Within Genesis as a whole as the backstory to Yahweh’s involvement with Israel, the immediate backstory to that narrative is the promises Yahweh made to Israel’s ancestors, which include the idea that all earth’s families are to seek the blessing that came to these ancestors (e.g., 12:3). The further backstory to Gen. 11:27–50:26 is God’s dealings with the world as a whole. These dealings are the subject of Gen. 1:1–11:26. It
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