“Genesis” – Notes

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The following notes are taken from my Zondervan NIV Study Bible from “Introduction:Genesis”.

“Author and Date of Writing” section

Moses was the author (2)
“4th year of Solomon’s reign was the same as the 480 year after the Exodus” relates to 1 Kings. Thus “Exodus 1446 BC (2)
“40 years of desert wanderings 1446 – 1406” (2)

“Theological Theme and Message” section

Relationships (2)
- “God and creation”
- “God and humankind”
- “Relationships between humankind”
Monotheistic God
- vs. polytheistic “many gods” (2)
- vs. atheist “no god” (2)
- vs. pantheistic “everything is Divine” (2)
10 Main sections each beginning with the word “account”
- 1:1-11:26 primeval account

“Literary Features” Section

“The narrative frequently concentrates on the life of a later son in preference to a first born.” (3)
prose punctuated by poetry
“vertical and horizontal parallelism between the two sets of three days” (3)
“ebb and flow of sin and judgment” (3)
- “(the serpent and woman and man sin successively; then God questions them in reverse order; then he judges them” (3)
“powerful monotony of ‘then he died’” @ the end of paragraphs in ch 5 (3)
“the climactic hinge effect of the phrase ‘But God remembered Noah’ (8:1) at the midpoint of the flood story” (3)
“the hourglass structure of the account of the tower of Babel in 11:1-9” (3)
“the alternation between brief accounts about 1st born sons and lengthy accounts about younger sons” (3)
“subjects in first three chapters of Genesis repeated in last three chapters of Revelation” (3)

Works Cited

Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Edited by Kenneth L. Barker, et.al. Zondervan, 2002.

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