NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible CBSB_Digital Sampler | Page 5

the torah
Genesis
W
Date and Author
e have no certain information about the authorship of Genesis, though
early Biblical tradition views Moses as having a significant role in transmit-
ting and perhaps even formulating the traditions preserved in the book. The
oral nature of ancient culture may suggest that actual written forms of the
traditions came much later, though whenever they were produced, they maintained their
connectedness to the authority figures, such as Moses, who
were instrumental. Regardless of the date of the final writ-
ing, the text largely preserves its mid-second-millennium BC
• The covenant is God’s
context and perspective.
program of revelation.
• The focus of creation is
Literary Setting
the establishment and
maintenance of order
Literary genres have rules and conventions by which they
and operation.
operate. Communication is jeopardized if we do not under-
stand the parameters of the genre of the literature we are • The stories in the Bible
are stories about God.
reading. How confusing it would be if we were reading a
mystery in which the author gave every appearance of writ-
ing a biography! But at the same time, the features that indicate whether a literary work is a
mystery or biography are to some extent culturally determined. The reason that genre cate-
gories work is that the categories represent a consensus of expectation among the readers.
When we approach a book like Genesis, we must be aware of what genres we will be
encountering. But just as important, we must adjust our expectations so that we will come
to those genres understanding the ancient conventions attached to that genre rather than
imposing our own genre conventions on their literature.
Genesis contains cosmogony texts, i.e., texts that deal with the origins of key aspects of
the cosmos. It also contains genealogies (e.g., chs. 5; 11; 36), founders’ or ancestors’ narra-
tives (e.g., chs. 12 – 35), d estiny proclamations (i.e., formal blessings and/or curses from father
to son, e.g., chs. 9; 27; 49), conflict tales (e.g., chs. 4; 6 – 7; 11; 19; 34), battle accounts (e.g.,
ch. 14), and a narrative about the rise of a courtier from humble beginnings to a position of
power (chs. 40 – 45). Some of these are unparalleled in the ancient world, and even when
possible parallels exist, significant differences lead us to proceed with caution.  ◆
key concepts