order to answer certain questions of religion, philosophy, and cultural history. Its origin can not be ascertained, as no parallel to it has so far been found.
3. The stories of Cain and Abel and the genealogies of the Cainites and Sethites are reminiscences of legends, the historical basis for which can no longer be ascertained. Their historical truth is excluded by the great age assigned to the Sethites, which contradicts all human experience. A parallel is found in the ten antediluvian primal kings of Babylonian chronology, where the figures are considerably greater.
4. The story of the Flood is a legend that is found among many peoples. It is traced back to a Babylonian prototype, still extant. It is perhaps founded on reminiscences of a great seismic-cyclonic event that actually occurred, but could have been only partial, as a general flood of the whole earth, covering even the highest mountains, is not conceivable.
5. The genealogy of peoples is a learned attempt to determine genealogically the relation of peoples known to the author, but by no means including the entire human race; this point of view was current in antiquity, although it does not correspond to the actual facts.
6. The stories of the Patriarchs are national legends. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and his sons are idealized personifications of the people, its tribes, and families; and it can not now be ascertained whether or not these are based on more or less obscure reminiscences of real personages. In any case, these legends furnish no historically definite or even valuable information regarding the primal history of the people of Israel. The whole conception of the descent of one people from one family and one ancestor is unhistorical; for a people originates through the combination of different families. It has also been maintained that the stories of the Patriarchs are pale reflections of mythology or nature-myths.