The

Story of God

Bible Commentary

GENESIS

Tremper Longman III

Tremper Longman III & Scot McKnight

General Editors

ZONDERVAN

Genesis

Copyright © 2016 by Tremper Longman III

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ISBN 978-0-310-49607-6 (hardcover)

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

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Cover design: Ron Huizinga

Cover image: iStockphoto®

Editorial Board

of

The Story of God Bible Commentary

Old Testament general editor

Tremper Longman III

Old Testament associate editors

George Athas

Mark J. Boda

Myrto Theocharous

New Testament general editor

Scot McKnight

New Testament associate editors

Lynn H. Cohick

Michael F. Bird

Joel Willitts

Zondervan Editors

Senior acquisitions editor

Katya Covrett

Senior production editor

Nancy L. Erickson

To my wife Alice and our children (zera)

Tremper IV and our granddaughters Gabrielle and Mia

Timothy and his wife Kari

Andrew and his wife Tiffany

Contents

Acknowledgments

The Story of God Bible Commentary Series

Abbreviations

Introduction to Genesis

Commentary on Genesis

Conclusion

Scripture and Apocrypha Index

Subject Index

Author Index

Acknowledgements

In 2009, I had the honor of delivering the annual lecture for the Institute of Biblical Research. I titled the paper “ ‘Of the Making of Many Commentaries …’: The Past, Present, and Future of a Genre,” and as I looked to the future, I expressed hope that one day we would have an Old Testament commentary series that not only examined the ancient message of the Old Testament but also looked at the text from a New Testament perspective to describe its continuing relevance for Christian life and, most importantly, how this ancient text anticipated the coming of Jesus. After all, Jesus himself told his disciples that the all the Scriptures looked forward to his coming (Luke 24:25–27, 44–45). Within twenty-four hours Katya Covrett from Zondervan sat down with me to discuss what such a commentary would look like and soon ...