LESSON 2
Creation. The beginnings of the history of Salvation. Analysis of the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Creation of the world and of man: priestly narrative and Yahwist narrative. Origin of evil and hope of salvation. Cain and Abel. Increase of evil and punishment with the great flood: Noah.
The first five books of the Bible are called Pentateuch, from the Greek Pentateuchos, meaning "a book composed of five rolls". The Jews (and Christians as well) call these five books the Torah ("Law"). In fact the whole collection weaves a narrative and discourse on the laws together. The five books which compose the Pentateuch are
We can roughly divide the narratives as follows:
The story of Genesis begins with the whole human race, but God soon begins to pick out particular people:
Abel (not Cain), Noah (not the rest of the world), Abram (not Lot), Isaac (not Ishmael), Jacob (not Esau), Joseph (not his brothers), and in general, the Jews (not the Gentiles)--until Christ the Messiah finally comes. Then Christ's Church, the "New Israel", spreads the knowledge of the true God, the same God of Israel, throughout the world. (Peter Kreeft, You Can Understand the Bible, p 4)
Most of the Pentateuch is attributed to Moses. There are several passages not only within the Pentateuch, but also in the rest of the Scriptures, which state that Moses indeed wrote a good portion of the Pentateuch. We read passages where God instructs Moses to write down things.
14* And the LORD said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." (Exodus 17:14)
1 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD; and these are their stages according to their starting places. (Numbers 33:1-2)
1 And he said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship afar off. 2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD; but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him." 3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, "All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do." 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. ... 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." (Exodus 24:1-4,7)
27 And the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (Exodus 34:27-28)
9 And Moses wrote this law, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, "At the end of every seven years, at the set time of the year of release, at the feast of booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. (Deuteronomy 31:9-11)
19 Now therefore write this song, and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their descendants); for I know the purposes which they are already forming, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give." 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the people of Israel. (Deuteronomy 31:19-22)
The rest of the Old Testament refers to Moses' authorship.
7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. (Joshua 1:7-8)
32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. ... 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them. (Joshua 8:32,34-35)
1 When David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn..." (I Kings 2:1-3)
6 But he did not put to death the children of the murderers; according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the LORD commanded, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin." (II Kings 14:6)
18 And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. (Ezra 6:18)
11 All Israel has transgressed thy law and turned aside, refusing to obey thy voice. And the curse and oath which are written in the law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done the like of what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and giving heed to thy truth. (Daniel 9:11-13)
4 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel...." (Malachi 4:4)
The New Testament refers to Moses as the author of the Pentateuch.
19* "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man * must take the wife, and raise up children for his brother...." 26* "And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" (Mark 12:19,26)
22* And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23* (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." (Luke 2:19-24)
17* For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(John 1:17)
45* Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (John 1:45)
38 Let it be known to you therefore, brethren, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him every one that believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:39)
5* Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. (Romans 10:5)
Even Jesus quotes him.
27* And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27)
46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. 47* But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" (John 5:46-47)
19* Did not Moses give you the law? (John 7:19)
The period of time covered by the Pentateuch is a long period which Moses could not have personally witnessed. We are led to believe that the sources of the narratives is not only Moses. The content of the Pentateuch must, therefore, draw from oral traditions before and after Moses (note that the book of Deuteronomy tells us also about the death of Moses.)
It seems that our present-day Pentateuch was put together after the return from the exile in Babylon (6th-5th centuries). Scholars believe that the doctors of the Law and the priests of different times and places put the teaching of Moses together in its final form. The final output used materials from many different periods which were rearranged and rewritten by the inspired writers. Scholars in recent times have distinguished between four strands or traditions which provide material for these narratives.
The New American Bible explains in its introduction to the Pentateuch how these traditions enrich the text:
Each brings to the Torah its own characteristics, its own theological viewpoint--a rich variety of interpretation that the sensitive reader will take pains to appreciate. A superficial difference between two of these sources is responsible for their names: the Yahwist prefers the name Yahweh (represented in translation as Lord) by which God revealed himself to Israel; the Elohist prefers the generic name for God, Elohim. The Yahwist is concrete, imaginative, using many anthropomorphisms in its theological approach, as seen, e.g., in the narrative of creation in Genesis 2, compared with the Priestly version in Genesis 1. The Elohist is more sober, moralistic. The Priestly strand, which emphasizes genealogies, is more severely theological in tone. The Deuteronomic approach is characterized by the intense hortatory style of Deuteronomy 5-11, and by certain principles from which it works, such as the centralization of worship in the Jerusalem temple.
There is, however, a recent trend that questions the importance of these strands or traditions. There are no ancient documents that can be tagged as J, P, E, or D. In fact, too much emphasis on them prevents us from seeing the unity that pervades the whole account of the Pentateuch. See, for example, Did Moses Write the Pentateuch?" (If the link does not work, try this other site.)
The name "Genesis" comes from a translation of the first Hebrew word of this book: Beresith, which means "In the beginning." The book of Genesis is the first book of the Pentateuch and sets the stage for the rest of Scripture. Chapters 1-7 tell a story of creation and fall, while chapters 8-11 tell the story of God's stubborn love despite human sinfulness. The time covered by Genesis 1-11 stretches for at least 2000 years, which is the same number of years covered by Genesis 12 all the way to Matthew 1. Genesis 12-50 spans 350 years, while the rest of the Pentateuch from Exodus to Deuteronomy covers only about 40 years.
Chapters 1 to 11 of Genesis concludes with God's choice of Shem; he blesses his line, and creates a nation through it. We can outline the first eleven chapters of Genesis in the following manner:
For more details, see the following explanation of Genesis 1-11.
Here is a brief outline of the account of creation, distinguishing the priestly and Yahwist narratives:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (no 290) teaches us that
three things are affirmed in these first words of Scripture: the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself; he alone is Creator (the verb "create" - Hebrew bara - always has God for its subject). The totality of what exists (expressed by the formula "the heavens and the earth") depends on the One who gives it being.
The Catechism (no 390) says
The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man.(Cf. GS 13 § 1) Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.(Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1513; Pius XII: DS 3897; Paul VI: AAS 58 (1966), 654)
The story of Cain and Abel is narrated to us in the fourth chapter of Genesis, verses 1 to 16.
The account of the spread of evil and the flood are in chapters 6 to 9 of Genesis.