Genesis 13:2-13:18

     Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold¹. He journeyed on by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD². Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them living together; for their possessions were so great that they could not live together³, and there was strife between the herders of Abram's livestock and the herders of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land.
     Then Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herders and my herders; for we are kindred. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left." Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward; thus they separated from each other⁴. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.⁵
     The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.⁶ Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.⁷" So Abram moved his tent, and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the LORD⁸.

^[1] Some of which had been gained from Pharaoh deceitfully.
^[2] Reemphasizing Abram's devotion
^[3] Possessions cause division in the family.
^[4] One of the many times in Genesis where family disputes are settled without violence.
^[5] Good land, but not good people. Lot has erred in his decision. My study Bible points out that this story is describing the origins of Moabites and Ammonites, the descendents of Lot.
^[6] Once again God reiterates and expands his promise to Abram.
^[7] Again, Abram is asked to do very little in response.
^[8] Like before, Abram responds with devotion.


Take-home: Great possessions cause divide between Abram and Lot, but Abram settles the dispute without violence. God again emphasizes his promises of land and fertility, and Abram's devotion is highlighted multiple times.

Genesis 12:10-13:1

     Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt¹ to reside there as an alien², for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife'; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account³." When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful⁴. When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house⁵. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.
     But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh⁶ and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?⁷ Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone." And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had. So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb⁸ .

^[1] He leaves the land of promise with no rebuke from God. Or do the events that follow show that he made an error?
^[2] Emphasizes his vulnerable state.
^[3] Fails to trust God to fulfill his promise and care for him.
^[4] And at over 65 years old!
^[5] Does this imply fornication?
^[6] God speaks clearly, but Pharaoh bears the punishment rather than Abram. Then again, Abram did get kicked out of Egypt. So while God doesn't lay a hand on Abram directly, Abram still feels his displeasure through Pharaoh.
^[7] Pharaoh apparently was able to interpret God's actions quite accurately.
^[8] Abram responds by going back to where he should be.


Take-home:  Whether or not Abram is considered "at fault" for this incident (my study Bible is much easier on him than I am, emphasizing his vulnerable state), it is clear that God is going to lengths to take care of Abram, regardless of what situation he gets into.  God will keep his promise.

Genesis 12:1-12:9

     Now the LORD said to Abram¹, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great³, so that you will be a blessing⁴. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse⁵; and in you all the families⁶ of the earth shall be blessed."
     So Abram went, as the LORD had told him⁷; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old⁸ when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD⁹, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

^[1] As far as we know, Abram had done nothing special to deserve this special word from the Lord. I feel like the way I've been taught, Abram must have been very righteous to get such a special blessing from God. But the author certainly doesn't clarify that.
^[2] The entire command to Abram is to "go", to leave the country, family, and home he has known.
^[3] God will give him what the Babelites tried to get for themselves.
^[4] He not only will be blessed, but will be a blessing as well.
^[5] Blessings and curses often seem like they need to come together.
^[6] ALL the families on earth. Only a chapter after the scattering of the people's, we see God's promise to bless all the peoples through one man. My study Bible points out that an alternative translation is possible, where the sentence says, "in you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves", which carries a quite different meaning.
^[7] Like the other righteous, Abram's faith is marked by his simple obedience to what God had commanded him.
^[8] So old when he starts! We know nothing of how he spent his first 75 years, other than not having children.
^[9] Abram did not need to be commanded to worship - just the fact that he interacted with God appeared to be reason enough to build the alter and invoke his name.


Take-home:  God wants to bless Abram, and only needs his trust.  The strength of this blessing is that it is not meant for Abram alone, but many others will be blessed through him, perhaps all the peoples of the Earth.  We don't know if Abram did anything to deserve this special covenant, but he faithfully obeyed his part of it and found occasions to spontaneously worship the Lord.

Genesis 11:10-11:32

     These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years¹, and had other sons and daughters. When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah; and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters. When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber; and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters. When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg; and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu; and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu two hundred nine years, and had other sons and daughters. When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug; and Reu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred seven years, and had other sons and daughters. When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor; and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah; and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah one hundred nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters. When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
     Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram², Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.
     Now Sarai was barren³; she had no child. Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran.

^[1] Human lifespan isn't down to 120 years yet for some reason, but it's getting lower. This chapter feels very much like chapter 5.
^[2] 10 generations from Noah to Abram, just like there were 10 generations from Adam to Noah (at least in the "priestly" genealogy).
^[3] A surprising break from the pattern, but it sets up everything that follows. "Be fruitful and multiply" was God's blessing on Noah and his descendants, and barrenness was seen as a big deal.


Take-home: Genealogy and ancestry was very important to the Hebrew people. When Abram's wife turned out to be barren, it disrupted the blessing of fruitfulness and threatened to end that line.

Genesis 11:1-11:9

     Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves¹; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."² So the LORD scattered them abroad³ from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

^[1] To me, this is what it would sound like the story was about. "Making a name" for themselves, putting the tower top in the heavens.
^[2] Such an interesting, unexpected way of dealing with the issue. Shows that different languages were definitely thought as a significant impediment of work.
^[3] God scattered too - doesn't just confuse their speech.


Take-home: Using my values, I would have read this as an anti-pride story, about humans thinking they could do more than they should have. My study Bible has a radically different explanation - that they were pushing for homogeneity (one people, one language, not wanting to be scattered), while God wanted diversity. It points out the theme of "one" that is repeated, the desire not to be scattered, that making a name for oneself and building a tower aren't necessarily negative, and that God's solution is diversity and scattering, not humility. I'm not sure that it's the strongest argument, but I'm not sure mine is any stronger.

Genesis 9:18-10:32

     The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.
     Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank some of the wine and became drunk¹, and he lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness.² When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan; lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers³." He also said, "Blessed by the LORD my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave. May God make space for Japheth, and let him live in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave." After the flood Noah lived three hundred fifty years. All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years; and he died.
     These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; children were born to them after the flood.⁴
     The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the descendants of Japheth in their lands, with their own language, by their families, in their nations.
     The descendants of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD."⁵ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from which the Philistines come. Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
     To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the descendants of Joktan. The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country of the east. These are the descendants of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
     These are the families of Noah's sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

^[1] Is Noah no longer a blameless man? Or are his actions not blameworthy?
^[2] Note how carefully they maintain their righteousness.
^[3] Justifying the anti-Canaanite feelings seen later in Israel's history. This is one of many places in Genesis where the ancestry of Israel's neighbors is shown in an unfavorable light. Later historical attempts to use this passage as a justification for enslaving Africans is just ridiculous.
^[4] Explains the origins of many of the region's nations, much like 4:20-22 explained the origins of different occupations.
^[5] A warrior/hunter is exalted.


Take-home: Much of this first part of Genesis seems to be setting up explanations for the occupational and national diversity of the Middle East in the author's times. In the story of Noah and his sons, sin, once again, has a clear consequence.

Genesis 9:1-9:17

     God blessed Noah¹ and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything². Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life. Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind.³ And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and multiply in it."
     Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant⁴ with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

^[1] God "blessed" Noah. It took me a while to really catch this. It's a blessing, not a command. Fertility was a huge blessing back then, in an agricultural society where infertility was the worst thing that could happen to your family or your farm. To read this as a command and try to "figure out" what it means is totally wrong. Now I have to erase a bunch of notes.
^[2] This very much sounds like they didn't eat meat before (at least in the "priestly" version). Why not? What about the post-flood period led to the first eating of meat?
^[3] With the clear command against murder, which makes moral sense to us, also comes a command against eating animal blood. What does it mean for the "life" to be in the blood? Is this a cultural understanding that just doesn't apply to us anymore?
^[4] A covenant! Notice that God is responsible for all of it here - humans are not required to do anything.


Take-home: God blesses humans with fertility and authority over all animals and plants. Murder is forbidden. God promises to Noah what He had already thought in his heart - that he will never again destroy the earth with a flood. He makes this promise as a covenant, which requires nothing from Noah's side.

Genesis 6:5-8:22

     The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually¹. And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart². So the LORD said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created--people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.³ " But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.
     These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless⁴ in his generation; Noah walked with God⁵. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
     Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence⁶. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth⁷, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them." Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.⁸
     Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household⁹, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals^[10], the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.
     Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. And Noah with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days the waters of the flood came on the earth.
     In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah with his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons entered the ark, they and every wild animal of every kind, and all domestic animals of every kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every bird of every kind--every bird, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.
     The flood continued forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters. The waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered; the waters swelled above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all human beings; everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, human beings and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days.
     But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth¹¹, and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred fifty days the waters had abated; and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.¹² The waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
     At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more.
     In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.¹³ Then God said to Noah, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh--birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth--so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families.
     Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.¹⁴ As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."

^[1] So sad. In their hearts, too - not just actions. Why so evil?
^[2] Evil grieves the Lord. The Hebrew word for "grieves" here is the same as the word for the "pain" that a woman feels in childbearing or the "toil" that the man suffers in work. "Anguish" could be a way of thinking about it.
^[3] God was sorry that he had made man, who had been "very good" when first made. How depressing. Now, can we actually say that God was once sorry that he made us? I don't feel so - this is a very anthropomorphic view of God. Not that we can easily develop any other.
^[4] But not blameless like Christ, right?
^[5] What about Noah led him to be different than everyone else? Why is everyone else evil continuously and one man righteous? Did God do that? Or are hyperbolic contrasts being set up for the narrative?
^[6] There's a lot of disjoint repetition here, and with different vocabulary. The combination of the repetition, the differing vocabularies (especially the alternating names of God), and the contradictions really lend credence to the idea that these are two different accounts of the flood weaved together. My study Bible lists out how they could be separated, which I will list down below.
^[7] Interesting that the region has a couple non-Jewish accounts of a great flood. Shared history or borrowed mythology? Also interesting that these flood accounts give a very different reason for the flood.
^[8] And that's the key, isn't it?
^[9] Noah's household is lucky to have him, eh?
^[10] More disjoint and contradictory repetition.
^[11] Just like at the beginning of the earth - indicating a new beginning.
^[12] The 150 day version of the flood.
^[13] The 1 year version of the flood.
^[14] I don't exactly understand why God made this promise. Is it that God realized what had been done was wrong? Or does Noah's act of reverence just show mankind's potential, despite their evil inclinations? The phrase "for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth" in the middle confuses me because it's out of place with the sentiment.


Take-home: Sin grieves God tremendously. But some can still act righteously. There are two flood accounts here, with some different details but the same basic message. We can feel safe that God will not curse the ground and destroy the earth because of us.


The two flood accounts:

According to my study Bible, these are the two flood accounts:

The Yahwist's Flood Narrative (uses YHWH as God's name, includes clean animals):
6:5-8, 7:1-5, 7:7, 7:10, 7:12, 7:16b-17, 7:22-23, 8:2b-3a, 8:6, 8:8-8:12, 8:13b, 8:20-22

The Priestly Flood Narrative (Uses noun "God", 2 of each kind, relates to creation):
6:9-22, 7:6, 7:8-9, 7:11, 7:13-16a, 7:18-21, 7:24, 8:1-2a, 8:3b-5, 8:7, 8:13a, 8:14-19, 9:1-17

Genesis 6:1-6:4

     When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves¹ of all that they chose. Then the LORD said, "My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years."² The Nephilim³ were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.⁴

^[1] The sons of God took wives for themselves? I have so little understanding of what this is referring to. Was the meaning of this story obvious to the author's original audience, or was it already a cryptic story back then?
^[2] How is this 120-year lifespan limit related to the rest of the story?
^[3] The "Nephilim" are clearly of the past here - it says "were on the earth in those days--and also afterward", but they show up again in Numbers 13:33. This brings up interesting questions about when Genesis and Numbers were written compared to when the events of the Pentateuch occurred - but I can imagine more than one way of resolving it.
^[4] So 1, 2, and 4 all appear related, but where does 3 fit in? Our chapter and verse divisions often break up stories that should be more continuous. But this is a case where a story may be artificially added to a narrative (the Noah and the flood story that follows), which it may actually have nothing to do with. There are no clear words of condemnation here. I can believe some interpretations that manage to use it to explain the flood story, but there are problems with those interpretations and it feels more likely to be that it is its own independent story about an aspect of the pre-flood world.


Take-home: Really difficult for me to get a take-home message from this. For me this is one of the most cryptic accounts in the Bible.

Genesis 4:17-5:32

     Cain knew his wife¹, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methushael, and Methushael the father of Lamech. Lamech took two wives²; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who live in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.³
     Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold."⁴
     Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him."⁵ To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the LORD⁶.
     This is the list of the descendants of Adam. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them "Humankind" when they were created.⁷
     When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image⁸, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years; and he died.
     When Seth had lived one hundred five years, he became the father of Enosh. Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred seven years⁹, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years; and he died.
     When Enosh had lived ninety years, he became the father of Kenan. Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years; and he died.
     When Kenan had lived seventy years, he became the father of Mahalalel. Kenan lived after the birth of Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
     When Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Jared. Mahalalel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years; and he died.
     When Jared had lived one hundred sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch. Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years; and he died.
     When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God¹⁰; then he was no more, because God took him.
     When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years¹¹; and he died.
     When Lamech had lived one hundred eighty-two years, he became the father of a son; he named him Noah¹², saying, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands¹³." Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years; and he died. After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

^[1] Where did the wife come from? Might be a Sunday School debate, but I think that's an over-rational emphasis that the author never meant to come up.
^[2] The first mention of a man with two wives.
^[3] Are these listed just to mythologize the origins of certain peoples, or is there additional meaning?
^[4] And Lamech turns out to be evil. Is it just coincidence that he was the first with two wives?
^[5] Reminder of the dark event of Cain.
^[6] "invoke the name of the Lord"?
^[7] Reminds us that we were made in the image of God, that both male and female were created in his image, and that their creation brought blessing.
^[8] Seth in the likeness of Adam, meaning the likeness of God has passed down
^[9] A literal age? Personally I don't believe so.
^[10] Enoch "walked with God"? In what way, and why is it important to know this about Enoch? It makes me wonder whether there were other stories in tradition that filled this out somewhat.
^[11] The oldest!
^[12] So we see the Lamech line at the end again, but this time it had come from Seth's line rather than Cain's. Enoch was also in this line (as well as Kenan, Mehalalel, Jared, Methushael, and Naamah, which remind us of Cain, Mahujael, Irad, Methuselah, and Noah), but some are in a different order, and Seth and Enosh are no longer listed separately. All the similarities, but with difficult-to-reconcile differences, makes me really feel like these are two unrelated genealogies both meant to lead to the same place.
^[13] The first prophecy about a specific child.


Take-home: This feels like an account of two genealogies by two different authors. The similar-yet-different lists, the different styles, and the different vocabulary really lends support to the idea that Genesis gives us more than one author's account - which first became apparent in the two creation stories, and will continue to come up. The second author's listing of 10 generations between Adam and Noah will later match his listing of 10 generations between Noah and Abraham. The fact that the man with two wives met trouble is a theme that will be repeated later. I really like the fact that the part about men and women being made in the likeness of God was reemphasized.

Genesis 4:1-4:16

     Now the man knew his wife Eve¹, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD²." Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.³ In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions⁴. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard⁵. So Cain was very angry⁶, and his countenance fell. The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door⁷; its desire is for you, but you must master it."
     Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.⁸ Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?⁹" And the LORD said, "What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.¹⁰" Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil¹¹, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me." Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance¹²." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD¹³, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

^[1] Does this mean that there was no sex before now? Or is it just introducing the fact that this is when the first child happened to come? And would it matter at all?
^[2] "with the help of the Lord" - acknowledges God's role
^[3] Some people have built this up to be a conflict between farmers and herders, but it makes more sense the way my study bible put it - they're just two brothers with different roles on the family farm. God ordained Adam to be a farmer, and Cain as the older brother takes that responsibility, while Abel tends the herds like younger brothers usually do.
^[4] "firstlings, fat portions". Abel gave the best that he had. That seems more significant than meat vs. fruit.
^[5] "had no regard" - sounds so cruel. And the author doesn't really explain why God didn't like his offering either. Is it just the "firstlings, fat portions" that Abel gave? Or is there more there? Perhaps it's not what's important - if it was, it seems that the author would have more clearly explained it.
^[6] Cain's response is anger - blames God and Abel.
^[7] First mention of sin. Cain clearly doesn't master it.
^[8] Cain doesn't appear to listen at all to God's advice. This is a really brutal turn - if we weren't so used to it, it would be shocking.
^[9] Cain adds a lie and an ugly lack of concern for his brother to his sin of murder.
^[10] Once again, God is disobeyed and sin is met with a curse.
^[11] Cain still continues to blame God rather than accepting responsibility.
^[12] Despite all that has occurred, God still protects Cain. I wonder - who are these others who Cain is afraid of being killed by? Again, I don't believe this is a literal "very first human family" example.
^[13] "Away from the presence of the Lord" - emphasizing that they had been in the presence of the Lord, even outside of the garden of Eden.



Take-home: Give your best for the Lord. Don't blame others for your own errors - down that path lies ruin. To claim that you are not your brother's keeper is probably bad. The Lord may protect even those who disobey him. And even outside of the garden of Eden, we can still be in the presence of God.

Genesis 3:1-3:24

     Now the serpent was more crafty¹ than any other wild animal² that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"³
     The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'"
     But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die;⁴ for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God⁵, knowing good and evil."⁶
     So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,⁷ she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,⁸ and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened,⁹ and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
     They heard the sound of the LORD God walking¹⁰ in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?¹¹"
     He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.¹²¹³"
     He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"
     The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.¹⁴"
     Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?"
     The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."
     The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures¹⁵; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.¹⁶ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.¹⁷"
     To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.¹⁸"
     And to the man he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.¹⁹ By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.²⁰"
     The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.²¹ And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil;²² and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"²³--therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.²⁴

^[1] I want to understand the implications of "crafty" in Hebrew
^[2] The serpent really sounds like a wild animal here. I'm so used to the interpretations of the serpent as Satan, that I just assumed it was there, but that implication isn't in the text anywhere. If we're going to interpret the serpent as Satan here, then we're really going to have to use other parts of the Bible to do it.
^[3] Starts with a question - that's the crafty part.
^[4] Is he right? I mean, they don't die, do they?
^[5] Tempts the consistent human desire to play the part of God.
^[6] What is his motivation? Why does he want to tempt the humans? Why does he want them to disobey God?
^[7] The stomach, the eyes, the ego. The woman came up with all of these things herself - the serpent didn't even have to imply them to her. Even today, these are all attributes that sin often appears to have.
^[8] The man was with her! She didn't go off and tell him what happened - he saw the whole interaction, heard all the same things she did, and never tried to stop any of it.
^[9] In this case, eyes being opened is a bad thing. That seems unusual.
^[10] What does it mean for God to be walking? A literary device to move the story forward? God clearly doesn't walk, right?
^[11] Does he really not know? Or is he just letting the man answer for himself? Or is this a deeper message about what God is saying to us when we are hiding and ashamed?
^[12] And he does answer honestly at least.
^[13] So he hid because of shame at the awareness of his nakedness - not for fear of God or shame of sinning. Or is "nakedness" a metaphor for being ashamed at the openness of his sinful state?
^[14] The man does answer honestly...but he blames the woman for the predicament.
^[15] Still sounds like a wild animal here.
^[16] Does this mean anything? Is it just a curse that matches what we see of snakes today, or is there a deeper meaning here?
^[17] At face value, I don't see the Christ analogy. This, instead, sounds like the way that humans and snakes interact today.
^[18] At the time, the two greatest issues women faced - the health dangers of pregnancy and childbirth and oppression from men.
^[19] And now the greatest issue men faced - the difficulty of their work and the need to procure food. So work was once good - now it is made a curse. Are we freed from this, and is work once again good for us? The thorns and thistles are certainly still there.
^[20] There's that dust again. And it's true.
^[21] Where did this come from? It feels so out of place.
^[22] So we're back to the "knowing good and evil" question. Why is this bad? What does it mean exactly?
^[23] So it would be bad for the man to live forever? Why? And again, why didn't he die when he ate the fruit of the tree? Interesting, the man appears to be the focus here, not the woman - another cultural emphasis.
^[24] What does the cherubim represent?


Take-home: We can be deceived, but much of our sin and disobedience is self-deception. Some things that can lead us into disobedience are our stomachs, our eyes, our ego...possibly our desire to "play God". The hard things we face in life can be the result of our past disobedience. I think there is even more here that I do not understand.

Genesis 2:5-2:25

     In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground--then the LORD God formed man¹ from the dust of the ground², and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life³; and the man became a living being. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
     A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.⁴
     The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.⁵ And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat⁶, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.⁷"
     Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner."⁸ So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs⁹ and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken." Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife¹⁰, and they become one flesh¹¹. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed¹².

^[1] This just doesn't fit with chapter one's account. I don't see any reason to assume it's supposed to. The author of Genesis put both stories in there without feeling any need to address the contradictions. These are stories that explain why we are here and are the way that we are - the contradiction of details in the setting is unimportant because those details aren't the message, they're the means by which the message is transmitted.
^[2] Made from dust - crazy. Makes me think of Kansas. My study Bible tells me that the Hebrew "adam" for man is similar to the "adamah" for dust. At first I thought that this indicated the author might be making a word play that decreased the significance of equating human origins with dust. This isn't necessarily true, but then I realized that it could be even a step deeper - what if this helps to explain why "dust" and "man" are almost the same word in Hebrew?
^[3] God's breath is in us.
^[4] Is there significance to these river descriptions, or are they just aspects of the setting?
^[5] Humans work from the beginning, but work was good. "Till it and keep it" (which my study Bible tells me is written literally as "serve it") provides a good addition to the "subdue" and "dominion" statements in the first creation account. We do have authority over the Earth, but we use that authority in service to the Earth, not in desecration of it and self-serving abuse.
^[6] If they aren't to eat of the tree, why is it in the garden? Is it there specifically to test them? Or is it an automatic aspect of living on this Earth? Perhaps, if we are to live on this Earth, then "knowledge of good and evil" was going to have to be available to us, and it was going to be tempting.
^[7] So why didn't they die when they ate it? Is it that eating the fruit is the cause of their eventual death and "in the day" has a broader meaning? Or is there a deeper meaning to "you shall die" that goes beyond physical death?
^[8] Reading this right now, it feels like something more than the setup of the marriage relationship - men and women need each other corporately, not just in exclusive relationships.
^[9] What is the significance of taking a rib? I guess it is about the most substantial thing (bone and marrow and meat and all) that you could take out of someone without them clearly missing it. Then again, my study bible says that the translation of this word is uncertain and that we don't actually know what is being taken out here.
^[10] Okay, so this moral is clearly the marriage relationship. And perhaps that is what the author was referring to the whole time. But I don't think that means that God (and us) can't mean something more than that here.
^[11] Naked=unhidden=open to the world. How much further do we have to go as people before we are truly open to the world and not ashamed?


Take-home: A second creation account to impart additional lessons. God made God to till and keep, or serve, the earth. He made man and woman to live in partnership with each other, and their creation is intimately tied together. And when humankind was created, they were created naked and unashamed.

Genesis 1:1-2:4

     In the beginning¹ when God created the heavens and the earth², the earth was a formless void³ and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God⁴ swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"⁵; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good⁶; and God separated the light from the darkness⁷. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.⁸⁹
     And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky¹⁰. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
     And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.¹¹ Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
     And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years¹², and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth." And it was so. God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule¹³ the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
     And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply¹⁴ and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
     And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us¹⁵ make humankind¹⁶ in our image¹⁷, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female¹⁸ he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply¹⁹, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion²⁰ over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
     Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it²¹, because on it God rested²² from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

^[1] "In the beginning!" "Created!" "Wind from God!" "And it was so!" There is so much powerful language in here when you read it with fresh eyes.
^[2] Does "the Earth" mean the whole physical universe, or just the planet Earth? That's not a question the author or his audience had in mind back then, so I don't think it'd be appropriate to pull it out of this text.
^[3] There's some deep translation questions with this phrase. Was the formless void preexisting, or was it part of that "God created" that was just mentioned? There are translations and theologies that suggest a God who shapes pre-existing matter. I don't - I believe that there really was "nothing" in the beginning - no matter, space, time, etc. I can't get that from this text though - that is more of a general belief I have come to from my understanding of the nature of God.
^[4] "wind from God" is deep. Study Bible says that the "spirit of God" phrase from earlier translations is an inaccurate Greek interpretation that wouldn't make sense in the Hebrew context.
^[5] If there weren't a hundred other reasons to study Hebrew already, I'd want to understand it better for that phrase alone.
^[6] "God saw that the light was good" - there goes Divine Command Theory.
^[7] Light and darkness separated - is that foreshadowing or just physical description?
^[8] 4,540,000,000 B.C. ±50,000,000 years
^[9] Is this repeated evening/morning/day motif a literary/liturgical device, or is there something to understand theologically from it?
^[10] Okay - now this is clearly not scientifically literal, and is instead set within the scientific understanding of the author's culture, so that it will make sense to the people for whom it is intended. Yes, I know that there are convoluted ways to try to explain a physical dome in the sky separating us from water above us, but the convolutions are unnecessary. I want to say 20-25 more pages about this, but I'll wait for now. If I were writing a study Bible, this would be "Excursus" time.
^[11] It feels like the primary purpose of day 2 all the way through the first half of day 6 is a basic, careful affirmation of all creation. Bless the land, the seas, the plants, the trees, the birds, the bees, the sun, moon, stars, and all the things that creep. God saw that they were good. And he has higher standards than us, so who are we to judge differently?
^[12] Even in translation this feels poetic.
^[13] "rule" - does that feel a little pagan to anyone else?
^[14] How interesting - the basic command from God for animals is a perfect match for the basic biological command for animals. Reproduce!
^[15] I find the "speaking to the heavenly assembly" explanation for the use of "us" and "our" more believable than the "talking about the trinity" explanation.
^[16] That's "adam" in the Hebrew, which means "mankind", both male and female. Adam, eh? Interesting....
^[17] We're "in the image of God". And very good to boot. That's incredible. Yet we are still the created, not the Creator, the recipients of gifts, not the Giver. So we still need to have some humility. p.s. - I don't believe that "in the image of God" means specifically that we're the ones with souls - the Hebrew worldview was more holistic than that.
^[18] Yup, both male and female are the in image of God. Repeated so often, still not understood by so many.
^[19] Does "be fruitful and multiply" have relevance in an overpopulated world? Since we have sort of filled the world up (far past there, actually, if we want everyone to have a Western lifestyle), should the command be taken as fulfilled?
^[20] "subdue", "dominion" - what do these words mean in this context? That's one of my big questions still about this chapter. I am certain it doesn't mean "abuse" though.
^[21] The 7th day is blessed, hallowed. Do I take that as seriously as the writer of Genesis writes it?
^[22] Do we believe that God can really tire from work, and can "rest"? If God is outside of time, what would a 7th-day-rest even mean for him? Is this story of God's 7th-day-rest in here just as an example and model for us, or is there some real theological meaning to a rest period for God? Another big question for me.



Take-home: God made everything. Everything that God made was good. Humans especially were made in God's likeness, to have dominion over the earth, and were very good. And on the seventh day God rested.

What this is all about and some ground rules

I realized about three months ago that I needed to do a more thorough study of the Bible from beginning to end, and that I wanted to write it all down. Now I'm finally going to get started with it. I will start with the beginning of the Hebrew Bible now - when I'm ready, I'll start the New Testament too, perhaps on a different blog. Here are a few notes so you understand how I'm going about it.

• I will try to blog at least once a day.
• I will take my notes on paper first before writing them up in the blog. This makes a difference for me.
• I pray to God for help in this endeavor before I start each day, and I've found that I feel led to pray again many times while I am reading. I also find that I feel led to start over and read the same section again many times, so it becomes a long session of pray-read-pray-read-read-read-pray-read.....you get the idea.
• That being said, I do not see this as a purely mystical experience - my mind is bringing in all the commentaries, books, and Bible studies I've done on these passages, not to mention my own personal experiences and the opinions of many other people I've dialogued with. This is going to be an attempt to bring together everything I can understand about this scripture with all the tools I've had access to.
• I use the framework of critical realism, for what it's worth.
• I will be using the NRSV translation, because I feel it's the most literally accurate and I like it. I will be reading out of the New Interpreter's Study Bible, so those notes will figure into my thoughts as well, though I will do all the initial praying and reading and note-taking on the text itself before looking to the study Bible notes.
• I cannot read Hebrew or Greek, which is a limitation. I will do my best with the tools available to me. I hope in a few years to start studying both languages, and will eventually redo this project again after that.
• I will not be using the added-on chapters and verses that our bibles have in them except to title the posts. I will determine my own natural breaks when figuring out what to study each day.
• After finishing a series of related stories, I will likely revisit the earlier passages and add to them insights I have gotten from the passages that followed.
• I may make jokes when they come to mind. They may not be funny.
• I will certainly get lots of things wrong. As N.T. Wright says, the problem is that I won't know which ones are wrong! I do this with a healthy degree of humility in my assertions (whether or not you can tell from my semi-positivist writing style).
• I reserve the right to go back to posts and edit them if I come upon new understandings of the text or think of new questions
• Please comment and correct me if you disagree with anything you see or can offer me more insight.

That's all I can think of to say for now. Let's get to the study.