Dr. Shirley's Web Courses
REL 101 - Old Testament Survey
Genesis 2:2 - "God . . rested . . from all His work . ." the original sense of "rest from" something means to "stop doing" it, i.e. it does not mean that God was tired and had to take a rest, but that He had completed His creation, and so stopped.
Genesis 2:17 - Note that the forbidden tree was not called the tree of knowledge, but "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". The Hebrews were very practical down-to-earth people; for them "to know" something meant to try something out and experience it. Until taking the fruit Adam and Eve had experienced only good; their choice was to experience evil also.
Genesis 3:12 - What a wonderful abdication of responsibility (and true of human nature to this day) "The woman whom Thou gavest . . she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." i.e. "It's all her fault. And if it's not her fault, then it's your fault, God, for giving her to me. And I just happened to go along and eat."
Genesis, chapter 5 - The long life-spans recorded for the antediluvian patriarchs may be due to several factors : We do not know how a year was reckoned ; for example, one of the
first calendars, used by the Sumerians was lunar, not solar, and was shorter than our present solar one. The Sumerians kept a list of kings who reigned before the Flood, and their reported
life-spans and reigns are also extrememly long.
Genesis 10:25 - "in his days was the earth divided" i.e. the scattering of peoples after Babel (Genesis 11:8)
Genesis 12:13, Genesis 20:2 & Genesis 26:7 - Abraham and, later, Isaac claim their
wives to be their sisters. The Bible merely records that this is what they did - it does not say that it was right. In fact, Sarah was Abraham's half-sister (Genesis 20:12-13).
Marriage to a female near-relation was an accepted custom in early Mesopotamian cultures - it was a way of making sure that the woman was protected and cared for, rather than letting her marry a stranger who might mistreat her after her family had moved on their way.
Genesis 16:15 - Ishmael is traditionally the ancestor of the Arab peoples. Abraham and Sarah's unwise decision has repercussions down to the present day.
Genesis 22:1 - the original meaning of "to tempt" is "to test". God was testing Abraham to see how far he would go in obedience.
Genesis 50:19-21 - compare the attitude of Joseph as a mature man who has been through suffering, with his attitude as a brash youngster who had not yet encountered adversity (Genesis 37:3-10).
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
Department of Religion
ENMU
Portales, NM 88130
Last Updated: January 1, 2007
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