© by the United Bible Societies

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No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form without the written permission of the United Bible Societies.

The text of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible used in this publication is copyrighted 1946, 1952, c 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and used by permission.

Quotations from Today’s English Version are used by permission of the copyright owner, the American Bible Society, c 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

The illustrations on page 101 is courtesy of American Bible Society. Other illustrations are by Horace Knowles © The British & Foreign Bible Society 1954, 1967, 1972, additions and amendments by Louise Bass © The British & Foreign Bible Society 1994.

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ISBN 0-8267-0100-0.

105955.

L. C. Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reyburn, William David.

A handbook on Genesis / by William D. Reyburn and Euan McG. Fry.

p. cm.—(UBS handbook series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8267-0100-0.

1. Bible. O.T. Genesis—Translating. I. Fry, Euan McG., 1933–. II. Title. III. Series

BS1235.5.R48 1998.

222.11077—dc21 97-43855.

CIP

ABS-4/98-700-BM1-105955

Translating Genesis

The book of Genesis introduces the collection of books that make up the first six books of the Old Testament. Genesis tells about creation, the earliest human beings, and the ancestral family of Israel, and introduces the events beginning in Exodus that lead up to the conquest of Canaan told about in the book of Joshua.

The structure of Genesis

“Genesis” means “beginning” or “origin,” and the book contains two major sections. Chapters 1–11 tell about creation, the flood, and the tower of Babel. In addition these chapters give the names of the earliest people, beginning with Adam and Eve and continuing to Abraham and Sarah. The second section of Genesis (11:27–50:26) places our attention on the ancestors of Israel, who received God’s promise of the land of Canaan, but who never saw the promise come true. These ancestors are Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and his wives Leah and Rachel, and Joseph and his brothers.

The two halves of Genesis are tied together by a single thread. This unifying element is the Hebrew expression ’eleh toledoth, translated in older English versions as “These are the generations of.…” In most of its occurrences this expression is followed by the name of a male ancestor and his wife or wives (if named), his children (if named), and his descendants. In addition to the list of descendants (and sometimes the number of years they lived), stories about their lives are sometimes given.

Where this generation marker occurs, the ...