Tag Archives: Genesis

Free Commentaries on Genesis (Ultimate List of Free Bible Commentaries) – Languages Other Than English

Leave a reply 
This list is an appendix to this one which gives free commentaries on Genesis in English.

Latin

  1. Augustine of Hippo (354–430). De Genesi ad Litteram.
  2. —. De Genesi contra Manichaeos.
  3. —. Questions on Genesis.
  4. Bede the Venerable. BOOK TITLE? Ed. Michael Glerup. Series ed. Thomas C. Oden & Gerald L. Bray. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, [408] 2010, 23–94.
  5. Brenz, Johann.
  6. Chrysostom, John (c.347–407). Homilies on Genesis.
  7. Comestor, Petrus (c.1100–c.1179). Historia Scholastica. 1543.
  8. Didymus the Blind (c.313–398). Commentary on Genesis. Tr. Robert C. Hill. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Vol. 132. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2016.
  9. Cornelius a Lapide (1567–1637). Comentaria in scripturam sacram. Vol 1: Commentaria in Genesim. Paris: Apum Ludovicum Vives, Bibliupolam Editorem, [1616] 1891.
  10. Le Clerc, Jean (1657–1736). [= Ioannes Clericus.] Pentateuchus, sive Moses Prophetæ libri quinque. Ex translatione Joannis Clerici, cum ejusdem paraphrase perpetua, commentario philologico, variisque dissertationibus criticis, et tabulis chronologicis ac geographicis. [The Pentateuch, or, the five books of the prophet Moses. From the translation of Jean Le Clerc, with also a continuous paraphrase, linguistic commentary, and various critical dissertations and tables, chronological and geographical.] Amstelodami [Amsterdam]: Henricum Wtstenium, 1696.
  11. Maurer, Franc. Jos. Valent. Dominic. Commentarius grammaticus criticus in Vetus Testamentum in usum maxime gymnasiorum et academiarum. [Critical grammatical commentary on the Old Testament, embellished particularly for the use of schools and universities.] Vol. 1. Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Fridericus Volckmar, 1835.
  12. Musculus, Wolfgang.
  13. Nicholas of Lyra (c.1270–1349). Biblia Sacra cum glossis, etc. vol. 1. 1545.
  14. [GEN. 1–3?] Melanchthon, Philip (1497–1560). In obscuriora aliquot Geneseos Phil. Mel. Annotationes. 1523.
  15. Oecolampadius, Johannes (1482–1531). In genesim Enarratio [An Exposition of Genesis]. 1536.
  16. Pereira (Pererius), Benedict(us) (1536–1610). Commentatiorum et Disputationum en Genesim, Tomi Quatuor. 4vol. 1601.
  17. Schrank, Franz von Paula (1747–1835). Commentarius literalis in Genesin. Sulzbach: Seideliana, 1835.
  20. Philo of Alexandria (c.20 B.C.–c. 50 A.D.). Quaestiones in Genesim et in Exodum: fragmenta Graeca. In English here, though I cannot vouch for the translation!
  21. Josephus. In English here.
  22. Isidor of Seville (c.560–636). Enarrationes. 1530. Michael M. Gorman, who has spent decades on ancient and medieval commentaries on Genesis, has created a wonderful, free edition of Isidor’s commentary on Genesis, color-coded according to the source that Isidor was quoting or paraphrasing.
  23. Ephraim the Syrian (c.306–373). In Genesim et in Exodum commentarii.
  24. Statius, Martin (1589-1655). German. Martyrologium Archi-Patriarcharum, Das ist: Historische anmuhtige und auff mancherley hertzerquickenden trost gerichtete erzehlung deß vielfaltigen Creutzes der Ertzväter Adams Abels Nohe Abrahams Loths Isaacs Jacobs und Josephs : Darinn derselben mühselige walfahrt … eigentlich abgemahlet und ihnen gleichförmigen Creutzträgern zum kräfftigen trost … vorgehalten wird … Dantzigk: Andreas Hünefeld, 1622.
  25. Strigel, Victor (Victorinus) (1524-1569). Primus Liber Moysi, qui inscribitur Genesis. Vögelin, 1566.
  26. Theodoret? Questions on the Octateuch?
  27. Tostado, Alonso (c.1400–1455). Commentaria in Genesim: Mendis nunc sanè quam plurimis diligenter expurgata. Venetiis: Sessa, 1596.
  28. Wigbold (8th c.). Quaestiones in Octateuchum. [See PL 96.1101ff]
  29. Zwingli, Huldrych (Ulrich) (1484-1531). Farrago Annotationum in Genesim. Tiguri: Froschouer, 1527.

French

  1. Allix, Pierre (1641-1717). Réflexions sur les cinq livres de Moyse, pour établir la vérité de la religion chrétienne.: en deux tomes : suivant la copie imprimée de Londres (Amsterdam : B. Griffin, 1687).
  2. Astruc, Jean (1684-1766). Conjectures sur les mémoires originaux dont il paroit que Moyse s’est servi pour composer le livre de la Genèse… (Bruxelles : Fricx, 1753).
  3. Barin, Théodore (1634-1692). Le monde naissant, ou, La création du monde: démonstrée par de principes tres simples & tres conformes à l’histoire de Moyse, Genes. chap. I. & II. (Utrect : Compagnie des Libraires, 1686).
  4. Bochart, Samuel (1599-1667). Trois sermons préliminaires: a l’explication du livre de la Genese : avec un sermon sur ces paroles au commencement Dieu créa les Cieux & la Terre. Genese chap. I, vers. I (Amsterdam : Henry Desbordes, 1705).
  5. Saint-Rambert, Gabriel de (-c.1720). Nouveaux essais d’explication physique du premier chapitre de la Genèse.
    Utrecht : Chèz Guillaume Broedelet, 1713

German

  1. [GEN. 28] Andreae, Jakob (1528-1590). Ein christliche Predig von der Leiter Jacobs, Genesis 28. Darinnen Flarlich und einfeltig angezeigt (Tübingen, 1566).
  2. Balduin, Friedrich (1575-1627). Biblisch Betbüchlein : Welches eines jeden Capitels des Ersten und Andern Buchs Mosis Summ und Inhalt/ auch besten Gebrauch in einem kurtzen Gebetlein zeiget ; Dem gemeinen Manne zu gute/ unnd ubung der Gottesfurcht gestellet (Wittenberg : Helwig, 1617)
  3. Christliche Leichpredigt/ Von des H. Patriarchen Jacobs Kampff/ auß dem Ersten Buch Mosis Cap. 32. : Bey Volckreicher Leichbegengnus des … Herrn Friderici Taubmanni, Vornehmen Poëtae und Professoris bey der löblichen Universitet Wittenberg/ welcher am 24. Martii anni 1613 … entschlaffen/ unnd den folgenden/ 26. Martii … zur Erden ist bestattet worden ; Mit angehengter Oration, Intimation und Epicediis / Gehalten zu Wittenberg in der Pfarrkirchen Von Friderico Balduino der H. Schrifft Doctorn und Professorn/ auch Pfarrherrn und Superintendenten daselbsten (Wittenberg : Gorman, 1613).
  4. Burman, Frans (1628-1679). Gesetz und Zeugnüß Oder Außlegungen und Betrachtungen Der Geheimnüße wie auch fürnehmsten Sachen des Gesetzes oder der V. Bücher Mosis / Zu gründlicher Erklärung so wohl des Juden- alß Christenthums/ und Schrifftmäßiger Vergleichung der beyden (Franckfurt : Dreßer)

Uncategorised (in progress)

Vol. 1 (1693)
ULBH
Vol. 2 (1693) ULBH
Glass, Salomon (1593-1656). Selecta scripturae divinae Mosaicae : Süsser Kern und Außzug oder geistreiche und heylsame Betrachtung der vornehmsten … Geschichten, Dinge und Sprüche in den Büchern Mosis begriffen (Nürnberg : Endter, 1657)
BSB
Hafenreffer, Matthias (1561-1619). Fried Bott … : Neujahrstag-Predigt über Gen. 9,6

Tübingen : Werlin, 1613
Copies »
Fried Bott Das ist: Ernstliche Erinnerung auß Gottes Wort daß wir Christen und Kinder Gottes friedlich und einig miteinander leben … / Publicirt und gepredigt auff den Newen Jahrs Tag Anno 1613. in der Stifftskirch zu Tübingen. Durch Matthiam Hafenreffern … ; Neben beygefügten Edict Königlicher Maj. in Franckreich und Navarren [et]c. Den Hochschädlichen Unchristlichen Mißbrauch des Kämpffens und Balgens Mann gegen Mann betreffend : So bey dem Parlement zu Pariß den 27. Junij Annno 1609. eröffnet und publicirt worden (Stettin : Johann Christoph Landtrachtinger, 1615)
HAB
Herberger, Valerius (1562-1627) en de
[ Lutheran ]
De Jesu scripturae nucleo et medulla: Magnalia Dei : Die großen Thaten Gottes ; 1 – 4 Theil ; Das erste Buch Mose (Fricke, 1854)
GB
Magnalia Dei, De Jesu scripturae nucleo & medulla / Gefasset Durch fleissiges Gebet … Mund und Feder (Leipzig : Schürer)

Vol. 3 (1608) [Darinn die Geheimnis von Christo/ in dem 16. 17. 18. … 32. 33. 34. Capitel des ersten Buchs Mosis gewiesen werden]
ULBH
Vol. 2 (1611) [Darinnen die Geheimnis von Christo in dem 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. und 15. Capitel des ersten Buchs Mosis gewiesen werden] ULBH
Vol. 1 (1613) [Weiset die Geheimniß von Christo/ in den ersten drey Capiteln des Ersten Buchs Mose] ULBH
Linck, Wenceslaus (1483-1547). Annotation in die fünff bücher Mosi (Straßburg : Beck, 1543).
Luther, Martin (1483-1546).
Martin Luthers sowol in deutscher als lateinischer Sprache verfertigte und aus der letztern in die erstere übersetzte sämtliche Schriften, ed. Johann Georg Walch, vol. 1 (Gebauer, 1739)
Pfeiffer, August (1640-1698). Pansophia Mosaica e Genesi delineata, das ist: der Grund-Riß aller Weißheit … aus dem ersten Buch Mosis. (etc.) (Gleditsch, 1685)
GB

Strack, Johannes (1553-1612). Das Erste Buch des heiligen Propheten und Mannes Gottes Mosis Genesis genandt oder das Buch der Schöpffung : Darinnen ein jedes Capitel in gewisse Häuptstück verfasset und aus Gottes Wort und der Vätter Zeugnüß erkläret wird Beneben den Häuptstücken Christlicher Lehr … ; Sampt den Lehren Vermahnungen Trost und Warnung so bey einem jeden Stuck aus Gottes Wort den Patribus Orthodoxis, und Historien eingeführet und tractiret werden / Zum Trost den Gottseligen … in hundert und drey und siebentzig Predigten außgelegt und in Truck verfertiget Durch weiland Joohannem Strackium … (Cassel : Wilhelm Wessel, 1620).
Streuber, Peter (1560-1594). Zwo Christliche Leichpredigten. Eine Vber den Spruch Genesis am 9. Wer Menschen Blut vergeusset/ deß Blut sol auch durch Menschen vergossen werden. Die Ander/ Vber den Spruch S. Pauli Rom. 14. Leben wir/ so leben wir dem Herrn/ etc. Gehalten zu Soraw/ Durch Petrum Streuberum, der heiligen Schrifft Doctorem, vnnd der Herrschafften Sora vnd Triebel Superatt. (Leipzig : Zacharias Bärwald, 1591).
Abarbanel, Isaac (1437-1509).
‏פירוש התורה [Perush ha-torah] / Commentarius in Pentateuchum Mosis, 2nd ed., ed. Heinrich Jakob van Bashuysen (הענריך [Hanoviae] : יעקב מבאסהייזין [Henrikh Yaʻaḳov mi-Bashaizen], 1710).
Taylor, Francis (1589-1656). Tractatus de patribus: Rabbi Nathane Autore. In Linguam Latinam Translatus, Una cum notis marginalibus., ed. Francis Taylor (London : E. Cotes, 1654) [Rabbi Nathaniel].
Diodati, Giovanni (1576-1649). I commenti alla sacra bibbia con le introduzioni e i sommari ricavati dalla edizione ginevrina del MDCXLI, vol. 1 (Firenze : Tip. di G. Barbera, 1880).
Abarbanel, Isaac (1437-1509). Commentarius In Pentateuchum Mosis (Hanoviæ : Typographia Orientalis, 1710).
Alting, Jacob (1618-1679).
Opera omnia theologica

Amsterdam : excuditGerardus Borstius, 1687 [Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy 1-19; Psalms; Jeremiah] GB
Amsterdam : Gerardus Borstius
Vol. 2 (1687) BSB
Schilo: Seu De Vaticinio Patriarchae Jacobi, quod Genes. XLIX. vers. 10 exstat, libri quinque …

Franeker : Joh. Wellens, 1660 GB
Franeker : Joh. Wellens, 1662 GB
Amerpoel, Johannes (-1671). Cartesius Mosaizans seu Evidens & facilis conciliatio philosophiae Cartesii cum historia creationis primo capite Geneseos per Mosem tradita (Leovardiae : pro haeredibus Thomae Luyrtsma, 1669)
UU
Andreä, Samuel (1640-1699). Disputationum eis kosmopoiian hexaēmeron publicarum, II. exhibens quaestiones ad Gen. I. vers. 1. 2 (Heidelbergae : Walterus, 1657) / added author(s): Johann Heinrich Hottinger.
Epistola apologetica, ad virum eruditissimum & celeberrimum Henricum Morum, theologum & philosophum Anglum, in qua examen generale Cabbalae philosophiae ipsius in caput I. Geneseos vindicatur & ad scholia ejusdem modeste respondetur. (Marburgi Cattorum : Kürsner, 1684).
Aretius, Benedictus (1505-1574). In D. Mosis Pentateuchum, hoc est, priscam Dei legem, Benedicti Aretii theologi Bernensis commentarii breves ac dilucidi : qui iustae analyseōs seu diatheseōs vice esse possunt / [Hrsg.:] Stephanus Faber (Bernae Helvetiorum : Ioannes Le Preux, illustriss. DD. Bernensium Typographus, 1602).
Artopoeus, Peter (1491-1563). Christiana trivm lingvarum elementa. Praeterea De prima rerum origine uetustissimáq[ue] theologia, ex tribus primis capitibus Geneseos. Item in priorem Diui Pauli Epistolam ad Timotheum scholia (Basileae : Apud H. Petrum, 1546).
Aslakssøn, Cort (1564-1624). Physica et ethica mosaica ut antiquissima, ita vere christiana, duobus libris comprehensa quorum continetur libro prima Physica christiana… secundo. Ethica christiana ex capite Geneseos (Hanoviae : apud haeredes Joannis Aubrii, 1613).
Bois, Jacques du (1607-1661).
Dialogus Theologico-Astronomicus in quo ventilatur quaestio An Terra in centro universi quiescat, … an vero, sole quiescente, terra circa eam feratur (Leiden : Petrus Leffen, 1653).
Bompart, Jean (fl.1683-1689).
Parallela sacra et profana, sive notæ in Genesin (Amstelædami : ex officina Johannis Wolters, 1689) / added author(s): Herman Witsius [Appended: Herman Witsius, Exercitationes sacrae in symbolum quod Apostolorum dicitur et in orationem dominicam (1689)].
Borrhaus, Martin (1499-1564). In Mosem, diuinum legislatorem, paedagogum ad Messiam Seruatorem mundi, Commentarij : In Librum de Origine mundi, quem Genesim uocant. Exodum. Leuiticum. Numeros. Deuteronomium. Accessit locuples verum & verborum praecipue obseruandorum Index. (Basileae, 1555).
Brenz, Johannes (1499-1570). Operum reverendi et clarissimi theologi, D. Ioannis Brentii, praepositi Stutgardiani, vol. 1 (Tubingae : Gruppenbachius, 1576) [In Quo Continentur sequentes Commentarij. In Genesin Stutgardiae. Exodum Tubingae. Exodum Stutgardiae. Leviticum Halae Sueuorum. Numeros Stutgardiae. Deuteronomium Stutgardiae. elucubrati.]
Cajetan, Tommaso de Vio (1468-1534).
Commentarii illustres planeq[ue] insignes in quinque mosaicos libros, ed. Antonio Fonseca (apud Guillelmum de Bossozel, 1539).
Commentarii illustres planeq[ue] insignes in quinque Mosaicos libros, ed. Antonio Fonseca (apud Ioannem Boulle … : [Ioannem Parvum], 1539).
In Pentateuchum Mosis iuxta sensum quem dicunt literalem commentarii (apud Antonium Bladum, 1531).
Calvin, Jean (1509-1564). Mosis libri V : cum Iohannis Caluini commentariis ; Genesis seorsum, reliqui quatuor in formam harmoniae digesti (Geneva : Henr. Stephanus, 1563).
Mosis libri V, cum Johannis Calvini commentariis. Genesis seorsum : reliqui quatuor in formam harmoniæ digesti. Præter indices duos alphabeticos rerum quarundam in hisce Johannis Calvini commentariis notabilium, calci huius voluminis adjectos, unum in Genesin, alterum in reliquos quatuor libros in formam harmoniæ dispositos : habes et tertium, qui, singulorum capitum quilibet versus (variè alioqui, prout operis ratio postulavit, dispersi) quota pagina inveniri possint, protinus indicabit. (Genève : Henri II Estienne, 1563).
Opera omnia, vol. 1 (Amsterdam : J.J. Schipper, 1671) [Comment. in Pentateuchum et Josue.]
Opera omnia theologica in septem tomos digesta, vol. 1 (Genevae : apud Johannem Vignon, Petrum & Jacobum Chouët, 1617) [Commentarios in quinque libros Mosis complectens; Genesis seorsim : reliqui quatuor in formam Harmoniae sunt digesti; cum triplici indice : quorum primus Geneseos, alter, quatuor librorum in formam Harmoniae …]
Capito, Wolfgang (1478-1541). Hexemeron Dei opus … (Argentoratum, 1539).
Carrière, François, O.F.M. Conv. (-1665). Commentarius in universam S. Scripturam (N. Boissat et G. Remeus, 1663).
Cartwright, Christopher (1602-1658). Electa Thargumico-Rabbinica; Sive, Annotationes In Genesin: Ex triplici Thargum, seu Chaldaica Paraphrasi, nempe Onkeli, Hierosolymitana, & Jonathanis … (Thomson, 1648).
Chemnitz, Christian (1615-1666). Collegium theologicum in quo quaestiones in Genesin publicae ventilationi exponuntur: 10 disputationibus comprehensum : accesserunt … 5 programmata (Jenae : Wild, 1665).
Collegium Theologicum, in quo Quæstiones In Genesin Publicæ ventilationi exponuntur: Decem Disputationibus comprehensum; Et habitum In Alma Universitate Ienensi. Præside & Auctore Christiano Chemnitio, SS. Theol. Doctore, Eiusdemque Professore Publico, ut & Pastore ac Superintendente. Accesserunt Additamenti loco Quinque Programmata De quibusdam controversis locis Scripturæ (Lipsiae : Brandenburger, 1703).
Chytraeus, David (1530-1600). Dauidis Chitraei In Devteronomion Mosis Ivsta Enarratio. In Genesin, Exodvm, Leviticvm, Nvmeros, Brevioreslocorvm Doctrinae et Phrasivm Annotationes. Cum Indice Rerum ac verborum insignium. (Wittenberg : Johann d.J. Krafft, 1590).
In Genesin Enarratio (Crato, 1561).
In Genesin enarratio recens recognita. – Vitebergae, Johannes Crato 1568 (Johannes Crato, 1568).
In Genesin Enarratio, Recens Recognita a Davide Chytraeo. Wittenberg : Johann d.Ä. Krafft, 1568
Wittenberg : Johann d.Ä. Krafft, 1576
In Genesin enarratio, trad. Rostochii. – Vitebergae, Johannes Crato 1557, vol. 1 (Johannes Crato, 1557).
In Genesin Enarratio, Tradita Rostochii, Vt Ad lectionem Textus Bibliorum auditores inuitarentur. a Davide Chytraeo. (Wittenberg : Johann d.Ä. Krafft, 1557).
Costa, Gabriel a (fl.1634-). Commentaria quinque in totidem libros Veteris Testamenti

Lyon, 1641
Crégut, Antoine (fl.1650-1661).
גלי רזיא Hoc est Revelator arcanorum, vbi illustriora quæuis ac difficiliora scripturæ oracula noua methodo didacticè ac elencticè enucleantur, quæ in Pentateucho continentur. Accessit singularum exercitationum accuratissima analysis in cuiusque frontispicio. Cum indicibus necessariis (Genevae : sumptibus Samuelis Chouët, 1661).
DelRio, Martin Antoine, S.J. (1551-1608). Pharus sacrae sapientiae (Lugduni : Cardon, 1608).
Dieu, Lodewijk de (1590-1642). Animadversiones In Veteris Testamenti Libros Omnes: In Quibus Ex Chaldaeorum Targumim, & Syrorum, & Arabum & aliorum versionibus, ut & Hebraeorum Commentariis, & Recentiorum observationibus, difficiliora quaeq[ue] loca illustrantur, & diligenti collatione habita explicantur

Elzevir, 1648.
Drusius, Joannes (1550-1616). Ad loca difficiliora Pentateuchi, id est quinque librorum Mosis commentarius: opus posthumum. Franekerae Frisiorum, 1617.

Drusii ad loca difficiliora Pentateuchi id est quinque librorum Mosis commentarius (Heynsius, 1617).
Eitzen, Paul von (1521-1598). Commentarii in genesin: liber primus (Francofurti, 1560).
Elswich, Johann Hermann von (1684-1721). Observationes philologicae super clarissimi viri Bernh. Henningi Witteri commentatione in Genesin (1712).
Eucherius of Lyon (c.380-c.449). Divi Eucherii episcopi Lugdunensis commentarii in genesim, & in libros regum (Romae : apud Paulum Manutium, Aldi f., 1564).
Fabricius, Georg (1516-1571). Commentarius in genesin brevis (Lipsiae, 1584). In Primvm Librvm Mosis, Sive Genesin Commentarivs. Eivsdem In Eandem Genesin Hymni, & Precationes. Cvm Praefatione Iohannis. Pappi Doct.Theologi. (Straßburg : Bernhard Jobin, 1584).
Fagius, Paul (1504-1549). Commentaria in quatuor capita Geneseos (Isnae : [Fagius], 1542).

Fernandez, Benito, S.J. (1563-1630)
[ Roman Catholic ]
Commentariorum atque obseruationum moralium in Genesim (Lugduni : sumptibus Horatii Cardon)

Vol. 2 (1621)
GB
Vol. 2 (1625)
Vol. 3 (1627)
Fröreisen, Johann Leonhard (1694-1761). Disp. theol. de poenitentia Dei, ad Gen. VI, 6. – 7. Jonae III. 10. … (Argentorati, 1714) / added author(s): Daniel Pfeffinger
Gesner, Salomon (1559-1605). Commentarius in Genesin (Viteberg., 1613).
Genesis Sive Primus Liber Moysis, Disputationibus XXXVIII. breviter comprehensus inter se Patrum sententiis, orthodoxe explicatus, ut praecipuae quaestiones distincte sint tractatae & declaratae (Witebergae : Schürerus, 1604)
SBB
Glass, Salomon (1593-1656). Christologias Mosaicae, Qua Verba, dicta, & typi, quibus Jesus Christus, Filius Dei, in Pentateucho Mosis proponitur, exegetice, elenctice & practice, pio studio expenduntur, Dissertationum Pentas, Ex primis Geneseos capitibus, quibus antediluviana historia describitur, In illustri Academia Salana, ad publicas … proposita, Anno 1640. (Ienae : Steinmann, 1640)
SLUB
Grapius, Zacharias, Jr (1671-1713). Diss. theol. exhibens controversiam recentiorem de tentatione Evae et Christi a diabolo in assumto corpore facta : ad loca Genes. III, I. seqq. et Matth. IV, I. seqq. contra Balth. Bekkerum & Zach. Webberum

Rostochium, 1709
Copies »
BSB
Diss. theol. exhibens controversiam recentiorem de tentatione Evae et Christi a diabolo in assumto corpore facta: ad loca Genes. III, I. seqq. et Matth. IV, I. seqq. contra Balth. Bekkerum & Zach. Webberum

1709
Copies »
GB
Graverol, Jean (1647-1718). Moses vindicatus; sive asserta historiæ creationis mundi aliarumque, quales à Mose narruntur, veritas. Adversus cl. v. t. Burnetii S.T.D. Archaeologias philosophicas. (Amstelodami : Apud Georgium Gallet, 1694).
Haitsma, Aggaeus (1722-1784). Commentarius ad Genesin (Harlingae, 1766).
Curæ philologico-exegeticæ in Genesin. Sive Explicationes difficiliorum per omnia fere capita locorum (Franequerae : exc. J. Brouwer, 1753).
Hammer, Wilhelm, O.P. (-1564).
Commentationes in Genesim doctae, vtiles et lectv ivcvndae, plvrimis clarissimorvm hebræeæ, græcæ et latinæ lingvæ avthorvm sacrorvm et profanorum sententijs adeò ornatæ : vt ab æquo candidoq́ue lectore sine magno fructu & voluptate legi non possint

Dilingae : apud Sebaldum Mayer, 1564
Honert, Taco Hajo van den (1666-1740). Dissertationes historicae: addita est Dissertatio de necessaria ad recte interpretandam Scripturam sacram antiquitatum hebraïcarum cognitione (Leiden : Abraham Kallewier, 1739).
Hottinger, Johann Heinrich, I (1620-1667). Ktisis Exa-emeros: id est Historiae Creationis examen Theologico-Philologicum: ita institutum ut Opera sex dierum, ex primo Geneseos capite, strictim enarrentur, singulae pene voces, obscuriores cumprimis et emphaticae quaestionibus 164. elucidentur, et ad varios usus … (Heidelbergae : Ex Typographeio Samuelis Broun, 1659).
Iken, Conrad (1689-1753). Thesaurus Novus Theologico-Philologicus, Sive Sylloge Dissertationum Exegeticarum Ad Selectiora Atque Insigniora Veteris Et Novi Instrumenti Loca: A Theologis Protestantibus Maximam partem in Germania diversis temporibus separatim editarum, nunc vero secundum seriem librorum, capitum … (Lugduni Batavorum : Haak) / added author(s): Theodor Hase

Vol. 1 (1732)
Jansen, Cornelius (1585-1638). Pentatechus, sive commentarius in quinque libros Moysis (apud viduam Ioannis Du Puis, 1677)
Pentateuchus siue Commentarius in quinque libros Moysis (Beaujollin, 1677)
Pentateuchus sive Commentarius in quinque libros Moysis … (Jacobus Dalin, 1660)
Pentateuchus: sive Commentarius in 5 libros Moysis (1677)
Pentateuchus: sive commentarius in quinque libros Moysis (1641)
Pentateuchus: sive Commentarius in quinque libros Moysis

1677 GB
1685 GB
Pentateuchus: sive commentarius in quinque libros Moysis ; Analecta in proverbia (J. d’Alin, 1661.
Junius, Franciscus (1545-1602). Libri Geneseos analysis

[Genève] : in Officina Sanctandreana, 1594 [missing title page]
Copies »
e-rara
Protoktisia, Seu Creationis A Deo Factae, Et In Ea Prioris Adami Ex Creatione Integri & ex lapsu corrupti, Historia: Cui adiecta chorographica tabula Babyloniae, & in ea Hedenis circumscriptio … In Tria Prima Capita Geneseos Praelectiones Francisci Ivnii. Item Confvtatio Argumentorum XXII … ([Heidelberg], 1589).
Kipping, Heinrich (1623-1678). Exercitationes Sacrae De Creationis Operibus Et Statu Primi Hominis : In quibus Duo priora Capita Geneseos perspicue exponuntur, prolatis insimul ac decisis quaestionibus utilissimis e Philologia & Philosophia meliore petitis, uti Series earum indicat
Francofurdi : Berger, 1664
Lippoman, Aloisius (c.1500-1559). Catena in Genesim ex authoribus ecclesiasticis plus minus sexaginta, iisque partim graecis, partim latinis, connexa / authore Aloisio Lippomano Metonensi… (Parisiis : ex officina Carolae Guillard, 1546)
UGR
Luther, Martin (1483-1546). In Genesin Enarrationvm Reverendi Patris, Domini Doctoris Martini Lvtheri … collectarum, per Hieronymum Besoldum Noribergensem, Tomvs Qvartvs Continens Historiam Sanctissimi Patriarchae Ioseph. Nunc primum in lucem editus. … (Nürnberg : Ulrich VomBerg, Johann und Neuber, 1560).
In Genesin, Mosi Librvm Sanctissimvm, D. Martini Lutheri Declamationes. Praeterea Index, paucis opusculi totius summam continens. (Hagenau : Johann Setzer, 1527).
In primum librum Mose enarrationes Reuerendi Patris D.D. Martini Lutheri : plenae salutaris & Christianae eruditionis, bona fide & diligenter collectae. (Noribergae : Montanus & Neuberus, 1555)
In Primvm Librvm Mose Enarrationes Reuerendi Patris D.D. Martini Lutheri : plenae salutaris & Christian[a]e eruditionis, Bona fide & diligenter collectae (VVitenbergae : Seitz, 1544).
Lyra, Nicolaus de (c.1270-1349) en
Biblia Sacra cum glossis, interlineari & Ordinaria, Nicolai Lyrani Postilla & Moralitatibus, Burgensis Additionibus & Thoringi Replicis (Lyon)

  • Vol. 1 (1545) [Genesis – Deuteronomy]
  • Copies »
  • GB
  • Vol. 2 (1545) [Joshua – Esther] GB
  • Marlorat, Augustin (1506-1560). Genesis cum catholica expositione ecclesiastica, id est ex universis probatis theologis (quos Dominus diversis suis Ecclesiis dedit) excerpta, a quodam Verbi Dei ministro, diu multumque in theologia versato. Sive Bibliotheca expositionum Geneseos, id est expositio ex probatis theologis (quotquot in Genesin aliquid scripserunt) collecta et in unum corpus singulari artificio conflata : quae instar bibliothecae multis expositorum libris refertae esse possit. ([Genève] : Henri II Estienne, typographe d’Ulrich Fugger, 1562).
  • Martinius, Matthaeus (1572-1630). De creatione mundi commentariolus (Bremae : Apud Johannem Wesselium, 1613).
  • Meiderlin, Peter (1582-1651). Progymnasma alterum, sive exercitatio philosophico-theologica ex cap. II. geneseos Mosaicae (Augusta Vindelicorum : Schönig, 1634).
  • Tyrocinium physico-theologicum ex capite I. Bereschit seu Geneseos: quo utiles quaedam quaestiones partim physicae, partim theologicae ventilandae proponuntur (Augusta Vindelicorum, 1634).
  • Mercier, Jean (c.1510-1570). In Genesin, primum Mosis librum, sic a Graecis appellatum, commentarius, ed. Théodore de Bèze ([Genevae] : Ex typographia Matthaei Berjon, 1598) [Preface by Theodore de Bèze].
  • Momma, Wilhelm (1642-1677). Praelectiones Theologicae: De Adventu Schiloh: Ad Genes. XLIX. 10. Et De Variis Theologiae Capitibus. Opus Posthumum (Amsterdam : a Someren, 1683).
  • Musculus, Wolfgang (1497-1563). In Genesim Mosis Commentarij plenissimi: In quibus veterum et recentiorum sententiae diligenter expenduntur. Avthore Vvolfgango Mvscvlo Dvsano: Nvnc a` multis mendis repurgati, Indiceqve duplici: … (Basel : Sebastian Henricpetri, 1600)
  • In Mosis Genesim plenissimi Commentarii (Basileae, 1565)
  • In Mosis genesim plenissimi Commentarii, in quibus veterum et recentiorum sententiae diligenter expenduntur
  • Basel : Hervagias, 1554 GB
  • Basel : Hervagias, 1565 HAB
  • Neubauer, Ernst Friedrich (1705-1748)
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis De Vera Origine Phrasium Sacrarum Videre Et Gustare Mortem Ex Lapsus Historia Gen. II.16.17. III.6.7. Derivata Et A Diversis Obiectionibus Vindicata: Ad Varia Novi Test. Loca Explicanda Matth. XVI.28. Mare. IX.1. Luc. II.26. IX.27. Io. VIII.51.52. Ebr. II.9. XI.5. coll … (Lammers, 1745)
  • Neumann, Johann Georg (1661-1709)
  • Disputatio Theologica, De Mensura Peccatorum Impleta, Gen. Xv, 16. Matth. Xxiii, 32. / Qvam Præside Pro-Rectore Magnifico Dn. Jo. Georg. Neumanno, S.S. Theol. D. Et P.P. Alvmn. Elect. Ephoro, Et Acad. Bibliothecario. Domino, Patrono, Praeceptore Svo, Per Omne Vitae Spatium Sancte Observando, Publicæ Disqvisitioni exponit M. Just. Christian. Uthenius, Clinga-Schvvarzburgicus. Ad D. XXX. Decembr. Anno Academiae Seculari (Vitembergae : Meyer, 1720)
  • Oleaster, Hieronymus, O.P. (-1563). Cõmentaria in Mósi Pentateuchum, iuxta Sanctis Pagnini …: interpretationem: quibus Hebraica veritas exactissime explicatur; & quae ad morum compositionẽ aptari possunt: ex ipsius literae penetralibus seorsum annectuntur. Opus sane, & doctis & indoctis vsui futurum…. (Apud J. Barrerium, 1556)
  • Commentaria in Pentateuchum Mosi, hoc est, in quinque primos Bibliorum libros: quibus iuxta M. Sanctis Pagnini Lucensis … interpretationem, Hebraica veritas cum ad genuinum literae sensum, tum ad mores informandos, ad unguem enucleatur (Lugduni : Landry, 1589).
  • Origen (c.185-254). Homiliae in Genesim: Exodum, Leviticum, Numeros Jesum Nave et librum Judicum, D. Hieronymo interprete (Aldus, 1503).
  • Osiander, Johann Adam, Sr (1622-1697). Commentarius In Pentateuchum : Exhibens Sacrum cum Exegesi Textum, Lectionum Et Versionum Varietatem, Conciliatas Antilogias, Chronologiam, utilium Quaestionum Solutiones, Obiectiones cum Vindiciis, Observationes Philologicas, & Locos Communes Doctrinales … / adornatus Studio & Opera Johannis Adami Osiandri … (Stutgard : Zubrodt ; Tubingae : Reisius, 1676).
  • Palladius, Peder (1503-1560). Librorum Moisi, qui sunt fons doctrinæ ecclesiæ, explicatio brevis & ad usum piorum accommodata
    Vitebergae : Iohannes Crato, 1559
  • Pareus, David (1548-1622). In Genesin Mosis Commentarius […] cum Indice gemino: uno Quaetionum et Dubiorum : altero Verborum et rerum locupletissimo (Jonas Rhodius, 1609).
  • Pelargus, Christoph (1565-1633). In Prophetarum omnium Oceanum, sive Genesin Sacram Mosaicam Ex antiquitate puriore magna parte erutus Commentarius Christophori Pelargi, Doctoris Ac Professoris Academiae Francofurtanae … ([Magdeburg] : Francus, 1612).
  • Pellikan, Konrad (1478-1556). Commentaria Biblioru[m], id est XXIIII. Canonicorum veteris testamenti librorum, & illa brevia quidem & catholica, vol. 1 (Tiguri : Froschouerus, 1536) [In Quo Continentur V. Libri Mosis].
  • Pepin, Guillaume, O.P. (c.1465-1533). Expositio in Genesim juxta quadrupiicem sacre scripture sensum, literalem scilicet, moralem allegoricum, et anagogicum (Joan. Parous, 1528).
  • Pezel, Christoph (1539-1604). In primum librum Mosis, qui inscribitur Genesis commentarius (Neostadii, 1599).
  • Piscator, Johann (1546-1625). Commentarii in omnes libros Veteris Testamenti: antehac aliquoties separatim editi, nunc vero in unum volumen collecti, vol. 1 (Herbornae Nassoviorum, 1646) [includes vol. 2].
  • Rivet, André (1572-1651). Theologicae et scholasticae exercitationes centum nonaginta in Genesin, ex publicis ejus praelectionibus in Batavorum academia (1633).
  • Runge, David (1564-1604). Praelectiones in Genesin Mosaicam : Quibus, Praeter Textus Perspicuam & dilucidam enarrationem, praecipui Christianae religionis articuli & capita, tam didaktikōs quam elenchtikōs, tractantur: rerum maximarum acta commemorantur: Chronologia simul & certa atq[ue] continua temporum series ab exordio mundi accurate annotatur: typi partim Prophetici, partim dogmatici illustres explicantur: omnis denique generis virtutum exempla, ad fidem & pietatem facientia, proponuntur ; Cum Indice Perquam Utili, praecipuos doctrinae Christianae Locos continente (Witebergae : Gorman Schürerus, Typis Craton., 1608).
  • Praelectiones in Genesin Mosaicam : Quibus, Praeter Textus perspicuam & dilucidam enarrationem, praecipui Christianae religionis articuli & capita, tam didaktikōs quam elenchtikōs, tractantur: rerum maximarum acta commemorantur: Chronologiae simul & certa atque continua temporum series ab exordio mundi accurate annotatur: typi partim Prophetici, partim dogmatici illustres explicantur: omnis denique generis virtutum exempla, ad fidem & pietatem facientia, proponuntur ; Cum Indice Perquam Utili, praecipuos doctrinae Christianae Locos continente (Wittebergae : Mullerus Schurerus, 1614).
  • Salchli, Johann Jakob (1694-1774). Exercitationes Lausannenses. De cura animarum pastorali particulari: Cum adjectis observationibus critico-theologicis ad quaedam Genes. cap. I. loca controversa (Bernae : ex officina Typogr. illustrissimae Reipublicae Bernensis, 1762).
  • Salomon ben Isaac (1040-1105). Commentarius Hebraicus In Pentateuchum Mosis (Gothae, 1710).
  • Scherzer, Johann Adam (1628-1683). Operae pretium orientale: exhibens commentariorum Rabbinicorum Isaaci Abarbenelis et Salomonis Jarchii in Geneseos sectionem I, nec non R. Mosis Majemon. Theologiae … cui accessit Specimen theologiae mythicae Ebraeorum … (Lipsiae : Impensis Friderici Christiani Coelii, 1685) / added author(s): Isaac Abarbanel, Salomon ben Isaac, Maimonides [Appended: הנחתן וחליצתן של תפילן : usus phylacterior judaicor quem benivolo superiorum indultu in iluustri salana publicae ventilationi exponent / praes. Matthias Beck (Jena, 1684)]
  • Selecta rabbinico-philologica : quae comprehendunt I. Commentar Rasche in Parsch. Breschith, sive in Cap. I. usque ad VI. Gen., II. Commentar R. Abarbanel. in Haggaeum, III. R. Mos. Maimon. Mercaba, sive, Doctrinam de Deo & angelis quae quondam cum versionibus & annotationibus studio Jo. Adami Scherzeri sub nomine Trifolii Orientalis, nec non operae pretii edita, jam vero revisa & aucta sunt. IV. Commentar. Rasche in Parsch. Noach, sive in cap. VI. usque ad XI. Gen., V. Commentar R. Aben Esrae in Haggaeum quae cum versionibus, annotationibus Talmudicis, rabbinicis & philologicis, nec non indicibus … adjecta sunt à Jo. Georg. Abicht. (Lipsiae : apud viduam Johannis Heinichii, 1705).
  • Selecta Rabbinico-philologica: quae comprehendunt I. Commentar. Rasche in Parsch. Breschith … II. Commentar. R. Abarbanel. in Haggaeum, III. R. Mos. Maimon. Mercaba …

apud viduam Johannis Heinichii, 1705 GB

Heinich, 1705 GB

Trifolium orientale : continens Commentarios R. Abarbenelis in Haggaeum, R. Sal. Jarchi in Parsch. I. Geneseos, et R. mos. Majemonidae theologiam, cum versione, notis philologico-philosophicis, et appendice ; speciminis theologiae mythicae ebraeorum, junctis autoritatum S.S. scripturae, rerum ac verborum indicibus necessariis. (Lipsiae : Typis Johannis Baueri, 1663).

Schmidt, Sebastian (1617-1696). Collegium Biblicum …: In Quo Dicta Scripturae Veteris Testamenti Sexaginta Sex, iuxta Seriem Locorum Communionum Theologicorum disposita, dilucide explicantur, vol. 1 (Argentorati : Tidemannus, 1670)

Super Mosis Librum Primum, Genesis Dictum, Annotationes (Argentorati : Spoor, 1697)

Schnabel, Hieronymus Wilhelm (1656-1702)

[ Reformed ]

Exercitatio Secunda Theologiae Typicae De Abele Typo Jesu Christi: Anaskeuastikōs kai kataskeuastikōs, Ex imis omnino fundaminibus labefactatur ac destruitur (Bremae, 1700)

UBH

Selnecker, Nikolaus (1532-1592) de

[ Lutheran ]

In Genesin … commentarius

1569 GB
Lipsia, 1569 BSB
In Genesin, Primum Librum Moysi, Commentarius : Ita Scriptvs, Vt Docentibvs Et Discentibvs Coelestem Doctrinam Magno Vsvi Esse Possit …. Addita est Chronologia ab initio mundi usq[ue] ad exitum populi Israelitici ex Aegypto (Lipsiae : Rhambau, 1569)
BSB
Soeiro, Manoel Dias (1604-1657). Conciliator, sive de convenientia locorum S. Scripturae, quae pugnare inter se videntur. Opus ex vetustis & recentioribus omnibus Rabbinis, Magna industria, ac fide congestum (Amstelodami : Auctor, 1633).
Spangenberg, Cyriacus (1528-1604). In sacri Mosis Pentateuchum, sive quinque Libros, Genesim, Exodum, Leviticum, Numeros, Deuteronomium, tabulae CCVI : nuncque primum in lucem editae : De quarum usu & ratione, quaedam in Praefatione, & ad Lectorem Epistola, reperies (Basileae : [Jacob Parcus für Johannes Oporin], 1563).

Varenius, August, Sr (1620-1684). Decades Mosaicae : In duos priores Libros Pentateuchi Genesin & Exodum, Quorum Loca difficiliora, & illustriora sub XXXIV. magnis Classibus ex Consilio Fontium explicantur, & a Corruptelis Interpretum & Adversariorum vindicantur (Rostochi[i] : Richelius, 1659)
SBB
Vermigli, Peter Martyr (1499-1562). dIn primum librum Mosis, qui vulgo Genesis dicitur, commentarii doctissimi D. Petri Martyris Vermilii Florentini, professoris divinarum literarum in schola Tigurina, nunc primum in lucem editi : addita est initio operis Vita eiusdem a Iosia Simlero Tigurino descripta accesserunt praeterea in hac editione, octo postrema capita in huius libri, Ludovico Lavatero interprete (Tiguri : Christophorus Froschouerus, 1579) / added author(s): Josias Simmler, Ludwig Lavater
e-rara
Zanchi, Girolamo (1516-1590). De operibus Dei intra spatium sex dierum (Neustadt an der Haardt : Nicolaus Schrammius, 1602).

More English commentaries (not free)

https://www.bestcommentaries.com/genesis/

F. B. Meyer?

Watson, G. D. (1845–1924). God’s First Words.

? https://archive.org/details/worldsbirthdayt00gausgoog/page/n6/mode/2up

? Didymus https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Didymus%2C+the+Blind%2C+approximately+313-approximately+398%22

? StudyLight https://www.studylight.org/

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008917806

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009778927

Free Commentaries on Genesis – Quick Links (Ultimate List of Free Bible Commentaries)

1 Reply

This is a shortened version of my ultimate list of free Genesis commentaries, created for quicker reference. Commentaries covering the entire book are in boldface.

Those I especially treasured as thorough and thoughtful were the commentaries of Ainsworth, Babington, Kalisch, Needler, and Patrick, the sermons of Candlish and Fuller, and the Genesis Rabbah, a Jewish midrash. Gibbons also has an absurd number of patristic quotations.

Genesis Commentaries

Alcuin (1–16) | Alford | Ambrose (1–4) | Ambrosiaster (“Pseudo-Augustine”) | Anonymous [“Fidus”] (3) | Babington | Basil the Great (1) | H. Bonar (1–6) | Browne (“Speaker’s Commentary”) | Bunyan (1–10) | Bush | Chapman(?) | Clapham (1–14) | Coghlan | Colman (1–3) | T. Cooper | Cumming[1] | | Delitzsch vol 1 (1–14) / Delitzsch vol 2 (15–50) | de Sola, Lindenthal, & Morris | Driver (“Westminster”) | Franks | Geddes | Genesis Rabbah | Gibbons/Gibbens (1–14) | Gibson | Goodspeed | Groves | P. Henry (1–11) | Hughes | Hunnis | “Ibn Ezra” (Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra) | Jacobus | Jervis | J. C. Jones (1–8) | Keil & Delitzsch | Kurtz / alt. ver. | Latch | Lightfoot | Luther vol 1 (1–3) / Luther vol 2 (4–9) | D. MacDonald (1–3) | McCaul (1) | Murphy | Needler (1–5) | W. Paul | Payne Smith [“Ellicott’s”] | Richardson | A. Ross (1–14) | Ryle / alt. ver.| Sibthorp | Simeon / alt. ver. | Skinner | Spurrell | Terry & Newhall [“Whedon’s”] / alt. ver. | Todd | Turner | Victorinus (1–2) | von Gerlach | Walker (1–2) | J. White (1–3) | Willet | I. Williams (1–4) |

Pentateuch Commentaries

Ainsworth | Blunt | “Chizkuni” (Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoah) | A. Jackson |Kalisch | Kenrick | Kidder | Morison | “Ramban” (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman) | “Sforno” (Ovadiah ben Ya’akov Seforno) | A. Wright |

Whole Bible Commentaries & Study Bibles

Barnes | Benson | Bullinger | Calvin | Constable | Dodd | Gaebelein | Gill | M. Henry / alt. ver. / abridged ver. | Hewlett | Jamieson | Kitto | Kretzmann | Lange | Meyer[4] | Meyer[5] | Patrick | Poole | T. Scott | Sutcliffe | Trapp | T. Williams |

Sermons & Lectures

Andrewes (1–4) / alt. ver. | Banks (1–3) | Boardman (1–2) | Bonnet (3) | Bonus | Bromby (1–5) | Candlish | Close | Crosse (1–23) | Dods (“Expositor’s Bible”) | Fuller | Horne | MacDuff (28) | Mackintosh | MacLaren [“Expositions of Holy Scripture”] | J. Parker [“People’s Bible” vol. 1] | Rollinson (49) | Shute (16) | Thornton

Studies of Biblical Characters

Cumming[2] (1–11) | Cumming[3] (12–36) | Cumming[4] (37–50) | Kelly (12–25) | Meyer[1] (12–25) | Meyer[3] (25–35) | Meyer[3] (37–50) |

Dissertations & Essays

Barrington (3) | Bate (3) | Gray (14) | Holden (2–3) | Kennicott (2–4) | Oakes (1–3) | Salkeld (2–3) | Shuckford (1–3) |

There are many more works, especially in Latin, that are available online. If you know of a work I’ve left out that’s freely available online, written in English, and in the public domain, please leave a suggestion in the comments.

Free Commentaries on Genesis (Ultimate List of Free Bible Commentaries)

1 Reply 
I've chosen to only list here commentaries that are freely available online in English. It's not perfect, but I've worked hard to make this list more complete than others I have seen online. For more free Bible commentaries, check here.
And for an earlier version of this post with more comments on each book,  click here.
Continue reading →

100+ Free Commentaries on Genesis

1 Reply 
Below are listed over 100 commentaries on Genesis that are free online, in various formats and platforms. All of them were published before 1920 but are preserved, mostly through large-scale repositories like Internet Archive, HathiTrust, Early English Books Online, and Google Books, in addition to Sefaria.

I've numbered them in loose order based on my recommendation of them; I've commented on those that I've consulted. This list was a bit of an experiment; in the future, I will try to order these by language and author.

This list is pretty extensive, but if you know Latin, German, or French, you can find even more over at PRDL.
Continue reading →

Review: Jacob and the Divine Trickster

Leave a reply

Rating: ★★★★

Author: John E. Anderson is a Lutheran Old Testament scholar. Jacob and the Divine Trickster is Anderson’s dissertation written at Baylor and published with the recommendation of Walter Brueggemann.

Genre: Academic theology, narrative theology.

Overview: Jacob and the Divine Trickster is a theological study of the Jacob cycle. Anderson is primarily concerned with theology proper and not with textual-critical issues. The introduction sets up a challenge for readers who try to iron out tensions in the biblical text. In particular, Anderson believes that God is unquestionably implicated in several deceptive acts in Genesis—although the heavy term ‘deception’ is somewhat lightened in his definition towards “withholding information.”

Anderson develops this idea of cunning as a divine attribute, boldly referring to Jehovah as a “trickster God.” I agree, however, with Diana Lipton’s review:

Even if I can come to terms with the idea that God tricks people, I cannot see tricksterism (this may be the wrong term but no better one comes to mind) as a divine attribute, as Anderson seems to.

The key to Anderson’s book is that he catalogues all the ways that the Lord worked for Jacob, in fulfillment of the ancestral promises (in Gen. 12 and 28). This overall optimistic assessment of Jacob will prove to have staying power, I believe, if we can accept the Eastern understanding of ethics given to us in Genesis.

Meat:

Anderson follows the lead of Walter Brueggemann, Eric Seibert, and others in addressing ethical difficulties in the Old Testament head on. Whereas a fundamentalist take would ignore difficulties and systematic theologians cancel them out, Anderson chooses to lean into the difficulties he encounters in the text.

Although its main thesis is overstated in my opinion, the book is an important contribution, as it challenges 1) interpretations that assess Jacob’s deceptive behavior negatively; 2) interpretations that seek to distance God from Jacob’s behavior, when God is real and present in the Genesis text, ensuring the fulfillment of his promise.

A simple review like this doesn’t provide space for the many interesting points in the book. But I can pose some questions evoked while reading this book:

  • If Jacob’s repeated deception of Esau was immoral, would God have allowed him to obtain divine blessing by those means? (Is God’s blessing really so mechanistic that you could obtain godly blessing in an ungodly way?!)
  • Can we trust Jacob’s statement (in 27:20) that the Lord helped him to deceive his father? What if Isaac was in the wrong anyway?
  • What about 31:5, 7, and 9, where Jacob says God is working on his behalf against Laban?
  • Are Jacob’s deceptive acts ethically difficult for non-Western readers? Wouldn’t many Asians see him as merely cunning, a guy with street smarts, who knows how to be in the right place at the right time?

Bones:

Anderson’s book brings up a major ethical problem: is Jacob really immoral, or is it our European ethical framework that cause us to place limitations on the text? Anderson doesn’t answer this question for contemporary readers, in my opinion. He does pretty convincingly argue, though, that the Bible itself does not make excuses for Jacob’s deceptive acts.

Switchbacks

Leave a reply

There is really only one way to hike up a mountain:  You must use the switchbacks.  It would seem shorter to walk straight uphill, but you’d have to leave the trail that everyone else has been taking, which is safer, and you would be exhausted a lot faster.  Yes, I am very glad that we stuck to the trail.
It may take longer, but the only way to really walk with God is one step at a time, always uphill, and you will only ever see in front of you as far as the next turn.  That is the path that has been patiently trodden and cleared by those who have walked with God before us, all the way back to Enoch, Abel, and even Adam “in the cool of the day.”  Each of them took the long path but in the end they found it was worth it.
Abraham did not see around the next hairpin.  God told him to get out of his father’s house, “to a land I will show you.”  He did not know many of the consequences that would come, and God left the next page unturned–Abraham had to take the next step, and it wasn’t until after he obeyed that the Lord made a covenant with him, gave him a son, and promised to him the land of Israel.
The Lord required of his son Isaac a similar hike.  Like Abraham he had learned to pray, but had to learn to take a step without seeing ahead; the Lord commanded him, “stay in a land I will tell you about.”
All great men of God, I believe, have learned to walk the trail before them, whether or not they knew how far, how long, until the destination was reached.  Moses didn’t know how he would speak boldly to the Pharaoh, Paul didn’t know the way to Ananias’ house–he was blind!–yet they walked, like Abraham, “not knowing whither he went.”  None of them were concerned primarily with where they were headed, but with Who was walking with them.
The footfall of the saints on the mountain of the Lord has left a trail for us–it is a narrow way, but it is also the only way.   And as one of Abraham’s descendants sang long after him, he who ascends the hill of the Lord will receive “blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
And the path didn’t level out; there were many more switchbacks for Abraham.  Even after Isaac was born they could not see the peak, for the Lord asked him again, “Go to a mountain I will tell you about.”  So the switchbacks continued even after he had walked with God for decades.  But there is always blessing after obedience; and when Abraham set his face to do what the Lord asked of him, there was an unforeseen blessing on him, his family, and even the nations of the earth.  And Abraham never became a king, but after millennia the King of kings came to the same mountain and offered not His son nor an animal, but Himself–and when He rose again indestructible in glory the full blessing brought by His attuned heart of obedience to the Father we have not yet seen–but He saw it from the beginning, and perhaps that was His secret.

[*See also John 10:18, Isaiah 49:4]

“The Seed of the Woman” in Genesis

Leave a reply

“And the Lord God said unto the serpent … I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)

What does seed of the woman mean?

This very ancient promise refers to a descendant of Eve who would defeat the serpent, or Satan. The unique part of the promise is that seed in Hebrew is normally equivalent with semen, which a man contributes toward a pregnancy. A woman does not have a seed, but an egg; she is the one in whom the seed grows. So the seed of the woman refers to a person born without the help of a man, i.e., a virgin birth.

Who is the seed of the woman?

The seed of a woman could hardly refer to anything except the virgin birth of Jesus, in which he was not born of a man’s seed. The most famous verse of the Bible in English is John 3:16: “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that he who believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” The phrase “only begotten” is somewhat confusing for at least two reasons:

1. Christian orthodoxy has always held that Jesus existed before he was born as a human, and birth was not the beginning of existence for him. (John 8:58) This aspect is especially confusing to Muslims.

2. John says that Jesus grants us the right to be born as “children of God” (John 1:12-13). If we become sons and daughters of God through the new birth, then Jesus is not God’s only son.

The Greek word is a unique compound word, monogenes, which many interpret to mean “uniquely begotten” or “singly born”—a probable reference to the virgin birth.

How does this promise figure in the rest of the Book of Genesis?

When Cain was born, it is quite possible that Eve thought that he was the promised seed of the woman. After all, she was the only woman around, and she had brought him forth “from the LORD” (4:1, KJV). When Seth was born Eve celebrated that God had “appointed another seed” for her (4:25). If Eve indeed thought that either Cain or Seth was her promised seed, then, as is the pattern in human life, she had misestimated God’s timetable for bringing his promises to pass.

Genealogies became important because there is a promised seed that would come forth in a specific way, and repeated promises in Genesis indicate that this “seed” will come from a specific lineage (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Many cultures have very high views of genealogy, and many Middle Eastern cultures still relate their tribes back to the book of Genesis without interruption.

Noah also was a man of promise, since his father prophesied that he would comfort them concerning the work of their hands (Gen. 5:29). Mankind was preserved through him, but it would be many more generations before the promised seed of the woman would come.

Abraham is commanded to count the stars because “thus will his seed be.”⁠1  Although the meaning could refer to the number of Abraham’s descendants, Paul points out “Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16, NIV) The seed of Abraham and the seed of the woman are one and the same.

Isaac, more than anyone else in the book of Genesis, bears the weight of the coming seed. Abraham is given more seed promises than anyone else in the Bible, and the most immediate application would be his son. Since Ishmael is excluded from the promise, now we understand the significance of God’s request that Abraham sacrifice his son. His son was the only means he had of fulfilling God’s promise, and God asked him to sacrifice him. When he goes alone with Isaac, Abraham says, “we will go, and we will return.” The writer of Hebrews says that Abraham showed his faith in the resurrection from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The purpose of election continues as God decides that Jacob and not Esau will be the source of the promised seed. Paul writes to the Romans about these twins, saying that God used them to make it obvious that God does not choose the best, brightest, or holiest to join him in his plan, so “that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth” (Romans 9:11). Election here means choice, and God’s choice is key to following both the narratives and the genealogies of the book of Genesis. All of these are tending towards the fulfillment of the promise that was spoken at the beginning.

Even Joseph’s story, centers around the preservation of this covenant people and the “seed of the woman.” Even though the scepter fell to Judah, Joseph preserved the family through whom salvation would be revealed. He received riches and wealth in the story, but he tells his family that the express purpose of God was to preserve his family through the crisis (Gen. 45:4-8, 50:15-21, Ps. 105:16-17).

Summary

In the first half of Genesis, God speaks, promises, and explains himself over and over. He appears to Abraham twice in chapter 12, and once in almost every chapter from there until Abraham’s death.

In the second half of Genesis, there is much more action and much less of God’s voice. From chapter 36 to chapter 45, there is no mention of the seed of the woman or the promise of the land. Jacob and Joseph only see in retrospect that God’s redemptive purposes were at hand. So Jacob says that God has “redeemed” him from all trouble (48:16), and reminds himself and his family of all the promises that God had spoken so many years before (48:3-4, 48:21).

After Genesis, the story of the seed of the woman does not advance significantly until God begins sharing the promise with David in the book of 1 Samuel. However, this promise becomes a background to understanding the promise of the land, the Exodus, the conquest of Joshua, and the rejection of God as king in 1 Samuel. The entire Old Testament leads us toward the victory and resurrection of Eve’s seed, our virgin-born Messiah.

1 Although the view is eccentric, E. W. Bullinger believed that God had spoken to Abraham using the constellations as a pre-biblical revelation of Jesus, “the seed of the woman.”

Genesis

Leave a reply

GENESIS
is the story of
CREATION
in which God makes a
COVENANT.

God of Creation

Genesis is the story of how God created us, and we rejected him, but he would not give us up. This book creates an unbroken narrative from Adam to Joseph of how God continued to speak, to promise, and to reveal his purposes.

Genesis takes a childlike view of life in which God’s activity is visible everywhere. His activity is not always explained or accounted for explicitly. His presence is unquestioned. God never seeks to prove himself through argument. He presents himself through activity.

Other holy books present God as a partisan, or only caring for one group of people. In the Bible he cares for all people from the beginning, and the whole earth is always his dominion. He cares for all that he has created.

God in Covenant

The Bible’s narrative is shaped like an hourglass, and Abraham is the pinch point.1A few generations after the Flood, God chooses Abraham for his plan of redemption, a plan which would afterwards involve “all the families of the earth.” (12:3) He narrows his plan down to Abraham, that he may afterwards bless all people in Christ.

Genesis shows God in covenant. Covenant is the continuation of the purpose he had for his Creation. He continues to reach out to the covenant family, that of Abraham, and extend promise after promise that he is advancing his plan and will fulfill his first promise to Abraham (12:1-3) as well as his original intentions expressed in Creation.

Creation and covenant go hand in hand in the Book of Genesis. God creates with intentions; he maintains those intentions and purposes through his covenants. The KJV says “for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11)

Creation and Fall (1-5)

Genesis is not really a book of beginnings but a book of the Beginning. The title comes from verse 1:1, and has reference only to a time when God existed without his Creation.2 Since God existed before his Creation, he does not depend on it. The first thing we learn about God is that he is our self-existent Creator (Rom. 1).

Yet God chooses to involve himself in this Creation, so Genesis 1 and 2 comprise two different accounts of Creation. The first account calls God “Elohim” in Hebrew because it shows God in authority; the second account calls God “Yahweh” because it focuses in on God in relationship with mankind. Yahweh (or Jehovah) is his covenant name.

Adam and Eve are called to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it” (1:28). This is the First Commission, leading up to the call of Abraham, as well as the Great Commission (9:1, 9:7, 12:1-3, 35:11). The First Commission represents man’s call not only to obey God, but to be king of the Earth. God had a job for us to do that has, in one sense, continued in spite of the Fall.

Watchman Nee comments that God’s week began with work: man’s week began with rest. In the Gospel, man must rest before he can work. In this the Sabbath summarizes the whole Gospel: it is the work of God and the only true rest for man. The Sabbath was created so that man would know that it is God who sanctifies (Ex. 31:13, Ez. 20:12). God supplies all our lack in Christ.

“The Fall” is the common name for the first disobedience of God in Genesis 3, a theological event with global implications. But when Eve and Adam disobey God, it is not so much a “fall” or a “slip” as it is a “rebellion,” and every other human has followed in their train. Human rebellion is the basis for all the problems that have followed, and all the injustices of our present world have their root in this “fall.” Paul explains this using the Eastern concept of corporate personality; “as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). We have identified with the rebellion of Adam, but we may partake of the righteousness of Christ through his death and resurrection.

The genealogy in chapter 5 (as well as others) creates a continuous narrative, and provides authority to the story in the Eastern world. But as these genealogies progress, they focus closer and closer on the promised “seed of the woman,” whom we now know as Jesus Christ.

Flood and Babel (6-11)

The Flood is all over a story of mercy. God uses all possible means to save and restore his Creation. Creation is corrupted by man’s choice. Noah was not only “blameless” but, according to Peter, “a preacher of righteousness.” He gave his contemporaries a chance to be saved.

Salvation out of water is a repeated theme in the Old and New Testaments3; Peter uses it as a picture of baptism. Judgment and mercy intersect.

After the Flood, God repeats to Noah the same commission he gave to Adam and Eve (9:1), and Noah is the first person in Scripture to enter into covenant with God.

Noah also represents all humanity in a second covenant in which God promises that he will not destroy the earth by flood again. The confusion of Babel and the Table of Nations explain how all ethnic and linguistic groups are traced back to Noah. This explains why flood traditions are a global phenomenon.

Patriarchs (12-50)

The rest of the book of Genesis focuses on the biographies of just four men: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, known as the patriarchs, and Joseph, who preserves the people of Israel and leads them to Egypt.

All of the patriarchs trust the Lord, but God’s way of dealing with them differs. Abraham has repeated visions and promises and covenants, about ten times in total. Isaac and Jacob have fewer revelations, until we find Jacob saying, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it” (Gen. 28:16).

Abraham (12-24)

We have four personal climaxes in the life of Abraham: 1) Leaving his father’s house; 2) leaving Lot; 3) dismissing Ishmael; and 4) the sacrifice of Isaac.4 All of these involve what Abraham left behind; he was also called to take up the covenant of faith, a new name, the covenant of circumcision, and the election of Isaac. God repeats his promises to Abraham over and over, sealing the promise of the seed of the woman. His life makes us ask, what has God asked us to leave behind? And what is he leading us forward to?

The offering of Isaac and the testing of Abraham (in ch. 22) is an especially important example of Abraham’s obedience, as well as a type of the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. The writer of Hebrews comments, “[Abraham] considered that God was able even to raise him [Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb. 11:19). Church fathers have written that the sacrifice of Isaac became for Abraham a revelation of the suffering and resurrection of Christ.5 After the angel stays Abraham’s hand, God confirms his covenant yet again: “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (28:16).

Abraham’s life includes the beginning of the tithe, the continuation of the lineage of Jesus, as well as the call of God for Abraham to a personal walk of faith. He may be the best example of faith in the entire Bible.

Isaac (24-27)

Isaac is the least known of the patriarchs.

Genesis 24 is the best picture of engagement in the Bible.

Rebekah receives a prophecy of the birth of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25, but she is told that they will not have the same place in God’s plan. These twins are the Bible’s clearest picture of divine initiative, as Paul teaches in Romans 9. The Messiah would not be born by human choice; we do not teach God what his plan for the nations will be. Although we pray and ask by faith that his plan will advance, God holds the initiative, and God creates the plan.

Jacob (25-36)

Jacob struggles with God, and indeed his whole walk with God is a struggle of faith. Throughout his life, Jacob associates God with special places, but has a hard time remembering his constant nearness. Alexander Whyte says, “it is not that God is any more there, or is any more likely to return there; but we are better prepared to meet Him there.”6

Jacob uses betrayal to secure his brother both Esau’s inheritance and Esau’s blessing. In the West this is often condemned as deception; recent theology points out that this is not condemned in the text. The story itself seems to see Jacob’s use of skill as advancing the plan of God.7

However, Jacob’s family life is one of the most dysfunctional in the whole Bible; his parents choose favorites; he has children by four women; his children embarrass him grievously.

Jacob famously wrestles a theophany while waiting to face his twin brother Esau. All of the patriarchs face many fears and fights, but in the end they find they are always face to face with God.

Jacob pronounces a double verdict on his life at the end of the Book of Genesis: First, he says, with an ounce of bitterness, “My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.“ (47:9) He adds later, though, in his prayer for his sons, that “the blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents” (Gen. 49:26).

Joseph (37-50)

Although Jacob is still in the picture as the patriarch until the end of the book, chapters 37 through 50 are mostly concerned with Joseph’s betrayal into slavery, the favor he eventually found in Egypt, and the preservation of life that resulted. Joseph’s biography does not include the same promises that are repeated to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is not part of the lineage of Christ; however, Joseph is a type of the life of Christ in that he is “beloved, hated, and exalted,” to use F. B. Meyer’s words.

Joseph’s story is one of the most complete and beautiful story arcs in Scripture, and in regard to God’s words and promises, Joseph’s life is the ultimate example of fulfillment delayed and faith rewarded. Psalm 105 adds, “until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him.” He bravely acknowledges that God’s plans for him were all good (Gen. 50:20).

Finally, Joseph’s prophetic request that they would bring up his bones creates continuity with the Book of Exodus (Gen. 50:25). Moses made sure that this request was fulfilled (Ex. 13:19).

Study Recommendations

On the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the writings of Erich Sauer are the best. See The Dawn of World Redemption and The King of the Earth. Sauer has a wealth of theological and devotional input. The theme of all his books is “the history of redemption.”

If you are interested in scientific aspects of the Book of Genesis, I recommend the works of Arthur Custance. He has many books and some are very difficult, but I recommend especially those that deal with Adam and Eve such as The Seed of the Woman and The Virgin Birth and the Incarnation. Custance was a minister, a scientist, and a theologian.

On the patriarchs, I recommend a short devotional by Watchman Nee called Changed into His Likeness.

____

1 John York. Missions in the Age of the Spirit.

2 In Hebrew it is named after the first phrase, In the Beginning, and in Greek this was shortened to simply The Beginning—which is Ἡ γεννησις, Genesis.

3 For example, the salvation of Moses in the Nile (Exodus 1), the story of Jonah, and the figure of baptism all bear resemblance to the Flood story.

4 Erich Sauer. Dawn of World Redemption, p. 100.

5 Chrysostom and Erasmus believed this in reference to John 8:56: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.”

6 Alexander Whyte. Concise Bible Characters, p. 68. AMG Publishers.

7 John E. Anderson. Jacob and the Divine Trickster.

Genesis: The Beginning of Our Story

Leave a reply

GENESIS
is the story of
CREATION
in which God makes a
COVENANT.

God of Creation

Genesis is the story of how God created us, and we rejected him, but he would not give us up. This book creates an unbroken narrative from Adam to Joseph of how God continued to speak, to promise, and to reveal his purposes.

Genesis takes a childlike view of life in which God’s activity is visible everywhere. His activity is not always explained or accounted for explicitly. His presence is unquestioned. God never seeks to prove himself through argument. He presents himself through activity.

Other holy books present God as a partisan, or only caring for one group of people. In the Bible he cares for all people from the beginning, and the whole earth is always his dominion. He cares for all that he has created.

God in Covenant

The Bible’s narrative is shaped like an hourglass, and Abraham is the pinch point.1A few generations after the Flood, God chooses Abraham for his plan of redemption, a plan which would afterwards involve “all the families of the earth.” (12:3) He narrows his plan down to Abraham, that he may afterwards bless all people in Christ.

Genesis shows God in covenant. Covenant is the continuation of the purpose he had for his Creation. He continues to reach out to the covenant family, that of Abraham, and extend promise after promise that he is advancing his plan and will fulfill his first promise to Abraham (12:1-3) as well as his original intentions expressed in Creation.

Creation and covenant go hand in hand in the Book of Genesis. God creates with intentions; he maintains those intentions and purposes through his covenants. The KJV says “for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11)

Creation and Fall (1-5)

Genesis is not really a book of beginnings but a book of the Beginning. The title comes from verse 1:1, and has reference only to a time when God existed without his Creation.2 Since God existed before his Creation, he does not depend on it. The first thing we learn about God is that he is our self-existent Creator (Rom. 1).

Yet God chooses to involve himself in this Creation, so Genesis 1 and 2 comprise two different accounts of Creation. The first account calls God “Elohim” in Hebrew because it shows God in authority; the second account calls God “Yahweh” because it focuses in on God in relationship with mankind. Yahweh (or Jehovah) is his covenant name.

Adam and Eve are called to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it” (1:28). This is the First Commission, leading up to the call of Abraham, as well as the Great Commission (9:1, 9:7, 12:1-3, 35:11). The First Commission represents man’s call not only to obey God, but to be king of the Earth. God had a job for us to do that has, in one sense, continued in spite of the Fall.

Watchman Nee comments that God’s week began with work: man’s week began with rest. In the Gospel, man must rest before he can work. In this the Sabbath summarizes the whole Gospel: it is the work of God and the only true rest for man. The Sabbath was created so that man would know that it is God who sanctifies (Ex. 31:13, Ez. 20:12). God supplies all our lack in Christ.

“The Fall” is the common name for the first disobedience of God in Genesis 3, a theological event with global implications. But when Eve and Adam disobey God, it is not so much a “fall” or a “slip” as it is a “rebellion,” and every other human has followed in their train. Human rebellion is the basis for all the problems that have followed, and all the injustices of our present world have their root in this “fall.” Paul explains this using the Eastern concept of corporate personality; “as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). We have identified with the rebellion of Adam, but we may partake of the righteousness of Christ through his death and resurrection.

The genealogy in chapter 5 (as well as others) creates a continuous narrative, and provides authority to the story in the Eastern world. But as these genealogies progress, they focus closer and closer on the promised “seed of the woman,” whom we now know as Jesus Christ.

Flood and Babel (6-11)

The Flood is all over a story of mercy. God uses all possible means to save and restore his Creation. Creation is corrupted by man’s choice. Noah was not only “blameless” but, according to Peter, “a preacher of righteousness.” He gave his contemporaries a chance to be saved.

Salvation out of water is a repeated theme in the Old and New Testaments3; Peter uses it as a picture of baptism. Judgment and mercy intersect.

After the Flood, God repeats to Noah the same commission he gave to Adam and Eve (9:1), and Noah is the first person in Scripture to enter into covenant with God.

Noah also represents all humanity in a second covenant in which God promises that he will not destroy the earth by flood again. The confusion of Babel and the Table of Nations explain how all ethnic and linguistic groups are traced back to Noah. This explains why flood traditions are a global phenomenon.

Patriarchs (12-50)

The rest of the book of Genesis focuses on the biographies of just four men: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, known as the patriarchs, and Joseph, who preserves the people of Israel and leads them to Egypt.

All of the patriarchs trust the Lord, but God’s way of dealing with them differs. Abraham has repeated visions and promises and covenants, about ten times in total. Isaac and Jacob have fewer revelations, until we find Jacob saying, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it” (Gen. 28:16).

Abraham (12-24)

We have four personal climaxes in the life of Abraham: 1) Leaving his father’s house; 2) leaving Lot; 3) dismissing Ishmael; and 4) the sacrifice of Isaac.4 All of these involve what Abraham left behind; he was also called to take up the covenant of faith, a new name, the covenant of circumcision, and the election of Isaac. God repeats his promises to Abraham over and over, sealing the promise of the seed of the woman. His life makes us ask, what has God asked us to leave behind? And what is he leading us forward to?

The offering of Isaac and the testing of Abraham (in ch. 22) is an especially important example of Abraham’s obedience, as well as a type of the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. The writer of Hebrews comments, “[Abraham] considered that God was able even to raise him [Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb. 11:19). Church fathers have written that the sacrifice of Isaac became for Abraham a revelation of the suffering and resurrection of Christ.5 After the angel stays Abraham’s hand, God confirms his covenant yet again: “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (28:16).

Abraham’s life includes the beginning of the tithe, the continuation of the lineage of Jesus, as well as the call of God for Abraham to a personal walk of faith. He may be the best example of faith in the entire Bible.

Isaac (24-27)

Isaac is the least known of the patriarchs.

Genesis 24 is the best picture of engagement in the Bible.

Rebekah receives a prophecy of the birth of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25, but she is told that they will not have the same place in God’s plan. These twins are the Bible’s clearest picture of divine initiative, as Paul teaches in Romans 9. The Messiah would not be born by human choice; we do not teach God what his plan for the nations will be. Although we pray and ask by faith that his plan will advance, God holds the initiative, and God creates the plan.

Jacob (25-36)

Jacob struggles with God, and indeed his whole walk with God is a struggle of faith. Throughout his life, Jacob associates God with special places, but has a hard time remembering his constant nearness. Alexander Whyte says, “it is not that God is any more there, or is any more likely to return there; but we are better prepared to meet Him there.”6

Jacob uses betrayal to secure his brother both Esau’s inheritance and Esau’s blessing. In the West this is often condemned as deception; recent theology points out that this is not condemned in the text. The story itself seems to see Jacob’s use of skill as advancing the plan of God.7

However, Jacob’s family life is one of the most dysfunctional in the whole Bible; his parents choose favorites; he has children by four women; his children embarrass him grievously.

Jacob famously wrestles a theophany while waiting to face his twin brother Esau. All of the patriarchs face many fears and fights, but in the end they find they are always face to face with God.

Jacob pronounces a double verdict on his life at the end of the Book of Genesis: First, he says, with an ounce of bitterness, “My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.“ (47:9) He adds later, though, in his prayer for his sons, that “the blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents” (Gen. 49:26).

Joseph (37-50)

Although Jacob is still in the picture as the patriarch until the end of the book, chapters 37 through 50 are mostly concerned with Joseph’s betrayal into slavery, the favor he eventually found in Egypt, and the preservation of life that resulted. Joseph’s biography does not include the same promises that are repeated to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is not part of the lineage of Christ; however, Joseph is a type of the life of Christ in that he is “beloved, hated, and exalted,” to use F. B. Meyer’s words.

Joseph’s story is one of the most complete and beautiful story arcs in Scripture, and in regard to God’s words and promises, Joseph’s life is the ultimate example offulfillment delayed and faith rewarded. Psalm 105 adds, “until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him.” He bravely acknowledges that God’s plans for him were all good (Gen. 50:20).

Finally, Joseph’s prophetic request that they would bring up his bones creates continuity with the Book of Exodus (Gen. 50:25). Moses made sure that this request was fulfilled (Ex. 13:19).

Study Recommendations

On the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the writings of Erich Sauer are the best. SeeThe Dawn of World Redemption and The King of the Earth. Sauer has a wealth of theological and devotional input. The theme of all his books is “the history of redemption.”

If you are interested in scientific aspects of the Book of Genesis, I recommend the works of Arthur Custance. He has many books and some are very difficult, but I recommend especially those that deal with Adam and Eve such as The Seed of the Woman and The Virgin Birth and the Incarnation. Custance was a minister, a scientist, and a theologian.

On the patriarchs, I recommend a short devotional by Watchman Nee called Changed into His Likeness.

____

1 John York. Missions in the Age of the Spirit.

2 In Hebrew it is named after the first phrase, In the Beginning, and in Greek this was shortened to simply The Beginning—which is Ἡ γεννησις, Genesis.

3 For example, the salvation of Moses in the Nile (Exodus 1), the story of Jonah, and the figure of baptism all bear resemblance to the Flood story.

4 Erich Sauer. Dawn of World Redemption, p. 100.

5 Chrysostom and Erasmus believed this in reference to John 8:56: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.”

6 Alexander Whyte. Concise Bible Characters, p. 68. AMG Publishers.

7 John E. Anderson. Jacob and the Divine Trickster.