|
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Background to the Book of Genesis. This is the same as last week: to go direct to Context click above.Genesoxx Literary: xxxvGenesis is a fascinating book which begins with two creation accounts of the world in Gen 1-3, continues with stories about humanity in general through to the end of Gen 11 before we come to the specific journeys of Abraham. Gen 1-11 is often referred to as universal history or primeval history and is applicable to all of humanity. The genealogies enable Abraham to be descended from Adam and Eve. Indeed, another purpose of the genealogies is to divide these eleven chapters as follows into a 5-fold division:
Besides the suggested division above, scholars have proposed different recurring literary patterns such as sin, speech, punishment - Gen 1-3, 4, 6-9,11 (Westermann) in Gen 1-11: von Rad includes forgiveness: sin, speech, forgiveness, punishment: Clines rejects a theme of sin-speech-mitigation-punishment because it does not contain the genealogies which he sees as a recurring motif and suggests: spread of sin - spread of grace. Whether one wants to go along with any of the above suggestions about the literary divisions or patterns in Gen 1-11, there is almost unanimous agreement that there is a tightly formed literary pattern and we are meant to be read it as a unity. Creation of the world and humans is torn apart when the relationship between God and humans is told in Gen 3 and between humans and humans in Gen 4. One of the literary patterns which may be considered to not only be present in Gen 1-11, but extend through into the remainder of the book of Genesis is that connected with the command in Gen 1:28 - ‘be fruitful and multiply’. Not only does the phrase occur in a number of places, but the lists of genealogies show that indeed the people have been fruitful and multiplied - Gen 5, 10, 11. The genealogies continue in Gen 12-50 at particular points: Gen 25:12 (These are the generations of Ishmael), Gen 25:19 (These are the generations of Isaac), Gen 36:1, (These are the generations of Esau), Gen 37:2 (These are the generations of Jacob). The genealogies not only show that God's command in Gen 1:28 has been followed, but the promises to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15:5 have come true. That is, Abram will have many descendants and become a great nation. At the point where each of the genealogies are listed we have the story of that person in the following chapters. Abraham in Gen 11:27-25:18: Jacob in Gen 25:19-36:43: Joseph, Judah and Jacob's family in Gen 37:1-50:26. There are a number of covenants mentioned in the Book of Genesis all of which come into the category of unconditional or promissory. Unlike the condition covenant in Exod 19 in which God seeks a response of obedience from the people, the covenants in Genesis are based on first person pronouncements by God. In Gen 9 it is an universal covenant with all living creatures, but once we move into Gen 12 the covenants are specific to Abraham and his descendants. the relationship has been set up from creation when humans were created to be in special relationship with God (Gen 1:26-27). Attempts have been made since the 18th century to explain such things as: a different word used for God -Yahwist or Elohim: multiple versions of the same story = Abraham’s pretence, Gen 12:10-20, 20:1-18, 26:6-16: repetition within the same story = Gen 6:5-7, 11-12: contradictions - for example, Exod 20:24 gives permission to offer sacrifices at numerous altars v Deut 12:13-14 which forbids this and restricts sacrifice to one place only or Gen 7:17 in which the flood remains for 40 days v Gen 7:24 in which the flood remains for 150 days and other examples. The classic theory suggests that the Pentateuch has a number of written sources as well as the early oral traditions which account for the sort of differences mentioned above. In Gen 1-11 there is the Priestly source which can be seen in Gen1:1-2:4a, 6:9-22, some verses in Gen 7-8, 9:1-17, 10:1-7, 11:10-27 and the remaining texts come from the Yahwistic source. Some characteristics of what is know as the 'P' source are: the use of the Hebrew term toledoth/generations, the writing is sophisticated and often in a liturgical style (Gen1:1-2:4a), in the creation account God speaks and it happens, humans are made in the image of God, the covenant is unconditional and can be made with the animals, and an abiding concern to state numbers and years. The Yahwistic source uses myths and sagas to tell the story, God and animals speak (anthropomorphic), the world is very small (Gen 2:10-14) compared with the universal world of the 'P' source (Gen 1:1-2:4a). Historical: (History within the text) xxxxxGen 12-50 tells the stories about Abram and his descendants as they move from Haran into the land of Canaan and begin wandering around the land and then into Egypt. These stories began as oral traditions passed down within the tribes long before they became part of the written tradition. It is the way many cultures remember their history, but in the Western world we became influenced by the enlightened definition of 'history' which understood 'history' as written facts from an objective viewpoint. This has caused many scholars to debate whether the Patriarchs can be proven to be true people through archaeological means. Other scholars say that this is not possible and therefore they cannot be historical people. If this argument was applied to Bedouin tribes or Australian Aboriginal people we deny them any history. History as oral tradition passed down is the history of a people, and does not need to be justified by Western values. The people are portrayed as very human with all their faults and strengths - they lie, deceive, steal, test God, they have courage, journey into the unknown, seek God, question God and are obedient. These traits apply to men and women, and many of the women (Sarah, Rebecca, Tamar) play a significant role in the working out of the promises of God. I encourage people to read these stories for themselves. |
|||||||||
|
Context of Gen 12:1-4a The immediate context for understanding this passage is the relationships described in Gen11:27-30. Terah is named as the father of Abram and his two brothers. One died and the other two took wives with the cryptic comment - Now Sarai was barren; she had no child - which sets the scene for chapters 12-25. Gen 11:31-32 informs us of those family members who travel with Terah from Ur in the Chaldeans to Haran in Syria. Before we know of Abram's immediate family we have his lineage traced back to creation via the genealogies that are present in Gen 5,10 and 11. Up to this point Gen 1--11 has been universal in its message (Now the whole earth had one language, Gen 11:1) but from now on the story evolves around Abram and the promises made to him by God in Gen 12:1-4. After the Lord speak to Abram we read of his journeys, tribulations and growing scepticism that the promise of descendants could ever come true. We know Sarai is barren and then we find out she is very old, so how could Abram become a great nation. The twists and turns of the how this happens is told in Gen 12-25. Abram lies about his relationship with Sarai, but still gains land and riches in the way of cattle and possessions. We hear of their encounter with the messengers of God who repeat the promises that Sarai will have a child and she laughs. What we have in Gen12:1-4a is the pivot around which the material from Genesis through to the end of the Books of Kings is developed to show how the promises are fulfilled. |
|||||||||
|
Insights/Message of Gen 12:1-4a Literary structure:xxxxxFretheim takes as his unit Gen 11:27-12:9 and as we pointed out in the context it needs this simply to make sense. The unit is divided as follows: 11:27-32, 12:1-4a, 12:4b-9. The command is direct and God speaks in the first person without any conditions. It is know as an unconditional or promissory covenant. The land which Abram sees as he wanders around Canaan becomes in the time of judges after the Exodus the land which is settled, and becomes Israel (Gen 12:1). We are talking about 500-600 years before this land becomes a reality. After the land is the promise that Abram will become a great nation which looks very suspect after we have been told that Sarai is barren and past child -bearing years. The importance of blessing is picked up in Gen 12:2b-3. Abram will be blessed and as part of that blessing his name will be great. A person's name holds much more importance in olden times than now. To know a person's name and for it to be great, implies a close relationship. The extension of blessing described in Gen 12:3a is quite straight forward, but the Hebrew in Gen12:3b is uncertain. Is it that in Abram all the families of the earth shall be blessed or by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves? This latter promise is fulfilled in the story about Abimelech who acknowledges that Abram is a blessing to him. Abram will be a blessing to those outside the community of Israel and is spoken of eighty eighty times in the Book of Genesis. Gen 12:4a is telling us that Abram was obedient: this is not the same as saying that the promises in vv.1-3 were conditional on his response. Message / Theology:ccccAbram becomes the forebear of the nation. What if he hadn't stepped out in faith makes an interesting conjecture. For these promises to be fulfilled there are many twists and turns in the life and journeys of Abram and his descendants. The declaration in Gen11:30 that Sarai is barren already gives the promises a sense of the impossible. And how will Abram be a blessing to the wider community? We are at the very beginning of a long story and very few people read the whole episode. When I was very new in my candidature, and because I had no church background, the then Principal, Rev Ken Leaver, gave me the task of the reading the Bible from start to finish. People need to read more that the set lectionary reading if there is to be any real appreciation of how these promises came to be fulfilled. We are given one of the positive traits of Abram in v.4a - he was obedient. Abram has many other not so positive traits to his personality, but obedience is portrayed here and later in the story. This form of unconditional/promissory covenant comes again in slightly different format through the tribes who lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah and was picked up again in the exile. The tribes who settled in the Northern Kingdom, Israel, had a concentration on the Mosaic or conditional covenant style first depicted in the Sinai narratives. As Christians we experience the unconditional form of covenant through the person of Jesus Christ. His advent was not dependent on us keeping promises, but God hopes we will respond with obedience like Abram, to this love shown through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus also came that he might be a blessing to give life and hope to the world in which we live. It is easy to see how Jesus was a type of Abram figure for the interpreters of the early church. He was obedient to his father's wishes, he was the forebear of the good news which raised a new community across the world and a blessing to all who responded to his message. Brueggemann has some interesting points to make on p.116 ff of his commentary. He speaks about a God who can give life in the midst of barrenness. This family of Abram is called to give up all that is comfortable and move out in faith, although I doubt that Sarai was consulted. |
|||||||||
|
Resources/Worship for Gen 12:1-4a
The Dramatised Bible: ed. Michael Perry. London: Marshall Pickering: Bible Society, 1989 Web sites with helpful lectionary resources: These links were updated 28/11/07
|