NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 15

INTRODUCTION TO Genesis  | 19
Another critical approach is to divide the biblical text into layers that form sources written at
different times in Israel’s history. This is sometimes called source criticism or the Documentary
Hypothesis. The sources reflect different concerns. Thus, 1:1 — ​2:3 emphasizes the Sabbath (2:1 – 3),
and priests wrote it in the fifth century BC because they were interested in enforcing laws such as
the Sabbath. At another time, an individual who was interested in tracing God’s plan through history
wrote 2:4 – 25 to emphasize that God was involved in the lives of people. This person created a history
that extends beyond the Pentateuch and ultimately demonstrates how God chose David as king.
But note that in this example from the Documentary Hypothesis, Gen 1 – 2 do not need to be
understood as coming from two separate writers. Instead, they represent two different emphases:
• 1:1 — ​2:3 describes God as the creator of the cosmos. Its themes focus on God’s sovereignty as
Lord over all: the importance of Sabbath rest, humanity’s rulership over creation, and the
creation of abundant life.
• 2:4 – 25 emphasizes different themes: the creation of man, his home, his partner, and his work.
At the beginning of all, God is both the transcendent Creator who is sovereign over all and the
imminent Lord providing a world in full harmony with himself and the people he has created.
Thus, significant evidence exists for the antiquity of the book. Attestations of a single author from
Israel’s earliest period are not explicit but can be inferred as providing the necessary background for
the opening chapters of Exodus. Joseph dies in Gen 50 with his extended family blessed and living in
Egypt. Exod 1:1 – 7 repeats this information and goes on to introduce Israel’s oppressed condition and
the birth of its deliverer, Moses.
STRUCTURE
The book can be naturally divided into two parts: the world before Abram (chs. 1 – 11) and the world of
Abraham and his descendants (chs. 12 – 50). Genealogies divide the book into subsections, each begin-
ning with “the account of”: “the heavens and the earth” (2:4); “Adam’s family line” (5:1); “Noah and
his family” (6:9); “Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons” (10:1); “Shem’s family line” (11:10); “Terah’s
family line” (11:27); “the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael” (25:12); “the family line of Abraham’s
son Isaac” (25:19); “the family line of Esau” (36:1,9); and “Jacob’s family line” (37:2). The genealogies
tend to form groups of two: Noah’s three sons and the line of Shem (chs. 10 – 11); Ishmael and Isaac
(ch. 25); Esau and Jacob (ch. 36; 37:2, where Jacob’s line is mentioned). In each of these cases, the
first of the two is identified and described principally by the names of the descendants. The second
line of the doublet (Shem, Isaac, and Jacob) goes on to deal with a single line of descendants with
much greater development of the narratives surrounding the key figures through whom God will
work specific promises. This is also true of the two major divisions of the entire book: chs. 1 – 11 and
chs. 12 – 50. The first part deals with the world as a whole. It ends with humanity’s failure in the tower
of Babel and with the decision of God to work with a single descendant in Shem’s line and with his
offspring. The story of the second part of the book of Genesis thus emerges out of ch. 11.
These two major divisions depict the following theological themes:
1. God chooses again and again to focus his attention on a single individual or family and to work
through them to accomplish his purpose. He is revealed as a personal God who relates to his people
in a manner that suggests intimacy.
2. The same God remains sovereign in each generation and for all the families of the earth. This is
clear from ch. 10, which identifies all people of the known world by tracing their origins to Noah and
his sons. Therefore, all bear God’s image (9:6).
3. The God who speaks the world into being in ch. 1 is the same God who saves Noah in chs. 6 – 9.
He is the same God w ho calls Abram from his land and gives him promises of blessing (12:1 – 3). He is
the same God who provides Isaac and sustains Abram/Abraham’s line through Jacob/Israel and his
12 sons in Egypt. This God remains alive and active in each generation from the beginning of cre-
ation until the present one.
GENESIS AND SCIENCE
The contemporary reader of Genesis should strive to read the text as it was originally intended to
be read by the ancient reader — ​not to presume that one can carry into this ancient writing all the
assumptions and questions that we might have today. This requires care and knowledge of the
purpose for which Moses wrote the text. We should exercise care to read the Bible in a manner that
remains sensitive to the literary clues and nuances that the writer intended. This approach is pos-
sible but requires study and the guidance of the Spirit of God.
The question of the age of the earth is not automatically resolved with the use of the seven days
in 1:1 — ​2:3. In 2:4, Moses uses the same Hebrew word for “day” to summarize all the work of creation:
“In the day when God created the heavens and the earth.” Of course, this does not mean that the
term “day” cannot refer to a 24-hour day in the seven days of creation. But it may also serve other
purposes. For one, the use of days builds up to the final climactic seventh day of Sabbath rest. This