Web 2.0 → Homepage → génesis

génesis

Contactarse

Nombre:

Apellido:

e-mail:

Mensaje:

Destinatarios:
Enviar mensaje al autor y a los expertos que mejor puedan responderlo
Enviar mensaje solamente al autor

Bible Dictionary

Genesis
(origin), the first book of the law or Pentateuch, so calledfrom its title ia the Septuagint, that is, Creation . Itsauthor was Moses. The date of writing was probably during theforty-years wanderings in the wilderness, B.C. 1491-1451. Time

The book of Genesis covered 2369 years,--from the creationof Adam, A.M 1, to the death of Joseph, A.M. 2369, or B.C.1635. Character and purpose

The book of Genesis (with thefirst chapters of exodus) describes the steps which led to theestablishment of the theocracy. It is a part of the writer splan to tell us what the divine preparation of the world was inorder to show, first, the significance of the call of Abraham,and next, the true nature of the Jewish theocracy. He beginswith the creation of the world, because the God who created theworld and the God who revealed himself to the fathers is thesame God. The book of Genesis has thus a character at oncespecial and universal. Construction

It is clear that Mosesmust have derived his knowledge of the events which he recordsin Genesis either from immediate divine revelation or from oraltradition or written documents. The nature of many of the factsrelated, and the minuteness of the narration, render itextremely improbable that immediate revelation was the sourcefrom whence they were drawn. That his knowledge should havebeen derived from oral tradition appears morally impossiblewhen we consider the great number of names, ages, dates andminute events which are recorded. The conclusion then, seemsfair that he must have obtained his information from writtendocuments coeval, or nearly so, with the events which theyrecorded, and composed by persons intimately acquainted withthe subjects to which they relate. He may have collected these,with additions from authentic tradition or existing monumentsunder the guidance of the Holy Spirit, into a single book.Certain it is that several of the first chapters of Genesishave the air of being made up of selections from very ancientdocuments, written by different authors at different periods.The variety which is observable in the names and titles of theSupreme Being is appealed to among the most striking proofs ofthis fact. This is obvious in the English translation, butstill more so in the Hebrew original. In Gen 1 to 2:3, which isreally one piece of composition, as the title, v. 4, "These arethe generations," shows, the name of the Most High is uniformlyElohim, God. In ch. (genesis 2:4) to ch. 3, which may beconsidered the second document, the title is uniformly YehovahElohim, Lord God ; and in the third, including ch. 4, it isYehovah, Lord, only; while in ch. 5 it is Elohim, God only,except in v. 29, where a quotation is made, and Yehovah used.It is hardly conceivable that all this should be the result ofmere accident. The changes of the name correspond exactly tothe changes in the narratives and the titles of the severalpieces." Now, do all these accurate quotations," says ProfessorStowe, "impair the credit of the Mosaic books, or increase it?Is Marshall s Life of Washington to be regarded as unworthy ofcredit because it contains copious extracts from Washington scorrespondence and literal quotations from important publicdocuments? Is not its value greatly enhanced by thiscircumstance? The objection is altogether futile. In the commoneditions of the Bible the Pentateuch occupies about one hundredand fifty pages, of which perhaps ten may be taken up withquotations. This surely is no very large proportion for anhistorical work extending through so long a period."--Bush. Onthe supposition that writing was known to Adam, Gen. 1-4,containing the first two of these documents, formed the Bibleof Adam s descendants, or the antediluvians. Gen 1 to 11:9,being the sum of these two and the following three, constitutesthe Bible of the descendants of Noah. The whole of Genesis maybe called the Bible of the posterity of Jacob; and the fiveBooks of the Law were the first Bible of Israel as anation

Canon Cook.