The first book of the Bible which covers events from Creation to the start Israel's sojourn in Egypt.
9
votes
4answers
269 views
What is the relationship between the “Adversary” in Job and the serpent in Genesis?
An individual named the Adversary appears in Job 1:6-12 (NJPS):
One day the divine beings presented themselves before the Lord, and the Adversary came along with them. The Lord said to the ...
7
votes
2answers
254 views
How big were the nomadic clans of the patriarchs?
According to the book Genesis, 70 people came down with Jacob to dwell in Egypt after contact was made with Joseph:
And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two souls; all the ...
13
votes
3answers
456 views
Does Gen 1:1 refer to day 1 or the entire 6 days of creation?
A natural reading of Gen 1:1 with it's immediate context is that it is part of the first day of creation
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and ...
10
votes
2answers
508 views
Why does the Scripture say that Abraham sacrificed his “only-begotten son”?
Why does the Scripture say that Abraham sacrificed his "only-begotten son" (Heb. 11:17, Gen. 22:2) despite the fact that Isaac had a step-brother Ishmael who was 14 years older than Isaac and was in ...
5
votes
7answers
591 views
How did mankind's way of relating to God change in Genesis 4:26?
At the end of Chapter 4 of Genesis there is a statement in verse 26, "It was then that men began to invoke the Lord by name." Other translations have "call on the name" or "worship the LORD by name". ...
12
votes
3answers
698 views
What was Eve's role in relation to Adam?
The role of Eve in relation to Adam is dramatically changed by the interpretation of the sections I have bolded below, from Genesis 2:18:
The verse as most people learned it:
And the Lord God ...
6
votes
3answers
601 views
Were the Nephilim in Genesis 6 aliens?
Could Genesis 6:1-4 be talking about aliens? (ESV):
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were ...
2
votes
4answers
4k views
Why does God say he only revealed his name, Yahweh, to Moses?
Responding the the meta call for contradiction In Exodus 6:2 we find the following quote:
And God spoke to Moses and said to him
I am Yahweh. And I showed to Abraham, to Isaac, and to ...
11
votes
7answers
885 views
What does “image” in Genesis 1:26-27 mean?
Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)
26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the ...
9
votes
2answers
777 views
What is the significance of “east” in the Scriptures?
There seems to be some significance to the east in the Scriptures.
The garden is planted in the east of Eden
Cherubim are stationed on the east side of the Garden of Eden
Parts of the burnt offering ...
7
votes
3answers
329 views
How does the Noah's Ark narrative relate to the Gilgamesh flood account?
How does the Noah's Ark narrative relate to other the Gilgamesh flood account?
For reference, the Biblical flood account is in Genesis 6-10 and the Gilgamesh flood account is on Tablet XI. The ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
Why did Abraham stop at ten in Genesis 18:32?
Genesis 18:16-33 recounts the story, "Abraham Pleads for Sodom" (NIV). When conversing with God, Abraham asks God if He would destroy the city if there were 50 righteous people in it. God replies No, ...
4
votes
3answers
499 views
Jewish interpretation of Genesis 1:26?
I am under the impression that the Trinity is a Christian idea, and that the Jews did not view God as "three in one and one in three". How, then, was the following passage interpreted by the people ...
14
votes
4answers
626 views
Does Genesis's creation account depict creation “ex nihilo”?
I had once heard that one of the remarkable thing about the creation account in Genesis, as compared to the other creation accounts of the cultures of the surrounding area is that God creates the ...
12
votes
3answers
406 views
Does the original Hebrew support the NLT of Genesis 6:3?
Genesis 6:3 refers to when God set humans' lifespans to (approximately) 120 years. However, the NLT (the translation I prefer) has a slightly different translation for the 120-years part.
Genesis ...
11
votes
4answers
303 views
Is there an English equivalent for Nephilim of Genesis 6:4?
Genesis 6:4 (NIV)Emphasis added
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes ...
10
votes
4answers
604 views
What was Noah thinking when he sent a raven from the ark?
In tablet 11 of the epic of Gilgamesh, after Utnapishtim's ark lodges on a rock, he releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven, in that order. The first two birds return when they fail to find a resting ...
9
votes
2answers
305 views
Why did Abel keep flocks if man wasn't supposed to eat flesh til after the Flood?
Per Genesis 9:3, man is given the animals as food after the flood. A reasonable implication of that statement is that prior to this, man was supposed to be vegetarian.
That said, Genesis 4:2 clearly ...
8
votes
2answers
926 views
At what point did Abraham know he was talking to God in Genesis 18?
At the start of the story in Genesis 18, Abraham does not seem to know who the three men are:
Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of ...
6
votes
2answers
339 views
What does “invoke the name of the LORD” mean in Genesis?
The phrase "call upon the name of the LORD" turns up occasionally in Genesis:
Genesis 12:8 (ESV)
8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with ...
6
votes
3answers
530 views
Was Moses the probable author of Genesis?
I've been operating under the assumption that Moses was the author the book of Genesis (or at least the recorder of a bunch of oral traditions).
This document suggests a different view. ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Jacob's name is Israel. So why is he still called Jacob?
When born, Jacob is given the name "Jacob" meaning, "trickster, supplanter, heel grabber." After he wrestles at Jabbok, he is renamed "Israel" meaning "strives with God." However, after this ...
6
votes
2answers
148 views
Does Genesis 3:16 imply that there was pain / sorrow before the fall?
Genesis 3:16 says:
To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your
conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire
shall be to your husband, and he ...
5
votes
2answers
196 views
What does 'Dominon' mean in Genesis?
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and ...
5
votes
1answer
175 views
What is the significance of Methuselah's name?
I've heard that Methuselah's name was given to him by Enoch in response to a prophecy concerning the flood. Since he seems to have died in the year of the flood (according to the Masoretic and ...
4
votes
2answers
502 views
Why is Isaac called Abraham's only son? [duplicate]
Continuing the response to the meta call for contradiction.
In Genesis 22, we find the following passage:
And it was after these events that the God tested Abraham; and said to him "Abraham", who ...
3
votes
1answer
117 views
Is the name Israel intended to be ambiguous?
Jacob is renamed Israel by God as explained in this passage:
Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he ...
3
votes
1answer
218 views
What was Onan's sin?
Genesis 38:6-11 (NJPS):
Judah got a wife for Er his first-born; her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s first-born, was displeasing to the Lord, and the Lord took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, ...
3
votes
2answers
125 views
Does base-10 numbering in Genesis 4:24 argue against the Wiseman hypothesis?
This question is a bit esoteric. Looking at numbers in the Bible I noticed this story about one of Cain's decedents:
And Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
O wives of ...
2
votes
2answers
331 views
Where did Abel get the idea to sacrifice sheep?
The purpose of this question is to examine if Abel's hermeneutic principles can be reversed out of the text. The presupposition is that Abel had access to the information contained in Genesis 1-3. ...
2
votes
2answers
358 views
Is El-Shaddai “Sky God” where Sky==Breasts?
I found the name "El-Shaddai" mysterious, but while going over Genesis, found the following passage (Gen 49) Wikisource translation
From the god of your fathers, and he will help you, and the ...
2
votes
4answers
391 views
Which hermeneutical approaches support a literal interpretation of the Creation account?
I had always been told that a day meant 24 hours, but a systematic theology textbook I read disputed that pretty well. (Please do not address this item in particular. This isn't the question I'm ...
