The Bible Genesis – Revelation

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

with

Dr. Bill Creasy

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Copyright © 2013 by William C. Creasy

All rights reserved. No part of this course—audio, video, photography, maps, timelines or other media—may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval devices without permission in writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.

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Introduction

This course—The Bible—has its origins in English 108 A, B, & C, The English Bible as Literature, a yearlong, 3-quarter class that I taught for many years at the University of California, Los Angeles, where I served on the English faculty for over two decades. Most university classes with such a title focus mainly on material in the Bible that resembles a student’s other literary experiences, such as Job, the Psalms or the parables of Jesus. Such courses view the Bible as something akin to an anthology of ancient Near Eastern writings representing a variety of literary genres. From this perspective, the Bible is viewed as a book only because it is a collection of pages held together between two covers. Indeed, the word “bible,” ta biblia, means “the little books.”

But this is not how the Church has experienced the Bible over the past two millennia. Although written over a period of 1,500 years by many different authors; passing through the hands of editors and redactors; and each book having its own more or less complex textual history, the Bible—as we have experienced it personally, theologically and liturgically—has been read as a unity, and it has influenced Church thinking as a unity: it has a beginning (Genesis) and an end (Revelation); it has a clear overarching structure, or narrative shape; its main character is God, its conflict is sin, its theme is redemption; and it has a set of concrete images that create textual cohesion: mountains, water, oil, bread, wine, and so on. As Pope Benedict XVI states in his introduction to Jesus of Nazareth: “If you want to understand the Scripture in the spirit in which it is written, you have to attend to the content and to the unity of Scripture as a whole.” Indeed, all Scripture is subject to an organic process of reading and rereading that continually deepens our understanding of Scripture as a living faith document with an ever-developing message. Read as such an organic whole, the Bible is the most influential book ever written. It has shaped men and women, nations and civilizations; indeed, history itself, for two millennia. My goal for this course is two-fold:

1. To create “educated readers” of Scripture, fully equipped to engage the text in its proper historical, cultural and literary context, and to reflect accurately the teaching and tradition of the Roman Catholic Church; and

2. To bring students into a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ.

Beginning an in-depth, verse-by-verse study of the entire Bible, Genesis through

Revelation, seems a daunting task. But I’m not asking for a long-term commitment. Come to class for the first meeting; if you like it, come back.

It will be the greatest adventure of your life!

Learn more about Logos Bible Study.

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Housekeeping Our class meetings follow the academic quarter system, meeting for three quarters each year: 1) Fall, mid-September through mid-December; 2) Winter, mid-January to Holy Week; and 3) Spring, after Holy Week through June. July and August we are on summer break and classes do not meet. Each academic year consists of 30 class meetings and it takes about seven years to complete the entire Bible. (Seven years, you say! Yes, seven years. Not to worry; you can do it!)

You can view our complete calendar on my web site: logosbiblestudy.com. Classes meet weekly, either from 10:00 AM – noon (St. Irenaeus, Cypress), or 7:00 – 9:00 PM (St. John Eudes, Chatsworth; St. Bede the Venerable, La Canada; and Our Mother of Confidence, San Diego). At the beginning of each quarter we have online registration. Tuition is currently $85/quarter. Classes consist of two 50-minute lectures with one 15-minute break between them. I record each lecture, and by the end of the week I will post each lecture on my web site for downloading.

Our course follows a lecture format, and each class has a rather large attendance; therefore, we do not have discussion and questions in class. I do however, welcome your questions before and after class, and our course has a public Facebook page where you may ask me questions, form discussion groups and share your thoughts with me and with your fellow students. I also write a weekly blog that addresses Scripture topics and questions. Many of my students have formed discussion groups at their parishes and among their friends, and I encourage you to do so, enthusiastically!

For those who would like to participate, I lead several small-group teaching tours

each year to biblical sites, including: Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Italy and a variety of biblically-themed cruises and specialty tours. These tours are emphatically teaching tours and they are educational, spiritual and social “bucket list” experiences open only to my students and to their significant others.

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The Bible, Teaching Sequence As we progress verse-by-verse through the Bible, I alternate between the Old and

New Testaments. I do this for two reasons: 1) most people are more familiar with the New Testament than they are with the Old, so I need to get to the New Testament quickly, and 2) alternating between the Old and New Testaments allows me to “weave” the fabric of Scripture, highlighting how the Old Testament prefigures the New and how the New Testament fulfills the Old. Thus, the order in which I teach the books of the Bible is this:

Genesis Matthew Exodus/Leviticus Mark Numbers Luke Deuteronomy John [Torah & Gospels completed]

Joshua/Judges/Ruth Acts 1 & 2 Samuel Romans 1 & 2 Kings 1 & 2 Corinthians/ Galatians Ezra/Nehemiah/Tobit/Judith/Esther 1 & 2 Maccabees [OT historical books completed]

Ephesians/Philippians/Colossians/Philemon [Paul’s “prison epistles”]

Job/Psalms/Proverbs/Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs Wisdom/Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) [Poetic books completed]

1 & 2 Thessalonians/1 & 2 Timothy/Titus [Paul’s epistles & letters completed]

Isaiah/Jeremiah/Lamentations/Baruch (both associated with Jeremiah)/Ezekiel/Daniel [Major Prophets completed]

Hebrews/James/1 & 2 Peter/1, 2, & 3 John/Jude [General, or catholic, letters completed]

Hosea/Joel/Amos/Obadiah Jonah/Micah/Nahum/Habakkuk Zephaniah/Haggai/Zechariah/Malachi [Minor Prophets completed]

Revelation [Bible completed]

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Suggested Texts

I have selected the following as the primary texts for The Bible course. You may order them through Amazon.com by clicking on the titles. Donald Senior, John J. Collins and Mary Ann Getty, eds. The Catholic Study Bible, revised

edition. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

This is the Bible from which I will be teaching. The text of The Catholic Study Bible is the revised New American Bible translation (NAB), the same translation that is used in the Roman Catholic liturgy. As a study Bible this edition has a host of useful resources, including general and introductory articles, reading guides for each book of the Bible, a glossary, lectionary, maps and in-depth notes.

Lawrence Boadt. Reading the Old Testament, an Introduction, 2nd edition. New York: Paulist Press, 2012.

Fr. Lawrence Boadt, C.S.P. received his doctorate in Biblical Studies and Near Eastern Languages from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and he taught at Fordham University, St. John’s University and Washington Theological Union. From 1998 until his death in 2010 he was president of Paulist Press. His Reading the Old Testament was first published in 1984 and it is the “classic” introduction to the Old Testament for university and seminary students. Larry was a superb Old Testament scholar, a brilliant editor and a personal friend.

Luke Timothy Johnson. The Writings of the New Testament, an Interpretation, 3rd edition. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010.

A former Benedictine Monk, Luke Timothy Johnson received his doctorate in New Testament Studies from Yale University and he is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, where he is also Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. An outstanding teacher, Professor Johnson is author of more than 20 books on New Testament studies and over 100 scholarly articles.

U.S. Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition. New York: Doubleday, 2003.

I include the Catechism of the Catholic Church among my suggested texts, for it is the definitive compendium of all Roman Catholic doctrine regarding faith and morals. Should you ask, “What does the Roman Catholic Church have to say about this?” you will find the answer here.

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Genesis: Introduction and Outline Traditional Author: Moses Traditional Date Written: c. 1446-1406 B.C. Traditional Period Covered: Creation-1805 B.C.

Genesis speaks of beginnings: God’s creation; the beginning of mankind; the beginning of sin; the beginning of salvation; and the beginning of our story. It is a literary tour de force that makes all other creation stories pale in comparison.

The opening scene spans Chapters 1: 1 - 2: 3. In this scene God creates all that is,

simply by speaking it into existence. During the first half of creation, God creates space: on the first day he creates light, and he separates the light from darkness; on the second day he creates earth and sky, and he separates them from one another; and on the third day he moves the waters on earth to expose dry ground. During the second half of creation, God fills the spaces he has created: on the second half of the third day, he fills the dry ground with vegetation; on the fourth day he fills the sky with sun, moon and stars; on the fifth day he fills the waters on earth with fish, and the sky above with birds; and on the sixth day he fills the ground with animals. Closing day six, God creates man—the subject of our story. And on the seventh day, God rests, his creation complete, perfect and “very good.”

Like William Blake’s “Ancient of Days” kneeling on a cloud and marking out

creation with a compass, we view the opening chapter of Genesis from a divine perspective: all is symmetry, balance and harmony.

William Blake. Ancient of Days, (watercolor), 1794. British Museum, London.

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In Hebrew, God’s name is Elohim, a plural noun, which suggests majesty and power. The Hebrew syntax of the scene’s opening and closing phrases emphasize God’s creative force: “In the beginning/ created/ God/ the heavens and the earth” (1: 1); and “Thus the heavens and the earth . . ./ God had finished . . ./creating” (2: 1-3). Notice how the closing phrase repeats in reverse order the opening phrase, a literary device called inclusio that frames the scene, holding the scene together like two bookends. In between, each act of creation moves toward fullness, completion and perfection.

In 2: 4-25, what is often called the “second creation story,” we double back into

scene one, drop down into day six of creation, and view the event from a human perspective. In this scene, God’s name is YHWH (pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah) Elohim, an intimate covenant name, usually translated “LORD God” to distinguish it from Elohim. In this scene we stand with the LORD God in the Garden of Eden and watch as he creates man and woman. Unlike the other creatures that he spoke into existence, the LORD God “formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (2:7); here we learn that man carries within him the very breath of God, making him unique among all God’s creatures. The LORD God clearly delights in man, and he gives him his new creation “to work it and take care of it” (2:15). Yet, in the midst of paradise, the LORD God sees that man is incomplete, that he needs a partner in life, so he makes a “helper suitable for him” (2:18). The Hebrew word for “helper” is ayzer, and it carries no pejorative or subordinate connotation; a better translation might be “partner.” In a delightful pun, the LORD God creates “woman” (Hebrew, isha) out of the side of “man” (Hebrew, ish), and when the man sees her, he breaks into poetry: “This is now bone of my bones/ and flesh of my flesh;/ she shall be called ‘woman,’/ for she was taken out of man” (2:23). The scene ends with the man and his wife both naked, neither feeling shame. It is a delightful scene, intimate and playful, a scene that recognizes the tender, loving relationship among the LORD God, the man and the woman.

Genesis 1 and 2 set the stage for our story in highly poetic fashion. In these

chapters we learn that God created all that is, that his creation is good, perfect and complete, and that God maintains an intimate relationship with what he has created. But all good stories have a conflict, and in chapter 3, conflict enters our story, and the rest of the Bible, from Genesis 4 through Revelation 22, follows a trajectory toward resolving that conflict. In chapter 3 we read, “Now, the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals that the LORD God had made” (3:1). We should notice several things in this verse. First, a new character enters our story, the serpent. Who is he, and where did he come from? If we stay within the narrative and observe the literary unity of Scripture, we receive an answer in Revelation 20:1-2, the end of our story: “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” In chapter 3 we meet our great adversary, Satan, and he tempts Adam and Eve, causing them to fall.

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Titian. Adam and Eve (oil on canvas), c. 1550.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Satan lurks in the shadows on every page of Scripture. In Luke 10, Jesus says, “I

saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven” (10: 18). And in Ezekiel 28, God compares the king of Tyre to Satan: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty./ You were in Eden, the garden of God;/ every precious stone adorned you . . ./ Your settings and mountings were made of gold;/ on the day you were created they were prepared./ You were anointed as a guardian cherub,/ for so I ordained you./ You were on the holy mount of God;/ you walked among the fiery stones./ You were blameless in your ways/ from the day you were created/ till wickedness was found in you./ Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence,/ and you sinned./ So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,/ and I expelled you, O guardian cherub . . .” (28: 12-18).

Second, we learn that the serpent, or Satan, is “crafty,” a translation of the Hebrew

awroum, which itself is from the root, awram, literally, “to be smooth.” Many translations render the word “subtle” or “shrewd.” This is an important textual clue as the story in chapter 3 unfolds.

Third, we learn that the serpent is a created being: he is craftier “than any of the

wild animals that the LORD God had made.” Fourth, we see that God continues to be called YHWH Elohim, “LORD God,” as he had

been in chapter 2. And finally, we learn that the narrative we are reading is a closed system; that is,

the actions, events and characters in the story operate solely within the world of the narrative itself. Outside of the story, other actions, events and characters operate, and

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sometimes they intrude into the story. Satan provides an example. Nowhere in the Bible do we actually see Satan being expelled from heaven; we only have references to it, as in Luke 10: 18; Isaiah 14: 12-15; Ezekiel 28: 11-19; and Revelation 12: 7-9. We can only assume that God expels Satan prior to our narrative’s start, before Genesis 1: 1. Yet, he intrudes into the story in Genesis 3, as he will when he tempts Jesus in Matthew 4: 1-11, and when he appears as the great dragon in Revelation. Angels, although we haven’t yet met them, offer another example. The Hebrew word for “angel,” means literally “messenger.” When angels appear in our story, they are sent from outside the world of the narrative to bring information to the characters inside the narrative, and after they deliver their message, they exit the story and return to their place outside the narrative, much like characters entering and exiting the stage in a play.

All of this is a great deal to glean from one verse, but it is essential information for a

close reading of the chapter, for once we meet the serpent, he immediately speaks: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (3: 1b). Notice that the serpent uses “God,” not “LORD God,” the covenant name from Genesis 2 which is carried into chapter 3, and notice, too, the tone of incredulity as he speaks: “Did God really say . . ..” Eve then replies: “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say . . .”— and here she mirrors the serpent’s use of “God,” rather than the intimate term “LORD God.” This is a subtle distinction, but an important and quite deliberate one. We were warned in verse 1 that the serpent was “more crafty than any of the wild animals that the LORD God had made,” and in this exchange we see his craftiness. As God created by speaking, so the serpent destroys by a subtle twist of language.

As a result, Eve takes the fruit and gives some “to her husband, who was with her”

(3: 6), and “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked . . .” (3: 7). Adam and Eve are no longer intimate with one another; now they see other, a being separate from themselves, and they are horrified. A hairline crack runs through the very foundation of their relationship, not only with one another, but also with God. They are afraid and they hide, and when God confronts them, they blame one another and the serpent for their disobedience.

When Adam and Eve eat the fruit, sin enters the world, the conflict of our story.

The Hebrew word for “sin” suggests “missing the mark,” but in Scripture the word is much more complex. As we study through the Bible we learn that “sin” is not simply an act of disobedience that one commits, but an ongoing condition that one is in. For the purpose of our narrative, we might define sin as “a condition of alienation and separation from God that manifests itself in outward, sinful actions.” And that condition has four characteristics: 1) it is subtle, 2) it distorts our judgment, 3) it escalates, and 4) it cascades down through generations. As we continue our story, we explore sin in depth, and we examine its four characteristics as they manifest themselves in the characters and actions of the narrative.

As chapter 3 draws to a close, the LORD God speaks of the consequences of what has

happened. To the serpent, he says, “You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life” (3: 14), and LORD God also foreshadows future events when he says to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman,/ and between your offspring

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and hers;/ he [the woman’s offspring] will crush your [the serpent’s] head,/ and you [the serpent] will strike his [the woman’s offspring] heel” (3: 15). To the woman the LORD God says, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;/ with pain you will give birth to children./ Your desire will be for your husband,/ and he will rule over you”(3: 16). And to Adam he says, “Cursed is the ground because of you;/ through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life” (3: 17).

This closing scene firmly establishes the serpent as enemy to both God and man,

our great adversary. It makes clear that a woman’s joy in giving life will now involve not just physical pain, but the much greater pain of bringing a child into a fallen world, one filled with violence, death and uncertainty. It declares that a woman’s desire will be for her husband, and that her husband will use that desire to rule over her and control her. And it announces that the man will now struggle with God’s creation, rather than creatively manage it. In the end, the LORD God limits the length of man’s life, which had been eternal, and he ejects Adam and Eve from the garden, beginning the sad, sorry story of sinful humanity in a fallen world.

In chapter 4 we begin to see the consequences of sin in the world. Here, Eve gives

birth to children, and Cain, her eldest, murders Able, her youngest. By the seventh generation, Lamech marries two women, and he kills “a man for wounding me,/ a young man for injuring me.” By the time we reach chapter 6, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil all the time” (6:5). In a few brief chapters, we move from Adam and Eve disobeying God and being ashamed, to brother murdering brother and being impudent, to Lamech viewing his wives as property and killing a stranger for insulting him, to all people being only evil all the time. Sin has indeed begun its terrible course.

So what is God to do? In chapters 6-9 he gives humanity a second chance. By

bringing the flood and destroying all life on earth, except for Noah and his family, God washes the land clean and offers a new beginning. Yet, when Noah gets off the ark, he plants a vineyard, harvests the grapes, gets drunk, and curses his children. By chapter 11 we arrive at the Tower of Babel, a grotesque emblem of fallen man’s sin and hubris, and we are back where we started.

After reading Genesis 1-11 we can arrive at only one conclusion: Left to our own

devices, we cannot resolve the issue of sin—the core conflict in our story. In our story’s narrative, the first eleven chapters of Genesis are technically

classified as mythopoeic literature, stories that address and illuminate fundamental issues of the human condition: How did creation come about? If God is good, why is there evil in the world? Why do men and women live in such tension? Why are there so many languages in the world? And so on. To read Genesis 1-11 as history, even in the loosest sense of the term, is fundamentally to misread the text.

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Genesis 12-50 brings us from primeval time to historical time; a period spanning roughly 2166 B.C.- 1805 B.C. In these chapters, God introduces the plan of redemption—the theme of our story—and he develops his plan through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In Chapter 12, God chooses Abram and his wife Sarai (later renaming them

Abraham and Sarah, meaning “father of many” and “princess,” to reflect their new status), and he makes a covenant with them: “I will make you into a great nation/ and I will bless you;/ I will make your name great,/ and you will be a blessing./ I will bless those who bless you,/ and whoever curses you I will curse;/ and all peoples on earth/ will be blessed through you” (12: 2-3). This is the Abrahamic Covenant, and in the great sweep of our narrative, it forges one hinge on which the door of salvation swings. It is an unconditional covenant, depending solely upon God’s faithfulness, not Abram’s behavior. Through this covenant, “all peoples on earth will be blessed”; through this covenant, God implements the plan of redemption.

In chapters 12: 1 - 25: 18 we read the story of Abraham/Isaac; in chapters 25: 19 -

36: 43 we read the story of Isaac/Jacob; and in chapters 37: 1 - 50:26 we read the story of Jacob/Joseph. All three are brilliant narratives. As you read, notice the extraordinary unity as the stories progress, each leading into the next, unfolding like a triptych, and notice how the whole narrative is framed. In Genesis 1: 1, our story begins with birth: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”; and in Genesis 50: 26, it ends: “in a coffin in Egypt.” The LORD God had said to Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (2: 16-17). And he does.

Genesis begins our great adventure of studying the Bible, beginning to end. It sets

the stage for our story; it introduces the conflict; and it provides the theme. Every character we meet is memorable, and every action adds to the development of the whole. Genesis is one of the greatest stories in all of world literature. It is complex, many-layered, and enormously sophisticated in its narrative technique. Although reflecting a variety of sources and assembled from a vast array of oral literature spanning centuries, the final version of Genesis contained in our Bibles is a work of world-class literature, dazzling in its complexity and subtlety. Read as the start of a larger book we call “the Bible,” Genesis offers an opening chapter, setting the stage for what will come.

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CRITICAL NOTE As we study through the Bible together, issues in critical scholarship occasionally arise, and when they do, I will discuss them as they apply. My approach to the Bible is literary, but there are many other approaches as well, each providing insights into the text. One very important approach is called the “historical-critical method,” and it is foundational to modern biblical scholarship. In contrast to a literary approach, which insists that the reader enter the world of the narrative and experience the story from within the text, the historical-critical method stands outside the text and examines its formation from an historical perspective, seeking to understand a text’s antecedents, what historical and cultural influences affected its formation, how it developed, and how it achieved its final form.

In the late nineteenth century, the German biblical scholar, Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918), building upon the work of K.H. Graf, suggested that Moses did not write the Pentateuch, as tradition held and the text itself asserts; rather, he said, the five books of Moses are a composite consisting of four “sources”: 1) a ninth century B.C. Jehovistic source (J); 2) an eighth century B.C. Elohistic source (E); 3) parts of Deuteronomy dating from the time of King Josiah (D); and 5) a fifth century B.C. Priestly source (P). His book, Die Komposition des Hexateuchs, published in 1877, argues that the Jehovistic author compiled his work from the J and E sources, and then supplemented it with material from the Deuteronomy source. In addition, Wellhausen argued, Leviticus 17-26 made its way into the Priestly source sometime after Ezekiel, and Ezra later added the rest of the priestly material to P. Finally, sometime around 200 B.C., an editor—or editors—revised all of this material to form the Pentateuch, or the Torah—Genesis through Deuteronomy—as we know it. This theory is called the Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis, and it is foundational to the historical-critical method. In general, this method focuses upon how and when various books of the Bible were written, what their underlying sources were, and who did the writing and editing.

In “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church” (1994), the Pontifical Biblical Commission states:

The historical-critical method is the indispensable method for the scientific study of ancient texts. Holy Scripture, inasmuch as it is the “word of God in human language,” has been composed by human authors in all its various parts and in all the sources that lie behind them. Because of this, its proper understanding not only admits the use of this method but actually requires it.

The historical-critical method is an indispensable tool in biblical exegesis, not just from a Roman Catholic perspective but from any perspective. Nevertheless, Pope Benedict XVI recognized in his introduction to Jesus of Nazareth (2007) that the historical-critical method “does not exhaust the interpretative task for someone

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who sees the biblical writings as a single corpus of Holy Scripture.” Rather, it serves as the foundation on which one builds. In our class I am building on this foundation. I would like to emphasize that there is no “best” approach to Scripture. The superb 20th-century Austrian pianist Artur Schnabel once said, “A masterpiece is a work of art that is better than any of its possible performances.” The Bible is such a masterpiece. Just as one performs a Beethoven piano sonata, so one performs a text, bringing to it as readers knowledge, skill, insight, creativity and artistic sensitivity. Weather music or literature, no single interpretive approach can fully reveal a masterpiece’s richness, depth and beauty. As with other great master works, the Bible yields more with each rereading, each interpretative method reveals new depths and insights and each new perspective exposes colors, tones and textures not seen before.

That is the beauty of world-class art; that is the beauty of the Scripture.

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Genesis: A Literary Outline

I. Primeval History

A. Creation (1.1-2:3) i. Prologue (1:1-2)

ii. Day 1 (1:3-5) iii. Day 2 (1:6-8) iv. Day 3 (1:9-13) v. Day 4 (1:14-19)

vi. Day 5 (1:20-23) vii. Day 6 (1:24-31

viii. Day 7 (2:1-3)

B. Recapitulation (2:4-25) i. Creation of man (2:4-7)

ii. Tour of the garden (2:8-14) iii. God’s command to Adam (2:15-17) iv. Creation of woman (2:18-25)

C. The Fall (3:1-6:8)

i. The action (3:1-13) ii. The consequences (3:14-6:8)

1. The serpent (3:14-15) 2. The woman (3:16) 3. The man (3:17-19) 4. The expulsion (3:20-26) 5. Cane and Abel (4:1-18) 6. Lamech and his wives (4:19-24) 7. A walk in the graveyard (4:25-5:32) 8. The Nephilim (6:1-8)

D. The Flood (6:9-9:17)

i. Prologue (6:9-10) ii. Violence in creation (6:11-12)

iii. First Divine Speech: “Resolve to Destroy” (6:13-22) iv. Second Divine Speech: “Enter the Ark” (7:1-10) v. Flood begins (7:11-16)

vi. Flood rises (7:17-24) vii. Flood recedes (8:1-5)

viii. Flood ends (8:6-14) ix. Third Divine Speech: “Leave the Ark” (8:15-19) x. Fourth Divine Speech: “Resolve to Preserve Order” (8:20-22)

xi. God’s covenant (9:1-17)

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xii. Epilogue (9:18-19)

E. The Second Chance (9:20-11:32) i. Noah sins (9:20-29)

ii. Sinful humanity spreads across the earth (10:1-32) iii. The Tower of Babel (11:1-9) iv. Sinful humanity continues to spread (11:10-32)

II. Patriarchal History

A. The Abraham/Isaac story (12:1-25:18) i. God tells Abraham to leave his home (12:1)

ii. The Abrahamic Covenant (12:2-3) iii. Abraham journeys to the promised land (12:40) iv. Abraham and Sarah in Egypt (12:10-20) v. Abraham and Lot (13:1-14:24)

1. Abraham and Lot settle in the Negev (13:1-4) 2. Their herdsmen argue (13:5-7) 3. Abraham and Lot separate (13:8-18) 4. Lot in trouble (14:1-12) 5. Abraham rescues Lot (14:13-17) 6. Abraham meets Melchizedek (14:18-20) 7. Abraham will not accept a reward (14:21)

vi. Abrahamic Covenant detailed: people and property (15:1-21) vii. Ishmael born to Abraham and Hagar (16:1-16)

viii. Circumcision as a badge of the covenant (17:1-27) ix. Sodom and Gomorrah (18:1-19:38) x. Abraham and Abimelech (20:1-18)

xi. The birth of Isaac (21:1-7) xii. Hagar and Ishmael sent away (21:8-21)

xiii. Treaty with Abimelech (21:22-34) xiv. The sacrifice of Isaac (22:1-24) xv. The death of Sarah (23:1-20)

xvi. Isaac and Rebekah (24:1-67) xvii. The death of Abraham (25:1-11)

xviii. Ishmael’s descendants (25:12-18) B. The Isaac/Jacob story (25:19-36:43)

i. The birth of Jacob and Esau (25:19-26) ii. Esau sells his birthright (25:27-34)

iii. Isaac and Abimelech (26:1-11) iv. Isaac digs wells (26:12-35) v. Jacob steals Esau’s blessing (27:1-28:5)

1. Isaac and the intended son of the blessing (27:1-4) 2. Rebekah sends Jacob on-stage (27:5-17)

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3. Jacob appears before Isaac and receives his blessing (27:18-29)

4. Esau appears before Isaac and receives his anti-blessing (27:30-40)

5. Rebekah sends Jacob off-stage (27:41-45) 6. Isaac and the son of the blessing (27:46-28:5) 7. Esau angry (28:6-9)

vi. Jacob on the run (28:10-22) 1. Jacob’s “ladder” (28:12-17)

vii. Jacob arrives at Uncle Laban’s (29:1-14) viii. Jacob marries Leah and Rachael (29:15-30)

ix. The battle of the dueling wives (29:31-30:24) x. Speckled and spotted goats and lambs (30:25-43)

xi. Jacob flees from Uncle Laban (31:1-21) xii. Uncle Laban catches Jacob: the agreement between two crooks

(31:22-55) xiii. Esau’s on the way (32:1-21) xiv. Jacob wrestles with God (32:22-32) xv. Jacob meets Esau (33:1-20)

xvi. The rape of Dinah (34:1-31) xvii. Jacob returns to Bethel (35:1-15)

xviii. The deaths of Rachael and Isaac (35:16-29) xix. Esau’s descendants (36:1-43)

C. The Jacob/Joseph story (37:1-50:26)

i. Joseph’s dreams (37:1-11) ii. Joseph sold by his brothers (37:12-36)

iii. Judah and Tamar (38:1-30) iv. Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (39:1-23) v. The cupbearer and the baker (40:1-23)

vi. Pharaoh’s dreams (41:1-40) vii. Joseph in charge of Egypt (41:41-57)

viii. Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt (42:1-38) ix. Joseph’s brothers return to Egypt (43:1-34) x. The silver cup in Benjamin’s sack (44:1-34)

1. Judah stands in the gap (44:16-34) xi. Joseph makes himself known (45:1-28)

xii. Jacob goes to Egypt (46:1-34) xiii. Jacob appears before Pharaoh (47:1-12) xiv. Joseph manages through the famine (47:13-31) xv. Jacob blesses Manasseh and Ephraim (48:1-22)

xvi. Jacob blesses his sons (49:1-28) xvii. The death of Jacob (49:29-33)

xviii. Joseph mourns (50:1-14) xix. Joseph reassures his brothers (50:15-21) xx. The death of Joseph (50:22-26)

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Genesis: a Syllabus

Week 1 (September 22, 23, 24) Lesson #1: Introduction to the Bible

In this lecture I introduce four foundational principles upon which our approach to Scripture is built. The Bible is: 1) rooted in geography; 2) it emerges from history; 3) it is—in its final, finished form—a unified literary work and 4) it claims to be the word of God, which places unique demands upon us as readers. I also introduce four cultural assumptions essential to understanding Scripture. The world of the Bible is: 1) a patriarchal world; 2) a monarchical world; 3) a polytheistic world; and 4) a slave-holding world. As we engage the Bible we must do so it on its own terms, not on ours. The Bible, like any other work of literature, mirrors the time and culture in which it is written.

Lesson #2: “In the beginning . . .” (Genesis 1: 1 – 2: 25)

Our story opens with creation. Not an historical account, but a poetic one, God creates all that is and pronounces it “very good.” Humanity shares an intimate relationship with the Creator, dwelling together in fellowship and harmony. At the end of Genesis 2, God’s creation is good, perfect and complete. Assignment Read: Genesis 1: 1 – 2: 25. Enrichment Material

Daniel J. Harrington, “The Bible in Catholic Life,” The Catholic Study Bible, pp. 16-29. Lawrence Boadt. “The Pentateuch—Genesis,” The Catholic Study Bible, pp. 85-115.

Lawrence Boadt, “Genesis 1-11: The Preface to Israel’s Story,” Reading the Old

Testament, pp. 86-107. Week 2 (September 29, 30; October 1) Lesson #3: Sin Enters the World (Genesis 3: 1 - 5: 32)

Every good story has a conflict, and our conflict enters the story here: sin. In our class we define sin, not as an action that one commits, but as a condition one is in: “sin is a condition of alienation and separation from God, that manifests itself in outward, sinful

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action.” And that condition has several inevitable consequences. We explore the nature of sin in this lesson.

Lesson #4: Inevitable Consequences (Genesis 6: 1 – 11: 32)

With sin in the world, inevitable consequences follow. Humanity—indeed, all of creation—begins a downward spiral. By Genesis 6: 5, “the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, [and] the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.”

Assignment Read: Genesis 3: 1 – 11: 32. Enrichment Material

Kevin Madigan, “Catholic Interpretation of the Bible,” The Catholic Study Bible, pp. 54-

67. Lawrence Boadt, “ Introducing the Old Testament,” Reading the Old Testament, pp. 1-

14.

Dr. Bill Creasy, “Old, I Mean REALLY Old People,” “Top 10 Bad Girls in the Bible,” Video Bible Blasts. [These are a lot of fun!]

Week 3 (October 6, 7, 8) Lesson #5: The Plan of Redemption (Genesis 12: 1 – 14:24)

Left to our own devices, humanity is incapable of resolving the issue of sin. God must do it for us, and here he introduces his plan. Tonight we begin the stories of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, as we meet Abraham and Sarah through whom God will begin the plan of redemption and from whom will emerge the three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Lesson #6: Of Covenants and Concubines (Genesis 15: 1 – 17: 27) Returning from Egypt with great wealth, Abraham also brings with him the beautiful

and exotic Hagar, servant girl to Sarah—and concubine to Abraham. Life becomes very complicated in Abraham’s tent! In these episodes we see both the darkness and the light of the human condition, the brokenness against which we all struggle.

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Assignment Read: Genesis 12: 1 – 17: 27. Enrichment Material

Lawrence Boadt, “The People and Lands of the Old Testament,” Reading the Old

Testament, pp. 15-34.

Week 4 (October 13, 14, 15) Lesson #7: Fire and Brimstone (Genesis 18: 1 – 19: 38)

Today three visitors come to Abraham and Sarah under the great tree of Mamre and one of the visitors informs Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah have sunk to such depths of depravity that God is about to destroy the cities and everyone in them. Abraham negotiates with God for his nephew Lot and his family who live in Sodom: if there are five righteous men in Sodom, God agrees not to destroy it. But Sodom is toast. Lot and his two daughters escape, but in the end the family sinks into seduction, sex and incest. I’ll bet you didn’t know all that was in the Bible!

Lesson #8: The Birth of Isaac (Genesis 20: 1 – 21: 22) God has taken his good old time about fulfilling his covenant with Abraham, the

promise that Abraham’s descendants will be numbered like “the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore.” Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah is 90, and still they are childless. But lo and behold, Sarah becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son, Isaac, through whom the covenant will be fulfilled. With the introduction of a legitimate heir in the family, tensions rise between Abraham and Sarah, Hagar and her son, Ishmael.

Assignment Read: Genesis 18: 1 – 21: 22. Enrichment Material

Lawrence Boadt, “Archaeology and the Old Testament,” Reading the Old Testament, pp.

35-50.

Week 5 (November 3, 4, 5) Lesson #9: Isaac on the Altar (Genesis 22: 1 – 23: 20)

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Abraham’s son, Isaac, plays a key role in God’s plan of redemption. But in Genesis 22, God says to Abraham: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering.” This is a stunning demand: what are we to make of it?

Lesson #10: Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24: 1 – 25: 18) If God’s plan of redemption and his covenant with Abraham is to be fulfilled, Isaac

needs a wife and children. But at 40 years old he is still single, living at home, a failure to launch. We need a plan, a matchmaker. And we need one quickly.

Assignment Read: Genesis 22: 1 – 25: 18.

Enrichment Material

Lawrence Boadt, “Literary Tools for Old Testament Study,” Reading the Old Testament, pp. 51-68. Dr. Bill Creasy, “Isaac on the Altar,” Video Bible Blast.

Week 6 (November 10, 11, 12) Lesson #11: The Terrible Twins (Genesis 25: 19 – 27: 46)

With the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah, the plan of redemption moves forward and Rebekah gives birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. And terrible twins they are, struggling with each other, even in the womb. The promise will move through the younger son Jacob, but not until after a great deal of deceit and mischief wreak havoc.

Lesson #12: Jacob on the Run (Genesis 28: 1 – 30: 24) When Esau threatens to kill his brother Jacob, Rebekah tricks Isaac into sending Jacob

to her home in Haran—for a short time, until the heat of Esau’s anger cools. The short time turns to long as Jacob settles into uncle Laban’s home and into the arms of Rachael, Laban’s beautiful younger daughter.

Assignment Read: Genesis 25: 19 – 30: 24.

Enrichment Material

Lawrence Boadt, “The Pentateuch,” Reading the Old Testament, pp. 69-85.

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Dr. Bill Creasy, “From Womb to Tomb . . . and Beyond,” Video Bible Blast.

Week 7 (November 17, 18, 19) Lesson #13: Conflict and Strife Abound (Genesis 30: 25 – 31: 55)

Jacob wants desperately to marry Rachael and he works for uncle Laban seven years to get her, but the morning after the wedding night, Jacob finds Rachael’s older sister, Leah, between the sheets! “You’ve deceived me!” Jacob shouts to Laban. Jacob ends up working another seven years to marry Rachael, and the “battle of the dueling wives” begins, each wife enlisting her servant girls in an effort to bear more children for Jacob and become the most beloved wife. All the while, Laban has changed Jacob’s wages over and over, driving him into poverty and dependence. Jacob, the boy who was such a clever little deceiver at home, gets a Ph.D. in deception when he moves in with uncle Laban!

Lesson #14: The Chickens Come Home to Roost (Genesis 32: 1 – 36: 43) In frustration and anger Jacob takes his two wives, two concubines and twelve children

and he flees from Laban, stealing the household valuables as he goes. Heading south from Haran, Jacob’s goal is to settle in Bethel. But wait! Twenty years earlier Jacob’s older brother Esau, whom Jacob had deceived, had sworn to kill Jacob. Now, as Jacob travels south with his family toward Bethel, Esau—accompanied by four hundred armed men—is heading north to intercept his brother!

Assignment Read: Genesis 32: 1 – 36: 43.

Enrichment Material

Dr. Bill Creasy, “What Goes Around, Comes Around,” Video Bible Blast.

Week 8 (December 1, 2, 3) Lesson #15: A Tale of Woe (Genesis 37: 1 – 38: 30)

As we look back at the stories we’ve studied so far a serious problem has taken root between husband and wife, parents and children: 1) Abraham loved Ishmael, but Sarah loved Isaac more; 2) Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob more; now Jacob loves Joseph, son of Rachael, more than all his other sons. Trouble is brewing in the tent and the pot is about to boil over! Jacob sends Joseph out to the fields to spy on his brothers who are tending the sheep. The brothers see him coming (how could they

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miss him, strutting like a little peacock in his “coat of many colors”); they beat him; strip him naked; drop him in a cistern; and he’s sold into slavery in Egypt. Although a simple story of sibling rivalry, it is far more complex than it seems, filled with hidden twists and turns, shame, guilt, regret and simmering vengeance.

Lesson #16: The Fortunate Son (Genesis 39: 1 – 41: 57) Although a slave in Egypt, young Joseph is handsome, smart . . . and he always lands on

his feet. In the course of three chapters, 17-year old Joseph rises from a field slave to become manager of Potiphar’s household; in a stunning reversal, he is fired and ends up in prison, accused of assaulting Potiphar’s wife; within a few years Joseph becomes head trustee of the prison; and in twenty years, by the time he is 37 years old, Joseph rises to the position of “Prime Minister” of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. Twenty years pass in our story and Joseph has done quite well for himself.

But what about his brothers?

Assignment Read: Genesis 37: 1 – 41: 57.

Enrichment Material

Donald D. Witherup, “The Challenges of Biblical Translation,” The Catholic Study Bible,

pp. 68–75.

Week 9 (December 8, 9, 10) Lesson #17: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (Genesis 42: 1 – 43: 34)

Joseph is “Prime Minister” of Egypt; he is married to Asenath, the High Priest of On’s daughter; he has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim; and Pharaoh treats Joseph as one of his own family: by any measure, Joseph is wildly successful. He has long since forgotten the betrayal that brought him to Egypt, and he has long since forgotten the father who never came looking for him. Until his brothers show up at the front door.

Lesson #18: The Truth Will Out (Genesis 44: 1 – 45: 28) When Joseph sees his brothers standing before him, a storm of emotions surges in his

heart: anger, vengeance, self-righteousness, longing, love, hate . . .. These are the brothers who betrayed him. These are the brothers who hated him. These are the brothers who now need his help in a time of famine. The anger and heartbreak, love

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and loss that Joseph buried deep inside for twenty years erupt. Nowhere else in Scripture do we have such a kaleidoscope of emotions on full display.

Assignment Read: Genesis 42: 1 – 45: 28.

Enrichment Material

Eileen Schuller, “The Bible in the Lectionary,” The Catholic Study Bible, pp. 76-84.

Week 10 (December 15, 16, 17) Lesson #19: Family Reunion (Genesis 46: 1 – 47: 31) Jacob has not seen his son Joseph in twenty-two years. At seventeen Joseph went

missing, and all the evidence suggested that he had been killed; his brothers inferred as much when they presented Jacob with Joseph’s bloody “coat of many colors.” Jacob mourned the loss of his son deeply; he never truly recovered from the loss. And now, as an old man, Jacob learns that Joseph is alive; and not just alive, but “Prime Minister” of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh!

The family reunion that follows in Egypt is poignant, tear-stained . . . and very funny. Lesson #20: In a Far Country (46: 1 – 50: 26)

In a brilliant conclusion, Genesis brings Jacob’s entire family together in Egypt, seventy-three people in all, where Jacob blesses his sons, blessings that foreshadow future events. Recall that God said to Adam, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2: 17). Adam did eat of the tree, and he did, indeed, die. As the story of Genesis begins with birth, so it ends with death: in Genesis 50: 26 we read, “So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.” Our story comes full circle, but instead of enjoying eternal life in the Garden of Eden, the Israelites are in Egypt, poised on the brink of slavery, far from where they belong. In a very important sense, Genesis is the opening chapter in the sprawling narrative of Scripture; it launches a story whose trajectory will span 2,000 years, involving unforgettable heroes and villains, rascals and rogues, and ending with the redemption not just of Israel but also of the entire human family.

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Assignment Read: Genesis 48: 1 – 50: 26.

Enrichment Material

Dr. Bill Creasy, “Joseph’s Mummy,” Video Bible Blast.

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Bibliography Victor P. Hamilton. The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17, (The New International

Commentary on the Old Testament, R.K. Harrison, gen. ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990.

Victor P. Hamilton. The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18-50, (The New International

Commentary on the Old Testament, R.K. Harrison, gen. ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995.

Gordon J. Wenham. Genesis 1-15, (Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 1, David A. Hubbard

and Glenn W. Barker, gen. eds.). Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1987. Gordon J. Wenham. Genesis 16-50, (Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 1, David A. Hubbard

and Glenn W. Barker, gen. eds.). Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1994. Genesis, the Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation, commentary by Nahum

M. Sarna. (The JPS Torah Commentary, Nahum M. Sarna, gen. ed.). Philadelphia, New York, Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1989.

John H. Sailhamer. The Pentateuch as Narrative, a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand

Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992. Hugh C. White. Narration and Discourse in the Book of Genesis. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1991. Jeremy Cohen. “Be Fertile and Increase, Fill the Earth and Master It,” the Ancient and

Medieval Career of a Biblical Text. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1989.