Book Of Genesis Research Articles

Creation accounts in Gen. 1 & 2: a feminist interpretation

It is the view of most people who claim the authoritative nature of the Bible that, women assigned secondary status in relation to men is ordained and supported in the Bible. Many have quoted different texts of the holy writ to support their culturally-biased position on issue of gender equality. Most often views in respect to gender issues are culturally-based and interpreted rather than divinely-based and interpreted. There is therefore the need to look back at Jesus’ words, “But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.” (Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6 King James Version). The two accounts in the Book of Genesis by the Priestly and Yahwistic strands give a complimentary account of the creation of humankind (both male and female) in the image and likeness of God and their creation from a single stock אדם who was not a male gender. At a cursory reading of the creation accounts, one will tend to see האדם as the male gender, but looking at the Hebrew text more closely it will be noticed that the Hebrew words אישה and אישwere only introduced after the two genders have been separated. Note carefully that it was not איש that was asked to tend the garden, who named the animals, was given instruction of what to eat or what not to eat, who fell into a deep sleep or whose ribs was used in the creation of אישה but it was האדם . It was after the creation or ‘separation’ of אישה (woman – the female האדם) that the other part was called איש (man – the male האדם) (see vv 23 & 24 King James Version). It will therefore not be right to speak of the creation of אישה out of איש, because as at the time of the creation of the former, the later was not in existence as איש To view these creation accounts with the sense of gender superiority (either male over female or vice versa) is to read the texts using lenses which have been obscured and tainted by patriarchal, matriarchal or cultural biases.

Review of "Was Yosef on the Spectrum," by Samuel J. Levine


 
 
 Samuel Levine’s Was Yosef on the Spectrum: Understanding Joseph Through Tora, Midrash, and Classical Jewish Sources argues that Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel from the Book of Genesis, was possibly autistic. Diagnosing people retrospectively as autistic raises complex “hermeneutic” or interpretive questions, including the possibility that our selective readings and attributions of recorded histories reveal more about our current concerns than past realities.
 
 

A Eulogy to Abbaton, the Angel of Death (translated from Coptic, supplied with introduction and comments by E. Smagina)

The article deals with the text in Coptic language, which occupies a rather specific place in the apocryphal literature. This is a eulogy to the Angel of Death called Abbaton. The text structure is a complicated multi-tiered «story-to-story» framework. The history of the making the Angel of Death the King of the living and dead is incor- porated into the legend of Adam and Eve, which dates back to the Jewish exegesis of the Book of Genesis, which is also widely represented in the early Christian literature. A significant place in the narrative is also occupied by the «myth of Satan» – the story of the fall of the supreme angel and his subsequent transformation into the spirit of evil. This myth is a kind of compromise between the monistic and dualistic concepts regarding the origin and nature of evil.

Особенности выражения модальности в библейских переводах XVI в., созданных на территории Великого княжества Литовского

The paper deals with the features of expression of some modal meanings in the Masoretic text of the book of Genesis by means of particles and the special construction of infinitivus absolutus, which serves to express modality in Hebrew. The ways of translating into Slavic languages in 16th-century bibles created on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are considered as well. The data from classical translations – LXX, the Vulgate, and the Czech Venetian Bible – are also used for analysis. The particles were chosen because they are desemantized and do not make considerable changes in the semantics of sentences, but merely specify them. The infinitivus absolutus constructions are a means of expressing modal semantics. They are absent in Slavic languages and require understanding and special translation efforts from the translator. It is concluded that even the translator dealing with sacred texts corrects modal semantics and changes the formal means of its expression, indicating that the modality is understood as a category of a special kind, with unclearly defined borders and a diverse and non-rigid set of means of expression. The analysis of translated texts made using various original texts shows that translators while trying to preserve the spirit and letter of the original or authoritative translation (the Masoretic text, Church Slavonic translation, the Venetian Bible, the Vulgate), nevertheless, consider modality to be a category that can be easily sacrificed in translation, by changing or even eliminating the modal meaning.

“His name throughout the earth”: YHWH’s political strategies in Exodus 3-15

This paper analyzes the characterization of YHWH as a political ruler in Exodus 3-15. His role as king of Israel comes as a novelty in the biblical narrative after the book of Genesis, and in the book of Exodus he presents new divine traits such as jealousy, wrathfulness and holiness. Among his new traits as a ruler comes the concern with his reputation, both in the short and long term, amidst his followers and even his enemies. A close-reading of the Plagues narratives thus shows God’s actions stemming from his political reasoning and strategies, which aim at driving the whole earth — especially Israel, his chosen people — to acknowledge his absolute power and rule.

“His name throughout the earth”: YHWH’s political strategies in Exodus 3-15

This paper analyzes the characterization of YHWH as a political ruler in Exodus 3-15. His role as king of Israel comes as a novelty in the biblical narrative after the book of Genesis, and in the book of Exodus he presents new divine traits such as jealousy, wrathfulness and holiness. Among his new traits as a ruler comes the concern with his reputation, both in the short and long term, amidst his followers and even his enemies. A close-reading of the Plagues narratives thus shows God’s actions stemming from his political reasoning and strategies, which aim at driving the whole earth — especially Israel, his chosen people — to acknowledge his absolute power and rule.

70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know

70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know

POETIC SIDE OF A TRAVELOGUE THROUGH THE „ACCORD OF DIFFERENT WORLDS“

The subject dealt with in this work is non-hegemonic discourse which, in the spectre of philological interests, denounces the phenomena of hierarchialisation and dehierarchialisation linked to the problem of capturing the concept of the function a border has while being disseminated through literary theory and practice throughout travelogue as a literary form. By enquiring about cultural heritage applied in literature from Odyssey’s travels and challenges, this research has attempted to emphatically “listen poetically” to all aspects of human existence subjected by some to the border line of such worlds. Thus I here write about an exemplary travelogue which uses conceptual mechanism of its text based on the movement disputing then a conventional usage of literary language, which is today recognized as a form of violence as old as the very western history itself is. For that purpose, the work has incorporated analytical viewing of novelistic, essayistic and travelogue like literary heritage using travelogue essays Majka voda by Tvrtko Kulenovic, the most famous Bosnian-Herzegovinian writer and essayist. It is a travelogue of great significance taking us from “postmodern Odyssey” to its specific “ideology of water” and “religion of seas”. The ephemeral border between a body travelling to a body of travelling in his travelogue Majka voda takes us to the point of merging of two cultural circles. Poetic dimension may be inferred from Kulenovic’s suggestions: “Indeed, is there any shame in the fact that it is more intelligent to sail rather than row (...) That artistic skill is obtained more easily through the “eastern” relaxed surrender then through the “western” intent and concentration (attempt to forcibly control mind equals the attempt to even out the waves of the sea). Who hits the target, misses all? (...) We must be capable of changing our shape as water does. (...) In the beginning there was no word, but water. At least it is said so in the Book of Genesis: the holy spirit of God soared above the waters.” (Kulenovic: Majka voda)

The Virgin and the Whore – An Interreligious Challenge for Our Times

AbstractThe boundaries of religious belonging are often based upon essentialist patriarchal conceptions of decency and morality that have been shaped into doctrine; those who are deemed indecent are marginalized to locations of struggle and often met with violence – thus presenting an interreligious challenge for our times. This paper will explore the gendered politics of religious belonging through an intersectional lens, focusing on the virgin/whore dichotomy in Christianity. It aims to undress exclusive notions of religious belonging and expose the hegemonic systems that have created ideological boundaries intended to control the bodies of women. It will then look to the narrative of Tamar and Judah in the book of Genesis, where prostitution, Levirate marriage, widowhood, childbirth, ethnicity, honour killing, and sexual desires shape the text and force the reader to confront questions of morality, justice, and the politics of religious belonging.

Dodging the Question? The Rhetorical Function of the מה־זאת עשׂית Formula in the Book of Genesis

By Alex C. H. Lee, G. Geoffrey Harper. Eight times in Genesis, the question ‘What is this you have done?’ is used to confront wrongdoers; the positive outcome of the final instance subverts reader expectations.

Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif

Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif

Withstanding the Goading of Temptation or Not? An inter-textual Study of Pride and Envy in Genesis Chapter 3: 1-19 and Shakespeare’s Othello

The tendencies towards pride and envy clearly continue to be key constituents of personal, political and social life, with inevitable harmful consequences. This article is an inter-textual examination of Genesis 3, 1-19 and Shakespeare’s Othello and focusses on these two human failures. My aim is to illuminate how the Biblical Word might inform readings and performances of this tragedy and vice versa, in order to clarify the subtle and devastating nature of such leanings of arrogance. I start by discussing a central idea in Hannah Arendt’s social philosophy: the move during modernity towards the exploration of the self, without a regard to any notion of a soul and then suggest this trajectory lends itself all too easily to amor sui (self-love), a theme St Augustine highlighted with such dexterity. I also argue that religion generally, and the Christian Church Fathers in particular, by their brilliant exegetical insights into the book of Genesis, identify remedies and a healing process for this dangerous narcissistic tendency, which are relevant today.

On Genesis

Abstract In this roundtable response to Joy Ladin's “Genesis of Gender,” the author affirms the possibilities for a theology of liberation arising from the book of Genesis but places a greater emphasis on humanity's cocreative and subcreative role in generation of gender. The author unpacks the act of naming in Genesis 2, specifically God's instruction for humanity to assign names to animals as the first act in a series of assigning meaning, associations, and genders to creation. The author argues that this role is complicated by the command to increase and multiply, which expands and transforms both creation and subcreative names of gender. This dynamism in creation and subcreation should prompt the regular liberation from inaccurate and oppressive gender identities, allowing for a greater degree of self-naming and self-composition.

AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY AND THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS – TRACING THE CONTOURS OF A CONUNDRUM

There has been a hot debate around Christianity’s complicity in environmental destruction for some fifty years. The reasons are mainly to do with the so-called dominion mandate in the book of Genesis and the propensity for Christianity to “disenchant” the environment, that is rid it of spiritual agency. This has led to a comparison between Indigenous Religion and Christianity with respect to the environment with the former being the saint and the latter the sinner. Eco-theologies have emerged during this time in order to mitigate the negative influence of Christianity. These have in many cases attempted to emulate some aspects of Indigenous Religions. In the African context there are signs that the Christian mission continues to have negative effects on the environment and this raises the question of what would constitute an appropriate African Christian theology of the environment.

“All These Look to You”: Reading Psalm 104 with Animals in the Anthropocene Epoch

Psalm 104 is associated with biblical creation theology, but it seldom receives as much attention as the book of Genesis. Yet Genesis has been and continues to be used to justify human dominion over other animals, which has contributed to a new era in the earth’s history known as the “Anthropocene” epoch. In contrast, Psalm 104 provides an ecological representation of creation that recognizes God’s care for animals. Humans appear in the psalm, but only as one creature among others. A focus on Psalm 104 may foster an approach to biblical creation theology that is more attentive to animals and useful as an ecological frame for reading Genesis and other texts.

La esperanza sanjuanista, expresión del devenir dramático de la Biblia en pos de la nueva Jerusalén

The Biblical notion of hope is first encountered with Abraham in the book of Genesis and is fully exposed in the book of Revelation with the New Jerusalem. Rather than the definitive city of heaven, beyond this world, the New Jerusalem has come to be seen today as an image for the Christian community in its supreme stage of maturity. A similar understanding of hope is to be found in Saint John of the Cross' Living Flame of Love and the present article will endeavor to show that, although the author may not always be aware of it, there is a Biblical work underlying each of his religious works. As Balthasar declares, there are many currents of thought in Sacred Scripture, yet there seems to be a unifying principle which draws them all toward a future called the Parousia. The writings of John the Evangelist and of John of the Cross deal with this theme, and with a pacified hope, like that of a bride, a realized eschatology.

Peregrinação e santuário: reflexões teológicas na Bíblia hebraica

Um dos principais antecedentes históricos e religiosos para a prática contemporânea do turismo religioso é a peregrinação. De fato, a prática milenar da peregrinação se destaca particularmente na tradição judaica. O presente artigo objetiva explorar os contornos teológicos da peregrinação no contexto da Bíblia hebraica, mais especificamente nos livros de Gênesis, Êxodo e Salmos. Para tanto, o estudo se vale de uma metodologia bibliográfica que leva em conta, para a sua reflexão, os conceitos de tempo, espaço e liminaridade. Nesse sentido, o artigo inicia com a identificação de padrões de peregrinação nas narrativas patriarcais de Gênesis. Em seguida, o estudo explora o paradigma da peregrinação na narrativa de Êxodo. Finalmente, o artigo discute as festas de peregrinação e o uso litúrgico de Salmos. As conclusões do presente estudo destacam a qualidade espiritual da peregrinação na tradição judaica, cujo clímax é a experiência religiosa de Deus no templo. De forma mais abrangente, a tradição teológica da peregrinação na Bíblia hebraica serve de base para a experiência espiritual contemporânea, onde a vida como um todo é interpretada em termos de peregrinação.

Abraham versus Jakub

This article deals with the process of the formation of the traditionsconcerning the three patriarchs in the book of Genesis. It can already bestated that the traditions concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were initiallyformed independently of each other. Chronological priority shouldbe assigned to the tradition concerning Jacob. It was originally somehowcombined with the tradition concerning Isaac (in Amos), and at the timebefore the exile it constituted the earliest point of reference for seeking theroots and identity of Israel. Only by the end of the exile did the particulartime and situation cause the local Judaean traditions concerning Abrahamto play a greater role also from a theological aspect. Abraham then becamenot only a model of faith and an example of behaviour for the exiles and therepatriates, but also from a the first link in the chain of the three patriarchs.It is possible that at that time some of the motifs of the story of Abrahamwere borrowed from the traditions concerning Isaac (cf. Gen 26).

Digital humanities, libraries, and collaborative research: New technologies for digital textual studies

How can librarians at college and undergraduate libraries contribute to digital humanities research? This study describes The Greek Key, a working prototype Virtual Research Environment (VRE) for the analysis of texts and manuscripts. This paper explains how the VRE functions through a case study of passages in Plato and the Book of Genesis. The Greek Key VRE is a collaborative, scalable, multidisciplinary project that has the potential to engage librarians in participatory strategies such as crowdsourcing. The VRE will make it possible to pursue perennial questions in innovative ways and to use new technologies to respond to questions that do not lend themselves to more traditional methods.

‘The Inhabitants of Philistia’: On the identity of the Iron I settlers in the periphery of the Philistine heartland

ABSTRACTIron I sites in the northwestern Negev were identified as Philistine on the basis of the references to Philistines in this region in the book of Genesis, its proximity to Gaza, and the occurrence of Philistine pottery. Triggered by emerging discrepancies between the finds at these sites and the presumed Philistine attributes (e.g. the rarity of pork, hearths), this article aims to reevaluate the finds in the periphery of Philistia, mainly in the northwestern Negev, but also in the Shephelah and the Yarkon basin. A systematic examination of the data reveals a clear pattern in which the population of peripheral sites gradually adopted certain Philistine attributes (Philistine pottery and cooking jugs, which were avoided during the first phase of Philistine settlement), but continued to systematically avoid others (Aegean-type hearths and significant amounts of pork), and maintained clear and sharp boundaries with the Philistine centers. A thorough examination of the data suggests that most of the inhabitants in the periphery of Philistia were the descendants of the local Canaanite population of the Late Bronze Age, who were in the process of renegotiating their identity with the emerging ethnicities of the Philistines in the urban centers of the southern coastal plain and the Israelites farther west. While not forming a unified group, and probably being politically dominated by Philistia, the inhabitants of the settlements in the periphery of Philistia did not adopt a Philistine identity, maintained clear boundaries with the Philistines, and should not be treated as Philistines.