Front cover image for Genesis as dialogue : a literary, historical, & theological commentary

Genesis as dialogue : a literary, historical, & theological commentary

Recent years have seen a remarkable surge in interest in the book of Genesis-the first book of the Bible, and a foundational text of Western culture. This commentary aims to offer a complete and accessible overview of Genesis from literary, theological, and historical standpoints. The author's work is organized around three main ideas: the first is that the primary subject of Genesis is human existence-while full of historical echoes, it is primarily a sophisticated portrayal of the progress and pitfalls of human life. His second thesis is that Genesis' basic organizational unity is binary, or diptych: building on older insights that Genesis is somehow dialogical, he argues that the entire book is composed of diptychs-accounts which, like some paintings, consist of two parts or panels. Finally, Brodie contends that many of Genesis' sources still exist, and can be identified and verified
eBook, English, 2001
Oxford University Press, Oxford [England], 2001
Commentaries
1 online resource (xxxii, 579 pages)
9780198031642, 9786611943530, 0198031645, 6611943536
309345929
I. The text and its immediate context (Genesis-Kings, The primary history)
Genesis's unity
Further evidence of Genesis's unity
The quest for the theory behind the Diptychs
The Diptych structure: Original or redactional?
Genesis as part of a larger unity (the primary history, Genesis-Kings). II. Historical background
The historical and social background
Greco-Persian features
Verifiable sources
Toward directing the process of composition
Date, place, and people: A summary of key arguments. III. Genesis's content and meaning
Genesis's central concern
Genesis and history
Genesis and psychology
Genesis and spirituality
Genesis as a reflection of the complexity of life. IV. Beginnings
Creation and its harmony (1:1-2:24)
Sin and its disharmony: Crime and punishment (2:25-4:16)
Genealogies: From more disharmony to restoration (4:17-Chap. 5)
The Flood's creation: More sinful, more compassionate (6:1-9:17)
Noah's sons: The world's mixture of curse and blessing (9:18-Chap. 10)
failed tower and fading family: Life's fragmentation (Chap. 11). v. The story of Abraham
Abram journeys and sees the land (Chaps. 12-13)
War
and vision of a covenant (Chaps. 14-15)
Personal conflict, and vision of a deeper covenant (Chaps. 16-17)
Sodom: Generosity-based justice (18:1-19:29)
Abraham and Isaac among the nations (19:30-Chap. 21)
Facing death (Chaps. 22-23)
Rebekah, betrothal, and genealogy (24:1-25:18). VI. The story of Jacob
Isaac's Jacob-oriented journey (25:19-26:33)
Blessing and betrothal: Jacob deceives and is deceived (26:34-29:30)
Jacob's children and flocks (29:31-Chap. 30)
The long journey homeward (Chaps. 31-33)
From paralysis to pilgrimage (34:1-35:20)
Genealogies: Jacob declines and Esau prospers (35:21-37:1). VII. The story of Joseph
Prophecy and conversion (37:2-Chap. 38)
Joseph: The initiatory trials (Chaps. 39-40)
Remembering Joseph: His rise and the brothers' conversion (Chaps. 41-42)
Back to Egypt: The generosity that brings conversion
Joseph revealed: Vision-led recovery of relationship and land (45:1-47:11)
Amid famine and death: Life and blessing (47:12-Chap. 48)
Jacob's death and burial (Chaps. 49-50). Appendices:
Tracing sources: Toward clarifying the criteria for detecting sources
Sources: Genesis's use of the prophets
Sources: Genesis's use of Homer's Odyssey
Sources: The theory of four hypothetical documents (J, E, D, and P)
Landmarks in the development of literature: Toward a map of language, writing, and literature
The landscape and the lion: Genesis and the Gospels
Genesis in the Lectionaries
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