Genesis 5-12

Question 1

Who is Hanokh, and why is he important?

Answer 1

Hanokh is the first man of God mentioned in scripture. In the narrative leading up to Noah, he is the seventh one, or, the number of perfection in Hebrew scripture. His life span was also 365 years, which meant that he was morally perfect (the same age as the number of days in the year).

Question 2

How is the text before the flood similar to other narratives in antiquity?

Answer 2

It includes the biological mixing of gods (or angels) with human beings.

Question 3

What does the name, “Noah”, mean?

Answer 3

It sounds like the Hebrew word for “comfort”. Lamech names him this so that he might comfort them from the pain caused by toiling the land. Ironically, in Genesis 6:6-7, it is God who needs to be comforted from having created humans.

Question 4

What are the similarities between the flood and creation narratives?

Answer 4

Animals were created “each to its own kind” and are similarly referred to as they enter the ark.

The Ocean returns as a sign of chaos, and the winds return as a sign of restoration.

Noah is blessed like Adam was. 9:1-3 (and 1:28-30).

Question 5

The biblical flood narrative is similar to what other narratives?

Answer 5

The Gilgamesh and Atrahasis flood narratives. The differences are of importance to us. God is the one who judges human behavior. In the other narratives, the gods don’t have the best reasons for destroying humanity.

Question 6

What is the main difference between the Adam and Noah blessings?

Answer 6

Meat eating is now acceptable.

Question 7

What is the first sign of covenant in the bible?

Answer 7

The rainbow after the flood.

Question 8

What is the theme of the aftermath of the flood?

Answer 8

“never again”

Question 9

What is the key phrase for the Table of Nations in Genesis 10?

Answer 9

“their lands, their nations”

Question 10

How many nations are there? Where is Israel?

Answer 10

70, mentioned in groups of 7. This indicates perfection, or completeness. It also sets the scene for the tower of Babel in chapter 11.

Israel is not mentioned. Israel came from barren women, which signifies that it was by miracle and choice that the people came to be.

Question 11

What is the core indictment in the tower of Babel?

Answer 11

That human beings have stopped God’s command to scatter themselves across the face of the earth. Humans have become arrogant and are using their technology to become like God. It is also important to note that humanity has failed again, even after the flood. Their failure will begin a plan of redemption through the man Abraham.

Question 12

In the Babel narrative, what do Shinar, Ur, and the tower symbolize?

Answer 12

Shinnar is Mesopotamia, Ur is probably Babylon itself or one of their metropolis, and the tower is similar to the ziggurratu where they worshipped. Basically, the tower is not finished and the people are scattered. Whoever wrote the narrative is making fun/rejecting Babylon.

Question 13

ziggurratu

Answer 13

Man-made places of worship for the Babylonians.

Question 14

What are the themes of the Patriarchial Narratives?

Answer 14

God’s promises (of land and descendants) and his blessing. The text revolves around the question of whether and how God will fulfill his promises, and how people will effect the transfer of the blessing.

Question 15

What are the common motifs of the Abram cycles?

Answer 15

1. punishment for sin
2. intimacy with God
3. sibling rivalry

Question 16

What does God promise Abram?

Answer 16

He promises to bless him, and the way this will happen is through land and seed (Yitzskah, the son).

Question 17

toledot

Answer 17

One of the words that is repeated in the lineage/genealogies in Genesis. It means “giving birth”, or, “an account”. At the core of Genesis is God choosing a family line to bless through. Toledots serve as “chapter headings” for Genesis.

1. Adam
2. Noah
3. Abraham
4. Jacob
5. Joseph

Question 18

zera

Answer 18

“seed”. It occurs 59 times in Genesis, and only 170 in the rest of the OT.

1. The word can be singular or plural.
2. “Seed” denotes someone’s natural child.
3. zera conveys the idea that there is a close relationship between the seed and that which has produced it.

Question 19

What is important about the main family line in Genesis?

Answer 19

1. The lineage is always traced through male descendants.
2. The central family line exists due to the gracious activity of God.
3. The Genesis narrative emphasizes the existence of a special relationship between God and individual members of the family line. Their faults and failures are never discussed, but they’re acknowledged.
4. The sons discussed will resemble their fathers.
5. There is strong grounds for believing that the line of descent in Genesis is viewed as a royal lineage.
6. The “seed” of the main family lineage is frequently associated with the divine promises, which are an important feature of the patriarchal stories.
7. In light of Adam and Eve’s betrayal, God states that the “seed of the woman” shall overcome the serpent. That seed is referring to an actual family line. In other words, through their son Seth shall come redemption.

Question 20

“land” in Genesis

Answer 20

eres (312x)-whole earth
adama (43x)-ground or soil
sadeh (50x)-field

Basically, it’s REALLY important in Genesis

Question 21

tracking “land” in Genesis

Answer 21

1. God creates land and tells humans to govern it.
2. Man is made from the ground (adam and adama). Humanity and the earth are in relationship with each other. And, they are both accountable to God.
3. God curses the ground because of man. Now man must work the ground and sweat.
4. When Cain kills Abel, he is told that he has been cast from the ground and that he will be a wanderer. He is cast away from God and the ground. The ground is now stained by murder. And, each unrighteous action alienated humans from their relationship with the ground. The natural environment now has no harmony with humans.
5. Noah’s name is “comfort”. But comfort from what? From the painful toil caused by the ground the Lord has cursed. There’s a hope that he will reverse the curse they’ve experienced. The violence of the people had cursed the ground even more. The earth is recreated through the flood. God promises to never again curse the ground because of human.
6. After the flood Noah is described as a man of the soil. He plants a vineyard that is very fruitful, in contrast to what was happening with the ground before the flood.
7. In the Table of Nations the land of Canaan is described in detail.
8. God gives Abraham the land as a gift for his obedience.
   - it is conditional on his obedience to God. If he obeys, he will get the land. He must leave his land and go to the land Yahweh gives him.
   - the land will be given to his descendants only after 400 years.
   - but, there are other people that already live in that land. We have seen that unrighteousness in Genesis leads to exile from land, the same will happen to the Canaanites.
   - the buying of the cave of Machpelah gives his ancestors the claim that the land belonged to them, or at least that they had rights

Question 22

Why do the Near Easter gods and Yahweh send the flood?

Answer 22

When we look at ancient Near Eastern accounts of the Flood, it becomes clear that the primary reason for the flood was that humanity had become too populous, and thus, too noisy. Therefore, overpopulation was the problem.

When we turn to Genesis 6-9, we meet a different story. Yes, it shares much in common with its Mesopotamian sibling, but the reason for the flood is much different.

Genesis 6.5: Yhwh saw that the wickedness of humanity was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts were only evil all the time [הַיּוֹם].

So, the reason for the flood was human wickedness. That’s what I learned in Sunday school. Can we get more specific? Yes, we can.

Genesis 6.13: So God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence [חָמָס] because of them. Now I am about to destroy them with the earth.”

Wickedness alone is not the answer, but a specific type of wickedness: violence. God sent the flood to end human violence.