WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY

VOLUME 1

Genesis 1–15

GORDON J. WENHAM

General Editors

Bruce M. Metzger

David A. Hubbard†

Glenn W. Barker†

Old Testament Editor

John D. W. Watts

New Testament Editor

Ralph P. Martin

word books, publisher • dallas, texas

Word Biblical Commentary

Genesis 1–15

Copyright © 1987 by Word, Incorporated

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Main entry under title:

Word biblical commentary.

Includes bibliographies.

1. Bible—Commentaries—Collected Works.

BS491.2W67 220.7′7 81-71768

ISBN 0-8499-0200-2 (vol. 1) AACR2

Grateful acknowledgment is made for the copyright material used on pp. 162–164 of this volume from James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 2d edition. Copyright 1950, 1955 © 1983 renewed by Princeton University Press. Excerpts, pp. 93–95, reprinted with permission of Princeton University Press.

Scripture quotations in the body of the commentary, unless otherwise indicated, are generally from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946 (renewed 1973), 1956, and © 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and are used by permission. The author’s own translation of the text appears in italic type under the heading Translation.

Table of Contents

Author’s Preface

Editorial Preface

Abbreviations

MAIN BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Name and Contents

Text of Genesis

Genesis in Recent Research

J: The Yahwistic Source

E: Elohistic Source

P: Priestly Source

The New Literary Criticism

Evaluation of Current Critical Positions

Literary and Source Criticism

Source Criticism

Date

Theology of Genesis 1–11

Genesis 1–11 and the Ancient Near East

Genesis 1–11 and the Rest of the Book

Genesis 1–11 and Modern Thought

TEXT AND COMMENTARY

In the Beginning (1:1–2:3)

The Garden of Eden (2:4–3:24)

The First Human Family (4:1–26)

Adam’s Family Tree (5:1–32)

Spirit-Human Marriages and Their Aftermath (6:1–8)

The Story of Noah (6:9–9:29)

Blessing on the New Humanity (9:1–17)

Coda to the Noah Story (9:18–29)

From Flood to Babel (10:1–11:9)

The Table of the Nations (10:1–32)

The Tower of Babel (11:1–9)

The Family History of Shem (11:10–26)

Patriarchal History (Gen 12–50)

The Story of Abraham (11:27–25:11)

The Call of Abram (11:27–12:9)

Abram in Egypt (12:10–20)

Abram and Lot Separate (13:1–18)

Abram Rescues Lot (14:1–24)

The Covenant Promise (15:1–21)

Indexes

Author’s Preface

Commenting on Genesis, I have found my mood oscillating between elation and despair. I have been elated at the privilege of writing a commentary on such a central biblical text. I have been driven to despair by the impossibility of doing it justice, let alone dealing adequately with all that others have written about it.

Every commentator stands on the shoulders of his predecessors, and I am personally very indebted to the two modern ...