Genesis
 

 

Genesis in General

Genesis 1-11   Creation    The Fall   Cain and Abel   The Flood

Genesis 12-36  Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar   Jacob, Leah, and Rachel

Genesis 37-50:  The Joseph Story

Genesis in General


Last updated: May 26, 2010


The Beginning of Wisdom:  Reading Genesis.  By Leon R. Kass.  Review by E. Theodore Mullen Jr. in Review of Biblical Literature.
The Book of Genesis Illustrated. By R. Crumb. Review by David Peterson in Review of Biblical Literature.
Early Jewish Writings.  This website provides fantastic resources on every book of the Bible and many other resources for studying the Old Testament.  Designed by Peter Kirby.
The Female Threat in Genesis.  By Shana Mauer.  Free-lance writer at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Fill in the Blank Content Questions on Genesis
The First Book of the Bible: Genesis: Augmented Edition. By Benno Jacob. Review by John Van Seters in Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.
Genesis:  A Living Conversation Web site for famous PBS program with Bill Moyers.  The site discusses:  First Murder (Gen 4); In God's Image (Gen 1-2); Temptation (Gen 2-3); Apocalypse:  Noah and the Flood; Call and Promise (Gen 11-13); Family Affair:  Abraham, Sarah, Hagar; Test (Gen 22); Blessed deception (Gen 25-28); God Wrestling (Gen 28, 32, 33); Exile--Joseph story.
Genesis and Jewish Thought. By Chaim Novan. Reviews by David M. Maas  and Bradley Embry in Review of Biblical Literature.
Genesis' Genesis, The Hebrew Transformation of the Ancient Near Eastern Myths and their Motifs.  By Walter Mattfeld
Genesis in Hebrew from Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis. By Tammi J. Schneider. Review by Ellen White in Review of Biblical Literature.
Sources JEDP in Genesis--a table by Ralph W. Klein showing how verses are assigned to the documentary sources
Text of JEDP sources in Genesis.  A color-coded translation by David Barnes (Blue = P; Black = J; Green = E; Red = special source in Genesis 14.
Outline of Genesis.  By Robert Dunston
The Realignment of the Priestly Literature: The Priestly Narrative in Genesis and its Relation to Priestly Legislation and the Holiness School. By Thomas J. King. Review by Bill T. Arnold in Review of Biblical Literature.
"Reflections on the Composition of Genesis." By Bill T. Arnold. Bible and Interpretation Website.
The Theology of the Book of Genesis. By R. W. L. Moberly. Reviews by Markus Witte (in German) and by Brian D. Russell in Review of Biblical Literature.
What Happens in Genesis.  By David J. A. Clines.  Use Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this essay.
What's New in Interpreting Genesis.  By Paul Koptak of North Park Seminary.  Reviews a number of recent commentaries and monographs.

 

Genesis 1-11 

Last updated: July 23, 2010

 

"Adam, What are You?  The Primeval History against the Backdrop of Mesopotamian Mythology."  Jens Bruun Kofoed.  JHiphil.
Genesis 1-11. A Handbook on the Hebrew Text. By Barry Bandstra. Review by Paul L. Chen in Review of Biblical Literature.
The Meaning of the Chronogenealogies of Genesis 5 and 11.  By Gerhard F. Hasel.
Names in Genesis 1-11. By Richard S. Hess. Bible and Interpretation website.
Der Prolog der hebräischen Bibel: Der literar- und theologiegeschichtliche Diskurs der Urgeschichte (Genesis 1-11). By Andreas Schüle. Review, in English, by Karl Möller in Review of Biblical Literature.

 

Creation

Last updated: May 26, 2010

  

    
Adapa the First Human:  Translation by Stephanie Dalley
Atrahasis Epic and its Significance for Understanding Genesis 1-9.  By Tikva Frymer-Kensky of the University of Chicago.  Published in Biblical Archeologist (December, 1977) 147-155.
Babylonian Creation Story.  = Enuma Elish
Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the Eschaton:  A Religio-Historical Study of Genesis 1 and Revelation 12.  By Hermann Gunkel.  Review by Pieter G. R. de Villiers in Review of Biblical Literature.
Creation and Destruction:  A Reappraisal of the Chaoskampf Theory in the Old Testament.  By David Toshio Tsumura.  Review by Karljürgen G. Feuerherm in Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.
Creation Myths & Sacred Narratives of Creation.  By Kathleen Jenks.
Creation Science.  (A challenge to biblical studies from the right). 
Creation Stories from around the World.  Compiled by Bruce Railsback, University of Georgia
The Days of Creation in Genesis 1:  Literal "Days" or figurative "Periods/Epochs" of time?  By Gerhard F. Hasel.  From Origins 21 (1994):5-38
Enuma Elish from ANET.  Translated by N. K. Sandars.
Enuma Elish from Theology Website; also Introduction to Enuma Elish.
  Enuma Elish...The Mesopotamian/Babylonian Creation Myth.  By Dennis Bratcher.
Enuma Elish Translation  Taken from Myths from Mesopotamia, by Stephanie Dalley
Enuma Elish.  Translation by W. G. Lambert.
Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology. By John Walton. Bible and Interpretation Website.
Genesis 1 Translation.  The NRSV arranged by Ralph W. Klein with two illustrations.
God: What Do The Opening Chapters of Genesis Tell Us About Him?   By Jim West.  Journal of Biblical Studies 1.2 (2001).
Humanity as the Image of God.  By David J. A. Clines.  The importance of this concept in theology is out of all proportion with the laconic treatment of it in the OT.
Israel's "New Moons and Full Moon Observances" and the Shabbat (Sabbath) = Shapattu Controversy.  By Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y de la Torre.
The Liberating Image:  The Imago Dei in Genesis 1.  By Richard J. Middleton.  Review by Nathan MacDonald in Review of Biblical Literature
Lilith:  Adam's First Wife  Ancient sources; Jewish mysticism; modern magic and literature; pictures.
Lilith and Musical Worship
Main Issues in the Science Creation Debate  A very fine site with good scientific information
The Pre-biblical Origin of the Sabbath (Shabbat) and its derivation from the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh and Atrahasis.  By Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfield y de la Torree.
The Purpose of Creation Myths.  By Ronald A. Simkins
Ra and the Serpent:  An Egyptian Myth of Creation.
Season of Creation:  A New Liturgical Season in September in the Lutheran Church of AustraliaTheology for a Season of Creation
 

 

The Fall

Last updated: May 27, 2010

                       

 


Bone of My Bone and Flesh of my Flesh.  By Phyllis A. Bird.  "The examples of Genesis I and Psalm 8 alert us to two dangers in appeal to biblical statements as authority for contemporary faith. Both appear to offer general pronouncements about the nature of humankind with universal applicability. In fact, both are concerned with a very limited question-the place of humans within the created order. Both also assume male models as representative of the species."
The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio-historical Study of Genesis 2-3. By Tryggve N. D. Mettinger. Review by Howard N. Wallace in Review of Biblical Literature.
Eve and Pandora Contrasted.  By William E. Phipps.  Theology Today 45.1 (1988).
The "Fall"--a Second Look:  A Literary Analysis of Genesis 2:4-3:24.  By Dennis R. Bratcher.
The Fall of Satan in the Thought of St. Ephrem and John Milton.  By Gary A. Anderson.  Hugoye:  Journal of Syriac Studies 3 (2000)
The Garden of Eden. By Eric H. Cline. Bible and Interpretation website.
The Garden of Eden, Enki's Fruit-tree Garden in Eridu of Sumer.  By Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y de la Torre
Images of Women in Ancient Art--Especially Eve Women in prehistory, Egypt, Aegean, Palestine, Greece, etc.
Rethinking the Interpretation of Genesis 2:4b-3:24  By Lyn M. Bechtel
Seduction of Eve and Feminist Readings of the Garden of Eden
Temptation of Adam and Eve in Art  Lots of wonderful pictures and explanations.
What Does Eve Do to Help?  David J. A. Clines

Cain and Abel

Last updated: May 27, 2010

Cain, Abel, and the Yahwist. By André Lacocque. Review by Mark McEntire in Review of Biblical Literature
Cain and Abel:  Scriptures and Folktales.  D. L. Ashliman.  Bible, Qur'an, Palestinian, Turkish, Italian, and Polish folklore.
"Mozart & Salieri, Cain & Abel:  A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4."  By Gregory Allen Robbins.  Journal of Religion and Film 1 (1997).S

The Flood

Last updated: July 23, 2010

 

 



 

 

Atrahasis. Translation by Brian Colless.
The Biblical View of the Extent of the Flood.  By Gerhard F. Hasel
Black Sea Discoveries and the Biblical Flood A National Geographic expedition has been seeking to make a link between flooding in ancient times and the biblical flood.  The magazine has created a snazzy web site with a lot of resources.  Connection to biblical flood is doubtful.
Epic of Gilgamesh. 
The Flood Story in J and P:  An Example of the Documentary Hypothesis
"Forget about Noah's Ark: There was no Worldwide Flood." By Robert R. Cargill. Bible and Interpretation website.
Gilgamesh and the World of Assyria. Edited by Joseph Azize and Noel Weeks. Review by Michael Moore in Review of Biblical Literature.
Gilgamesh Study Guide by Diane Thompson  Terrific pedagogical site!
Noah and Disaster Planning:  The Cultural Significance of the Flood Story.  By R. R. Dynes.  Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management.  Identifies perspectives Noah used in preparing for the flood and suggests how these relate to modern disaster response. 
Noah's Ark--Data on Ziusudra of Sumer; many interesting links 
Noah's Ark Search.  Provided for completeness.  This search is futile.
Noah's Curse:  The Biblical Justification of American Slavery.  By Stephen r. Haynes.  Reviewed by Dexter E. Callender.
Noah's Story marked according to the Documentary Hypothesis 
Noahide Laws Explained.  Key to the exegesis of Gen 2:16-17 that led to the tradition of the Noahide laws.
Original Dishonor:  Noah's Curse and the Southern Defense of Slavery.  By Stephen R. Haynes of Rhodes College.  Journal of Southern Religion 3, (2000).
Problems with a Global Flood.  By Mark Isaak.
Significance of the Sons of God Episode.  By David J. A. Clines.  On the Way to the Postmodern:  Old Testament Essays 1967-98, Volume 1.
Sons of God by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai
Story of Noah Marked according to the Documentary Sources
Sumerian Creation and Flood Stories
Sumerian King List  Important parallel to Genesis 5 and long-lived ante-deluvian figures.
Theology of the Flood Narrative  By David J. A. Clines.  From On the Way to the Postmodern, Volume 2.
When Heroes Love:  The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David.  By Susan Ackerman.  Review by Thomas Römer in Review of Biblical Literature.


  Genesis 12-36 Israel's Matriarchs and Patriarchs   

Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar

Last updated: May 27, 2010

Abraham--Not the father of Ishmael and the Arabs?  By Walter Mattfeld.
Abraham. Trials of Family and Faith. By Terence E. Fretheim. Review by Hallvard Hagelia in Review of Biblical Literature
Abraham's Children: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conversation. Edited by Norman Solomon, Richard Harries, and Tim Winter. Review by Joel N. Lohr in Review of Biblical Literature.
Age of the Patriarchs.  Historical background from Hebrew University.
Ancestor in Danger but Not the Same Danger.  By David J. A. Clines.  Use Adobe Acrobat Reader to see this essay on Genesis 12, 20, and 26.
Bible and Midrash:  The Story of 'The Wooing of Rebekah' (Gen. 24).  By Lieve M. Teugels.  Review by Phillip Sherman in Review of Biblical Literature.
Binding of Isaac.  By Dow Edgerton, Jr., of Chicago Theological Seminary.  There are as many methods of interpretation as there are interpreters.  Theology Today 44.2 (1987)
The Birth of Isaac:  Genesis 21:1-7.  By Wendell W. Frerichs.  Word and World 14 (1994)
Bound by the Bible:  Jews, Christians and the Sacrifice of Isaac.  By Edward Kessler.  Review by Isaac Kalimi in RBL.
Burial of Sarah.  An exegesis of Genesis 23.  By Ben Kao.  Journal of Biblical Studies 1.1 (2001)
Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son.  By Jon Levenson.  Review by David R. Blumenthal.
Descendants of Israel's Matriarchs and Patriarchs  By Professor Felix Just
Family and Society in Ancient Israel  Ancient Hebrew Social Organization--patrilineal descent, marriage, sagas
"Go, I Beg You, Take your Beloved Son and Slay Him!" The Binding of Isaac in Rabbinic Literature and Thought. By Isaac Kalimi.
Hagar According to the Documentary Hypothesis.  By Ralph W. Klein
Hagar and Sarah--Women Quilting a Biblical Pattern.  From a speech by Letty Russell of Yale
Hebrew Akedah (Sacrifice of Isaac) in Christian and Islamic Traditions.  Quotations from NT, Luther, Irenaeus, Wesley, the Qur'an
The Interpretation of the Sarah-Hagar Stories in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature.  By Irene Pabst.  Lectio Difficilior 2003.  Skip past brief German summary at the beginning.
Isaac and Ishmael:  Brothers in Conflict.  Leslie Hoppe, O.F.M.
Isaac's Opferung (Gen 22) in den Konfessionen und Medien der frühen Neuzeit. Ed. Johann Anselm Steiger and Ulrich Heinen. Review by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer in Review of Biblical Literature.
Ishmael and his Relationship to Islam.
Melchizedek:  Gen 14, 17-20 in the Targums, in Rabbinic and Early Christian Literature.  By Martin McNamara.  Biblica 81 (2000):1-31.
The Patriarchs in Scripture and History.  By John Goldingay
Promises of Descendants and Land to Israel's Ancestors in Genesis.  Compiled by Ralph W. Klein
The Religion of the Patriarchs.  By Gordon J. Wenham
Remembering Abraham:  Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible.  By Ronald Hendel.  Review by Athalya Brenner in Review of Biblical Literature and by Wesley Hu in Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
The Rescue of Lot.  By Kenneth W. Collins.  Denies connection of Sodom and Homosexuality. 
The Sacrifice of Isaac in Qumran Literature.  By Joseph A. Fitzmyer.  Biblica 83 (2002): 211-229. 
Sanctuaries Established by Israel's Ancestors in Genesis.  Compiled by Ralph W. Klein
Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:1-29) on the Internet  An evaluation of sites dealing with this chapter and with homosexuality.  By Suzanne Scholz
Tales of the Patriarchs (Genesis Apocryphon) from the Dead Sea Scrolls
A Thrice-Told Tale:  Genre, Theme, and Motif  A study of the wife-sister motif in Genesis 12, 20, and 26.  By David L. Petersen
Wife-Sister. The Endangering of the Ancestress. Text of Genesis 12, 20, 26 arranged by Ralph W. Klein
"The Yahwist Looks at Abraham."  By Ralph W. Klein.  CTM  45 (1974)

Jacob, Leah, and Rachel

Last updated: May 27, 2010

Celebrating and Sharing the Gift:  Reflections on Jacob, Israel's Ancestor.  By Ralph W. Klein
Configurations or Rape in the Hebrew Bible. By Frank Yamade. Review by Susanne Scholz in Review of Biblical Literature.
The Ladder of Jacob: Ancient Interpretations of the Biblical Story of Jacob and his Children. By James L. Kugel. Review by Dan Clanton in Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.
Old Testament Story and Christian Ethics:  The Rape of Dinah as a Case Study.  By Robin Perry.  Review by Yael Shemesh in Review of Biblical Literature.
Structure of the Jacob Narrative.  By Robert Dunston
The Struggle at the Jabbok:  the Uses of Enigma in a Biblical Narrative.  By Stephen A. Geller.  JANES 1982
What Really Happened to Dinah.  By Susanne Scholz.  A Feminist Analysis of Genesis 34.  lectio difficilior 2.2 (2001)
Wrestling at the Jabbok (Gen 32:22-31).   By Kirsten Abbott
Wrestling with God:  Gen 32:24-32.  By Bruce Gottsche.
Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election. By Joel S. Kaminsky. Reviews by Benjamin D. Sommer, Jacqueline Lapsley, Ellen F. Davis, Joel N. Lohr, Patrick D. Miller, with a response by Joel is Kaminsky in Review of Biblical Literature.
"You Shall not Abhor an Edomite, for He is Your Brother":  The Tradition of Esau and the Edomite Genealogies from an Anthropological Perspective.  By Juan Manuel Tebes.  Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 6 (2006).

 

  Genesis 37-50 Joseph

Last updated: May 27, 2010

Anubis and Bata.  An Egyptian parallel to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife.
Art, Movies, and other links to the Joseph Story, including the account of Joseph in Josephus.
Defense of the Historicity of the Joseph Story.  Christian Answers.net
Der Herr der Träume: Eine Studie zur Funktion des Traumes in der Josefgeschichte der Hebräischen Bibel. By Jörg Lanckau. Review by Bart J. Koet in English in Review of Biblical Literature.
The Dual Identities of Joseph, Moses, and Joshua.  From Living in Truth:  Archaeology and the Patriarchs.  By Charles N. Pope.
Inquiring of Joseph:  Getting to Know a Biblical Character Through the Qur'an.  By John Kaltner.  Review by R. Christopher Heard in Review of Biblical Literature
Joseph and the Exodus.  From Egyptian Myth and Legend, chapter XXI.  Joseph as Grand Vizier, Israelites in Goshen, etc.
Joseph, Egypt, and the Hyksos.  Bills itself as the largest Egyptian photo gallery on the internet.
Joseph in Ancient Egypt by Wyatt Archeological Research  This site discusses the historicity of Joseph (also of the Cave of Machpelah, Noah's ark, the ark of the covenant, Sodom and Gomorrah, Red Sea Crossing, Sinai).  These findings would generally not be supported by mainstream scholarship--but judge for yourself.
Joseph Wise and Otherwise:  The Intersection of Wisdom and Covenant in Genesis 37-50.  By Lindsay Wilson.  Review by Oren Biderman in Review of Biblical Literature.
The Literary Genius of the Joseph Narrative.  By William D. Ramey.  Also "Preface to the Joseph Narrative."
Loving Yusuf: Conceptual Travels from Present to Past. By Mieke Bal. Review by Rebecca Raphael in Review of Biblical Literature
Potiphar's Wife and the Cultural Template of Sacred Sexuality.  By Thalia Gur-Klein.  Lectio Difficilior 2.1 (2001).
Story of Joseph in Five Religious Traditions.  By Jim Stokes on Bahai Web site.
The Story of Joseph:  A Journey of Jewish Interpretation.  By Alan T. Levenson.  Review by Piet Venter in Review of Biblical Literature
"Unveiling the Versions:  The Tactics of Tamar in Genesis 38:15," JHS 3, 7 (2001).  By John R. Hullestun.
Victim and Victimizer:  Joseph’s Interpretation of his Destiny.   By Yiu-Wing Fung (Sheffield, 2000).  SBL review by Howald Neil Wallace.  PDF file.

 

Return to Pentateuch

 

Return to Home Page