C O M M E N T A R I E S O N T H E P E N T A T E U C H

Genesis

ROUSAS JOHN RUSHDOONY

V A L L E C I T O , C A L I F O R N I A
 Copyright 2002
Dorothy Rushdoony
and the
Rushdoony Irrevocable Trust

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 Other books by
Rousas John Rushdoony

The Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol. I

The Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol. II, Law & Society
The Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol. III, The Intent of the Law
Systematic Theology (2 volumes)
The Gospel of John
Hebrews, James, & Jude
Thy Kingdom Come
Romans & Galatians
The Biblical Philosophy of History
The Mythology of Science
Foundations of Social Order
The “Atheism” of the Early Church
The Messianic Character of American Education
This Independent Republic
The Nature of the American System
The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum
Christianity and the State
Salvation and Godly Rule
God’s Plan for Victory
Politics of Guilt and Pity
Roots of Reconstruction
The One and the Many
Revolt Against Maturity
By What Standard?
Law & Liberty

For a complete listing of available books

by Rousas John Rushdoony and other
Christian reconstructionists, contact:

ROSS HOUSE BOOKS

PO Box 67
Vallecito, CA 95251
www.rosshouebooks.org
 Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1. Genesis 1: The Source (Genesis 1:1-31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2. Genesis 1: The Purpose of Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3. Genesis 1: Created Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4. The Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5. The Creation of Man (Genesis 2:4-7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6. The Test (Genesis 2:8-25). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

7. Marriage (Genesis 2:21-25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

8. The Temptation (Genesis 3:1-6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

9. The Fall of Man and the Curse (Genesis 3:7-21). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

10. The Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22-24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

11. Cain (Genesis 4:1-15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

12. Lamech and Seth (Genesis 4:16-26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

13. Adam, Seth, and Enos (Genesis 5:1-8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

14. From Cainan to Noah (Genesis 5:9-32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

15. Mixed Marriages (Genesis 6:1-4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

16. Noah and Eschatology (Genesis 6:5-22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

17. The Judgment of the Old World (Genesis 7:1-24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

18. The Flood Ends (Genesis 8:1-22). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

19. Be Fruitful, and Multiply (Genesis 9:1-7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

20. The Covenant (Genesis 9:7-17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

21. The Curse of Canaan (Genesis 9:18-29). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

22. The Warfare Renewed (Genesis 10:1-14). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

23. Canaan’s Line (Genesis 10:15-20). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

24. The Unity of Mankind (Genesis 10:21-32). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

25. The Society of Satan (Genesis 11:1-9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

26. The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

27. The Tower of Babel, 2 (Genesis 11:1-9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

28. The Focus (Genesis 11:10-32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

29. The Call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-9). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

30. Abram in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

31. Abram and Lot (Genesis 13:1-18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

32. Abram and Melchizedek (Genesis 14:1-24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

33. The Great Covenant (Genesis 15:1-21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

34. Hagar (Genesis 16:1-16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

35. The Promise: Father of Many Nations (Genesis 17:1-27). . . . . . . . . . . . 145

36. The Justice of God (Genesis 18:1-33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

37. Lot’s Rescue (Genesis 19:1-38). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

38. Abimelech of Gerar (Genesis 20:1-18). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

39. The Covenant with Abimelech (Genesis 21:1-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

40. The Expanded Promise (Genesis 22:1-24). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

41. The Death of Sarah (Genesis 23:1-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

42. Rebekah and God’s Particularity (Genesis 24:1-67) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

43. Keturah and Esau (Genesis 25:1-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

44. Isaac at Gerar (Genesis 26:1-35). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

45. The Blessing (Genesis 27:1-46). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

46. Jacob’s Ladder (Genesis 28:1-22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

47. Jacob in Haran (Genesis 29:1-35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

48. Jacob’s Way (Genesis 30:1-43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

49. Jacob’s Departure (Genesis 31:1-55) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

50. The Prince of God (Genesis 32:1-32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

51. The Meeting with Esau (Genesis 33:1-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

52. The Rape of Dinah (Genesis 34:1-31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

53. A Cleansing and a Funeral (Genesis 35:1-29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

54. The Family Records of Esau (Genesis 36:1-43). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

55. Joseph is Sold into Egypt (Genesis 37:1-36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

56. Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:1-30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

57. Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39:1-23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

58. Dreams and God (Genesis 40:1-23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

59. Joseph as Vizier, or Prime Minister (Genesis 41:1-57) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

60. The First Journey to Egypt (Genesis 42:1-38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

61. Approaching the Nourisher (Genesis 43:1-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

62. Benjamin and His Brothers (Genesis 44:1-34). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

63. Joseph Reveals Himself (Genesis 45:1-28). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

64. The Journey of Israel into Egypt (Genesis 46:1-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

65. Jacob Meets the Pharaoh (Genesis 47:1-31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

66. Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:1-22). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

67. Jacob’s Blessing (Genesis 49:1-33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

68. The Death of Joseph (Genesis 50:1-26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Afterword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .299

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313
 INTRODUCTION
Genesis not only begins the Bible, but it is also foundational to it. In
recent years, it has become commonplace for both humanists and
churchmen to sneer at anyone who takes Genesis 1-11 as historical. I recall
a prominent pastor of some 50 years ago who expressed shock that anyone
“intelligent and educated” as myself would take Genesis 1-11 as actually an
historical record when it was so “primitive.” When I was an expert witness
in church and state trials, at least once a state attorney sought to discredit
me for my view of Genesis.
Well, I have routinely returned the “compliment.” For anyone to believe
in the myth of evolution is to accept trillions of miracles to account for our
cosmos. I simply lack that kind of faith, in spontaneous generation, in the
development of something out of nothing, the blind belief in the
miraculous powers of chance, and more. Darwinism is irrationality and
insanity compounded.
Of late, many critiques of evolution have been published by non-
creationists. William R. Fix, in The Bone Peddlers, Selling Evolution (1984),
whose telling critique I have just read, takes pains to separate himself from
creationists, as do others. I have no hesitation in identifying myself as a six-
day creationist.
Theology without creationism becomes alien to the God of Scripture
because it turns from the God who acts and whose word is the creative
word and the word of power, to a belief in process as god. The god of the
non-creationists is the creation of man and a figment of their imagination.
They must play games with the Bible to vindicate their position, like the
homosexuals who justify their practice from the Bible. One scholar
insisted, with respect to Genesis 1, that there are “many ways” the text can
be read. True enough, but are the “many ways” all valid?
I hold that the evolutionists are the naive believers and irrationalists
compounded. They violate the scientific canons they profess by their
fanatical and intolerant belief in evolution.
Genesis 1-11 is basic to Biblical theology. The church needs to re-study
this text to recognize its truth and its important place in theology.
It troubles me not at all to hear the “reproach” and “infamy” of affirming
creation as truth. It troubles me greatly that so many churchmen disbelieve
Genesis 1-11 and have joined the ranks of the “cultured despisers” of
Christianity. So much the worse for them.
Rousas John Rushdoony
Vallecito, California
June 12, 1996

1
 Chapter One
Genesis 1: The Source
(Genesis 1:1-31)
1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from
the darkness.
5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first day.
6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and
let it divide the waters from the waters.
7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under
the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it
was so.
8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the
morning were the second day.
9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together
unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the
waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,
and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon
the earth: and it was so.
12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind,
and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God
saw that it was good.
13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days, and years:
15. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light
upon the earth: and it was so.
16. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and
the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon
the earth,
18. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from
the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving
creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open
firmament of heaven.
21. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth,
which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every
winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the
waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

3
4 Genesis
23. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his
kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it
was so.
25. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after
their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and
God saw that it was good.
26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth.
27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them.
28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth.
29. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which
is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of
a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to
every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given
every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very
good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
(Genesis 1:1-31)
If Christianity does not take Genesis 1 very seriously and literally, it is suicidal.
The foundation of its faith has been effectively undermined, and whatever
claims the church makes for its faith are undercut and devolved.
The source of things is all-important. If the triune God by His sovereign and
just acts created all things, then all things are derivative from God’s act,
dependent on His Being, and subject to His total government and
predestination. If God is the Creator, He is also the determiner and the law-
giver. If the universe was “created” by an accident, out of nothing, then nothing
external to it can determine it. Whatever possibility there is of any determination
in the cosmos must then come from that cosmos. The title of a book published
in the mid-twentieth century and long in print, Man Makes Himself, by V. G.
Childe, states the matter clearly. If the origin of things is from within the cosmos,
then, possibly, the control of all things can come from something within that
cosmos. This faith leads to man playing God, to man attempting to control
evolution, to a belief in a world state controlling all things, and to a religious
belief in the powers of time and process.
Evolution is a belief that violates a variety of scientific concepts. It posits
spontaneous generation, the emergence of something out of nothing,
miraculous changes such as a non-eye somehow becoming an eye, and so on.
For God’s creative act, it substitutes time and process and endows both with God-
like powers. Somehow the mindless churnings of process for billions of years
 Genesis 1: The Source (Genesis 1:1-31) 5
work amazing miracles. Somehow, out of total nothing, a single atom emerged,
and that single atom had all the potentialities of a universe; in brief, it had
amazing god-like powers! Evolution requires belief in miracles greater than any
described in the Bible! It is not only the faith of those who hate God but also of
those whose premises are irrational ones.
The issue is process versus act, and the difference is a vast one. If the source of
being is process, then very important things flow necessarily from that fact.
Process originates in an ultimate nothingness, and then a chaos, out of which the
cosmos evolved.
Given such a premise, the source of power must be from below. Anti-
Christian scholars make much of the witchcraft trials in Christendom. These
came with the Renaissance and its humanism. They were a product of a reviving
faith in power from below. Faithful Christian thinking sees power, which in the
Christian world is essentially grace, as coming from above, from the triune God.
Man must look above for the source of grace, mercy, love, power, and more.
Such a faith will logically regard any power from below as impotent and
predestined to defeat. A strong and faithful belief in creation by the triune God
in six days will regard all powers other than this God of Scripture as derivative,
limited, and totally circumscribed by God’s decree of predestination. It is not a
natural process which determines all things but rather the triune God. Nothing
occurs apart from His will and determination. The seasons, the weather, time,
and all things else serve Him. In the telling words of the prophet Zechariah,
Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle
bow, out of him every oppressor together. (Zechariah 10:4)
While Zechariah’s immediate reference here is God’s messianic purpose in and
through Israel, it means also that God’s planning or predestination includes and
circumscribes all things. A predestinarian faith cannot long-endure without a
strict creationism.
The issue is process versus act. Our choice is important. If the truth be
process, power and grace come from below. Not surprisingly, the culture of
evolutionism has led to a revival of occultism and magic. Magic is the belief that
power resides in the natural world and is amenable to control by man. Non-
Biblical sciences are closely related to magic and represent sophisticated versions
thereof. Magic is a search for lawless power. When geneticists talk of genetic
engineering, their ideas at times are more related to magic than medicine.
If we recognize God as the Creator, then for us the source of all power, grace,
law, and morality is from above. Situational ethics is then, for us, evil: it is an
attempt to play god. Virtue for us, in the sense of strength and morality, is from
God alone, not man. An evolutionary premise and faith will mean that we will
seek virtue from below. Quite logically, Emile Durkheim, in The Rules of
Sociological Method, saw the criminal as an evolutionary pioneer. Durkheim, in
terms of his faith, saw, first, the criminal as a potent force because he came from
6 Genesis
below, from the underworld of man, and second, he saw the criminal as the
vanguard of man’s evolutionary future because the criminal challenges the
existing order.
The evolutionist will logically see virtue and power as emanating from below.
In practical terms, he will favor those who are socially “from below.” He will see
virtue in criminals, in street people, in ghetto blacks (but not in Japanese,
because they excel), and he will work for criminal “rights,” feminism, and so on
and on.
The result is the religion of revolution. Revolutions, usually the work of anti-
Christian intellectuals, are done in the name of the people, by which is meant
those socially at the bottom level. These supposedly incarnate virtue, which must
come from below. Revolutions have been either pagan, as the fifth century A.D.
Mazdakite revolution in Persia, which made all property, money, and women
into common property, or they are anti-Christian. Virtue for revolutionists
resides at the bottom, in chaos, and it institutes chaos to destroy the old order
and the men and women belonging to it. Mass murders become a virtue. The
word purge before the French Revolution meant an enema to eliminate feces; it
has since gained as its primary meaning the elimination of leading citizens,
capitalists, and Christians.
Revolutions and purges are inescapable in non-Christian orders: their faith
requires it. Such mindless mass murders cannot be eliminated unless creationism
replaces evolution. We cannot understand the twentieth century unless we
recognize the determining influence of Charles Darwin on men like Marx,
Freud, Nietzsche, Stalin, Trotsky, Hitler, Mao Tse-tung, Dewey, F.D. Roosevelt,
Mussolini, Churchill, and others. I have twice had criminals argue with me on
the invalidity of any judgment of them because of the “truth” of evolution. The
revitalization of society for evolutionists is from below, out of revolution, chaos,
and anarchy. The upheavals of the twentieth century are the logical products of
Rousseau, Hegel, and Darwin, who idealized and enthroned power from below.
We are undergoing what Cornelius Van Til called integration downward into the
void. The vision of God has been replaced in the twentieth century by the vision
of chaos, of integration downward.
Genesis 1 defines God as the Creator: vv. 26-28 define man as created in the
image of God. According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 10,
“How did God create man?”
“God created man, male and female, after his own image (Gen. 1:27), in
knowledge, righteousness, and holiness (Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24), with
dominion over the creatures (Gen. 1:28).”
The definition of man is the definition of man’s life. It is dangerous to overlook
this fact. Men no longer see themselves as God’s creation, made in His image.
They see humanity in Darwinian terms. Over the years, I have heard a variety of
 Genesis 1: The Source (Genesis 1:1-31) 7
such definitions, from man defined as a perpetually rutting animal, to man as an
example of evolutionary error.
To define man in Darwinian terms as a “higher ape” is to strip man of his high
seriousness. To declare man to be a creature made in God’s image, but fallen, is
both to stress his high potential as well as his present depravity outside of Christ.
Even as Adam defines the old humanity of fallen man, so Jesus Christ, in His
perfect and sinless humanity, defines the goal for redeemed man.
Genesis 1 makes clear that the creation of man was God’s sovereign act.
According to Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” In our time, people are so schooled in
terms of evolutionary process that they can only view the future in like terms.
Growth and process are related terms, and they are sometimes used
interchangeably, but they are not the same. Growth implies life and development,
whereas process implies mechanical or mindless changes which can include death
and decay. Process thinking tends to exclude God’s power and grace and man’s
purposeful activity. Process thinking views the future in Darwinian terms, as
slow change, not as God’s work in history. It views possible changes in history
in biological or mechanical terms. Examples of this are the beliefs that, like
organisms, cultures rise and decay, or that some mechanical pendulum will bring
about social reversals. Process thinking is the antithesis of Biblical faith and
thought.
Not only has Darwinian process thinking infected sociology and psychology,
but we now have process theologies. Once creationism is dropped, process
replaces grace in theology and life. A humanistic pastoral psychology replaces
Biblical counselling.
Creation must be viewed as the act of the personal and triune God, not as a
process of nature. Although process and revolution seem to be contradictory
concepts, they are related. Both presuppose power from below: their premises
are identical; the outworking thereof is different.
The Biblical doctrine of origins declares that the creative act and power come
from above, from God. We must therefore look to God for all that follows. God
saw His creation as “very good” (Gen. 1:31), and the disorder that followed
came about because man sought to shift the motivation and power to himself
(Gen. 3:1-5).
The essential premises of sound thinking are in Genesis 1. To neglect this
chapter as foundational to life and theology is to create a false religion. Before
man and the universe, there is God. To understand man and the universe, we
must look to God and His infallible word.
8 Genesis
 Chapter Two
Genesis 1: The Purpose of Creation
Why did God create the heavens and the earth? What was His purpose in
creation? There was no need in God, and His Being and His life from all eternity
were complete. Revelation 4:11 tells us what the answer is:
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou
hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Psalm 19:1 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
sheweth his handywork.” Psalm 145:10 says, “All thy works shall praise Thee, O
LORD,” and Revelation 15:3 gives us a heavenly song:
Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are
thy ways, thou King of saints.
Creation is not viewed from the perspective of man but from God’s perspective.
This requires us in every area of life and thought to see all things from a God-
centered, not a man-centered, perspective.
The six days of creation are literally days, not ages, not eons. The language is
specific: evening and morning day one (Gen. 1:5; 8; 13; 19; 23; 31). When God
created living things, from the least up to man, He blessed them. The Hebrew word
blessed (barak) means that God, by blessing something, establishes a relationship
between Himself and the person or thing blessed. This is the heart of a blessing:
a relationship is created by God’s sovereign grace. The relationship may bring
such results as prosperity, fertility, advancement, and power, but its essential
aspect is that God establishes a relationship with the person or thing blessed. It
becomes set apart and holy to Him. God’s blessing establishes the relationship;
when man praises or blesses God, He celebrates the relationship.
Genesis 1:22 and 28 tell us that God, having created all things, and having
created some as living things, blessed them with life, life to be lived under Him.
Man’s sin brought in death for himself and for all things else, for “by man came
death”(1 Cor. 15:21); therefore, by the last Adam, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:45)
came life and also the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15:21).
To doubt creationism is to remain under the curse because it is the denial of
God as the Creator by His sovereign act. To deny faith as understanding is to
affirm irrationality and to resort to the absurdities of Darwin and his followers.
Faith, we are told in Hebrews 11:1 “is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.” Faith here does not mean easy believism but the
supernatural grace of God ordering our minds and lives. Hebrews 11:3 tells us,
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of
God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do
appear.

9
10 Genesis
God created by a word, remati, a spoken word. Psalm 33:8-9 tells us of God’s
speaking,
Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand
in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood
fast.
God created all things very good (v. 31). As Calvin observed in his commentary
on Genesis, “man was rich before he was born.” God had created as man’s
dwelling place a glorious world and had blessed all living things. Man by his
disobedience brought the curse of death into the world.
There can be no understanding of the God of Scripture, nor of Scripture,
without an acceptance of creationism. The goal of the evolutionists is not to
present assured and substantiated facts but, first, to replace God with chance.
Any god permitted in their scheme of things is a struggling, evolving god, who,
like man, evolved as a product. Second, Darwinism in all its forms seeks to replace
order and design with mindless coincidences. Order and design are too
indicative of the hand of God and must be scornfully derided. Third, the
Darwinians hate God, they fear God, and they war against God. Their contempt
does not make God go away!
But to assume the Darwinian position is to posit a vast potentiality in the
universe which makes it a mindless force equal to God! Some men seek to affirm
both God and evolution, both a vast, primeval chaos and some kind of god. But
if the universe developed out of its own potentiality, then whatever god may
exist is peripheral to that universe and helpless in the face of it, because that
evolving cosmos has its own potentiality and inherent law. There is a widespread
belief in God as the source of the ideal, as existing in isolation from a world He
never made but which He seeks to inspire and direct. Such a God is essentially
impotent: He can inspire, but He can neither create nor command. The God of
Scripture, however, not only has created all things but also totally governs them.
The total government of the triune God is such that God the Son could say,
29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your Father.
30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Matt.
10:29-31)
The God of the modernists cannot work miracles, nor create, nor do anything
more than merely exist, possibly only as an idea, if the modernist is logical in his
faith.
Faith in creation by God’s sovereign act means that the triune God is Lord
and Sovereign over all, with all things dependent on His providence and grace.
God the Creator is not an outsider to our lives; in Him we live, and move, and
have our being. Every atom of our being is His creation, and He is closer to us
than we are to ourselves. Our history moves in Him and in terms of His decree,
 Genesis 1: The Purpose of Creation 11
so that all things serve His purpose and glory. All history works out the purpose
and decrees of God. Only the Creator God can hear and answer prayer, because
He alone is sovereign and all powerful.
Translations of the Bible are theological as well as linguistic works. Protestant
translators who are modernist have rendered Genesis 1:1-3 as a single sentence.
This is also true of Roman Catholic and Jewish translations of late, as witness
the following:
When God began to create the heaven and the earth—the earth being
unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind
from God sweeping over the water—God said, “let there be light”; and
there was light. The Torah, a new translation (1962).
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth
was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty
wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there
was light. The New American Bible (1970), Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine.
In such versions, a primeval chaos coexists with God, who then works upon it.
This implies the eternal coexistence of God and matter, so that not only is there
something other than God pre-existing, but this matter, chaos, or void can have
its own potentialities working in contradiction to God. The result is not a
Biblical religion.
Because “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (v. 1), this
means that the eternal God created all things at a particular moment. Creation
has a beginning, but God does not. Time and space have a beginning, but God
does not. They are creations of God, the Uncreated.
Genesis 2:1-3 emphasizes the fact that creation is an act of God by declaring
that on the seventh day He rested “from all his work which God had made”
(Gen. 2:2). The act of creation was stressed; it was not a process. Creation was
the work of the triune God: “All things were made by him; and without him was
not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Christ was central to the purpose
of creation, which was to be His Kingdom and is such now.
If, however, the universe is a product of evolution, then it is a closed
naturalistic order, totally governed by things within it. As a result, either natural
forces, heredity, environment, and the like control us, or some human agency,
such as the state, tries to impose its will, with the help of science, on the blind
natural order. The universe is then closed to anything beyond it. Ultimate and
proximate authority are then one, and they are in the natural order. Darwinism
is the recipe for tyranny. In an evolved or evolving cosmos, there is no divine
Supreme Court for man to appeal to; there is nothing but a cosmic silence. A
closed universe means tyranny, and evolutionary thinking has been the recipe for
the return of dehumanizing tyrannies. A closed universe, one closed to God,
means a closed state, one closed to a moral law beyond and over man. Modern
thinkers speak of their Darwinism as a belief in an open universe, by which they
12 Genesis
mean incomplete and evolving; it is, however, closed to God and any absolute
moral law.
Moreover, to deny God means also to deny the universe in favor of a
multiverse. It follows logically from the evolutionary faith that a variety of
evolutions have taken place, having created very diverse and contradictory
systems. There is then not only no God, but also no over-arching truth. All
things are then possible except the God of Scripture and His law-word. The only
truth then is existential truth: what is valid for me, here and now? We are then in
the world of the Marquis de Sade.
We saw earlier that God blessed what He had created: He established thereby
a good relationship to Himself. The alternative to being blessed is to be cursed: there
is no neutral ground. To be in this world is to be in the realm of fallen and accursed
peoples; this is unavoidable in history because it is the battleground between
good and evil. There are no sidelines in this battle, and the casualties are grim,
but the victory of the Kingdom of God is inevitable and inescapable.
 Chapter Three
Genesis 1: Created Man
Implicit or explicit in all non-Biblical views of the universe is the concept or
doctrine of the continuity of being. All the cosmos is one being, it is held, with
a common potentiality. From the lowest one-celled being up to man, the same
potentiality exists, and we have no knowledge of what unchanging limitations
there may be. We are aware of some limitations on us, i.e., aging and death, but
we cannot say, these humanists hold, that there are necessarily unchanging ones.
If evolution be true, this means that at every stage of being, life has
transcended itself, and there is no reason to doubt, first, that this will continue to
happen, or, second, that scientific man will make it happen. For such true believers
in evolution, man can be, to use Biblical language, his own god in due time (Gen.
3:5). Progress then means that man will transcend his humanity and its
limitations, even as the first semblance of life that once came into being has been
transcended. In this perspective, the state of being a human being is one to be
transcended in time; creatureliness then becomes a kind of disease to be
overcome.
Non-Biblical faiths are almost uniformly given to the continuity of being
concept. Such forms of paganism affirm in some form an ascetic desire to
transcend creatureliness. Hinduism is vegetarian; meats are not eaten. But now
some Hindu scientists claim that they have demonstrated pain in vegetables
when plucked for eating. The desire to escape creatureliness is very strong. In
the Western world, many humanists now oppose killing animals on any ground,
or cutting down trees, and are of course vegetarians as well. For such people,
humanity is a very trying burden. I have encountered people who refuse to
believe in a God who made man with a necessity for defecation and urination.
If they were god, they would do better!
For us, as Christians, it is our glory to be human, to be men and women under
God. For us, in terms of Scripture, sin is disobedience to God and means trying
to be god ourselves (Gen. 3:1-5). Creation and evolution are here as everywhere
radically different: what is sin for the one is virtue for the other.
Adam means mould, arable soil, top soil. Genesis 3:19 tells fallen man, “for
dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
The Biblical doctrine is of the discontinuity of being between God and man.
God is eternal and uncreated Being, whereas man is finite and created being,
totally the work of God, and totally subject to the decrees of God. As both Isaiah
and Paul tell us, the creature cannot resist the will of the Creator, nor “Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Rom.
9:19-20; Isa. 45:9; 29:16; 64:8). Kierkegaard and the neo-orthodox churchmen
have seen finitude as man’s problem because they hold to the continuity of
being, explicitly or implicitly.

13
14 Genesis
The Biblical doctrine tells us plainly that we are material beings. We are made
out of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7). It is not our eternal goal to be more than
creatures. Our glory is the resurrection of the body (1 Cor. 15:12-23). We are
freed in Christ and the general resurrection from sin and death, not from our
bodies. We are not made into angels but become fully redeemed men.
For Scripture, sin and death are unnatural things; they are an evil invasion of
God’s glorious creation rather than a normal fact. We are not to view sin and
death as normal, natural facts.
Understanding sin and death as unnatural will give a radically different
approach to medical practice. For the evolutionist, the body is an imperfect
mechanism, and man may in future millennia evolve into a better body, or even
out of a body. (Such a view assumes no devolution.) Medical practice is thus
experimental; it sees no hard boundaries created by God, and it seeks to
transcend man’s limitations.
For a Biblical approach to medicine, regeneration is the beginning of the
restoration to be accomplished in eternity. Health and life are man’s God-
ordained natural states, damaged by the Fall, but to be overcome by the ministry
of the word of God, and by medical practice.
The center of gravity in thinking and practice is not on overcoming limitations
but on God’s order and purpose. Our center is not this life and this world but
God and His plan for us.
For us, there is one world, God-created and God-governed. It is a finite realm
and totally subject to its Creator, as is man. This world was created “very good,”
and, with the restoration of all things in the new heavens and the new earth, it
will be eternally so, in perfection.
Because man is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-29), he is responsible to
God his Maker. He cannot with validity operate as though he alone exists, as
though he is responsible to no higher Being. His life is created life, and man is not
his own (1 Cor. 6:19). He is under the law of God because God is his Creator.
To tamper with strict creationism is to destroy human responsibility. If men are
taught that responsibility to God and His law is not valid, why should they be
responsible to or obey family, church, state, or employer? The consequences of
Darwinism can be seen in criminal statistics.
Because man is created by God, and in His image, man is under authority, under
law, under God’s authority and law. Man is not the source of law as the tempter
claims (Gen. 3:1-5). Creationism thus undermines tyranny in every sphere. A
world without God’s authority becomes a lawless tyranny.
For evolution there is no God nor any higher law. Every man thus can do
what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). Man is his own lawmaker, either
through the state or by his own fiat will, for himself. The logical end of a denial
of God’s law is finally no law at all, only the existential fiat will of man and the
state.
 Genesis 1: Created Man 15
If man is created in God’s image, as Scripture declares, then Christ, as the
God-man, is not only truly God and truly man, but He is the true man. He is the
greater and last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) who recreates us in His image and guides
us into true humanity.
There is in creation a God-given order. In the words of Cornelius Van Til,
If the creation doctrine is thus taken seriously, it follows that the various
aspects of created reality must sustain such relations to one another as have
been ordained between them by the Creator, as superiors, inferiors or
equals. All aspects being equally created, no one aspect of reality may be
regarded as more ultimate than another. Thus the created one and many may
in this be said to be equal to one another; they are equally derived and
equally dependent upon God who sustains them both. The particulars or
facts of the universe do and must act in accord with universals or laws.
Thus there is order in the created universe. On the other hand, the laws
may not and can never reduce the particulars to abstract particulars or
reduce their individuality in any manner. The laws are but generalizations
of God’s method of working with the particulars. God may at any time
take one fact and set it into a new relation to created law....
Thus there is a basic equality between the created one and the created
many, or between the various aspects of created reality. On the other hand,
there is a relation of subordination between them as ordained by God. The
“mechanical” laws are lower than the “teleological” laws. Of course, both
the “mechanical” and the “teleological” laws are teleological in the sense
that both obey God’s will. So also the facts of the physical aspect of the
universe are lower than the facts of the will and intellect of man. It is this
subordination of one fact and law to other facts and laws that is spoken of
in Scripture as man’s government over nature. According to Scripture man
was set as king over nature. He was to subdue it. Yet he was to subdue it
for God. In order to subdue it under God man had to interpret it; he was
therefore prophet as well as priest and king under God.1
Creationism, Van Til also pointed out, is basic to knowledge. Instead of a
“universe” of brute and unrelated, meaningless facts, we have by virtue of
creationism a universe of meaning. The same purpose underwrites all things and
gives them a common purpose and goal.
Creation was out of nothing. God declares emphatically in Isaiah that “there
is none beside me” (Isa. 45:21), and “I am God, and there is none else” (Isa.
45:22).
Autonomous man is man who denies his createdness.2 He assumes that his
reason is the sufficient judge over all things, and for him “the God concept” is
unnecessary.
Evolutionary thinking rests, not on any scientific facts, but on religious
premises that are anti-Biblical and humanistic. It is arrogance for evolutionists

1.
Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed
Publishing Company, 1955), 44.
2.
Ibid., 247.
16 Genesis
to claim scientific validity for their religious faith. Theirs is an anti-intellectual
and anti-scientific faith resting on the supposed miracles almost endless time is
said to produce. They ascribe to time and chance the miracles of creation. It is
true indeed that “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Ps. 14:1).
 Chapter Four
The Sabbath
(Genesis 2:1-3)
1. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and
he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he
had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3)
According to Ezekiel 20:12-21, God gave the sabbath as a sign to Israel. The
Hebrew word translated as sign means evidence, a signal, or a monument. The
sabbath is a continuing witness established by God. But a witness to what?
Humanly speaking, a sabbath is wasted time. Revolutionary regimes, such as
the Russian Revolution, have been hostile to the sabbath rest. They have viewed
it as an irrational waste of time, an unwarranted intrusion into the work routine.
The Sabbath in Scripture is a day ordained by God for rest, to rest in Him.
Worship is secondary to rest, and the rest is a separation unto God. While our
faith must govern every day and hour of our lives, the Sabbath rest introduces a
discontinuity and separation.
The triune God is discontinuous with creation. He made it but is totally
separate from it. There is no continuity of being between God and man. The
Sabbath rest establishes a weekly discontinuity in time, but it is a discontinuity
which compels us to look beyond time and beyond creation to our Creator and
Redeemer.
The sabbath discontinuity is also a pattern in time, a regular “break” with time
and the world. Our work is not sufficient: only God’s providence and mercy can
enable us to advance and prevail in time.
Some religions, notably Hinduism and Buddhism, are overwhelmed by time
past. The burden of the past, Karma, oppresses man, whose only hope becomes
escape from time into nirvana. Time is seen as the arena of defeat.
For Christians, while the past is irrevocable, it is redeemable. Sin must be
atoned for, and this the Lord of the sabbath, Jesus Christ, does for us. While
there is a discontinuity of being between God and His creation, there is a
continuity of mercy, grace, and providence.
From our redemption, Christ’s atonement, we gain a continuity of community but
not of essence. The sabbath establishes a community of moral life between man and
man, and man and God. The separation from work signifies also a moral
separation from the fallen world, a world to be redeemed by God’s kingdom and
purpose. That moral community must include everyone in the household, aliens,
and work animals (Ex. 20:8-11). God’s holy purpose includes all His creation,
and we must honor His total community.

17
18 Genesis
The sabbath is a sign of the covenant. Having received grace and law from God,
the covenant people surrender themselves to Him, not only in worship but in
the giving of time to God. To yield fifty-two days in the year, on a regular weekly
basis, is a covenant act, an acknowledging to God that it is not our power over
time but His power on which we depend. We cannot master time and history
apart from God. Therefore, by removing ourselves from time, by resting one day
in seven, we acknowledge that the determination of all things belongs to God.
We do not work on the Lord’s Day unless it be works of necessity and works
of mercy. When our Lord healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath,
He said to His accusers,
11. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall
have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay
hold on it, and lift it out?
12. How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to
do well on the sabbath days. (Matt. 12:11-12)
On the sabbath, we rest from our labors, our efforts to govern or to control our
lives, because we know that God’s predestination and providence govern us
totally. Therefore to cease from labor but to spend time planning on the Lord’s
Day is a serious offense. Such planning is a direct assault on God’s government.
To avoid a little manual labor while insisting on planning our future is to say that
the Lord’s Day is no more than a rest from work, when it is in fact a radical
declaration, when understood, that the government is on our Lord’s shoulders
now (Isa. 9:6). The Lord’s Day is thus an affirmation of the Lordship of Christ,
of His sovereignty and rule. We declare that we have a King, and His name is
Jesus.
The rest days of pagan antiquity were usually days, whether yearly, monthly,
or more often, celebrating the king’s birthday, reign day, or some like event.
They acknowledged the king’s sovereignty and rule.
Far more radically, the Lord’s Day celebrates the total, providential, and
predestinating government of our triune God. To rest on His terms is to
acknowledge His rule.
Moreover, the Lord’s Day has an eschatological meaning. Since the days of
the Hebrews, this has been acknowledged. Hebrews 4 states it plainly. The
sabbath rest was foreshadowed in the conquest of the Promised Land, but its
fullness is in Jesus Christ and the new creation. The Christian must conquer the
world for Christ, and then, in the new heavens and a new earth, he will have the
fullness of His rest and eternal Sabbath. Worship, with the proclamation of
God’s word, prepares us for both the conquest and the rest.
Ezekiel reveals that God declares the sabbath to be 1) a sign between God and
His covenant people; 2) it is to be kept holy; and 3) by means of this they shall
“know that I am the LORD your God” (Ezek. 20:20):
 The Sabbath (Genesis 2: 1-3) 19
12. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and
them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them....
19. I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my
judgments, and do them;
20. And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you,
that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. (Ezek. 20:20)
To keep the sabbath or the Lord’s Day truly means to keep God’s law. This is
the precondition to keeping the day holy and knowing God. Clearly, we are told
that such knowledge is not simply intellectual: it has a moral basis. The covenant
is a covenant of grace and law; apart from God’s redeeming grace and His
sanctifying law, we cannot know Him. Knowledge in the Biblical sense is not
mere cognition: it involves the total life of man. Rationalizations and rationalism
cannot give us the knowledge of God because sin clouds our minds. Since man’s
basic and original sin is his attempt to be his own god (Gen. 3:5), his fallen mind
refuses to acknowledge that God is God. The Lord’s Day is then no more than a
day of cessation of labor rather than a means to the knowledge of God. Such
true knowledge requires covenant grace and obedience, keeping the Lord’s Day
holy because we know that He who redeemed us will also care for us: He is able.
There is another aspect to the sabbath rest which must be stressed. It is a day
of joy for those who are God’s covenant people. According to Isaiah 58:13-14,
13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure
on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14. Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to
ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of
Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
The Berkeley Version renders v. 13 thus:
If you do not tramp upon the Sabbath by doing your business on My holy
day, but call the Sabbath an enjoyment, in order that the LORD might be
sacredly honored; and if you honor it by not doing your business, not
seeking your own pleasure, nor talking idle talk; (v. 14) then you shall find
your delight in the LORD....
This enjoyment is only possible with a mature understanding of grace, law, and
the Lord’s Day.
The sabbath is a joy because it tells us that the government of all things is on
Christ’s shoulders, not ours. It tells us that God’s grace governs us, not Karma.
Hinduism speaks of man’s total responsibility in a godlike sense and hence
requires endless reincarnations to make atonement.
Our Lord tells us that the sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27): it is a
witness to our creatureliness, to the fact that we can rest because the government
of all things is not on our shoulders, and our Lord is King over all creation. The
sabbath thus is a glorious fact, a witness to our victory in and through Christ.
20 Genesis
 Chapter Five
The Creation of Man
(Genesis 2:4-7)
4. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they
were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the
heavens,
5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of
the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon
the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of
the ground.
7. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
(Genesis 2:4-7)
Verse 4 begins with the statement that these, i.e., “Genesis 1:1 - 2:4,” are the
records of God’s creation of the heavens and of the earth. Genesis is a series of
records collected into one volume: Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12;
25:19; 36:9; and 37:2. Except in this instance, the word translated as generation
means family records. Genesis is thus a collection of docu-ments contemporary
with the facts reported.
In v. 4, two terms are emphatically used to describe creation: created and made.
The word translated created is bara, and made in the Hebrew is casah, appointed.
There is a double stress on the deliberate act whereby God brought the cosmos
into being.
In vv. 5-7 we are given specifics about creation not mentioned in Genesis 1.
Verse 5 takes us back to Genesis 1:9, the beginning of the third day of creation,
when no plant as yet existed and no herb had yet sprung up. From the beginning,
and apparently until the Flood, there were no rains. This, if so, would make
Noah’s prediction of a flood all the more absurd to his contemporaries. A heavy
mist or dew watered all the earth. Conditions in the pre-Flood era apparently
also made for longevity. The entrance of sin and death into the world with
Adam’s fall did not fully erase the glory of the original creation. This came with
the Flood.
In v. 7 we have an account of the creation of man. In Genesis 1:26-28, we are
told that God created man in His image. Here, we are given the rest of the story.
Man is indeed an image bearer. Whereas all things else were fiat creations, in
man’s case God did something other than create out of nothing. He made man,
He molded man out of arable earth.
Thus, while man is God’s image bearer, he is also reminded that he is dust,
and he shall return to dust. At his fall, man is reminded, “for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19).

21
22 Genesis
Herman Bavinck ably analyzed the doctrine of man’s origin, essence, and
purpose in Our Reasonable Faith. Man was created, according to Genesis 1: 26-28,
to exercise dominion over God’s earth, to be God’s vice-gerunt in applying
God’s rule and law to all things. Man is called to be a child of God by the
adoption of grace and king over God’s world in Him. “Being children of God
and heirs of the world are two things already closely related to each other, and
inseparably related to each other, in the creation.”1
Bavinck called attention to three particular emphases in Genesis 2. First, there
is a statement of man’s original home, the Garden of Eden. Here man is assigned
a particular task. Second, man is given a probationary command. His task defines
his relationship to God, because man is given a command and a warning against
disobedience. His task also defines his relationship to the earth over which he
must rule. He is, until Genesis 4:25, called the man (ha-adam) because in Eden he
represents humanity. Third, Genesis 2 gives us the institution of marriage. 2
Calvin said, on the creation of man,
Concerning other animals, it had before been said, Let the earth produce
every living creature; but, on the other hand, the body of Adam is formed
of clay, and destitute of sense; to the end that no one should exult beyond
measure in his flesh. He must be excessively stupid who does not hence
learn humility. That which is afterwards added from another quarter, lays
us under just so much obligation to God. Nevertheless, he at the same time
designed to distinguish man by some mark of excellence from brute
animals: for these arose out of the earth in a moment; but the peculiar
dignity of man is shown in this, that he was gradually formed. For why did
not God command him immediately to spring alive out of the earth, unless
that, by a special privilege, he might outshine all the creatures which the
earth produced?3
God first formed man, and then He gave man the breath of life. Luther used the
expression, in his translation, a “lump of earth.”4 Verse 7 stresses that apart from
God we are dead men, merely clay or earth.
There is an interesting fact about v. 7: it reads literally, “And the LORD God
formed man (the) dust of the ground.” Strictly thus, man was not formed from
the earth but made a formed earth. As Parker reminded us, “We are not
responsible for our own existence,” 5 but we are responsible to God for our
conduct: He is our Creator and Lord.
The word translated in v. 7 as formed usually describes in the Old Testament
the work of a potter. A living soul means a living creature, a person or personality.
The word soul does not mean what modern thought conceives it to be. It means
1. Herman Bavinck, Our Reasonable Faith (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956), 185.
2. Ibid., 186f.
3. John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses called Genesis, vol. I (Grand
Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1948), 111.
4.
H.C. Leupold, Exposition of Genesis (Columbus, Ohio: The Wartburg Press, 1942), 115.
5.
Joseph Parker, The People’s Bible, vol.I, The Book of Genesis (New York: Funk and Wag-
nalls, n.d.), 115.
 The Creation of Man (Genesis 2:4-7) 23
life, vitality. The word created, bara, means ex nihilo, out of nothing, so that in
making man, God created him out of nothing to be as earth, and then made him
alive. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:47, refers to this verse: “The first man is of the
earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.” Geerhardus von Rad
observed, “When God withdraws his breath (Ps. 104:29f,; Job 34:14f.), man
reverts to dead corporeity.” 6 Man lives only by the breath given by God, who
at any time can, by His sovereign will, withdraw it.
This creating act is repeated by our Lord. In John 20:22, we read, “And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy
Ghost.” In the Septuagint, the Greek in Genesis 2:7 uses the same word as in
John 20:22, emphusase (emphusao). The first creation of man looks forward to his
regeneration. The new man, re-created by Christ’s atonement and justification,
is made alive by the Holy Spirit. “Receive ye (the) Holy Ghost” is “labete pneuma
hagion.” This word receive is translated from the Greek as take (Matt. 26:26; Mark
14:22; Luke 22:17) in the accounts of the institution of communion. The word
means in these instances that a gift was bestowed upon them. The lump of earth
God made in Genesis 2:7 was totally passive. The new man is again passive as
the Lord gives him life to regenerate him.
The life given to the first man, Adam, was a revocable gift; the life given to us
by the last Adam is an irrevocable gift.
Man, while created out of earth, is still separate from all animals because he is
a special creation of God, and His image bearer. Man is a creature, made out of
earth, but he is also God’s image bearer with a task that sets him apart from every
other living thing. Psalm 8 is a celebration of man’s calling to dominion, an
obvious echo of Genesis 1:
1. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast
set thy glory above the heavens.
2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the
avenger.
3. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which thou hast ordained;
4. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou
visitest him?
5. For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honour.
6. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou
hast put all things under his feet:
7. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8. The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth
through the paths of the seas.
9. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

6.
Geerhardus von Rad, Genesis, A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961),
75.
24 Genesis
 Chapter Six
The Test
(Genesis 2:8-25)
8. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he
put the man whom he had formed.
9. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is
pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst
of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it
was parted, and became into four heads.
11. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole
land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12. And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that
compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth
toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of
Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat:
17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him an help meet for him.
19. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field,
and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he
would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that
was the name thereof.
20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to
every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet
for him.
21. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he
slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man.
23. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
ashamed. (Genesis 2:8-25)
We cannot understand the meaning of the Garden of Eden unless we see it
as a pilot project where God placed man to test him and to enable man to acquire
the skills of dominion.
Man was created sinless but not perfect or mature. He was created to exercise
dominion and to subdue the earth and make it God’s fruitful kingdom. Out of

25
26 Genesis
the glory of the newly created earth, one area was set aside and somehow fenced
or separated to make it a pilot project. Man was there to learn how to exercise
dominion.
The location of this Garden is unknown to us. The geography of the earth was
radically altered by the flood. Old names were reused, but the topography was
now changed.
Man was sinless, but untrained and untooled. He was also naked. His task was
to till the soil and prune the fruit trees of the Garden of Eden and to name the
animals, a scientific task, since naming in the Bible means accurate description
or classification.
Adam’s task was a great one. He did have an unfallen nature, so that his mind
was much more capable than our fallen minds. Our redemption begins our
restoration, which heaven completes.
Adam had a problem. Eden had wild animals, great and small. These would
quickly reduce the fruit trees and vegetable gardens to nothing, so fencing of
some sort was necessary. But Adam was naked and without tools. His task was
a heavy one, but somehow he accomplished something.
He was naked and had no shelter. According to v. 6, a very heavy dew watered
the earth nightly. This made it difficult and unpleasant for a very tired naked man
to rest at night. Thus it was urgently necessary for Adam to build some kind of
primitive shelter, probably a lean-to, for sleeping purposes.
Clearly, Adam’s life was one of hard work. God was testing him to enable man
to learn how to use his abilities and to exercise dominion in a hard, primitive
sense. To do so required knowledge. To do his job faithfully meant obeying God
and recognizing the righteousness or justice of God’s plan. All this meant a
radical separation unto God and His calling; this was Adam’s holiness.
From the first day, man had a choice: he could obey or disobey God. If he
took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (v. 17), it meant death. Eat
of it, you shall die, Adam was told: the process of death would begin in him. He
could serve God, or Adam could seek freedom from God.
The Garden of Eden was a pilot project in how man was to subdue the earth
and exercise dominion over it. Man began his life naked, with no shelter, and
with no tools. His task was to develop the earth and to create wealth.
There are three ways that men can gain wealth. First, they can inherit it. Adam
had inherited from God, on a trial basis, a magnificent property, far more
beautiful and rich than any man’s estate since then. Adam was an heir. Second,
wealth can be created by intelligence and work. Adam had to use his mind to
make tools, fencing, and other things to protect the Garden. The animals were
not yet fallen, but they were animals, and they could turn the orchards and
garden easily and quickly into a shamble. We can safely assume that more than
once they broke through Adam’s barricades and destroyed things. There was no
sin in Adam’s world, but there was hard, hard work.
 The Test (Genesis 2:8-25) 27
Third, wealth can be gained by theft, and this is the most popular method. It
is applied in common thievery, and also in socialistic schemes to take from some
to give to others. Theft is an avoidance of work. Its premise is, I have a right to
these things, or, I deserve them more than the possessors do. Theft is a quick
means to wealth. It is, however, destructive of both the thief and society. Instead
of creating wealth, theft destroys it. Theft is more than a transfer of wealth: it is
an attack on the legitimate means of gaining wealth, i.e., inheritance and work.
By various means, including taxation, both inheritance and work are curtailed
and damaged.
But theft offers itself as a short-cut to wealth. It seeks to base the good society
on expropriation, not on inheritance and work. James, at the council of
Jerusalem, declared, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of
the world” (Acts 15:18). God ordained that man, from Eden onward, face the
alternatives for gaining wealth: inheritance and work, or theft. Man has always
had a choice.
We are told that the various areas of the Garden of Eden were rich in a variety
of gemstones and also in gold (v. 11). God had provided man with all the
ingredients for a rich life, but He had also made work mandatory to the
legitimate gaining of wealth. Life was sinless in Eden, but not easy. To be naked
and shoeless on rough ground in not easy. To work with trees, shrubs, and
vegetation with no protective clothing means scratches and bruises. Adam’s first
priority was tools. In Genesis 4:22, we are told of Tubal-cain, who worked in
bronze and iron. This was not too many generations after Adam, and tool
making apparently began in Adam’s lifetime, although we cannot be sure. Adam
did live 930 years (Gen. 5:5), so that he most likely lived to see the primitive
technology he developed in Eden mature and become highly advanced.
Then a point was reached when God gave a wife to Adam, Eve (vv. 18-25).
She was to be his helpmeet in his calling. This was a joy to Adam, but we can
safely assume that it added to his work. The first night together, when Adam led
Eve to his lean-to shelter, she probably looked at it and said, Adam, this will never
do. This meant more work for Adam, again with severe limitations. Rightly, of
course, a good shelter against the heavy nightly dew was a necessity. We are not
told how long a time elapsed from creation to the Fall. We should assume a
substantial lapse of time, since all of Adam’s tasks, classifying the animals, caring
for the Garden, and developing tools, all took time and required years to
accomplish. These were years of hard work. This helps us to understand why
Adam was receptive to temptation. An idealistic short-cut to wealth and power
was appealing to the hard-working man, and no less appealing to Eve, whose
duties were not simple ones, given the severe limitations of their primitive
condition. Adam and Eve were not fallen, but they were capable of sinning. The
key sin would be a short-cut to wealth and power. Even as God by His fiat word
had created all things, perhaps man, as God’s image bearer, could, by his own
fiat word, bypass inheritance and work to create wealth.
28 Genesis
This makes clear why Eden was a pilot project. The problem man faced there
is with us still, but with a difference. First, Adam was not fallen and we are born
sinners. We are seriously handicapped. Second, we have an advantage over Adam
in knowing of his failure, and of being a new creation in Christ. Our Kingdom
work is thus on a different basis and with a sure hope.
 Chapter Seven
Marriage
(Genesis 2:21-25)
21. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he
slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man.
23. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
ashamed. (Genesis 2:21-25)
What was implicit earlier in Genesis 2 now becomes explicit. Adam had heard
and understood God, and he had named the animals. He was created a speaking
person. Now, in v. 23, Adam names his wife and says that she shall be called
woman (ishah), because she was taken out of man (ish). In brief, Adam was no
grunter; he was created with the knowledge and ability to speak.
This at once divides the Bible from all humanistic doctrines of origins. Man
is not a higher ape who developed speech out of his grunting habits. Adam was
no grunter. He was created to speak and to sing, and his abilities were not
primitive but superior. Being unfallen, he was better than we are in his physical
and intellectual abilities. This fact accentuates the horror of the Fall.
Again, it tells us much about the fallacies of modern education. The child is
not a primitive but a fallen specimen of a great creation. Our potentialities as
child and adult are far beyond our imagination.
Our text is basic to the doctrine of marriage. Marriage was not established by
God to be a perpetual war zone. Male and female were not created to be in
conflict but in harmony under God. For a man or a woman to view the other
with distrust is to create serious problems. This does not mean that, as sinners,
men and women do not do wrong and create trouble for themselves and for one
another. If, however, their direction is Godly, even their sins and shortcomings
can be used to bring them closer together (Rom. 8:28).
In v. 24, God’s summation of the marital life is given: “Therefore shall a man
leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall both
be one flesh.” Very obviously, the woman leaves her family to unite with her
husband and his family. This has very often meant moving into another
community and becoming a part of her husband’s larger family. In our time, the
man after marriage very often remains closer to his family — in the same
business, or farming the same or a nearby farm. Although still physically close to
his family, he must see himself and his wife as a new family. Emotionally and
psychologically, he must leave his parents and cleave unto his wife, even though

29
30 Genesis
his parents live next door. The Hebrew word for cleave (dawbak) means to cling,
to be joined to, stick, to be joined together. The husband is commanded to have
a new loyalty.
The wife is to be a helpmeet (v. 20). This is an interesting term. The Hebrew
word for helpmeet (ayzer) comes from a root (awzar) meaning to surround, protect,
or aid. R. Payne Smith commented
She is described as “a helpmeet for him:” Heb., a help as his front, his
reflected image, or, as the Syriac translates it, a helper similar to him. 1
The man must cleave to his wife in order to have her as a helpmeet.
“And they shall be one flesh.” This means to become a community of life.
The man and the woman remain two separate persons, and yet a oneness ensues.
In time, biologists may discover the ways in which marriage creates some kind
of physical unity. One flesh has ramifications far beyond anything we are currently
able to comprehend or are willing to try to understand. Because of our emphasis
on individuality, we are unwilling to explore all the avenues of physical and
spiritual unity.
Adam describes something of this meaning: “This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh” (v. 23). According to Herbert E. Ryle, “‘This is now’ is
the equivalent of ‘here at last.’”2 “Bone of my bones” means that the structure
of her life is like mine, given to the service of God the Creator. Adam had come
to know his calling and his place in God’s creation. He quickly found in Eve a
like dedication. She was thus truly a part of him, physically and religiously. There
was a joyful community at once apparent. “Flesh of my flesh” means a
community of life. Bones are the structure, the skeleton, whereas flesh is the
living tissue. Adam found the fullness of his life in serving God with a woman
in the happy communion of marriage.
They were, the two of them in the Garden of Eden, “naked... and were not
ashamed” (v. 25). Because sin had not yet entered the world, their sexuality was
innocent. They lacked any guilt before God and were hence without shame.
Shame is the “correlative of sin and guilt.” Shame destroys a person’s inner
harmony and supplants it with a sense of disgrace and fearfulness. It is the loss
of God’s favor, and a loss of esteem before one’s fellow men. The Old
Testament depicts the crowning shame as idolatry (Jer. 2:26; Isa. 42:17; 44:11;
etc.). Shame also means the exposure of our guilt. Psalm 25:3 tells us,
Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which
transgress without cause.
Other texts on shame include,

1. R. Payne Smith, “Genesis,” in Charles John Ellicott, Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol.
I (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d.), 21.
2.
Herbert E. Ryle, Genesis (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press [1914]
1921), 38.
 Marriage (Genesis 2:21-25) 31
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy
commandments. (Ps.119:6)
Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.
(Ps. 119:80)
They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to
confusion together that are makers of idols. (Isa. 45:16)
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and
they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have
forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
(Jer. 17:13)
On the other hand, Romans 10:11 tells us “Whosever believeth on him shall not
be ashamed,” an emphasis made also in Joel 2:26-27, and Romans 5:5 and 9:33.
Shame is a consequence of the Fall, and it is common to all mankind, although
its manifestations may vary greatly. It is even apparent among animals that are
close to people. In the late 1970’s, our German Shepherd, Juno, quite old and
failing, was aroused late one night when I entered the house. She charged me,
barking savagely. On discovering her mistake, she ran off, ashamed, to hide.
According to E.G. Ames, “shame involves a sense of unworthiness and
demerit,”3 Shame is the awareness of exposure, disgrace, or failure, or a
fearfulness that it is about to occur.
Adam and Eve “were both naked... and were not ashamed” (v. 25). They had
nothing to hide mentally or physically because they were not fallen. Their
innocence was total because their faithfulness to God was total.
We began with the fact that Adam was no grunter; he was a speaking, totally
coherent man. It was the Fall that brought about physical and mental evasion
and coverings. Both Adam and Eve evaded the fact of their guilt, so that their
hiding from God was mental, moral, and physical.
Modern man sees his origins in pre-historic grunters. As a result, his whole
life is one of evasion, the evasion of the moral context of all life. His lies and
evasions cannot cover the reality that he is God’s creation and totally responsible
to His Maker.
The context of human life is God’s calling. This calling is addressed to all men,
and women are their helpmeets in that calling. If man were no more than an
advanced grunter, any sexual coupling with a member of the opposite sex would
be acceptable. But man is a creature made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28),
and his calling is to develop that image and exercise dominion under God. This
means that unequal yoking, which is forbidden by Scripture (2 Cor. 6:14), is
wrong. The unequal yoking can be with respect to the faith and also with respect
to talents and age, although exceptions here are possible in the case of the latter
two. If a marriage is contracted prior to conversion, and no trouble is made if
3.
E.G. Ames, “Shame,” in James Hastings, editor, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol.
XI (Edinburgh, Scotland: T. & T. Clark [1920] 1934), 446.
32 Genesis
one partner converts, then the marriage is to continue; but if the unbeliever
departs, then the believer is free.
 Chapter Eight
The Temptation
(Genesis 3:1-6)
1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden:
3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:1-6)
The goal and fundamental faith of Satan is clearly stated in Genesis 3:5: “God
doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods (or God), knowing good and evil.” To submit to this temptation,
Eve was told, and, through her, Adam, meant enlightenment. “Then your eyes shall
be opened,” and understanding and growth shall be at least possible, if not
quickly attained. Their status would be one of deity, the ultimate power of
determination and definition. Humanity would then know good and evil, and to
know here means to establish or determine. Instead of an absolute and eternal
moral law, all reality would be subject to the redefinition given it by man. This autonomy
would be the basic ingredient of their deity.
The temptation was to autonomy from God, a declaration of independence
from Him. This did not mean necessarily a rejection of God nor a denial of His
existence. God could still be a co-worker or another resource in the cosmos, or,
if He proved troublesome, He could be rejected. This acceptance or rejection
was a human option. Long before Arminius, Satan set forth the basic premise of
Arminianism: priority of choice and determination belongs to man, and God
must see Himself as a human resource, not as Sovereign.
The false concept of the church as the Body of Christ, as an extension of the
incarnation and a manifestation of both His deity and His humanity, means that
salvation can be seen as deification. Very early in church history, some very
superior fathers of the church fell into this trap. It was held, admittedly with
variations of meaning, that “God became man, so that we might become gods,”
or, “men might become gods.”
Chalcedon was a major obstacle to this notion. The thinkers whose works led
to the Tome of Leo and the Formula of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. were wiser than
they knew, or than we appreciate. To block any role in the determination of

33
34 Genesis
things absolute has far-reaching implications. If men are not gods, then they
have no right to determine what is law and morality either as individuals or as
institutions. Neither church nor state can see itself as a lawmaker. To do so is to
usurp God’s prerogative and to set itself up as god. As C. N. Cochrane pointed
out in Christianity and Classical Culture, a key issue in the battle between
Christianity and Greco-Roman philosophers was over determination. Greco-
Roman thought placed determination within the realm of creation, whereas
Biblical thought set forth God’s predestination.
Men since Adam have insisted on being the lawmakers. They have insisted
that the realm of contingency is the supernatural, not the natural, that God does
not ordain things but rather that man does. This belief has been, of course, basic
to the modern age. The Enlightenment exalted Reason into God’s place; the
respect for Reason was not on the use of intelligence in human affairs but on the
priority and determinative power of Reason over all things. God was haled
before the bar of Reason to meet its inquisition, and the test of what is real or
possible became Reason. The ultimate order was the rational order. Hegel’s
thinking was the logical outcome: the rational is the real.
Within the medieval church, the concept of the church as the extension of the
incarnation led logically to extravagant claims by lawyers and others for the
papacy: “The Pope can do whatever God can do.”1 The pope assumed some
aspects of a supernatural being, “no longer man, not yet wholly God,” and as
such had the symbols of “divine omnipotence.”2 What was claimed for the pope
were powers also exercised by emperors and kings, who saw themselves as
God’s power on earth.
The human lust for power led to an evasion of Chalcedon by the medieval and
later churches and churchmen, because Chalcedon bars the door to man’s
enthronement as a god and determiner.
But we can understand neither man nor history apart from Genesis 3:1-5.
Man’s lust to be his own god is the consuming passion of the sons of Adam. It
is viewed as the great charter of man’s salvation, and most civic institutions, and
too many churches, should engrave it on their walls: it is clearly their standard.
The tempter’s starting point, which is commended to Eve, is skepticism:
“Yea, hath God said...?(v. 1). He assumes that the perspective of reason is to
begin by questioning all things, including God. E. J. Carnell stated this position
clearly:
Bring on your revelations! Let them make their peace with the law of
contradiction and the facts of history, and they will deserve a rational man's
assent.3
1.Friedrich Heer, The Medieval World, Europe, 1100-1350 (Cleveland, Ohio: The World
Publishing Company [1961] 1962), 277.
2.
Ibid.,
33.
3.
Edward John Carnell, An Introduction to Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans),
178.
 The Temptation (Genesis 3:1-6) 35
Again, the tempter objects to any limitation being placed upon man. His
question is, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
(v. 1). Robert Young's literal rendering of this verse is this: “Is it true that God
hath said, Ye do not eat of every tree in the garden?” The wording implies a vast
forbidden realm rather than a great realm of freedom. The tempter not only
confuses the issue but his identity. Revelation 12:9 identifies him as the devil and
Satan, and Revelation 20:2 confirms this. The words serpent and Rahab are
identified in Job 26:12-13 and in Psalm 89:10 in particular, where Rahab is
another name for Egypt. Serpent and Rahab mean enmity to God. All God's
enemies agree in challenging the sovereignty and authority of God.
When Eve cites God’s statement that disobedience will introduce death into
their lives, i.e., that the process of death will begin, the tempter promptly
contradicts her: “Ye shall not surely die” (v. 4); death is no certainty. On the
contrary, disobedience means not death but illumination. “Your eyes shall be
opened.” It will be the beginning of wisdom, because you will then, having
declared your independence from God, become “as gods (or, as God), knowing
(or, determining for yourselves) good and evil” (v. 5). God wrongly claims the
exclusive power to determine good and evil, to make laws, and to establish
morality. This monopoly will be broken by their rebellion.
Eve then looked at the positive side of disobedience: the fruit of the tree was
good for food; it was pleasant to the eyes; and it was to be desired to make one
wise; she took and ate it, and she gave it also to Adam to eat (v. 6).
Paul tells us that Adam was not deceived, although Eve was (1 Tim. 2:14).
Adam sinned with knowledge. He was perhaps weary of the hard work required
by his dominion mandate. Any alternative seemed preferable, and he took it.
Since then, man’s original sin is his desire to be his own god. This colors every
aspect of his being, so that he is totally depraved, i.e., his sin permeates all his being.
He prefers his own word and law to God’s word and law. Man relishes his own
will while finding God’s will repressive and hostile to his being. Fallen man
reorders his life and world and all reality in defiance of God; he insists on a
universe without God and His law, and any myth that denies God is science and
wisdom to him. This is an aspect of man’s dying.
“To be as God” is still as ever fundamental to man’s being in his fallen estate.
The modern state, by supplanting God’s law with man’s law, is playing god. In
the Orthodox churches, salvation means deification, theosis. In the Roman
Catholic church, the church is the extension of the incarnation. Many
Protestants in speaking of the church as the Body of Christ mean thereby not His
humanity but His deity, or, both His divinity and his humanity, which is false.
Paganism is rife with ideas of self-deification. In Mormonism, or the Church
of Latter Day Saints, men become gods in the other world. The horrifying
lengths some go to in this regard is seen in a self-styled prophet of the
Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints.4
36 Genesis

4.
See Pete Earley, Prophet of Death (New York: William Morrow, 1991).
 Chapter Nine
The Fall of Man and the Curse
(Genesis 3:7-21)
7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art
thou?
10. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because
I was naked; and I hid myself.
11. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of
the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she
gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast
done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done
this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall
be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice
of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat
the herb of the field;
19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return.
20. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of
all living.
21. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of
skins, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:7-21)
In vv. 7 and 21, we see an immediate consequence of the Fall: man went from
God-consciousness to self-consciousness. “They knew that they were naked, and they
clothed themselves with “aprons” or coverings of fig leaves. Guilt leads man to
seek a covering, and the meaning of atonement is a covering. In atonement by
God, man’s sinful person is covered by God’s grace. In self-atonement, all kinds
of subterfuges and masks are used to hide man’s inner being. The mask becomes
a necessity because self-revelation is deadly. In some fallen men, self-revelation
becomes an exercise in self-justification. Lenny Bruce, in How to Talk Dirty and

37
38 Genesis
Influence People, flaunted certain things, boasting of his fearless openness, while
indignantly denying other things. Self-justification can mean bragging about
one’s ostensible honesty. In v. 21, God clothes Adam and Eve with coats of skin
to cover their sense of shame. The use of animal skins indicates some kind of
sacrifice, so, not without reason, even some who are not orthodox have
suggested the institution of the sacrificial system. In Genesis 4:3-4, Cain and
Abel have some real awareness of the meaning of sacrifices.
The penalty for sin is death. The remedy for sin and death is atonement. We
can therefore assume that, death having entered the world because of their sin,
God taught Adam and Eve the remedy for sin and death.
The immediate and continuing consequence of sin is guilt. Guilt is the great
and world-wide penalty for sin, and, apart from atonement, there is no remedy
for sin nor for guilt. A key figure in the twentieth century was Albert Schweitzer,
whose philosophy and religion of reverence for life is closely linked with
environmentalism and the religious exaltation of plant and animal life. Since to
stay alive we constantly consume plants and animals, we cannot escape the kind
of guilt that makes us permanently guilty in Schweitzer’s thinking. By his own
admission, man is perpetually, continually, guilty.1 We must make atonement to
the environment and to “minority” or subordinate peoples,2 but it is an
atonement which is never efficacious and thus never sufficient to end guilt.
Modern man’s substitutes for Christ ensure perpetual guilt. But guilty men are
impotent and easily controlled, so the modern state is ready to create and use
guilt to control people. “Laying a guilt trip” on people is a popular device.
It is an interesting fact that animals as close to people as pets so commonly
acquire a sense of guilt.
Because of guilt, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God (v. 8). God called
to Adam, “Where art thou?” (v. 9), knowing that Adam was hiding because of
his sin. He called to Adam as the responsible person, as head of the first family.
Adam confessed his fear of God, a fear caused by his disobedience and sin.
According to 1 John 4:18,
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath
torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The fear of the sinner is not a clean fear, i.e., of doing wrong, but a guilty fear.
Adam confesses to fear because he is guilty and knows it (v. 11), and for this
reason he hid himself. He admits to fear but not to sin. In effect, Adam was saying
that it was the majesty of God that caused him to fear and to hide himself rather
than his sin and guilt. He was naked and therefore ashamed before God. In so
excusing himself Adam was in effect commending himself to God for his
sensitivity to the Presence of God.

1.
James Bently, Albert Schweitzer, The Enigma (New York: Harper Collins, 1992), 145.
2.
Ibid., 163.
 The Fall of Man and the Curse (Genesis 3:7-21) 39
God’s question, a challenge rather than a query, was, “Who told thee that thou
wast naked?” Until now, Adam had lacked self-consciousness. “Hast thou eaten
of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (v. 11).
Adam’s shame declares him to be a sinner.
Adam’s answer is a classic of self-justification: “The woman whom thou
gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (v. 12). Instead of
admitting his sin, Adam blames Eve, and then he blames God for giving him
Eve: “The woman thou gavest to be with me....” God, Adam says, is the root
cause of his sin! Mankind has not changed since then. Heredity, environment,
any and every excuse is made for sin, except to say with David, “Against thee,
thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight” (Ps. 51:4). As Herbert
E. Ryle observed, “Guilt makes the man first a coward, and then insolent.”3
Eve’s answer is no better: she blames the tempter and pleads innocence by laying
the guilt on him (v. 13).
Judgment is now delivered by God in reverse order. No question is asked of
the tempter, because no valid answer can ever be given by him. Adam and Eve
will repent, but the tempter never, so he is simply condemned. The animal he
used is condemned; enmity is placed between it and all the woman’s seed. Both
the physical serpents and the tempter are able to bruise the heels of men, i.e., to
cripple but not to destroy people theologically, but the seed of the woman, Jesus
Christ, will crush the serpent’s head (v. 15). Christ will destroy the works of the
devil and the power of sin and death.
God tells Eve and all women after her, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and
thy conception.” Sorrow here means pain. The woman’s great joy in childbearing
will be marked by pain, not merely in birth-pangs but in seeing the effects of the
Fall, of sin and guilt, in her children and grand-children. The pain of seeing the
working out of the Fall in those whom we love is referred to here.
Moreover, “thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (v.
16). Man’s headship began with creation; after the Fall, sin makes it often a
burden rather than a blessing.
The curse on man is really a curse on the ground (v. 17), on his work. Man
must seek his livelihood henceforth in a frustrating natural realm. Only hard
work will make the ground productive. “Thorns also and thistles,” weeds, will
proliferate, whereas the life-giving herbs will require more work and cultivation
(v. 18). Hard work, “the sweat of thy brow,” will be necessary to produce food,
and death will take back man’s body into the ground: “for dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return” (v. 19). Man, created in the image of God, returns to dust
because of the Fall.
Man then faced a bleak future, but he was now apparently humbled and
chastised. He named his wife Eve, or Havvah, meaning living, or life, “because she

3.
Herbert. E Ryle, Genesis (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, [1914]
1921), 53.
40 Genesis
was the mother of all living” (v. 20). By so naming her, he sets forth his hope
that together they will affirm God’s purpose, life in Him, rather than a course of
eternal death. As against the curse, Adam affirmed life, but the Fall led both the
man and the woman to plead victimhood, and the plea of victimhood is basic to
the Fall. It is an insistence that one is not responsible, that evil things are done
to us. This view sees man as passive. Now it is true that people are often
victimized, but, both before and after, we have a responsibility not to dwell on
that fact but to work to overcome it. We are called to be, in all things, “more
than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37).
 Chapter Ten
The Tree of Life
(Genesis 3:22-24)
22. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of
the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to
till the ground from whence he was taken.
24. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of
Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the
way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)
Few texts in the Bible have for the many years of church history more baffled
readers and commentators than v. 22. Some have held that the words are used
ironically, a view we also find among the ancient rabbis.1
To gain some understanding, we must begin by recognizing that some things
are beyond our understanding this side of heaven. Also, we must see that our
vision of things is limited. The tree of life is Jesus Christ, and yet in Eden it is
also a literal tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an actual tree,
and yet it set forth the choice for men of either submitting to God’s definitions
of good and evil, or seeking to know or to determine for oneself what is right
and wrong as a god, as the great definer (Gen. 3:5). The reality was thus both the
sign and the fact or reality it set forth.
Jesus Christ declares Himself to be life (John 11:25; 14:6; Col. 3:4; 1 John 5:20)
and the true vine (John 15:1).
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were two actual trees in
Eden. Their purpose was moral. Would man be obedient to God, or would he
try to be his own god? The two trees placed a choice before man: life in God, or
autonomy from God? To live under God’s law and command meant
dependence, responsibility, and work: the whole earth was to be developed as
God’s kingdom. There would be no escape from accountability and labor. As
against this, the tempter offered a work-free world wherein man’s fiat word
would be creative because man would became a god.
We must begin by accepting the sincerity of Satan. In his hostility to God, he
believes that the creature should have the same powers by right. Satan believes in
creaturely and human rights. His goal therefore is to push men into rebellion to
test his theory in the hopes that man, as civilization develops, will triumph.
Modern man dreams of defeating death and creating a divine-human order in
which men are as god, autonomous and creative. The urge to create new life
forms is expressive of the hope.

1.
Rabbi Meier Zlotowitz, Bereishis, Genesis, vol. 1 (Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah Publi-
cations, [1977] 1980), 137.

41
42 Genesis
The triune God declares, “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know
good and evil” (v. 22). However falsely, men were now beginning a course
through Adam and Eve of being their own source of law and of defining good
and evil apart from God and His law. All over the world today, politics is an
example of this: the man-god through civil government establishes his
independent law; he defines good and evil apart from God.
Something must be done, the triune God declares, “lest he (man) put forth
his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (v. 22). The
actual tree in the Garden of Eden could enable Adam and Eve to live endlessly
if they could continue eating its fruit. But their access to that tree had been
conditional upon their obedience. By cutting mankind from access to the tree of
life, by barring access to it, men could then be prepared to receive the true tree
of life, Jesus Christ. They could now be engrafted into the true vine (John 15:1-
8).
We are not accustomed to thinking of life forever in this body, as v. 22
indicates, but the doctrine of the resurrection of the body simply states that a
glorified body shall so live (1 Cor. 15:39ff.). Some hold that man had never eaten
previously of the tree of life, because, having been obedient, he was not subject
to death. This may well be true or it may not be, no matter. What is important
for us to know is that man in sin must be subject to sin and death.
Man was sent out of the garden to till the ground in a now fallen world, the
ground from whence he was taken, and which his sin had cursed (v. 23).
He was driven out (v. 24); he had no desire to go. The cherubim were placed
at the east of the Garden. Perhaps the four rivers of Eden (Gen. 2:10-14)
provided a natural boundary in all directions except on the east. In addition to
the cherubim guarding the Garden of Eden, “a flaming sword” kept the way to
the tree of life. Man was thus barred from Eden.
Man was now in a hopeless condition, with sin and death as his estate. He had
no access to life, and he was now totally dependent in a very obvious way on
God’s grace for his redemption. It is opened to man by Jesus Christ, of whom
we are told in Galatians 3:13 that He was crucified on a tree. This was in fact a
common practice, and Roman crucifixions were associated with trees. The tree
of life is crucified “on a tree,” a grimly ironic fact. All the sons of the first Adam
are barred from the tree of life except through the atonement made on the cross
or tree by the last Adam, Jesus Christ, the tree of life.
This text tells us of an essential link between the spiritual and material realms
which we will fully understand in the world to come.
 Chapter Eleven
Cain
(Genesis 4:1-15)
1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and
said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
2. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat
thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very
wroth, and his countenance fell.
6. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy
countenance fallen?
7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well,
sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule
over him.
8. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they
were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said,
I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10. And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground.
11. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth
to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her
strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can
bear.
14. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth;
and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in
the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay
me.
15. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain,
vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark
upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. (Genesis 4:1-15)
Our text begins with the statement that “Adam knew Eve his wife” (v. 1). This
usage of knew to mean sexual intercourse is radically Biblical and alien to modern
thought. For mankind, sexual intercourse is, according to the Bible, a conscious
and knowing act, whether done with love or with evil intent. This usage is totally
at odds with the modern view that sex is an uncontrollable urge that governs
man and his activities. This view, while having deep roots in pagan thought, and
present over the centuries as an undercurrent, came into its own with the
Romantic movement. The Biblical word stresses the cognitive element.
Certainly in the current plague of pornography among older men, and the
occurrences of child molestation by elderly men, we must recognize the key part

43
44 Genesis
of the mind in sexuality. Sexuality is a physical fact with a mental control, and
that mental control can be good or evil. The physical urge is under a mental
governance. The Biblical use of the word knew is thus not an accidental or a
casual one.
Eve “conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the
LORD” (v. 1). This is certainly a sad statement; apparently Eve assumed that this
son was God’s promised Redeemer who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen.
3:15).
The second birth was of Abel, “a keeper of sheep,” whereas Cain was a
farmer, “a tiller of the ground” (v. 2). Many other children were born to Adam
and Eve: Genesis 5:4 tells that sons and daughters were born to them.
In vv. 3-4, we are told that in time both Cain and Abel brought offerings to
the Lord. Calvin, in his commentary on Genesis, saw no problem in seeing these
two offerings in terms of the sacrificial system of Exodus through
Deuteronomy. Those who hold to an evolutionary view insist on seeing the
Genesis account as a primitive form of sacrifice. But the same God is present in
Adam’s day as in Moses’ time, and atonement has always meant the same thing.
Abel’s sacrifice was an atonement; Cain offered a thank offering, apparently
feeling no need for atonement. Cain was outraged at his rejection (v. 5).
God confronted Cain, saying simply, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted?” In Stigers’ translation this phrase is rendered, “but if you do not do
well, at the door sin will be a besieger and it desires you, but you must gain
dominion over it.”1 This sentence is again revealing, like v. 1, that Adam knew
Eve, an act of conscious choice. Sin, however, besieges us and desires us: its goal is
dominion. Sin is personalized as an aspect of the tempter’s active work and plan.
Cain had not sought atonement and justification by sacrifice to God. He
sought it rather by self-justification. He was angry with God for rejecting his
offering. Unable to strike at God, Cain struck and killed Abel his brother (v. 8).
We must recognize that God’s people are often the target of man’s hatred for
God.
To murder, Cain now added a lie. To God’s question, “Where is Abel thy
brother?,” Cain answered, “I know not: am I my brother’s keeper?” (v. 9). God
had not asked Cain to be his brother’s keeper but his brother’s brother. Cain’s
answer has the arrogance of modern statists who see themselves as every man’s
keeper, not a brother.
God now confronted Cain with his murder and his judgment. Because his
brother’s blood cries to God from the ground, Cain is doubly cursed in that the
ground will now even further frustrate him. On top of that, whether wandering
or settled, Cain will know himself to be a fugitive and a vagabond (vv. 10-12).

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 86f.
 Cain (Genesis 4:1-15) 45
All guilty men have the sense of being fugitives. Their consciences accuse them,
and their way of life becomes a continual hiding from themselves.
In vv. 13-14, Cain whines about his punishment. He feels no sorrow over his
murder, nor for the grief of his parents, who have such great hopes for him. He
is full of self-pity. There is no sorrow comparable to his sorrow. The world’s first
child became a revelation of the horror of man’s fall: sin and self-pity marked his
being.
Only his family, his parents, brothers, and sisters existed at the time, yet Cain
feared vengeance from all sides. Verse 14 does not tell us that Cain would
become a nomad but rather that he would feel hunted. A bad conscience would
give him no rest.
God therefore banned the killing of Cain. At this time, all people living were
sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. They were all a family. The power of the
death penalty does not belong to the family, so that none could legitimately have
killed Cain. It was Cain’s conscience that was killing him.
We are not told what the mark of Cain was, so speculation is futile. Whatever
it was, it was a sufficient deterrent.
We are not told how long Cain lived. The genealogies omit this fact. We are
simply left with the knowledge that he lived and died full of self-pity, feeling
always hunted, and was the first builder, in time, of a city. The city was a walled
area. God’s assurance of protection was not enough for Cain, even as the
atonement prescribed by God was bypassed by Cain. He began with self-
justification and continued with self-pity. Because sin is so very much still with
us, Cain is also very much a modern (and post-modern) person.
 Chapter Twelve
Lamech and Seth
(Genesis 4:16-26)
16. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the
land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
17. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he
builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son,
Enoch.
18. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael
begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah,
and the name of the other Zillah.
20. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and
of such as have cattle.
21. And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as
handle the harp and organ.
22. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in
brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye
wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my
wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
24. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and
sevenfold.
25. And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name
Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel,
whom Cain slew.
26. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name
Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
(Genesis 4:16-26)
The question raised by many concerning this text is about Cain’s wife: who
was she and where did she come from? The answer is that in that era and for
centuries later marriages in incestuous degrees did not have the very serious
genetic consequences which now prevail. Both Adam and Eve had within them
all the genetic potentialities for all mankind, so that marriage within the family
did not have the clear dangers that now prevail.1 One can perhaps say that the
genetic character of two Danes or two Poles is more homogeneous than that of
two members of the line of Adam in the early centuries, and long thereafter.
“Cain went out from the presence of the LORD” (v. 16). According to H.C.
Leupold, this expression is similar to Cain’s complaint in v. 11 that he is “driven
forth from the ground.”2 Man is an alien on the earth when he is alien to God.
No place can give him true shelter. He went eastward, seeking refuge in “the land
of Nod,” the land of wandering (v. 16).

1.
See R.J. Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law, vol. 1 (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: The Pres-
byterian and Reformed Publishing Co. [1973] 1994), 386-375.
2.
H.C. Leupold, Exposition of Genesis (Wartburg Press, 1942), 213.

47
48 Genesis
He “knew his wife,” and she gave birth to Enoch, meaning dedication, a good
name, but, for Cain, it no doubt meant dedication to his anti-God faith, his will
to be his own god. He also built the first “city.” A city here means a walled area,
and for most of history a city has been so defined. As such, it was a place of
safety. For Cain, it was an attempt to wall out his conscience and guilt, since God
had marked him for protection. Cain felt “driven out” and hounded, and so he
built a walled city to protect himself. He called the city, like his firstborn son,
Enoch, meaning again dedication. Cain’s life was now dedicated to self-protection
and survival. Guilty men forever feel hunted and persecuted.
We are then given the names of those in the line of Adam through Cain, and
Lamech is the seventh in the line. After Lamech, we have Jabal, the father of
cattlemen; prior to him, men kept cattle, but Jabal did so exclusively. Jubal, his
brother, became the father of musicians, in particular of those who play the harp
and organ. The organ later became a temple instrument, as did the harp. Tubal-
Cain became the teacher of all workers in brass and iron. A sister is mentioned,
Naamah, meaning pleasant. We are told these things to remind us that evil people
are not thereby lacking in talent.
In v. 23 and 24, we have the Song of Lamech, called by some the Song of the
Sword, a song of vengeance. In v. 15, God, having given His protection to Cain,
says of anyone who kills Cain, “vengeance shall be taken upon him sevenfold.”
Now man’s original sin is to try to be his own god. For Lamech, this means
surpassing God: “If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and
sevenfold” (v. 24). The contempt for God is obvious. Lamech boasts of his
ability to outdo God in exacting vengeance.
Lamech boasts of his ability to exact vengeance: “for I have slain a man to my
wounding, and a young man to my hurt” (v. 23). We are not told whether or not
one or two killings are indicated, but, given the parallelism of such writing, it
perhaps refers to one killing. James Moffatt paraphrased it to refer to two
killings:
The man who wounds me, him I slay,
I slay a boy for a blow.
In any case, Lamech brags that he is more dangerous than God! In effect,
knowing the reality of God, Lamech was defying God to do His worst. For
Lamech, God’s law was a trifle, and Lamech’s will the hard reality.
God declares, through Moses,
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due
time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come
upon them make haste. (Deut. 32:35)
St. Paul tells us,
 Lamech and Seth (Genesis 4:16-26) 49
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath:
for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the LORD. (Rom.
12:19)
(“Give place unto wrath” probably means, “Let the Wrath of God have its
way,” as James Moffatt renders it.) In brief, God declares that He, in His justice,
brings vengeance or recompense to all sinners. If we take the law into our hands,
we deny God and affirm ourselves. We declare that our idea of justice is better
than God’s. Men often exact such an evil justice in the name of God, as have
some murderers of abortionists in 1994. We cannot break God’s law in the name
of God.
In vv. 25-26, we are told of Seth’s birth as Cain’s replacement as the firstborn.
Seth means foundation; he was to be their hope in God, the foundation of a Godly
and in time Messianic seed. Many other sons and daughters were born to Adam
and Eve (Genesis 5:3-5).
At this point, a clarification is necessary. Cain had called his first son Enoch or
Chanokh, “dedication.” Seth’s son’s name in English is again Enoch, but, in the
Hebrew, Enosh, meaning “the frail one,” or “the mortal.” Seth recognized the
frailty of man’s life.3
The line of Cain very early excelled in some of the arts, perhaps because their
hope was so intensely dedicated to the city of man. We are told, as against this,
that in Seth’s day, “then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (v. 26).
If we take this clause in a narrow and modern sense, we will see it as meaning
simply that men then began to worship God. The name of God means His
nature and being; it can mean that they began to think seriously of the creation
mandate to exercise dominion and to make this world the Kingdom of God. It
would thus mean that the dominion mandate again governed the line of Adam.

3.
Ibid, 277.
 Chapter Thirteen
Adam, Seth, and Enos
(Genesis 5:1-8)
1. This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created
man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2. Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their
name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own
likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
4. And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred
years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5. And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and
he died.
6. And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
7. And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and
begat sons and daughters:
8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he
died. (Genesis 5:1-8)
In this chapter, we are given the genealogy of Adam to Noah, covering many
centuries, a total of 1656 years according to the Hebrew Massoretic text, from
Adam to the Flood. The name of the book, Genesis, is the Greek equivalent of
the Hebrew word for generations. The Hebrew word dor, translated “generation”
123 times in the Old Testament, is not the same as the word we have here, toledot,
which means history.1 This means that v.1 tells us, “This is the book of the
history, or records, of Adam.” Such a rendering makes Genesis a collection of
family histories and records, all contemporary with the things recorded.
As we read Genesis, we find these records:
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth. (2:4)
This is the book of the generations of Adam. (5:1)
These are the generations of Noah. (6:9)
These are the generations of the sons of Noah. (10:1)
These are the generations of Shem. (11:10)
These are the generations of Terah. (11:27)
These are the generations of Ishmael. (25:12)
These are the generations of Isaac. (25:19)
These are the generations of Esau. (36:1) 
These are the generations of Esau. (36:9)
These are the generations of Jacob. (37:2) 2
Each section concludes the preceding text. In Genesis 5:1, we are told “This is
the book of the generations of Adam,” book meaning “written narrative” or
“finished writing.”3

1.
P.J. Wiseman, edited by D.J. Wiseman, Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis (Nash-
ville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, [1936] 1985), 61f.
2.
Ibid., 60.

51
52 Genesis
The first verse makes an important statement that must be linked to the third
verse. Adam was created in the image of God, and Seth was created in Adam’s
image. Adam in his creation reflected the unfallen image of God, but Seth
reflected the fallen image of Adam. Knowledge was now tainted knowledge; justice
or righteousness was replaced by wilful injustice and self-will; holiness, or
dedication to God, in fallen man means a separation to self-indulgence and evil;
and dominion has given way to a lust for domination. Thus, even the Godly seed
begins life with a handicap. Seth began life with an evil and fallen nature; his
presence in the line of faith reflects God’s grace, not Seth’s nature.
Adam and Eve are alike called “Adam,” meaning man. Adam thus is both the
name of the first man and also the name of his kind.
In v. 5, we have a phrase, “And he died,” which is used repeatedly in the
genealogy, in vv. 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, and 31. Death, an outsider to man’s history
in Eden, is now inevitable and universal. It is inherent now to man’s fallen estate.
As Paul tells us in Romans 5:14-21, death reigned from Adam to Moses and
thereafter, or “sin hath reigned unto death” (v. 21), and this reign can only be
broken by Jesus Christ. The “last enemy” to be destroyed by Christ at His
second coming is death (1 Cor. 15:26).
The condition of the earth prior to the Flood was more congenial to longevity
than that of the era that followed. The ages of the patriarchs after the Flood
decreased steadily until man’s life span became the abbreviated one we know. In
Isaiah 65:20 we are told that, as sin is pushed back, and the Messiah’s reign is
extended, so too death is pushed back and longevity returns.
Seth was the head after Adam of the Godly line. His name means appointed,
placed, or firmly founded. Eve “called his name Seth; for God, said she, hath
appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Genesis 4:25).
Seth’s son in this line is Enos (Enoshe), meaning mortal, implying frailty,
affliction. In English, this name resembles Enoch (Khanoke), which means
initiated, dedicated, but the names are different in the Hebrew.
In v. 2, we are told that God blessed man at the time of his creation. This was
a fatherly act of endowing a child for success in life. In Genesis, we see many
examples of this: Genesis 9:26-27; 27:27; 49:1-28. We see also God’s blessing on
man in Genesis 1:28; 5:2; 9:1, and 12:3. In Ephesians 1:3 we are told that God
blesses us in and through Jesus Christ. The blessing intended by God at the
beginning is restored to us through Christ. Man’s purpose in God’s plan is that
he serve his Creator-Redeemer with all his heart, mind, and being. The history
of man in Christ is one of sin, then salvation from sin, and salvation unto service
to the Lord. If man sees himself, rather than the kingdom of God, as the end
product, he will maintain that the goal of God’s work in Christ is man’s
salvation, and service will be forgotten. As a result, there will be no blessing, and
there will be curses laid upon him.
3.
Ibid., 67.
 Adam, Seth, and Enos (Genesis 5:1-8) 53
In these eight verses, we are only given three generations: Adam, Seth, and
Enos. We are told that mankind has deteriorated from the unfallen image of
God to the fallen image of Adam. Their days are many, but they all die. They
beget many sons and daughters, but the Kingdom of God is not gained by
generation but by regeneration. We have been given the Godly line, an
apparently besieged and lonely line, but it is alone the line of promise.
 Chapter Fourteen
From Cainan to Noah
(Genesis 5:9-32)
9. And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10. And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years,
and begat sons and daughters:
11. And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
12. And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
13. And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty
years, and begat sons and daughters:
14. And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he
died.
15. And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16. And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty
years, and begat sons and daughters:
17. And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years:
and he died.
18. And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
19. And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat
sons and daughters:
20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and
he died.
21. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred
years, and begat sons and daughters:
23. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24. And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
25. And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat
Lamech:
26. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and
two years, and begat sons and daughters:
27. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years:
and he died.
28. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
29. And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us
concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which
the LORD hath cursed.
30. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five
years, and begat sons and daughters:
31. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven
years: and he died.
32. And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham,
and Japheth. (Genesis 5:9-32)
We have here the line of Adam through Seth, and an account of their
longevity. More than one ancient account speaks of the great longevity of men
before the Flood. Obviously, some of these accounts are exaggerations, whereas
for us the Biblical account is historical. It indicates to us that, even outside of
Eden, the conditions of life were such that men had superior health and a longer

55
56 Genesis
life span. The Flood brought these advantages to a decline and an end. Human
vitality, at its highest point after the Fall and before the Flood, was steadily
diminished as the Fall and the Flood took their toll.
There was apparently some kind of promise from God of relief after the birth
of Noah, according to v. 29. The relief was not from the curse of the ground but
from the curse of the ungodly men in the line of Cain and defectors from the
line of Seth.
The Bible regards genealogy as important because, first, the family is
important, and second, it traces the messianic line carefully. One such genealogy
reads as follows:

AN. HOM. B.C.

Adam created 0 4046

Adam’s age at birth of Seth 130 3916

Add Seth’s age at birth of 235 3811

Enos (105)

Add Enos’ age at birth of 325 3721

Cainan (90)

Add Cainan’s age at birth of 395 3651

Mahalaleel (70)

Add Mahalaleel’s age at birth 460 3586

of Jared (65)

Add Jared’s age at birth of 622 3424

Enoch (162)

Add Enoch’s age at birth of 687 3359

Methuselah (65)

Add Methuselah’s age at birth 874 3172

of Lamech (187)

Add Lamech’s age at birth of 1056 2990

Noah (182)

Add Noah’s age at the time of 1656 2390

the flood (600)
 From Cainan to Noah (Genesis 5:9-32) 57
1

MAY BE ROUGHLY
THE MEANING OF THE NAMES
TRANSLATED AS FOLLOWS:

Seth appointed one

Enos mortal frailty

Cainan smith

Mahalaleel God be praised

Jared descent

Enoch dedication

Methuselah when he dies, judgment

Lamech conqueror

Noah rest

THE CAINITE GENEALOGY

1. (Adam)

2. Cain

3. Enoch

4. Irad

5. Mehujael

6. Methushael

7. Lamech, who had three sons, Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-Cain.

The line of Seth also ends with three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.

1.
Philip Mauro, The Wonders of Bible Chronology (Swengel, Pennsylvania: Bible Truth De-
pot, 1961), 14.
2.
Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record (San Diego: Creation-Life Publishers, 1976), 155.
58 Genesis
The chronology given above is from the Massoretic (Hebrew) text of the
Bible (Old Testament).

LONGEVITY, BEFORE AND

AFTER THE FLOOD:

Adam 930

Seth 912

Noah 950

Shem 600

Arpachshad 408

Terah 205

Abraham 175

Isaac 180

Jacob 147

Joseph 110

Moses 120

Joshua 110

There is no agreement as to the meaning of Methuselah; Morris gives it as,

“when he dies, judgment,” but most read it as “man of the weapon.” We do
know from the chronology that he died in the year of the Flood, apparently
shortly before it occurred. Lamech died five years before the Flood.
We are told about Enoch, first, that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not;
for God took him” (v. 24). This fact has attracted much attention over the
centuries and has led to apocryphal writings being ascribed to Enoch. The belief
was that a man who was taken to heaven without dying had to be a prophet. In
reality, Enoch’s status was due to holiness, not to prophetic powers. Jude 14-15
does tell us of a prophecy of judgment by Enoch, but it is simply a declaration
of judgment upon sin rather than any specific forecast of future time. The
emphasis in our text is on Enoch’s holiness, his walk with God. Second, in v. 22
we are told that Enoch “begat sons and daughters”; clearly holiness includes
marriage and family responsibilities. Such a stress is fully Biblical; sacerdotal
celibacy has no place in the Bible.
 From Cainan to Noah (Genesis 5:9-32) 59
Lamech, the father of Noah, made a prediction concerning his son: “This
same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the
ground which the LORD hath cursed” (v. 29). The name Noah means rest. The
Hebrew reads “from our work and from the toil of our hands.” This curse comes
from the ground. However much misunderstood, God had given a prophecy
concerning a great change to come in Noah’s day. The hope was for deliverance
from the curse on the earth. Instead, the deliverance was from, first, the vast
humanity which was radically dedicated to evil. The curse on the earth would
remain. Second, the deliverance would be from the longevity of peoples in the
world before the Flood. This was in itself a great curse. When men could live
900 or more years, God’s judgments and death were very remote to them. Who
would fear death if it were normally centuries away, and therefore judgment was
remote? The reduction of the lifespan of man was thus both a judgment and a
blessing. In the 1990’s, term limits became a means of restraining entrenched
evil by political office-holders. Think of the evil consequences if such men could
hold office for a few centuries!
There is a curious fact about Noah. He was 500 years old before his sons were
born, first Shem, and later Ham and Japheth. In Genesis 6:10, the same order is
given for the sons. The name Shem means name, renown, authority, and he was the
eldest, and he was in the messianic line.
There is a parallel in the lines of Seth and Cain. Enoch in Seth’s line is the
seventh from Adam, and Lamech is the seventh from Adam in Cain’s line. There
is a contrast between the holiness of Enoch and the Cainite Lamech, a bigamist,
murderer, and braggart. Those who are anti-God have a life terminating in
judgment. Those who are Godly inherit eternal life.
 Chapter Fifteen
Mixed Marriages
(Genesis 6:1-4)
1. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the
earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2. That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and
they took them wives of all which they chose.
3. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that
he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when
the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children
to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
(Genesis 6:1-4)
This is a text which has been subjected to much fanciful interpretation.
Supposedly, “the sons of God” in v. 2 were angels who married “the daughters
of men.” But our Lord tells us that angels do not marry, nor are they given in
marriage (Matt. 22:29-30; Mark 12:24f.; Luke 20:34-36). Shall we believe our
Lord, or shall we agree with foolish readers?
Moreover, if “the sons of God” refers to angels and not men, then why would
God punish men, as v. 3 and the Flood make clear that He did?
The Jewish reading is a very clear one. The expression in the text is “the sons
of Elohim,” and “Elohim” always implies rulership.1 While it is wrong to hold
that words have an identical meaning in their every use, the translation “sons of
the rulers” makes sense, and no other rendering does. The text then tells us that
the sons of Godly rulers married without reference to the faith and purely in
terms of sexual attraction. “They took them wives of all which they chose” (v.
2), meaning that religious and moral standards had no influence on their choices
of wives. These women were “the daughters of men,” descendants of fallen
Adam and of Cain.
This is the first text in the Bible to condemn mixed marriage, i.e., religiously
mixed marriages. Over the centuries, the church has wisely stressed marrying
within the faith. Mixed marriages were forbidden by God’s law (Deut. 7:3f.; Ezra
9:12; Nehemiah 10:30; etc.); because the family is God’s basic community, to
introduce a religious division at this level is to endanger the fabric of society.
H. C. Leupold titled this section of his commentary, Exposition of Genesis
(1942), “The Commingling of the Two Races (6:1-8).” The title is an apt one,
because the racial division which is basic to Biblical history is between the
covenant people and all covenant breakers. For Leupold, the “sons of God” are
“without a shadow of a doubt, the Sethites.”2 Zlotowitz translates v. 3 thus:
1.
Rabbi Meier Zlotowitz and Rabbi Nosson Scherman, Bereishis, Genesis, vol. 1, (Brook-
lyn, New York: Mesorah Publications [1977] 1980), 180.

61
62 Genesis
“And HASHEM said, My spirit shall not contend evermore concerning man
since he is but flesh; his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”3 God declares
that His patience with man is ending. Man is refusing to submit to God’s rule.
Since men had seen Adam, and knew his story, they were very familiar with
God’s creation mandate. In spite of this knowledge, men were refusing to
submit to God’s will. Their longevity made them arrogant, and judgment seemed
remote.
“His days shall be a hundred and twenty years” (v. 3) has also been variously
interpreted. Some have held that this refers to the human life span. Certainly,
after the Flood man’s longevity gradually decreased, but it became not much
more than half of 120 years in due time. Most likely, only 120 years would elapse
to the judgment of the Flood.
“There were giants in the earth in those days” (v. 4). Besides Biblical
references to giant peoples, we have the historical evidences. The Watusis of the
Congo, a branch of the Bahima, are such a people surviving into the twentieth
century.
These peoples, called Nephilim, were present not only before the Flood but
also afterwards (v. 4). The genetic potentiality of Noah and his family included
such a possibility. The Canaanites in the days of Joshua included such people
(Num. 13:33; Deut. 1:28). Deuteronomy 3:11 describes Og, king of Bashan, as
a giant, and later, Goliath is such a man, in his case over nine feet tall. In 2
Samuel 21:16-22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4-8, we are told of other Philistine giants.
In 1 Chronicles 11:23 we are told of an Egyptian seven and a half feet in height.
We are told that these were “mighty men of renown” (v. 4). Zlotowitz saw the
literal meaning as “men of name,” “men of renown,” or “men of distinction.”
He rendered it as “men of devastation.”4 Robert Young’s Literal Translation reads
“men of name.” Old Testament references such as Numbers 13:33 do indicate
that the Nephilim were mighty men in their rebellion against God, and this was
their renown. The Hebrew root naphal means to fall upon, to attack.5 This means
that the true focus should not be on their physical size but on their religious and
moral hostility to God. Their attack was directed against God above all else.6
It should be clear now that popular interpretations have shifted the meaning
from a theological and moral one to a mythological one. Nephilim does mean an
attacker, a tyrant in effect. Aalders preferred to translate the word as “violent
men.” 7

2.
H.C. Leupold, Exposition of Genesis (Columbus, Ohio: The Wartburg Press, 1942), 250.
3.
Zlotowitz, 183-195.
4.
Ibid., I, 197.
5.
Leupold, 258.
6.
Ibid., 259.
7.
G. Ch. Aalders, Genesis, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 157.
 Mixed Marriages (Genesis 6:1-4) 63
Because God decreed judgment would come in 120 years, He thereby in
effect withdrew from all opposition to man’s destructive course. Man had
become sinful and suicidal, and God decreed man’s end.
We can assume that man, in the many centuries before the Flood, made
important strides in technology. With the Flood, much of this would be lost.
Man’s long lifespan had been important in his ability to develop technologically,
but was devastating to his religious and moral estate.
God through Haggai tells us that “cleanness” is not contagious, but
“uncleanness” is (Haggai 2:11-14). This is why mixed marriages are at best very
often difficult. Our redemption is a gift from God; it is not a contagion acquired
from men. Evil, on the other hand, is contagious and polluting.
Returning to the marriages of the Godly men to ungodly women, basic to it
was the women’s beauty. Marriage was reduced to the sexual dimension and was
therefore made into an anarchistic factor. God’s law, given orally and in part in
this era, no doubt had a stipulation regarding marriage, because ungodly
marriage is here condemned. God’s law requires a dowry for wives (undowered
wives are legally concubines). This gives stability to marriage as an institution.
The dowry was normally equal to about three years’ wages. A young man did not
lightly enter into marriage, nor did he easily abuse his wife; if she then divorced
him, he lost the dowry as an inheritance for his children. The abuse of wives was
thus costly. Likewise, the wife knew that she could lose the dowry for
misconduct and face the anger of her father and brothers. The dowry system
thus was a major check on the conduct of both men and women. In a culture
given to romantic ideas of marriage, there is no brake of the behavior on
husbands and wives, or very little.
 Chapter Sixteen
Noah and Eschatology
(Genesis 6:5-22)
5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it
grieved him at his heart.
7. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the
face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the
fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
9. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in
his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.
12. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all
flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for
the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy
them with the earth.
14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark,
and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the
ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the
height of it thirty cubits.
16. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it
above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower,
second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to
destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every
thing that is in the earth shall die.
18. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into
the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
19. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring
into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping
thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to
keep them alive.
21. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather
it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
(Genesis 6:5-22)
Our text concerns God’s order to Noah that he build an ark and prepare for
a great flood. First, in v. 5, we are told that God saw the wickedness of man in
word, thought, and deed. The whole imagination of man’s being was “only evil
continually.” The Cainites had prevailed, and the Sethites, except for a single
family, had been corrupted. Second, we are also told that “it repented the LORD

65
66 Genesis
that He had made man,” and it grieved Him. Although the Bible often tells us
that God “repented,” as in Exodus 32:14; Jeremiah 18:7-8; 26:3; Jonah 3:10, 1
Samuel 15:29, etc., it also tells us that God does not repent (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam.
15:29) because “I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). Because language
is too limited, and because it is beyond man to comprehend God, revelation uses
anthropomorphic language at times. (Philosophical language would be equally
impotent.)
We must therefore understand that what we see here is a stress by revelation
on God’s justice, i.e., that God’s justice brings forth judgment against sin. We
are told two things at once about Noah. First, “Noah found grace in the eyes of
the LORD” (v. 8). Second, we are told that “Noah was a just man and perfect in
his generations, and Noah walked with God” (v. 9). He exercised justice in terms
of God’s law. He was just or righteous.
There are three Hebrew words formed from the same root, meaning justice:
These are tsaddik, a righteous person; tsedek, justice in a court of law; and tsedakah,
charity.1 The three words are essentially related. Noah was a tsaddik, a righteous
man, versed in God’s law and in charity. Because Noah was a just or righteous
man, he knew that judgment must follow as God the Great Judge has decreed
it. This was an act of grace and charity to Noah and his family.
In v. 18, the word covenant is used, its first usage in Scripture, but the concept
is implicit from the beginning, and it was not unknown to Noah. God’s covenant
with Noah, a treaty of law, was also an act of grace, because God as the Great
King entered into a treaty of law with mankind in order to bless man. The bad
news of the Flood is also the good news of the covenant; God gives His grace
and law to mankind in the person of Noah.
In v. 13, God declares: “The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth
is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the
earth.” Man’s longevity did not protect him from violent death. Men became
violent and murderous in their life-styles, and they corrupted every relationship.
There are two events in the Old Testament which our Lord cites as
representative of judgment:
26. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the
Son of man.
27. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in
marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came,
and destroyed them all.
28. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they
bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and
brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

1.
Rabbi Meier Zlotowitz and Rabbi Nossore Scherman, Bereishis, Genesis, vol. 1 (Brook-
lyn, New York: Mesorah Publication, (1977) 1980), 198.
 Noah and Eschatology (Genesis 6:5-22) 67
30. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke
17:26-30)
Our Lord here speaks of the coming fall of Jerusalem; we say that all God’s
judgments in history have a similar unexpected element because of man’s
arrogance in his sin and his heedlessness to all warnings.
God commands Noah to prepare by building an ark. The dimensions are
given as 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high (v. 15). There are
differing opinions as to the length of the ancient cubit. More important for us
are the dimensions. This was a large vessel, made for floating on flood waters,
not steering. Ancient ships had a ten to one ratio in length and width; this made
them fast but unstable, easily capsized in a storm. In Columbus’ day, the ratio
was four to one, which increased safety but eliminated speed. The modern ratio,
which gives the best advantages, is six to one, like Noah’s, as Harry Rimmer
pointed out.
In vv. 19-20, Noah is told that he must plan to house every non-aquatic
creature in the ark. In terms of space, this was not as great a task as it might
appear to be. It meant two of each species; all dogs, for example, were potentially
in the two taken by Noah, all breeds of cows, and so on. The number of species
larger than a mouse is a limited one. The task was not an impossible one.
There is another very important aspect to Noah’s mandate that must be
considered. God here ordains judgment, so that the Flood is eschatological.
Eschatology is the doctrine of the last things, and the Flood was the end of the
old world and a judgment upon it. Only the family of just or righteous Noah was
saved. God’s judgments in history are cleansing in their purpose. In Psalm 37:18-
22 we are told,
18. The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall
be for ever.
19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine
they shall be satisfied.
20. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as
the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
21. The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous
showeth mercy, and giveth.
22. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be
cursed of him shall be cut off.
Earlier in the same psalm, we read:
9. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they
shall inherit the earth.
10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt
diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the
abundance of peace.
This same promise appears in the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:5.
68 Genesis
Given this fact, the Flood and every subsequent judgment, including those of
our own time and times to come, have as their purpose the preparation of the
earth to become God’s Holy Kingdom under man’s direction. The fact of
judgment is a promise of deliverance.
 Chapter Seventeen
The Judgment of the Old World
(Genesis 7:1-24)
1. And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the
ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his
female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed
alive upon the face of all the earth.
4. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days
and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy
from off the face of the earth.
5. And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
6. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon
the earth.
7. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with
him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of
every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the
female, as God had commanded Noah.
10. And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were
upon the earth.
11. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth,
the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with
them, into the ark;
14. They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind,
and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and
every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh,
wherein is the breath of life.
16. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had
commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
17. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased,
and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth;
and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high
hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
20. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were
covered.
21. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of
cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth, and every man:
22. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry

69
70 Genesis
land, died.
23. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of
the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of
the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only
remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
(Genesis 7:1-24)
Noah was ordered to take on board the ark two of every unclean animal and
seven of the clean (v. 2f.); this was to include birds as well. More than a few
writers object that the distinction between clean and unclean animals was not
made until Moses’ day. This is to assume that no verbal revelation had been
given prior to the written, which is nonsense. How the animals came, we do not
know; perhaps Noah had used the 120 years before the Flood to collect them;
perhaps God moved the animals to come. We do not know, but they were
collected.
In v. 11, the Flood’s beginning is dated in terms of Noah’s life, the 600th year,
month 2, day 17, of the calendar then in use. Most ancient calendars began in
the late fall. Josephus tells us (Ant. I, 3, 3) that it was in that time we would call
the very end of October and the beginning of November. We are also told in v.
11 that the Flood began when all the fountains of the great deep were broken
up, and then the rains began. This points, as Henry M. Morris has pointed out,
to volcanic activity that led to explosions and eruptions that poured forth great
tidal waves of water, both hot and cold, over all the earth. Expanding and
cooling gases, with endless ash and dust in the air, led to torrential downpours
of rain all over the earth.1 The words in v. 11, “broken up” are in the Hebrew
“cleaving open.” Such volcanic activity, and the gasses from it, would have killed
all who were in the areas of occurrence. The high waters which covered the
earth, very hot in some areas, radically cold in others, killed the rest. The source
of the Flood waters was thus both subterranean and atmospheric.
The New Testament, instead of using the Greek word for flood, uses
kataklusmos, cataclysm, to describe this event (Matt. 24:39; Luke 17:27; 2 Peter
2:5; 3:6).2 Thus, while it was a flood, it was much more.
The rains came for forty days and forty nights (vv. 12, 17), but we are told that
during that time the waters increased (v. 17), which suggests that volcanic activity
and earthquakes pushed the waters higher. All the mountains were covered,
although it is possible that, as the waters were subsiding, some areas were pushed
higher by the volcanic activity and the earthquakes. But, for a time, all things
were covered by water.
Later, the ark rested on a mountain of Ararat, specifically on Massis, now
commonly known by the name of the range, Ararat. Massis is 17,000 feet high

1.
Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record (San Diego: Creation-Life Publishers, 1976), 196f.
2.
Ibid., 203.
 Judgment on the Old World (Genesis 7:1-24) 71
and is still subject to very frequent tremors. The waters prevailed for 150 days,
during which time they continued to rise.
Obviously, this was no local flood, as some skeptics insist. Its pervasive nature
is also attested to in the stories of peoples all over the world. After the Flood, it
was more than a year before Noah and his family could leave the ark.
Prior to the Flood, Noah had time to collect and store food for himself and
the animals. In their inactive state, their need for food was limited. Noah and his
family were kept active cleaning stalls and cages and feeding the animals.
Leupold tells us that in 1609-1621 a Dutchman, Peter Janson, built as an
experiment a ship corresponding to the Biblical dimensions. He found it to be
seaworthy, and also possessing a high storage capacity.3
When we are told in v. 24 that the waters “prevailed on the earth 150 days,”
the Hebrew loses it force because our word “prevail” has weakened. It is,
literally, “were strong.” Only after 150 days did the destructive cataclysm
subside. In vv. 21-23, great stress is laid on the totality of the destruction, and
the passage concludes with the words, “and Noah only remained alive, and they
that were with him in the ark” (v. 23).
In v. 1, we are told that Noah was a righteous man. We are then told that the
rest of the world was evil. God gives us a moral reason for saving Noah and for
destroying all others. He invites Noah now to enter the ark: “Come thou and all
thy house” (v. 1). We are also told, “And Noah did according unto all that the
LORD commanded him” (v. 5). It is bad theology to hold that professions of
faith can replace moral obedience. As our Lord’s brother, James, tells us, “Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble” (James 2:19).
Thomas Whitelaw has given us a chronology of the Flood, reckoning from
the first day of the year.4

3.
H.C.
Leupold, Exposition of Genesis (Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg Press, 1942), 272.
4.
Thomas Whitelaw in Canon H.D. Spence and Rev. Joseph S. Exell, editors, The Pulpit
Commentary, Thomas Whitelaw, Genesis (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, n.d.), 127.
72 Genesis

months days days

I. Beginning of the Flood 1 17 = 47

Continuance of Rain + 40

Prevalence of Waters + 140

II. The ark touches Ararat 6 17 = 197

III. The Mountains seen 9 = 270

Raven sent after 40 days + 310

Dove sent after 7 days + 317

Dove sent after 7 days + 324

Dove sent after 7 days + 331

IV. The waters dried up 12 + 360

V. The Earth dry 13 27 + 417

J. P. Lange rightly said of the Flood, “The right belief in the judgment is, at
the same time, a belief in the deliverance of God.” 5 Every judgment by God is
also an occasion for deliverance and salvation. The Flood, the events in Egypt
and the plagues, the captivity in Babylon, and more, all these events were
judgments, times of cleansing, and then deliverance. In the cross, we have the
supreme coincidence of judgment and salvation: our sins are judged and we are
delivered.
To lose interest in Noah is to lose interest in both judgment and salvation.
The Flood requires us to recognize that judgment precedes salvation. To ask for
God’s deliverance from our present evil order is to ask for His judgment.

5.
John Peter Lange, Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d), 302.
 Chapter Eighteen
The Flood Ends
(Genesis 8:1-22)
1. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle
that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth,
and the waters assuaged;
2. The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were
stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3. And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end
of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the
month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
5. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth
month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
6. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the
window of the ark which he had made:
7. And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters
were dried up from off the earth.
8. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated
from off the face of the ground;
9. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned
unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth:
then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into
the ark.
10. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove
out of the ark;
11. And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was
an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from
off the earth.
12. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which
returned not again unto him any more.
13. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first
month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the
earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold,
the face of the ground was dry.
14. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the
month, was the earth dried.
15. And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16. Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’
wives with thee.
17. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh,
both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and
multiply upon the earth.
18. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives
with him:
19. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever
creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
20. And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean

73
74 Genesis
beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his
heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the
imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite
any more every thing living, as I have done.
22. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat,
and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
(Genesis 8: 1-22)
Great space is given to Noah and his family, chapters 6-9 in particular; the
focus is not simply on the Flood but on Noah and his family, and all the animals,
birds, and insects. In the midst of a cataclysmic judgment, God’s particular
providence is stressed. Just as fiat creation marked Genesis 1, so too God could
have created again from nothing all living creatures for Noah’s use and
dominion. Instead, judgment is balanced with a particular providence.
We are told in v. 1, “And God remembered Noah.” This does not mean that,
after a period of forgetfulness, Noah suddenly came to God’s mind. Rather,
through all the devastation of the Flood, God was continuously mindful of
Noah. Again, God’s particular providence was stressed.
As rapidly as they had arisen, the waters abated, and the ark rested on the
highest of the Ararat peaks, known as Massis to Armenians, but generally called
Ararat (vv. 2-5).
Some scholars, determined to make a naturalistic event of the Flood, see it as
a local event because they reject the idea that it was God’s doing. The idea of a
local flood has no support in the text, and its conclusion leaves God out of the
picture when logically pursued. Those who reject such things as the Flood had
better write themselves a new bible, because the old one is from beginning to
end incompatible with their humanistic theologies.
After the ark had rested on the mountain’s side for forty days, Noah sent out
a raven, which simply flew back and forth until the waters dried up (vv. 6-7).
There was enough debris on the face of the waters for the raven to rest on, and
enough floating trees and logs with perhaps insects therein for the raven to feed.
Also, the waters would be full of edible matter.
Noah next sent forth a dove. The dove soon returned, and Noah waited
another seven days (vv. 8-9). After a week, the dove was sent out again, and this
time returned with an olive leaf in its beak. After another seven days, the dove
was again released, this time to stay away permanently (vv. 10-12).
No plants or trees had been included in the ark’s cargo. Enough of the trees
would survive the Flood, and enough seeds of plants, to reseed and restock the
earth.
It was in the 601st year of Noah’s life, in the first month and the first day of
the month, that Noah removed the great door and saw the earth dry and ready
for the inhabitants of the ark (v. 13). A month and 26 days later, the earth was
dry enough for the inhabitants to move freely (v. 14). Because the olive tree is
 The Flood Ends (Genesis 8:1-22) 75
not a high altitude tree, the dove, in bringing it to Noah, made him realize that
the ground at lower altitudes was now producing life. A sprig of an olive branch
in a dove’s mouth or beak has ever since been a symbol of peace and
reconciliation.
All this was a part of God’s providential purpose. Because God is God, there
is nothing outside of Him and His will, so that every leaf and every drop of water
comes from His ordination. In Lange’s words, “God’s dominion (is) as great as
God himself.”1
The Flood remade the face of the earth, so that the geographical references
prior to the Flood have little correlation to those that followed it. The
continents, oceans, and mountains were altered by the gigantic eruptions and
upheavals. The land below the ice, for example, in Siberia and Antarctica
indicates a once semi-tropical climate. The environment was now more hostile,
as was the weather, and man’s lifespan soon decreased. The fossil record points
to a flood. As Morris said of evolutionary ideas, “Thus the theory of evolution
is assumed in building up the geological column, and then the latter is taken as the
main proof of the theory of evolution!”2
In vv. 15-20, we are told that God told Noah at this time to leave the ark and
to release all the creatures that had been aboard the ark. These could all have
been in a semi-hibernating condition; now they left the ark to spread out over
the earth.
Noah’s next step was to build an altar to make a sacrifice of every clean beast
and fowl, of which he had brought in seven of each. These were burnt offerings.
Burnt offerings mean complete surrender to God. Noah, having seen God’s
complete judgment on an apostate world, now showed his gratitude for
deliverance. His is a sacrifice to signify his readiness to submit completely to the
will of God. His salvation was a great one, and his gratefulness was
commensurate, as far as he could humanly manifest it.
God found the sacrifice completely acceptable. It had been made without
command by Noah. God’s decision is of especial interest. First, “I will not again
curse the ground any more for man’s sake.” The reference is to the curse of the
Flood. The curse of Genesis 3:17 remains, and only the new earth of Revelation
22:3 will see it removed. There will not again be a worldwide judgment like the
Flood.
Second, as the reason for this forbearance, God says of man, “the imagination
of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Man is a fallen creation, totally depraved
in his natural condition in that every aspect of his being is governed by his will
to be his own god and his own source of all law (Gen. 3:5). Now that man no
longer has his earlier longevity, the scope of his sin and his evil imagination is
diminished.
1.
John
Peter Lange, Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d.), 306.
2.
Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record (San Diego: Creation-Life Publishers, 1976), 213.
76 Genesis
Third, God’s subsequent judgments will not only never again be so total
(before the end of history), but He will never again destroy every living thing,
men, animals, etc., as He had just done. This expands the promise that He will
not again curse the world as He had just done (v. 21).
A fourth promise by God is that the seasons, the weather changes, and day and
night “shall not cease” as long as “the earth remaineth” (v. 22). God’s judgment
is followed by God’s mercy.
God’s providence is both general and particular. Major events and trends are in
His general providence, and, in His particular providence, the very hairs of our
head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). We are thus never alone. We must always
remember the words of Moses: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath
are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and
shall say, Destroy them” (Deut. 33:27).
 Chapter Nineteen
Be Fruitful, and Multiply
(Genesis 9:1-7)
1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of
the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the
earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green
herb have I given you all things.
4. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not
eat.
5. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every
beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's
brother will I require the life of man.
6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the
image of God made he man.
7. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth,
and multiply therein. (Genesis 9:1-7)
Noah is like another Adam now: man’s history begins anew in him and his
family. Genesis 1:28-29 are echoed here. God establishes His covenant with
Noah as the new head of the human race. He begins by blessing Noah. This
means conferring good upon him, giving Noah God’s providential care. He is to
be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth (v. 1).
Man will have a privileged place on earth: the animals will fear and dread man
because God has given man a status which normally animals will be wary of
challenging. This is something new, not mentioned prior to the Flood, although
it could have existed then. We cannot push arguments from silence too far. God
has given man charge over the world, including all animal life, which he shall use
as God’s steward (v. 2). In v. 3, we have a much disputed text. Was man a
vegetarian prior to this time, or is this again an argument from silence? If we
insist on being overly literal, we can read v. 3 as permission to eat cats, dogs, pigs,
etc. But the distinction between clean and unclean animals precedes the Fall, and
the animals aboard the ark were in these two classes. The permission to eat
vegetation did not include poisonous plants.
In v. 4, we have the prohibition against eating blood. This is stated later in the
law, as in Leviticus 17:10-14 and Deuteronomy 12:16, 23. The Hebrew word
nephesh is translated into English as both life and soul.
Verse 5 is a prohibition of murder. First, if an animal kills a man, it must be
killed unless the man’s behavior was a cause of his death. In Exodus 21:28 we
are told that animals that kill a man must be killed. If the animal is a clean animal,
such as an ox, its flesh cannot be eaten.

77
78 Genesis
Second, if a man be killed, his killer must be executed. Capital punishment is
here strongly required, as it is throughout the Bible. For shed blood, God will
exact it of the whole culture.
The general premise is, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his
blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (v. 6). This important
statement, first, requires capital punishment for murder. It is a grim and ironic
fact that God values human life far more than man does. He requires the
execution of murderers. Second, the basis for this requirement is that man is made
in the image of God, and murder is thereby especially an offense against God.
An age that does not believe in God will not believe that man is made in God’s
image. The vicious mass murderers of the twentieth century, Lenin, Stalin,
Hitler, Mao Tse-tung, and others were not believers in creationism. Man was
therefore to them an expendable animal. One of the illusions of the twentieth
century held by many has been the idea that humane actions could exist without
Christianity. With the Ten Commandments barred from state schools, the
schools have been producing a generation of lawless youth. Murders have
become commonplace.
In v. 7, God says specifically to Noah and mankind, “And you, be ye fruitful,
and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.” Those
who believe in the myth of over-population find this requirement offensive.
Nothing in the Bible hints that God ever felt that time would nullify the validity
of this commandment. The perspective of the believers in over-population,
from the days of Plato to the present, has been, first, a fear of life and fertility.
Champions of this myth have, since World War II, been predicting massive
starvation and death; some expected it by 1975! No matter how much events
have disproved their hypothesis, they insist on retaining it, and the false prophets
continue to be honored. Such people hate life and are afraid of uncontrolled life.
Second, they believe that life is dangerous unless man is fully in control of it. It
is no accident that the proponents of the myth of over-population are socialists
and one-worlders. They cannot trust God, only socialist man. Uncontrolled man
and uncontrolled fertility are to them like a mad dog on the loose. They
passionately resent all who try to counter their myth. It would require them to
have the humility to recognize that they are men, creatures, not God.
Third, hating life and fertility, they hate God. They resent being told that the
Providence of the Almighty governs all things. They believe in a total
government by men, not by all men, but in the select few like themselves. They
believe in predestination by man, elite men like themselves. The hatred of God
governs much education, science, and government in our time. The hatred of
God pretends to wisdom when it is stupidity and folly.
Over the centuries, men have more than a few times believed that the world
is over-populated, meaning thereby that there are too many people out there
who refuse to be governed by self-styled elite leaders.
Be Fruitful, and Multiply (Genesis 9:1-7) 79
 Chapter Twenty
The Covenant
(Genesis 9:7-17)
7. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth,
and multiply therein.
8. And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9. And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed
after you;
10. And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle,
and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to
every beast of the earth.
11. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut
off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a
flood to destroy the earth.
12. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between
me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual
generations:
13. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant
between me and the earth.
14. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the
bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a
flood to destroy all flesh.
16. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may
remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature
of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I
have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. (Genesis
9:7-17)
Noah is addressed by God as a new Adam. He bears the disabilities created
by Adam’s fall, sin, and death, but he marks a step forward towards the last
Adam, Jesus Christ.
As God had spoken to Adam in Genesis 1:26-28, so He speaks to Noah in
Genesis 9:1, 7. He is to be fruitful and multiply, and to fill the earth. But God
also, in vv. 1-7, speaks concerning the human-animal relationships. Man’s
relationship to the animal creation is apparently a changed one. Henceforth, the
fear, dread, and terror of man will mark the animals. Whatever vestige of Adam’s
protective and custodial care remained after the Fall is now gone. The animals
have left the ark, and their progeny will see man as an enemy. The world had
changed.
The animals that are clean will be food for man. The clean-unclean distinction
is presupposed. Animals were used in sacrifices before the flood, and some
sacrifices were consumed by the worshippers in every age. “Just like the green
herb I have given all to you.” The fact that now the green herbs are mentioned

81
82 Genesis
does not mean that men did not eat them prior to their mention or before the
Flood.
The eating of blood is forbidden (Lev. 17:10, 11, 14, 19:26; Deut. 12:23). It is
absurd to assume that this ban did not previously exist. God’s standards do not
change, and men before the Flood were not primitive grunters to whom God
could not explain such a fact. “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11),
and to eat blood is to try to seize life. Diverse cultures all over the world have
associated blood with life and potency and have eaten blood to gain power.1
Diet from the beginning of history has been a religious matter. Since food
sustains life, the maintenance and furtherance of life, food, becomes a religious
concern.
Not only the eating of blood but its shedding must be governed by God’s law.
The shedding of man’s blood by animals must be punished by the death of the
animal. In God’s law given through Moses, this is found in Exodus 21:28-32.
The shedding of man’s blood by man requires the death penalty if it be
murder and not self-defense. The general premise is, “Whoso sheddeth man’s
blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man”
(v. 5).
The foundation of civil government rests in this fact, the protection of life and
the punishment of those who violate God’s law. If civil government does not
serve God’s purpose, it will work against God. There is no other alternative, no
neutral ground.
Then, in vv. 8-17, God re-establishes His covenant with man and gives to man
the rainbow to indicate that there will be no repetition of the Flood. Almost
nothing has been written about rainbows, although stories about them are
common to many cultures. The rainbow was given as a blessing to mankind, to
the animals, and to the earth. It is a blessing, a sign of grace and peace. Besides
being a beautiful sight, it should be a religious reminder of God’s grace to us, and
of His covenant.
A covenant can be between equals with an agreed upon law, because a
covenant is a treaty of law. However, a covenant between unequals, as here
between God the Creator and man His creature, is still a law treaty, but it is an
act of grace also whereby the greater partner blesses the lesser. God’s covenant
is thus at one and the same time both law and grace. For Him to deign to give
us His law is an act of grace whereby we become not only His Kingdom and
people but also His Household, the royal family.
Verses 8-12 tell us that the covenant is with Noah and all his posterity to the
end of time. It is also with every kind of animal that was with Noah in the ark.
It is a covenant with total coverage whereby God declares that man and the earth

1.
H. Wheeler Robinson, “Blood,” in James Hastings, editor, Encyclopaedia of Religion and
Ethics, vol. II (Edinburgh, Scotland: T. & T. Clark, (1909) 1939), 714-719.
 The Covenant (Genesis 9:7-17) 83
and its animals are now within God’s covenant. Man can thus only be a
covenant-keeper or a covenant-breaker: there is no realm of neutrality.
Whatever future judgments against covenant-breakers there may be, these will
not include a total judgment like the Flood until the world’s end (v. 12). This
covenant is with all to the end of time, and the token of God’s covenant between
God and “the earth” (v. 13) is the rainbow (v. 14). Men may forget, or they may
come to regard the rainbow as “another natural fact,” forgetting that all natural
facts are God-created, but God will not forget the meaning of the rainbow (vv.
15-16). God told Noah that the rainbow was a token of the covenant, but men
are too “wise” now to believe God said so. This fault on man’s part invalidates
nothing.
Noah’s world is God’s world. It is the only real world, although modern man
prefers his imaginary realms, as did the men before the Flood. The Flood will
not be repeated, but history is a series of judgments culminating in the Last
Judgment.
In vv. 1-7, the law of the covenant is given in summary fashion: the Lord of
this covenant of grace can expand the law because its every jot and tittle is an act
of grace, until the King arrives to put the covenant fully into force with His own
blood.
In Romans 8:19-23, we have a reference to the animal creation in God’s
covenant, waiting for the manifestation of the glorious liberty of the sons of
God. Since they are included in the covenant promises, they look forward to
their deliverance. Animals were to be held responsible for their actions, as
Genesis 9:5 makes clear, and Exodus 21:28-32 gives us this law more specifically.
Calvin, in his commentary on Romans 8:19-23, recognized, while stating that
idle speculation is wrong, that animals have a place in the new creation.
 Chapter Twenty-One
The Curse of Canaan
(Genesis 9:18-29)
18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and
Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth
overspread.
20. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered
within his tent.
22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and
told his two brethren without.
23. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their
shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father;
and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had
done unto him.
25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto
his brethren.
26. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be
his servant.
27. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and
Canaan shall be his servant.
28. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he
died. (Genesis 9:18-29)
Verses 18 and 19 are almost an introduction to Noah and his sons. Because
there is now a different world, we are reminded of the men who peopled it: they
are survivors of the old world, and they carry its genetic taint, original sin, the
will to be one’s own god.
The focus of this text is not on Noah’s drunkenness. Too many commentators
and preachers center their attention on that fact rather than on Ham’s attitude.
Taking the fact of Noah’s drunkenness at its worst, it is indicative of people’s
standards that a son’s contempt for his father is seen as less serious than a man’s
intoxicated condition. A man’s single episode of drunkenness affects his life for
part of a day; the contempt for a parent warps a person’s entire life.
Noah became a farmer, and he planted a vineyard (v. 20). He may have
planted orchards as well, but the narrative’s concern was and is the vineyard.
Noah made wine, and the wine made him drunk, and he lay naked within his
tent.
Some scholars have held that Noah did not know of the character of
fermentation and therefore was not aware that the wine would make him drunk.
On the other hand, the semi-tropical conditions before the Flood would have
made wine-making likely. We do not know; moreover, the purpose of the narrative

85
86 Genesis
is not to make us hostile to wine, or censorious at Noah’s drinking to excess. It
is a serious misinterpretation to say so.
In v. 22, we see the focus: Ham saw his father’s drunken, naked condition,
and he reported it to his brothers, evidently with satisfaction. Where Noah’s wife
and others were at the time, we do not know. We do know that Shem and
Japheth immediately took a garment, walked backwards, and, on seeing Noah’s
head or feet, covered him at once (v. 21).
When Noah awoke, he knew what had happened, and what his “younger,” or,
more correctly, youngest son had done.
Verses 25-27 have an important history; they have been used to justify black
slavery, to indict the Bible as a racist book, and to attack Christianity as a religion
of racial supremacy. The meaning of these verses is usually overlooked, and the
relevance to our time is overlooked.
First of all, Ham, the guilty party, is not even mentioned. This fact is very
important. The curse has a future reference, and one that is valid always, so that
to limit its scope is an error.
Second, the curse is on Canaan, Ham’s son: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of
servants shall he be unto his brethren” (v. 25). Ham’s punishment is that he will
be punished in one of his sons; as a bad son, he received as judgment a bad son.
Third, because the family is God’s basic institution, the severe judgment for
dishonoring a parent comes through the family. This cannot be held to be always
true. No sin on Noah’s part merited a Ham; this episode was an aspect of a fallen
world full of sin on all sides. The judgment of Ham was to have a son like
himself. The family is the area of the most painful conflicts because of sin, but
is also the area of the richest blessings of grace.
Fourth, Noah says, “God shall enlarge Japheth” (v. 27). The descendants of
Japheth became rulers and conquerors. This blessing is for his faithfulness in
honoring his father.
Fifth, Japheth “shall dwell in the tents of Shem” (v. 27). The messianic line of
Shem shall provide the true faith for the descendants of Japheth. “The tents of
Shem” represent the heritage of the true faith. The strength of Japheth will thus
be the faith.
Sixth, “and Canaan shall be his servant” (v. 27). The rise and fall of men and
nations will be in terms of the faith. The Canaanites of history, of whatever race
they may be, will end up as the servants of God’s people. Whatever their race or
color, the Canaanites, whatever their ancestry, are the enemies of the family and
of God’s law. Today, both Western “white” culture and “black” culture are
Canaanite in character, and, barring repentance and change, their heritage will be
enslavement. Men pass from slavery to sin into slavery to men.
This curse thus is valid for all time, and certainly in our era.
 The Curse of Canaan (Genesis 9:18-29) 87
In vv. 28f., we are told that Noah lived 350 years after the Flood, for a total
of 950 years.
The sin of Adam was a contempt for God’s authority and a desire to be his
own god and law. Ham’s contempt for his father was likewise a contempt for
authority. Noah’s drunkenness simply gave Ham the opportunity to show his
contempt openly. The goal of many in every era is to find some pretext whereby
they can vindicate their contempt for men in authority. Their justification for
themselves consists in calling attention to the real or imaginary sins of others.
They are especially full of malice towards those superior to them.
The validity of this curse for all time rests in this fact of the continuing
hostility of fallen man for all authorities, God Himself first of all, and all God-
ordained authorities. The world after the Flood is marked by this curse, because
the whole human order, to have any progress, must have godly authority.
 Chapter Twenty-Two
The Warfare Renewed
(Genesis 10:1-14)
1. Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and
Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
3. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4. And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one
after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
6. And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and
Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
8. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
9. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as
Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
10. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad,
and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city
Rehoboth, and Calah,
12. And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
13. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and
Naphtuhim,
14. And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and
Caphtorim. (Genesis 10-:1-14)
Chapters like this are favored by scholars because they are a gold mine of
information about ancient peoples. We are told, for example, of Resen, located
between Nineveh and Calnah, that it is the chief city of that realm. The place is
unknown to us. James R. Davila has listed the possibilities, none of which are
satisfactory.1 Names like this in the various tables have been a fertile source of
information at times for archeological research. Many are useful in correlating a
variety of scraps of information.
We are told that Noah’s sons did not become parents until after the Flood.
We are further told by 1 Peter 3:20 that there were only eight persons on the ark,
Noah and his three sons, and their wives.
In v. 2, the first son of Japheth is Gomer, whose descendants were the
Cimmerians. The Cimmerians were an Indo-European nomadic people. They
were for some centuries in the Caucasus mountains. They attacked Urartu, the
kingdom of Ararat, during the reign of Rousas I (734-714 B.C.), and again in 707
B.C., at which time they went through Urartu into what is now eastern Turkey.
After wars with Assyria, they moved into central Anatolia. In c. 676 B.C. they

1.
James R. Davila, “Resen,” in David Noel Freedman, editor and chief, The Anchor Bible
Dictionary, vol. 5 (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 678.

89
90 Genesis
destroyed Phrygia, and King Midas of Mrygra committed suicide. Assyria may
have finally destroyed their independence, with the survivors apparently settling
in Cappadocia.2
The next son of Japheth is Magog. The Magog peoples are associated with the
north. It is possible that Magog means the place of Gog. Josephus identified
them with the Scythians, and Jerome with the Goths.3
Madai, another of Japheth’s sons, again was the head of an Indo-European
people whom we know best as the Medes of Persia. Madai, pronounced Maday,
became absorbed into Persia by Cyrus.4
The fourth of Japheth’s seven sons was Javan, an ancestor of a maritime
people in Aegean and eastern Mediterranean seas. These people are referred to
in Ezekiel 27:13, 19 and Isaiah 66:19. Baker identified Javan with Ionia, and the
name later identified all of Greece. Daniel 8:21, 10:20; 11:2 also refer to this
group.5
Tubal’s descendants were located to the north of Israel in northern Syria, Asia
Minor, and Greece. There are references to them by the prophets (Ezek. 27:13;
32:26; this last reference is to a terroristic people). (See also Ezek. 38:2; 39:1).6
Meshech is usually described as a non-Semitic people also, and it is referred
to in Ezekiel 27:13; 1 Kings 7:13f.; Ezekiel 32:17-32; 38:14-16; 39:3. Their
location was Cappadocia according to Herodotus and Josephus. Herodotus sees
them as Phrygians.7
The last of Japheth’s seven sons is Tiras, a name less known to us. He appears
also in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 1:5, but there is no other mention of him
in the Bible.8
In v. 3, we have the sons of Gomer listed. Ashkenaz is referred to in Jeremiah
51:27 as one of the kingdoms, together with Ararat (or, Urartu) and Minni,
summoned to oppose Babylon. They were, in the eighth and seventh centuries
B.C., located between the Black and Caspian Seas. Apparently they were also
known as Scythians, and, as such, left their marks in great areas of central Asia
and as far northwest as Scotland. 9
Riphath is cited in 1 Chronicles 1:6 as Diphath. The descendants of Riphath
were a nation in north central Asia Minor. The Riphian Mountains gain their
name from him, and Josephus (Antiq. 1:6:1) refers to him.10

2.
John D. Wineland, “Cimmerians,” in Freedman, vol. 1, 1025.
3.
David W. Baker, “Magog,” in Freedman, vol. 4, 47.
4.
David W. Baker, “Madai,” in Freedman, vol. 4, 462.
5.
David W. Baker, “Javan,” in Freedman, vol. 3, 650.
6.
David W. Baker, “Tubal,” in Freedman, vol. 6, 670.
7.
David W. Baker, “Meshech,” in Freedman, vol. 4, 711.
8.
David W. Baker, “Tiras,” in Freedman, vol. 6, 571f.
9.
Francis William Buckler, “In Anthropological Approach to the Origins of Protestant-
ism,” in Vergilius Ferm, editor, The Protestant Credo (New York: Philosophical Library,
1953), 147; Richard S. Hess, “Ashkenaz,” in Freedman, op. cit., vol. I, 490; Harold G. Sti-
gers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 122.
 The Warfare Renewed (Genesis 10:1-14) 91
Togarmah is referred to as a people in Ezekiel 27:14; neo-Assyrian and Hittite
sources refer to them.11
The four sons of Javan are next cited, beginning with Elishah (v. 4). He is
referred to in Ezekiel 27:7. An island realm, the center of the Alashia was Cyprus.
These people were known for their colored fabrics, and as exporters of
copper.12
Next is Tarshish, v. 4, people associated with various areas of the
Mediterranean by Baker, and with Sardinia by Stigers because of inscriptional
evidence. They were a sea-faring people, and sea trade is the context of
references to them, as in 1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21. Among the
references to them are 1 Kings 9:26f., 1 Kings 22:48; Psalm 48:8, 2 Chronicles
20:36f., Ezekiel 27:25; Isaiah 23:1, 14; 2:16; 60:9.13
Kittim, v. 4, was a city state, now known as Canarka. Kittim refers also to a
seacoast place, Chittim in Numbers 24:24 (cf. Dan. 11:30). Kittim was on the
south-central coast of Cyprus. There are references to it in Isaiah 23:1 and
Ezekiel 27:6. The name came to refer also to Greece.14
Dodanim (v. 4) headed a later ethnic group identified by Stigers with Rhodes
and its neighboring island, but Hess is not certain of the proper location.15
In v. 6, the sons of Ham, four in number, are listed. Stigers traces the ancient
Kishites of Mesopotamia to Cush because the cities of Nimrod, his son, are
located there.16 It is significant that Ham’s descendants were apparently
prominent in the renewed war against God.
Mizraim (v. 6) is Egypt, both upper and lower, and it means “two Egypts.”17
The name Mizraim is still in use in Egypt as a name for the land.
Phut (v. 6) or Put is given no place in the genealogy, so that his descendants
are unnamed. There are references to them in the Bible: in Jeremiah 46:9, “the
Libyans” are in the Hebrew Put, as in Ezekiel 38:5 it is in the English as Libya.18
Canaan (v. 6) is the last of Ham’s sons. He is the one on whom Noah’s curse
rests. The history of the Canaanites has not been properly written, nor their
depravity honestly described. They were peoples upon whom God’s judgment
rested, but His amazing patience led to a deferment of judgment for generations
(Genesis 15:16). If judgment followed automatically after sin, men would have
no freedom. But God requires that men bring immediate judgment upon sin in
order that men may recognize what constitutes order in a society. Our failures

10.
Stigers, 122f.
11.
Stigers, 123; David W. Baker, “Togormah,” in Freedman, op. cit; vol. 3, p. 594f.
12.
Stigers, vol. 2, 473.
13.
David W. Baker, “Tarshish,” in Freedman, vol. 6, 93.
14.
David W. Baker, “Kittim,” in Freedman, vol. 4, 93.
15.
Stigers, 123; Richard S. Hess, “Dodanim,” in Freedman, vol. 2, 219.
16.
Stigers, 124.
17.
Ibid., 125.
18.
David W. Baker, “Put,” in Freedman, vol. 5, 560.
92 Genesis
to enforce God’s law bring the judgment of lawlessness upon us, and, finally,
God’s radical condemnation. The patience of God with evil-doers is an aspect
of His amazing patience with those who claim to be His people and yet despise
His law.
In v. 7, we have a selective genealogy again, in that the sons of Cush listed are
Seba, Havilah, and Sabtah, also Raamah and Sabtechah. Then two sons of
Raamah are listed, Sheba and Dedan.
Seba was the head of a people located either in the southern part of Arabia or
in Ethiopia. Both areas may have been Sabean at one time.19
Havilah is still the name, in slightly different form, of two tribal groups in the
Yemen who are known as the Havilan.20 Sabtah’s descendants were in Arabia or
Ethiopia and held power in an area important as a trade route.21 Sabtechah, or
Sabteca, fathered a people located either in south Arabia or Ethiopia, or both.
Their power was their location on the ancient trade route. The name of Sabteca
appears in the Ethiopian dynasty that ruled in Egypt.22 The sons of Raamah are
Sheba and Dedan. In Ezekiel 27:22, Raamah and Sheba are partners in
commerce with Tyre. More precise information on Raamah is lacking.23 There
are varying identifications for Sheba.24 There is confusion with regard to Dedan,
because Abraham and Keturah had grandsons named Sheba and Dedan (Gen.
25:3). Dedan was the name of an important commercial center. It is referred to
in Isaiah 21:13 and Ezekiel 38:13.25
Before continuing with the account about Nimrod, it is necessary to consider
the genealogy a bit more. Scripture gives much space to the family; God’s law
stresses the family as an institution and as a law center. God Himself uses the
family to typify the church (Gal. 6:10; Eph. 2:19); He Himself is the Father, and
the second person of the Trinity is the Son. The Messiah comes through a
family, and the imagery of the family is basic to the Bible.
Not all the names mentioned in vv. 1-7 are given space beyond mention. The
sons of some are not cited at all, although some of the evil descendants are listed
simply because their future, in an evil way, was part of the history of redemption.
The family histories are given to indicate the importance of family and
inheritance, but, at the same time, we see in Genesis a disregard for priorities of
blood in favor of grace. Esau is set aside for Jacob, even as earlier Ishmael was
replaced by Isaac. Joseph and Judah took priority over Reuben because the
natural, however important, can never replace the order of grace.

19.
W.W. Muller, “Siba,” in Freedman, vol. 4, 1064.
20.
W.W. Muller, “Havilah,” in Freedman, vol. 3, 81.
21.
W.W. Muller, “Sabtah,” in Freedman, vol. 5, 861f.
22.
W.W. Muller, “Sabteca,” in Freedman, vol. 5, 862f.
23.
W.W. Muller, “Raamah,” in Freedman, vol. 5, 597.
24.
David Salter Williams, “Sheba,” in Freedman, vol. 5,
1170.
25.
David F. Gref, “Dedan,” in Freedman, vol. 2, 121-123.
 The Warfare Renewed (Genesis 10:1-14) 93
In v. 5, we are told that the sons of Japheth in the early centuries took
possession of the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. This is an historical note
concerning families, islands, languages, and nationalities. There is no excuse for
an unconcern with history and philology and related subjects. The Bible
routinely calls our attention to such matters. There is no Biblical foundation for
the “spiritual” religion which despises scholarship and learning.
In vv. 8-12, we are told of Nimrod and his heir, Asshur. Nimrod is described
as “a mighty one on the earth” and as “a mighty hunter before the LORD.”
There are disagreements about the meaning of these expressions and of
Nimrod’s name. “Mighty hunter” can be rendered “tyrant,” and Nimrod means
“rebel,” or “let us revolt.” His revolt was against God. He was not a hunter of
animals but of men.26 He established a kingdom consisting of four city-states,
Accad, Babel, Erech, and Calneh. He then went into Assyria to build Nineveh,
Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen. Tyranny, rule without God and radical hostility to
God, had thus an early start. Its origin was the line of Ham, whose grandson
Nimrod was.
In v. 13, the sons of Mizraim are listed: Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and
Naphtuhim, also Pathrusun, Casluhim, the father of the Philistines, and
Caphtorim. Ludim is mentioned in the prophets, in Isaiah 66:19 and Ezekiel
27:10. The Libahim are probably Lybians. The Pathrusim were the people of
Upper Egypt. The Caphtorim are the people of Crete.
The anti-God temper looms large over Noah’s time, but however much, age
after age, this warfare persists and grows, the Kingdom of God grows even
more: it persists and increases because God is God, and only His purpose can
prevail.
The Bible gives us an account of the growth of the Kingdom of Evil, the
kingdom of man. It is the development of the meaning of the Fall (Gen. 3:5). It
is also the development of death. As Proverbs 8:36 declares, “But he that sinneth
against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.” The suicidal
nature of the rejection of God must be recognized if we are to understand the
Bible. As against this, the Kingdom of God develops its meaning as life, life in
Christ and under the triune God. To war against God is to war against life.

26.
Stigers, 125; H.C. Leupold, Exposition of Genesis (Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg Press,
1942), 366.
94 Genesis
 Chapter Twenty-Three
Canaan’s Line
(Genesis 10:15-20)
15. And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
16. And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
17. And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
18. And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward
were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
19. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to
Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and
Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
20. These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in
their countries, and in their nations. (Genesis 10:15-20)
There are some very interesting things in these verses. First, Canaan’s
descendants are curiously listed. Two sons are cited, Sidon and Heth. Heth is the
father of the Hittite nation. Apparently the peoples who follow, e.g., the
Jebusites, descended from Jebus, the Amorites from Amor, etc., represent
descendants from other sons of Canaan. At this point, the author of this section
of Genesis, a family record, decided that more notice of Canaan’s sons was
unnecessary. We are simply informed of the nations that they founded.
Second, in v. 19, the cities of the plains, notably Sodom and Gomorrah, had
not yet been destroyed when this verse was written. Their destruction later was
one aspect of the curse on Canaan. As it stands, this verse was obviously written
well before those cities were obliterated by God’s judgment. We are reading a
contemporary account, and this gives us an idea of the antiquity of the text.
Third, this account was written after the Tower of Babel, because it was at that
time that the confusion of tongues took place. Our text refers to the various
“tongues” of the descendants of Ham and Canaan. The scattering, and the
confusion, was an added factor leading to a family record. We forget, in our
somewhat rootless cultures, how important the remembrance of family
members is to many peoples. I recall someone from Syria telling me of his home
valley having been settled by his family from Benjamin in the first century A.D.
Given my own background, his statement was commonplace to me.
Fourth, Charles T. Fritsch, who called this “one of the most interesting
chapters in Genesis,” has cited its theological importance. The promise of
Genesis 9:1, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth,” is here shown to be in
process. All nations came from one origin, Adam and Noah. The nations are
many, but the messianic line is single, and the prophetic line is close to that of
the promised seed.1
1.
Charles T. Fritsch, The Layman’s Bible Commentary, vol. 1, Genesis (Atlanta, Georgia:
John Knox Press, 1959, 1976), 48.

95
96 Genesis
Fifth, this chapter is “unparalleled among ancient documents for its accurate
description and broad understanding of the geography, history, and culture of
the world of that time.”2
Sixth, God blessed for a time even the line of Canaan. Sidon became a
powerful seafaring state. The Hittites had an empire in Asia Minor as well as
settlements in Palestine. Their empire was a great power of antiquity, as
excavation has made very clear. All the sons of Canaan had time and occasion
to alter their ways, but they did not.
Seventh, in v. 19, Admah and Zeboim (or Zeboam) are mentioned, and they
appear also in Genesis 14:2 and 8, Deuteronomy 29:23, and Hosea 11:8.
Deuteronomy 29:23 refers to their destruction together with Sodom and
Gomorrah. Hosea 11:8 reminds Israel of the destruction of Admah and Zeboim
at the same time as Sodom and Gomorrah. God asks, “How shall I make thee
as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim?” Like the cities of the plain, Israel
deserves judgment. But Lasha is totally unknown to us apart from Genesis
10:19.
Eighth, some of the peoples here classed as Hamitic spoke Semitic languages.
As Howard F. Vos noted, “That fact presents no real problem, because language
is not necessarily an indication of nationality.” 3
Ninth, Shem and Japheth are mentioned only once after this chapter, in 1
Chronicles 1. It is Canaan that is concentrated on, because it is from Canaan’s
descendants that the Promised Land must be taken. History is a long warfare
between good and evil, and it is the evil which the Godly must confront that we
face again and again in Genesis.
Tenth, this is an ethnological table, not a genealogical one, i.e., it is concerned
with the origins of various peoples rather than with individuals. The concern at
this point is with the origins of the nations, not the history of families. The
grouping by families in this chapter is to relate them to Noah and Ham, not to
stress their personal histories.
Eleventh, Genesis 10:6-14 gives us the descendants of Ham exclusive of
Canaan’s progeny. Ham’s other three sons quickly became notable, particularly
Cush’s sons, in that Nimrod was his son. With Nimrod, organized tyranny and
hostility to God again made its appearance. Sin was not a unique attribute of
Ham’s descendants: it was common to all fallen men. Some of Ham’s
descendants made a virtue of sin, and a way of life. We have today, as in every
era of decadence, a resurgence of the will to evil, the determination to turn sin
into a moral good.
Twelfth, this table is of great interest to scholars because it is a very valuable
source of information. At the same time, it is becoming bypassed because the
modern perspective is to classify peoples in terms of their languages rather than
2.
Ibid.,
p. 48f.
3.
Howard F. Vos, Genesis (Chicago: Moody Press, 1982), 53.
 Canaan’s Line (Genesis 10:15-20) 97
their origins, or by races, a concept rejected by many. Whether or not the
information is valid is discounted in terms of linguistic groupings. It is possible
that we lack the knowledge and the competence to classify peoples in terms of
origins, or even races, if that term is accepted. Our limited knowledge does not
invalidate the fact of origins.
 Chapter Twenty-Four
The Unity of Mankind
(Genesis 10:21-32)
21. Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of
Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
22. The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and
Aram.
23. And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
24. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
25. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in
his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
26. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
27. And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28. And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29. And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
30. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a
mount of the east.
31. These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in
their lands, after their nations.
32. These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in
their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the
flood. (Genesis 10:21-32)
Our text begins by defining Shem as the father of all the descendants of Eber,
or the Hebrew. In Hebrew, Eber and Hebrew are the same. The name means
from the opposite side, i.e., the man who comes from across the river, or, from
the east (v. 21).
The children of Shem are given in v. 22. Elam was the father of the Elamites,
a people once the greatest power in Western Asia, so that Shem’s sons,
beginning with the oldest, created powerful nations. Asshur was the father of the
Assyrians, the most powerful of the Semitic nations. Arphaxad was the father of
the Chaldeans. Lud was the father of the Lydeans of Asia Minor, and Aram, of
the Arameans of Syria and Mesopotamia.
In v. 23, we have the sons of Aram, four in number. In this section we are not
given all the names of descendants for reasons not stated. The cause cannot be
lack of importance, but simply God’s sovereign decision to pass them by. Aram
thus is bypassed, not because of his unimportance to history but because God
so determined it.
In v. 24, Arphaxad’s son Salah is alone cited because he was the father of
Eber. Verse 25 tells us of Eber’s two sons, Peleg and Joktan. Then, curiously,
Joktan’s descendants are cited in vv. 26-30, and their location. Peleg’s
descendants are listed in Genesis 11:16-29, an important line which culminates
in Abraham. Verse 21 identified Shem as Japheth’s older brother, the eldest of
the three brothers. His progeny is listed after Ham and Japheth because the rest

99
100 Genesis
of Genesis, except for Genesis 11:1-9, the story of the Tower of Babel, will
concentrate on Shem’s descendants.
Because families are the foundation of human society, the Bible stresses
family history. In Basil F.C. Atkinson’s words, “As the generations pass on,
families may become nations, but the family still remains the basis of all healthy
human life.”1 The final society in God’s purpose will be a single universal family
in Christ. The divisions in mankind must be seen as products of man’s
separation from God.2
Peleg is the name of central interest in this genealogy. His name means division,
because it was in his time that the nations and peoples were divided. Obviously,
this has reference to the confusion of tongues and the scattering of peoples who
sought to build the Tower of Babel. We do not know why the ‘dating’ of the
event is tied to Peleg. It could be that Peleg, more than other contemporaries,
was used by God to condemn that one-world dream. We do not know anything
but this: God ties that disaster to Peleg’s lifetime. Peleg was Shem’s great-great-
great-grandson. The line was from Noah, to Shem, to Arphaxad, to Salah, to
Eber, to Peleg.
The reference to Peleg makes clear that what we read here is a prelude to the
Tower of Babel, a one-world dream of humanistic man. The tempter’s plan in
Genesis 3:5, every man as his own god and as his own determiner of good and
evil, is never relinquished nor abated. It is as intensely in evidence at Babel as
today, and it is the same plan; God is to be replaced by man.
The dispersion and the confounding of this one-world dream was the work
of God, not of man, nor the work of the man Peleg. It is mainly dated by his
lifetime. We see the evil working passionately and intensely to realize their
dream, and the Godly ones apparently indifferent to the threat. But God divided
up the peoples, and by His providence ordained that a man in the line of Shem
be named (or renamed) in terms of this event. The confusion of the peoples was
not the doing of man, but of God. The anti-God forces, with every man seeking
to be his own god, have confusion inherent in their being. What God did at the
Tower of Babel all sinners regularly do to themselves and their anti-God goals.
Division is inherent to their dream of radical union, because sin is always
divisive.
Atkinson was correct in seeing the family as basic to human life, but it is only
the Godly family that is efficacious. The fallen man’s family does not unite
except by coercion.
In v. 32, we are told emphatically that all the families and nations are
descended from Noah and his three sons. Attempts by some to find some other
origin for the races they see as evil are anti-Scriptural and racist. Their popularity
is morally wrong because they lead directly to doctrines of salvation by race
1.
Basil F.C. Atkinson, The Book of Genesis (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1957), 106.
2.
Ibid., 107.
 The Unity of Mankind (Genesis 10:21-32) 101
instead of grace. These ideas appear often in pseudo-Biblical guise but they are
in essence emphatically anti-Biblical. The Bible is clear: all mankind is descended
from Adam through Noah and his three sons. Any other doctrine is evil and
rubbish. Mankind is one in origin; its division into good and evil is in terms of the triune God.
 Chapter Twenty-Five
The Society of Satan
(Genesis 11:1-9)
1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a
plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them
thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may
reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad
upon the face of the whole earth.
5. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the
children of men builded.
6. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one
language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained
from them, which they have imagined to do.
7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may
not understand one another’s speech.
8. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all
the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there
confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD
scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis11:1-9)
Man is inescapably religious. He may deny God, but all the categories of his
life remain religious, and all are categories borrowed from the triune God. Since
the only world man lives in is the world God created, his thinking even in
apostasy is inevitably conditioned and governed by a God-given framework.
Men may deny God’s sovereignty, but they cannot stop believing in sovereignty;
they merely transfer it to man or to the State. Total law and planning, i.e.,
predestination, is inescapable; denied to God, it is simply transferred to the
scientific socialist State, which predestines or totally governs and plans all things.
If deity be denied to the God of Scripture, it merely reappears in man or the
State. And if the church ceases proclaiming the Gospel, then religion does not
perish; it reappears as politics or economics, and salvation continues to be
offered to inescapably religious man.
Salvation is a necessity of man’s being, and the goal of salvation is new life and
freedom. If salvation be not accepted in God through Christ, then it is accepted
in man, or in an order of man such as the State.
From the beginning of history, God instituted a Holy Society, a City of God,
indicating its foundations in the institution of sacrifice, by calling the line of Seth,
Noah, Shem, and Abraham, instituting the law of Moses, and confirming the
Covenant in Christ.
But another Society has been in history from the beginning also, the Society
of Satan, whose foundation was stated by the tempter to Eve, manifested in the

103
104 Genesis
Fall, proclaimed at Babel, continuing long as mankind’s secret church and
increasingly manifested openly.
Let us examine two important passages of Scripture with reference to this
Society. Genesis 3:7-17, in its main outlines, is simplicity itself. Confronted by
God, Adam and Eve seek refuge in a feeble covering for their guilt and shame.
The Hebrew word for cover, kaphar, is also the word for atonement. Atonement
is thus a covering for sin, and it can be an evasive covering or the covering
provided by God; it can be self-righteousness, or the righteousness of God in
Christ. Man constantly seeks a covering for his guilt and shame in institutional
facades, and one of the most popular of hiding places from God is the
institutional church. Cultural anthropologists have divided societies in terms of
guilt and shame cultures, and with reason. We can add that man seeks in
institutional structures an “apron” or covering for his sin, and the deeper the
guilt and shame the greater the structural development.
Atonement as basic to institutional and especially civil structures is an
important fact of man’s history. Citizenship was once a religious act, and politics
rested on atonement. The Greek polis was a religious entity, and modern politics
has no less a religious frame of reference in that it is still concerned with
neutralizing sin and evil by means of institutional structures. Sinful men, united
by the State, are expected to create a good society, i.e., a good omelet out of bad
eggs. The United Nations, that modern Tower of Babel, is the epitome of this
faith.
Man’s basic and original sin is “to be as God, knowing good and evil.”
“Knowing” here has the force of determining, establishing, so that man’s
essential sin is to attempt to play God and to legislate creatively and substantively
on the nature of morality in terms of his own godhead.
Man, seeking to be God, became less the man. Adam’s response to God’s
question is to evade responsibility: It is the woman’s fault. He says in effect:
Poor, innocent man that I am, how could I resist the woman’s wiles? In my
innocence, I have been led astray. More than that, the fault is Yours, God, for
giving me the woman: “The woman Thou gavest me.” Had You not given her,
I would not have sinned.
Eve is no less evasive of responsibility: Poor innocent woman that I am, how
could I withstand the serpent’s guile? Not for all the world would she
deliberately have done wrong: the guilt lies elsewhere.
Guilt is thus transferred. It is projected on the environment, made part of the
ultimate frame of things, passed on to others, evaded by transference and
projection. Guilt is denied to the individual in the name of social and natural
forces.
Concretely, juvenile delinquency is blamed on the parents, the home, or the
environment, and it is commonplace for judges with a smattering of psychiatry
and welfare theory at their command to excoriate already burdened parents with
 The Society of Satan (Genesis 11:1-9) 105
a fearful burden of misplaced guilt. Again, crime is blamed on the environment,
on heredity, on any number of natural and social forces, so that, as Henry Miller
has put it, punishment is criminal. The guilt is society’s, and especially,
somehow, the non-criminal’s, for having fostered this tragic chain of reactions
we call crime. Let the “good men” pay the price, therefore, and let the have-
nations pay off the have-nots for the affront of their success and affluence. Our
foreign aid program is premised on an anti-Christian theology in which failure is
rewarded and success penalized. Its essence is hostile to missions and charity,
which speak of mercy and offer regeneration on the assumption that a Godly
reordering is required.
The Negro problem gives us a similar picture. The Christian cannot
consistently believe in either racism or equality. God has made of one blood all
nations, we are clearly told, and all are descendants of Adam. On the other hand,
equality is a non-Biblical concept, imported from mathematics into human
relationships, where both equality and inequality are inappropriate concepts.
The Biblical concept is Calling, and in orientation it is not democratic but
divisive. Dewey was right, in a Common Faith, in calling Christianity’s basic
division between Heaven and hell, saved and lost, sheep and goats, anti-
democratic. “I cannot understand how any realization of the democratic ideal as
a vital moral and spiritual ideal in human affairs is possible without surrender of
the conception of the basic division to which supernatural Christianity is
committed.” The implication of Dewey’s position is clear-cut: Grading by God
or man is anti-democratic. Moral and spiritual distinctions are by nature
aristocratic. Exactly so. Our faith is clearly anti-democratic and holds to an
aristocracy, not of works, nor of blood inheritance, but of Grace. And, instead
of a transference of guilt, it is the essence of Biblical Faith to confess it, declaring
with David that sin is primarily and essentially an offense against God: “Against
Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight.” Since
every fact is a created fact, then every fact is a God-given factuality, a totally
personal universe. The Society or City of God is thus marked by a radically
different approach to every fact in all creation.
Another society was offered to man and introduced into history by the Fall, a
society again proffered to man in its fullness by Satan in the Wilderness
Temptation of Christ. What is the nature of this Society of Satan?
First, it is held that man is not guilty of his sin, not responsible for his
lawlessness, for the sources of his guilt are not personal but social and natural.
In the ultimate sense, the guilt is God’s, for having dared to create so difficult a
cosmos, and God, as well as God’s people, must be made to pay for this cosmic
insolence.
Second, a society is demanded in which it is unnecessary for man to be good.
Everything is to be provided so that man might attain true blessedness, a
problem-free life. The Beatitudes, in pronouncing a blessing on suffering,
persecution, tears, and trials for Christ’s sake, are thus the epitome of perversion.
106 Genesis
A good God must make it unnecessary for men to be good, and, having failed
to do so, the good State, the true welfare state, must now make it unnecessary
for man to be tested, unnecessary for man to be good. Man has all rights and no
responsibilities. The duties are God’s, Who has failed in His duty to man.
Third, a society is demanded in which it is impossible for men to be bad. This
is the logical concomitant of the second demand. It is a demand that there be no
testing. How cruel of God to test Adam and to test us. The world must be
trouble-free and test-free. The goal of most politics and sociology is to provide
us with such a world. Is anyone bad? Let this fact be concealed from him, and
the world be so ordered that self-knowledge never comes out. And, because
every man is god in his own eyes, and god in terms of this sociology of Satan,
then every man must be preserved from any testing that might shatter this
illusion. Let politics and social planning operate on the premise of human
omnipotence. Thus there are no insoluble problems: man shall conquer all
things, the cosmos and death included. Let no testing shatter his delusions of
grandeur.
Fourth, a society is demanded in which it is impossible for men to fail. There
must be no failure in Heaven or on earth. All men must be saved, all students
must pass, all men are employable, all men are entitled to all rights. As Satan
stated it baldly in the wilderness, giving in short form the program for the
“good” State, “If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread.” Make it unnecessary for man to work, unnecessary for man to be good,
impossible for man to be bad. Provide man with such a cushion of social
planning, the tempter asserted, that man might neither hunger not thirst, work
or suffer, believe or disbelieve, succeed or fail, be good or evil. Let his every need
be met and his world be ordered in terms of his wishes. Let it be a trouble-free
world, cradle-to-grave security; let there be no failure. No failure is tolerable, and
none is recognized, save one, God’s, for having dared to create a world in which
we can suffer for our sins, in which we can be tried and tested, in which we can
be good or evil, in which we can and must be men. Let us through communism,
socialism, or our welfare states construct a world better than God’s, a world in
which failure is impossible and man is beyond good and evil.
The result of Adam’s fall was thus the birth of sociology, of religions and
politics, which seek to create this Society of Satan, the City of Man. Against all
this, the truth remains that man is created in the image of God, has fallen, is a
sinner, and can never escape the fact except by means of regeneration and
sanctification in Jesus Christ, except by becoming a member of Him and of His
new humanity, a new, responsible man, a citizen of the Kingdom of God.
In whose image are we trying to remake ourselves, our children, and our
society? In God’s image through Jesus Christ? Or in the image of man as
proposed by Satan?
The Society of Satan (Genesis 11:1-9) 107
 Chapter Twenty-Six
The Tower of Babel
(Genesis 11:1-9)
1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a
plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them
thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may
reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad
upon the face of the whole earth.
5. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the
children of men builded.
6. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one
language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained
from them, which they have imagined to do.
7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may
not understand one another’s speech.
8. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all
the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there
confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD
scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
(Genesis 11:1-9)
At this time, all men spoke a common tongue, so that mankind had an easy
unity in speech. This, however, was not enough for them. They sought an even
closer unity against God (vv. 1,4). God’s name and His person are not
mentioned even obliquely. All the same, men’s thinking was anti-God. The
Death of God school of thought of the early 1970s did not say that God was
actually dead, but merely that He was dead for them because they refused to
acknowledge His existence as relevant for them. So too with mankind at this
point: God was to be ignored and an order built apart from Him.
Men settled in Shinar, later known as Mesopotamia. At that time, the climate
was less dry and more adapted to a variety of uses. They had pitch there in
abundance, and the materials for bricks. This area later became Babylonia. “Go
to” in vv. 4 and 7 means “Come,” i.e., let us unite in this venture, which they did.
The objects of construction were two, a city and a tower. The tower in question
is a ziggurat, a stepped pyramid. Each successive story is recessed, so that a
ziggurat begun on a base of some acres ascends to a considerable height. The
top floor is then a smaller area, one used at times for astronomical and
astrological purposes, and also as the center for the rulers of the highest degree.
Freemasonry has deliberately aped the Babel ideas to create successively higher
degrees of membership in the lodge.

109
110 Genesis
There is a difference with respect to the meaning of the word Babel. The Bible
tells us (v. 9) that it means confusion, whereas in ancient Akkadian it means “gate
of god, bab-ilu.” The tower meant one thing to God, another to men seeking to
be their own god in terms of Genesis 3:5.
Men decided to build “a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven” (v. 4). This
idiom does not mean a literal skyscraper reaching up to heaven physically: it is
an idiom for a power center equalling God. Apart from Scripture, men have
many false assumptions concerning reality, one common belief being that life is
a common property shared by men and whatever gods may be. The goal of many
scientists then becomes the conquest of death and therefore the possession of
god-like powers. The tower was to be a governmental and scientific center for
man to make himself the new god over all the earth.
Then the plan was this: “Let us make us a name” (v. 4), or, a shem, meaning let
us define ourselves, fix and establish our authority so that we are what we declare
ourselves to be. Instead of being defined by the image of God (Gen. 1: 26-28),
man now held that he would be his own creature and creation and would define
himself. If man becomes a self-definer, he then, like a god, names or defines
everything else. He can then define God, or define Him out of existence,
supposedly.
The reason for this resolve was, “lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of
the whole earth” (v. 4). A basic doctrine of theology is the unity of the Godhead.
No god can be truly a god if he is divided within himself. Every humanistic
attempt to replace God with a one-world humanistic order leads to efforts to
bring all mankind under a common civil government. This is a theological
necessity: the ultimate power cannot be a divided power. Every effort is made to
compel human unity in the name of the new faith.
In vv. 5-9 we have a grim and ironic response from God. It is also sardonically
humorous. God surveys what man has done and is doing (v. 5). The people are
one in this new world order; their language is one, and now they are creating a
world government to play god over mankind (v. 6). With such a power over
mankind, “nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to
do” (v. 6). Total power will mean total government and control. When men play
god, they primarily seek to dominate other men. They then turn science and
knowledge into strategies of control in every sphere of life and thought. God
therefore declared that He would “go down,” i.e., be present in their midst in
judgment. He would so confound their speech that in time, whether at once or
over a span of years or generations, they would be unable to understand one
another and would be scattered (v. 7). The builders “left off to build the city” (v.
8). They began to scatter over all the face of the earth. The name of the place is
thus Babel, because God there brought confusion to man’s language and thereby
scattered mankind over all the earth (v. 9). The Hebrew word for scatter means
not only to disperse but also to break into pieces, to smash.
 The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) 111
Revelation tells us that this dream of the Tower of Babel is endemic to man
in his sin. We see repeated efforts to recreate this anti-God order, but in
Revelation 14:8 and 17:5 we are told of God’s final judgment in history against
this evil dream. The Babel-Babylon dream is allowed by God to come to some
kind of final fruition before it is destroyed forever.
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Tower of Babel, 2
(Genesis 11:1-9)
The Tower of Babel has a continuing problem, as the meaning of its name,
Babel, indicates. Does it mean, as the Hebrew text indicates, confusion, or, as the
ancient Akkadian would tell us, the gate of god? This disagreement is still with us,
in that modern one-world order dreamers do see it as in some sense the
apotheosis of man, his attainment of stature and self-divination. What to
Christians is a symbol of man’s evil dream is to the humanist the hope of
mankind.
Lange’s comment is important, because he recognizes that two differing
views of unity are at war here and throughout all history. He notes,
Delitzsch says correctly (p. 310): “the unity which had hitherto bound
together the human family was the community of one God, and of one
divine worship. This unity did not satisfy them; inwardly they had already
lost it; and therefore they strove for another. There is, therefore, an
ungodly unity, which they sought to reach through such self-invented,
sensual, outward means, whilst the very thing they feared they predicted as
their punishment. In its essence, therefore, it was a Titanic heaven-defying
undertaking.” The inward unity of faith ought to have been the center of
gravity, the rule and the measure of their outward unity. The historical
form of their true unity was the religion of Shem; its concrete middle point
was Shem himself. It sounds, therefore, like a derisive allusion to the
despised blessing of Shem, when they say: Go to, let us build a tower for
us, and make unto ourselves a name (a Shem). When, therefore, the tower-
building, the false outward idea of unity is frustrated, then it is that
Abraham must appear upon the stage as the effective middle point of
humanity, and the preparer of the way for the unity that was to come.
Abraham forms the theocratic contrast to the heathen tower-building.
Since that time, however, the striving of human nature has ever taken the
other direction, namely, to establish by force the outward unity of
humanity at the expense of the inward, and in contradiction to it; this has
appeared as well in the history of the world monarchies as in that of the
hierarchies. The history of Babel had its presignal in the city of Cain, its
symbol in the building of the tower, its beginning in the Babylonian world-
monarchy; but its end, according to Rev. 16:7, falls in the “last time.” The
contrast to this history of an outward force-unity is formed by Shem,
Abraham, Zion, Christ, the Church of believers, the bride of Christ,
according to Rev. 21:2,9.1
Turning again to the differing meanings of Babel, confusion versus gate of god, we
see two different world views and hopes for humanity. The two meanings are
totally at odds. They represent antagonistic plans of salvation, the one by human
action, the other by the grace of God. Two views of sovereignty are in conflict,

1.
John Peter Lange, Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, reprint, n.d.), 359f.

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the sovereignty of God versus the sovereignty of man in a world state. One rests
on the promise, “Ye shall be as god, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5); the
other on our Lord’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will, but thine
be done” (Luke 22:42). We have two rival doctrines of what constitutes the good,
one of which is evil.
The goal of the builders is to make us a Name, a Shem (v. 4). God’s definition
of the good, of authority and power, was for them wrong, and it was time for a
redefinition in terms of man’s ability and potential. If every man is his own god
and lawmaker, there can be no universally binding doctrine of law and morality.
There is, however, an insistence that any valid doctrine of law and morality must
be man-made. As a result, many twentieth century thinkers have specifically
chosen the Marquis de Sade over Jesus Christ. Donald Thomas summed up the
Sadean dream:
In this new order of the Sadean universe, it seemed that there was to be no
God, no morality, no affection, and no hope—only the extinction of
mankind in a final erotic and homicidal frenzy. Murder, theft, rape,
sodomy, incest and prostitution were to be the reasonable means to that
end. 2
Behind the cry, “Let us make us a name,” is a great hatred of God. We miss
the point of much of man’s history if we fail to see it as a war against God. The
Marquis de Sade relished the idea of killing God as the ultimate crime and
pleasure. Nietzsche delighted in thinking of himself as the God-slayer.
The reason for the Tower was, “lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of
the whole earth” (v. 4). Scattering is seen as the great evil. At the same time,
nothing divides men more than sin. Thus, without any action from God, the
builders of Babel would have scattered in time. God’s division and scattering
represented an act of both judgment and mercy, because His immediate
scattering forstalled major conflicts and killings.
The Tower was a symbol of man’s defiance of God, but, God being defied
and hated, there was nothing to prevent their hatred and defiant contempt for
one another. If all men are gods, we then have the murderous wars of the would-
be gods.
The fear of being scattered indicated an inward separation. Men do not worry
about being separated from those whom they love if no problems or conditions
exist to separate them. The fear of dispersion existed because sin had already
made clear their lack of unity.
If the scattering took place in Peleg’s lifetime, we can get some idea of what
was involved. Peleg was born 100 years after the Flood. According to Keil and
Delitzsch, given the longer life span, if we estimate four male and four female
births per marriage, there would be perhaps 30,000 people living in Peleg’s day.
(Of course, it could be three or four times that amount.)3
2.
Donald Thomas, The Marquis de Sade (New York: The Citadel Press, 1992), 6.
 The Tower of Babel, 2 (Genesis 11:1-9) 115
The Tower of Babel is ancient history, but it is equally obvious that it is
contemporary history, very much a part of our present day politics. Men outside
of God have not surrendered the dream of the original builders.
Andre Parrot held that the Tower of Babel was not “a clenched fist raised in
defiance of Heaven,” but “rather as a hand stretched in supplication, a cry to
Heaven for help.”4 He gives no evidence for this opinion, because there is none.
He is more accurate in stating, “the Tower of Babel is the cathedral of
antiquity.”5 Parrot held:
And then let us admit it, this idea of an angry God who comes and with
His own hands sows discord—the source of all wars and of all hate—in
the very heart of a united and therefore peaceful humanity, raises a theological
problem the gravity of which we ought seriously to consider.6
For Parrot, then, the problem is a simple one. At Babel, mankind was the victim
and God was the sinner. If we fail to understand this moral reversal of all
standards, we will not grasp the meaning of the Tower of Babel then or now.
The Tower was not only anti-God, it was an indictment of God, as are all
attempts since then to create a one-world order apart from God.

3.
C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, The Pentateuch, vol. I (Grand Rapids: Erdmans, 1949 reprint),
176.
4.
Andre Parrot, The Tower of Babel (New York: The Philosophical Library,1954, 1955), 9.
5.
Ibid., 68.
6.
Ibid.
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Focus
(Genesis 11:10-32)
10. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old,
and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11. And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat
sons and daughters.
12. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
13. And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years,
and begat sons and daughters.
14. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
15. And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and
begat sons and daughters.
16. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17. And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and
begat sons and daughters.
18. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
19. And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and
begat sons and daughters.
20. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
21. And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and
begat sons and daughters.
22. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
23. And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat
sons and daughters.
24. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
25. And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years,
and begat sons and daughters.
26. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor,
and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
28. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in
Ur of the Chaldees.
29. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife
was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran,
the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
30. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son,
and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth
with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they
came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died
in Haran. (Genesis 11:10-32)
Dating is a curious fact at times, in that our thinking is not always numerical.
Key events often dominate our dating. Thus, we live in A.D., the year of our
Lord, and in Genesis 11:10 we read that Shem, “two years after the flood,” begat
Arphaxad.

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118 Genesis
The genealogy of the patriarchs from Shem to Abraham is given in these
verses. We see a gradual decrease in longevity after the Flood, as conditions
changed and life expectancy decreased. Shem, who was 100 when the Flood
began, lived 600 years; Arphaxad, his son, lived 438 years, but Nahor, Abraham’s
grandfather, lived only 148 years. Human vitality was at its greatest prior to the
Flood, and, when Christians prevail and God’s law governs, it will again be
restored (Isa. 65:17-23).
It is interesting that, because of the centrality of the family, graves were
honored and respected. Josephus (Ant. I. 151) reported on the respect still given
to the grave of Haran in the first century A.D. Haran was a brother of Abraham
and the father of Lot. Haran was buried in Ur of the Chaldees. The importance
of ancestral graves was related to the fact that the basic and continuing
government over men was by families.
Heber in v. 14 was the ancestor of the Hebrews. He was apparently
sufficiently important that his descendants took their name from him.
From Genesis 11:27 to 25:11 the focus is mainly on Abraham. Eber may have
given the people his name, but Abraham gave them their faith and calling. In v.
28, we are given the locale of Haran, and apparently the family and its forbears,
Ur of the Chaldees. Ur was then a wealthy center of high culture. Sumerian
society was divided into three separate legal classes. The upper-class freemen
were the ruling elite, the priests, state officials, and army members. They carried
certain personal immunities, and acts of violence against them bore higher
penalties than against the middle class and slaves. Religious and civil duties were
their responsibilities. It was the upper-class man who fought and died for his
country. When he went to doctors, lawyers, and others, he paid double the fee
of the middle class. Because of his greater responsibilities, he had greater
privileges and freedom.
The middle class was free but was not required to serve as soldiers except in
case of an invasion. The middle class was made up of traders, doctors,
professional men, farmers, and the like. Although personally responsible and
accountable, their social duties were limited, and so too was their power.
Slaves were military prisoners, debtors, victims of debt and poverty, or were
born into slavery. They had no part in the life of the state, and no personal
responsibility therein. They had certain securities: they could protest in court
against their sale. They could carry on business on the side and save money. They
could purchase their freedom if they chose. The slave had maximum security
under the law but almost no social responsibility, and little freedom.
In Ur, freedom meant responsibility, whereas security meant little
responsibility. A price was paid for freedom. Ur thus had developed a workable
social order, balancing freedom and security. It was a working pragmatic answer,
but a somewhat pagan one. We do find the line of Shem closely tied to Ur, but
Ur was also a center of the moon-god faith.1 God chose to remove Abraham
 The Focus (Genesis 11:10-32) 119
from Ur to Palestine, to a more confrontational place, because He wanted, not
a congenial setting for His people but a place for growth.
In v. 29, we have a reference to the wives of Abram and Nahor. Since
genetically the penalties of close marriages had not yet set in, and since the law
on this was not given until Moses, such marriages were still licit.
In Genesis 11:2-10a, we have the family history, or family record, of Shem.
Then in Genesis 11:10b-27a we have the family record of Terah. Terah started
out towards the Promised Land with Abraham and with Lot, Haran’s son and
Terah’s grandson. Terah got no further than the city of Haran, where he died.
Terah’s son Abraham continued the journey with Lot.
We do not know why God chose to allow Terah to die after the first stage of
his journey, despite all the conjectures made by some commentators. We do
know that when God commands us to go, we are to go whether or not we are
likely to finish our mission. Rabbis debated as to whether or not Terah was
saved, and churchmen have theorized on why he went no further, or why he
died. The obvious fact is that we do not know. Joshua 24:2 says that the
forefathers of the Hebrews once served “other gods,” and it names Abraham’s
father, Terah, but this can mean no more than that Terah, earlier in life, had been
idolatrous before being recalled to the faith of Shem.
Sarah is mentioned in v. 29. Her name means princess. We now associate the
word “princess” with royal families; it once meant a daughter of a very powerful
family, and names such as queen and princess were given to the daughters of great
clan leaders. When government was essentially family oriented, the key titles
were family ones. In the 1980’s, when the head of a powerful family in the
mountains and valleys of Syria died, Middle Eastern heads of state or their
representatives attended the funeral of this man, whom they called a prince.
The focus is on Abraham, however, not on Terah or Sarah. He is the key to
redemptive history. From a history of creation and the fall of man, we come to
a single person, Abraham, the father of the faithful.

1.
R. J. Rushdoony, “Freedom and Security in Ur of the Chaldees,” in The Freeman, July,
1957, 44-46.
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Call of Abraham
(Genesis 12:1-9)
1. Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show
thee:
2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:
and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went
with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out
of Haran.
5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their
substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in
Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land
of Canaan they came.
6. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the
plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
7. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I
give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared
unto him.
8. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel,
and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and
there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the
LORD.
9. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
(Genesis 12:1-9)
When Abram was 75 years old, and Sarai 65 (v. 4), God called him to leave
Haran for Palestine. The call was a very specific one: First, Get out of Haran.
Second, leave your relatives and your father’s house. Third, go to “a land that I will
shew thee” (v. 1). Abram is told that if he does this, first, “I will make of thee a
great nation;” second, “I will bless thee and make thy name great,” third, the
conclusion of v. 2 is more accurately rendered, “be thou a blessing.” Fourth, “I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee,” and fifth, “in
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (v. 3).
God not only tells Abram that he will be greatly blessed, but He also declares
that nations (as well as men) will be blessed or cursed by God in terms of their
relationship to Abraham; the whole world will in time be blessed because of
Abraham. As a counterpart to this outpouring of blessings, Abram is
commanded in v. 2, “be thou a blessing.” In every calling by God this command
remains: we are blessed, but we must also be a blessing to others and to the
world around us.
The promise of the land, Canaan, is this, “Unto thy seed will I give this land”
(v. 7). It would provide a burial place for Abraham, but it would be his

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122 Genesis
descendants who would inherit the land. What God required of Abraham was
faith, faith in God, and faith that God would keep His word. Hebrews 11:8-10
tells us:
8. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went.
9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the
same promise:
10. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God.
Abram was not chosen by God because he was a better man than his
forefathers, but because God in His sovereign grace had chosen to use Abraham.
This calling, and the covenant that followed, gave no proprietary right or title to
God’s promise to anyone in Israel or in the church, because a covenant requires
obedience, faithfulness. At any time, God can replace the covenant-breakers
with another people. God through Amos speaks of this:
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel?
saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt?
and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? (Amos 9:7)
It is a great evil for men to assume that God is bound by covenants men break
at will.
God spoke, and Abram departed from Haran as he was ordered to do (v. 4).
He took with him his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all their substance, and all the
“souls” or persons who were a part of their family. These “souls” could be called
slaves, but the term does not fit because they were family members because of
their bondage. In that era, a slave could be a friend or a relative, and he could
inherit even though he was not blood kin. Prior to the birth of either Ishmael or
Isaac, Abraham’s heir was such a man, Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2).
Because the culture was familistic, the orientation of all things was to the family.
The state was then a minor thing, often an extended family, tribe, or clan.
Families then as always could be good or bad, but the centrality of the family to
life as a whole placed a restraint on irresponsible family government. The fact of
a dowry was also a restraint on careless marriages. There was always too much
at stake.
All such “souls” or slaves could, under the Mosaic law, and apparently before
it, go free if they converted, or on payment of the debt that led to their bondage.
Since all of Abraham’s household were apparently believers, all were included in
the covenant, and all males were circumcised (Gen. 17:9-14). The uncircumcised
were to be abolished from Abraham’s household for their unbelief (Gen. 17:14).
It was a violation of God’s covenant.
Now when Abram was called by God to leave his family and migrate to God’s
appointed place, Abram was leaving behind vast wealth and a comfortable way
 The Call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-9) 123
of life. Both Ur and Haran were substantial communities, and Abram’s family a
wealthy one. The purely personal wealth he took was enough to classify him as
an important man. In Genesis 14:14, when Abram pursues the army that took
his nephew Lot captive, he fielded a force of 318 men from his own household.
This meant that he left at home approximately as many older men to care for the
sheep and cattle, and a like number of young boys, so that the males in his
household numbered about one thousand, with an equal number of females,
young and old. The original family wealth, of which Abraham would have been
heir, was probably much greater. All this Abraham forsook for a promise from God.
While asking Abram to leave the family wealth behind, He also says, “Be thou
a blessing” (v. 2). What God had promised to do through Noah and Shem He
now tells Abram is his inheritance. Great or small, however, if God blesses us,
we must in turn be a blessing. Unhappily, too many seem to believe that God’s
calling is, Be thou a stinker.
Abram, in reaching Palestine or Canaan, went to Shechem, Moreh, and then
to the South. It was in Canaan that God appeared to Abram to say, “Unto thy
seed will I give this land,” and Abram built an altar and there worshipped God
(v. 8). It is often noted that this is the first theophany or manifestation of God’s
presence in some form after the Fall. It is certainly the first record of such an
event, but this does not mean that it did not occur previously.
In Genesis 11:1-9, we have the Tower of Babel and God’s judgment on
mankind. In Genesis 12:1-9, we have the calling of Abram. Men may place their
hope in great international efforts which are no more than minor Towers of
Babel, whereas God brings the world under His dominion one person at a time.
The political hope is a trust in a false community as salvation, and its
consequence is continuing disaster.
A very striking fact in this text is that God orders Abram to leave his family, a
startling fact given the culture of the time, in order to be a blessing to all the
families of a future era. The family was and is central to God, but He is over all
and before all, and He must be served above all else.
 Chapter Thirty
Abram in Egypt
(Genesis 12:10-20)
10. And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt
to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
11. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that
he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman
to look upon:
12. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that
they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee
alive.
13. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy
sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
14. And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the
Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
15. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before
Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16. And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen,
and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and
camels.
17. And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues
because of Sarai Abram's wife.
18. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done
unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to
wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
20. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him
away, and his wife, and all that he had. (Genesis 12:10-20)
Abram went to Canaan, and, we are told, “there was a famine in the land” (v.
10). He had arrived at the Promised Land only to be met with a drought that
made it impossible for him to remain there with his herds and flocks. Owning
no land, and without grazing rights except in the now barren common hills, he
had to move on to Egypt. At the moment God’s promise did not look very good,
but, by faith, Abraham persevered, and he moved his men and his livestock into
Egypt.
The episode which follows has commonly led to condemnations of Abram.
Scofield, himself both antinomian and lawless, could still call this “Abraham’s
lapse.” Let us begin, however, by taking Abraham’s comments (vv. 11-13)
seriously. First, Abraham’s comment that the Egyptians would kill Abram in
order to seize his wife must be taken very seriously. In a familistic culture,
adultery is a capital offense, even more consequential than murder. Adultery
puts alien seed into a family, and, in a familistic culture, this is, humanly speaking,
the most grievous offense. Murder takes a man’s life, but adultery can shatter his
future and give him false heirs.

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126 Genesis
Second, the nature of treason varies from culture to culture. In a familistic
culture, it is adultery. In an ecclesiastically oriented culture, it is heresy and
blasphemy. In a statist culture, it means giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
When a culture shifts, so too does its definition of treason. Thus, in the United
States not too long after World War II, the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death
for treason. In recent years, Pollard and Ames have not faced the death penalty
because the centrality of the state is a waning doctrine at the present time.
Third, Sarai was closely related to Abram, and, in the terminology of the day,
close female relatives could be called sisters. In some cultures, I have known
“brother” and “cousin” to be used interchangeably.
Fourth, what would Abraham’s critics have him do? Should he have defied the
Egyptians and said, “You will have to kill me first before you can take Sarai?”
They would have killed him on the spot. Then what good could he do to save
Sarai? Abram was no fool. He knew that he was helpless, so that all he could do
was to commit the matter to God. Foolhardiness never commends itself to God.
Fifth, the obvious fact remains that God delivered Abram and Sarai here and
later, and also Isaac in a like situation. He did not rebuke him, although the
commentators do so freely.
What Abram feared did happen. No doubt he had told Sarai to remain
secluded as much as possible, but she was spotted by some Egyptian princes.
They commended Sarai’s beauty to the pharaoh, and she was taken into his
palace. This does not mean that she was at once sexually used. In some
countries, then and later, women taken into a palace often went through a long
process of physical and ritual purification. Even then, some girls and women
lived and died in harems without even being called to the ruler’s bed.
Meanwhile, Pharaoh, or his men, gave Abram considerable wealth for Sarai in
the form of sheep, oxen, donkeys, and camels, and also “menservants, and
maidservants” (v. 16). Abram was now vastly richer.
But God plagues Pharaoh’s house “with great plagues because of Sarai
Abram’s wife” (v. 17). Pharaoh somehow learned the cause of this and at once
sent for Abram. He accused Abram of deception (vv. 18-20), but the significant
fact is that he asked no return of any of the wealth he had given Abram. Also,
he warned his people against doing any harm to Abram. Clearly, he knew that,
had Abram not done what he did, Abram would have been killed by Pharaoh’s
men.
There is another important fact here. It would be absurd and unrealistic to
believe that what had been done to Abram had not been done to many a man
before Abram arrived. Both Abram and Pharaoh knew this. In this case,
however, God intervened, and Pharaoh wanted no further judgment from God.
Clearly, this man Abram was a prophet or seer of some sort, and was not to be
meddled with.
 Abram in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20) 127
Egypt at this time was already of powerful stature and military rank. All the
same, Egypt still regarded the family as a power not to be readily disrupted.
Egypt had moved more quickly than other countries from familism to statism,
but it was still sensitive to the importance of the family.
Some fine scholars have here resorted to abusive language in describing
Abram, one man calling him “base and despicable.” What do they want
Abraham to do, to be killed? How would that have helped Sarai? Abraham had
more sense and much more faith in God than all his critics.
We do not owe the truth to men who seek to do evil. A court of law requires
truth, and we must pray there for God’s justice. But when confronted by evil
men, we owe them nothing, for such men want our truth to further their evil.
Abraham told the truth only up to a point.
 Chapter Thirty-One
Abram and Lot
(Genesis 13:1-18)
1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had,
and Lot with him, into the south.
2. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
3. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the
place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
4. Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and
there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
5. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
6. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together:
for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
7. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the
herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then
in the land.
8. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between
me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be
brethren.
9. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me:
if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart
to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
10. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was
well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as
thou comest unto Zoar.
11. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and
they separated themselves the one from the other.
12. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of
the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD
exceedingly.
14. And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from
him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art
northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed
for ever.
16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can
number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
17. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it;
for I will give it unto thee.
18. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of
Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
(Genesis 13:1-18)
The centuries have altered both the face and the climate of many areas of the
world. The Sahara was once a productive area, well-watered, and fertile. Of the
Dead Sea area, we are told in v. 10 that it was once comparable to the Garden
of Eden, and also ancient Egypt, once also very different from what it is now.

129
130 Genesis
Apparently, too, prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, there was no
Dead Sea.
In Genesis 19:5, the homosexuality of Sodom is cited. In Ezekiel 16:46-56,
Sodom is described as proud, having fullness of bread, but thoroughly
uncharitable and contemptuous of the poor and needy.
In Genesis 12:1-3, and confirmed in 12:7, God promises to Abraham a great
future as the heir of the promise through Shem. In Genesis 13:14-17, the
promise is confirmed once more, after the separation from Lot. A little reflection
will tell us why. Abram was over 75 and childless. He was obviously very fond
of Lot, his nephew. No conflict had occurred between them. The problem was
between their herdsman, their cattle keepers or cowhands (vv. 5-7). These men
were looking after their master’s interests and were hostile one to another. All
felt that they were in the right. No doubt Abram and Lot did all that they could
to settle the problems, but to no avail.
Abram took the lead in seeking a solution. Having no heir, he was in effect
depending on Lot, whom he loved, to be his heir. He now offered to Lot first
choice over the available grazing lands (vv. 8-9). There is no evidence that
Abram felt that Lot had gained an advantage over his uncle. For Lot to attempt
to reject his uncle’s generosity would have been ungracious, and, in terms of
Near Eastern manners, it would have been seen as trying to outdo a benefactor’s
generosity. Lot did what Abram wanted him to do. Abram had left Egypt greatly
enriched by Pharaoh. We are told that he returned to Canaan “very rich in cattle,
in silver, and in gold” (v.2). Both Abram and Lot did what good manners and
family tradition required of them. In such cases, the greater blesses the lesser.
Abram was giving Lot an opportunity to increase his wealth and Lot accepted it.
They then separated themselves.
The hand of God was in all of this. Lot was not to be Abram’s heir, nor, later,
Eliezer, nor Ishmael. Lot was now separated from Abram.
This saddened Abram, and at this point (vv. 14-18) God again reminded
Abram of His promises to him. First, all of Canaan would be given to Abram’s
posterity, as yet non-existent. This was thus a promise that a son would be born
to him (vv. 14-15). Second, his seed would be so numerous that they would be
innumerable, like the dust of the earth (v. 16). Third, go over the land and view
it as an inheritance your seed will in time receive (v. 17). Fourth, this is an
inheritance “to thy seed forever,” or, for all time. Since Abraham’s seed is
primarily Jesus Christ, then all who are in Him (Gal. 3:6-8, 16, 29) are also
Abraham’s seed, and this promise applies to them. All men and nations shall in
time be His (Ps. 82:8; 86:9; etc.).
Already Abram was “very rich” or “weighty with possessions,” so that he was
a powerful and important man.
Harold G. Stigers translates the word that describes the Sodomites as a wicked
people (v. 13) as vicious.1
 Abram and Lot (Genesis 13:1-18) 131
John H. Sailhamer made an interesting observation about Abram’s offer to
Lot, to choose either one area or another. He believes that Abram was “on the
verge of giving the Promised Land to Lot.”2 This is to assume something
impossible, that man can frustrate God’s sovereign decree and purpose. That no
man can do.
Twice in these eighteen verses we have reference to altars. The first is to
Abram’s visit to the place where he had built an altar on first arriving in Canaan.
This altar he had built between Bethel and Ai (Hai), v. 4. In v. 18, we are told
that Abram built an altar at Mamre, near Hebron. Abram was a devout man, and,
facing decisions, or because he was grateful, again and again sacrificed to the
Lord.
Stigers translated the word watered in v. 10 as irrigated, or, well-irrigated, or
wholly irrigated.3 If his translation is correct, then this area was probably the first
irrigated area of antiquity. This would indicate an area advanced in wealth and in
their ability to develop agriculturally and in other ways. The result was pride and
arrogance toward God and man.
God subjected Abram, after his calling, to one difficulty after another, to a life
of trials. We see the reason why in Hebrews 12:4-11: chastening is evidence of
fatherly love. To be unchastened is to be a bastard, and too many parents today
treat their children as bastards by their ungodly indulgences.

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 146.
2.
John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in Frank E. Gaebelein, editor, The Expositor’s Bible Com-
mentary, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Regency, 1990), 188f.
3.
Harold G. Stigers, 145.
 Chapter Thirty-Two
Abram and Melchizedek
(Genesis 14:1-24)
1. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king
of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
2. That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of
Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and
the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
3. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
4. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they
rebelled.
5. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were
with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims
in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
6. And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the
wilderness.
7. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote
all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in
Hazezontamar.
8. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and
the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the
same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;
9. With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations,
and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with
five.
10. And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom
and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the
mountain.
11. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their
victuals, and went their way.
12. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and
his goods, and departed.
13. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for
he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and
brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
14. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed
his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen,
and pursued them unto Dan.
15. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and
smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of
Damascus.
16. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother
Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the
slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the
valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
18. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he
was the priest of the most high God.

133
134 Genesis
19. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God,
possessor of heaven and earth:
20. And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies
into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
21. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and
take the goods to thyself.
22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto
the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23. That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will
not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram
rich:
24. Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the
men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their
portion. (Genesis 14:1-24)
According to John Calvin’s reckoning, when the warfare described in Genesis
14 occurred, Ham, Shem, and Japheth were still alive.1 It was very obvious to at
least Shem and Japheth that man’s salvation was not in fallen man, but in the
Promised One to come. They lived to see much evil and little good.
We meet in this chapter Melchizedek, the priest of El Elyon, the Most High
God (vv. 18, 22), whom Abram calls also Jehovah, or Yahweh (v. 22). The
reference to Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:1-3 is both important and
unintentionally misleading to casual reading:
1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who
met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2. To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by
interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem,
which is, King of peace;
3. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;
abideth a priest continually.
Everything said in this text had reference not to Melchizedek’s person, but to his
status as God’s priest. Many priesthoods then were hereditary, gained by descent
from either one’s father or mother. The subsequent priesthood of Israel was by
male descent from Aaron; there were, of course, other requirements.
Melchizedek’s priesthood came directly from God, and we are told that none
other like it existed apart from the Son of God. He is mentioned in Psalm 110:4.
A war occurred between four kings, Amraphel, king of Shimare, a region
between Elam and Babylonia; Chedorlaomar, king of Elzlam; Arioch, king of
Ellasar; and Tidal, king of the Goyim, and the five kings of the plains. These
were the rulers: Bera king of Sodom; Birsha, the king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king
of Admah; Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Beleh, or Zoar (v. 2).
The battle occurred in the valley of Siddim, which became the Salt Sea, or the
Dead Sea (v. 3).
1.
John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of Genesis, vol. I (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948
reprint), 380.
 Abram and Melchizedek (Genesis 14:1-24) 135
The cities of the plain had served the eastern kings for twelve years, and in the
thirteenth they rebelled (v. 14). In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and his
allies came not only to suppress the rebellion, but also to conquer adjacent areas,
the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, the Horites in Mount Seir, and the El-
param area. They also conquered En-mispat, the Amorites, and the Amalekites.
They then crushed the five-king coalition headed by the king of Sodom; the
kings fled, and they fell into slime-pits in so doing (vv. 5-10). Taking their booty,
the kings of the east went their way. Their booty included Lot and his household
and possessions (vv. 11-12). A man who escaped went to Abram to tell him what
had happened to Lot (v. 13). With Abram were three Amorites who were in
league with him, Mamre, Eschol, and Aner (v. 13).
All four men no doubt had friends and relatives among the captives, and we
know that Abram did. They combined their forces and went in pursuit, Abram
having 318 men under him (v. 14). They divided their forces and attacked by
night, and they crushed the enemy and recaptured the spoils (vv. 15-16),
including Lot, his family, and others. The four kings had been killed (v. 17). On
his return, two kings greeted Abram, the king of Sodom and Melchizedek, the
king of Salem.
Melchizedek gave to the returning men bread and wine. Although these are
now communion elements, their meaning in this context is quick refreshment to
weary men, black bread and wine for nourishment. Melchizedek pronounced a
blessing on Abram in particular as the deliverer.
The king of Sodom asked for his people who had been captured, and he
offered the loot to Abram, i.e., all the wealth seized from Sodom. Abram
refused, stating that he had sworn an oath to God to take nothing. He thus asked
only that Aner, Eschol, and Mamre be allowed to take their portions, and that
whatever the soldiers or warriors had eaten be exempted (vv. 21-24). Abram also
gave a tithe of all they had taken to Melchizedek (v. 20, Heb. 7:2).
In v. 13, we are told that the man who had escaped came to “Abram the
Hebrew.” The name Hebrew had now attached itself to Abram and his
household.
To return to Melchizedek, the great priest, he is clearly connected with Jesus
Christ in his priesthood. He is also connected with us. We have all been made a
royal priesthood by Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:6). We have the privilege of direct access
to God in and through the Name of Jesus Christ. Our priesthood is without a
human ancestry of blood: we do not gain it from our family. It, however, gives
us no freedom of action apart from Christ and His law-word.
We are also introduced to the tithe as an established aspect of the life of faith.
The tithe is God’s tax and was apparently in existence from the beginning as
God’s requirement.
136 Genesis
 Chapter Thirty-Three
The Great Covenant
(Genesis 15:1-21)
1. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision,
saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go
childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3. And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one
born in my house is mine heir.
4. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall
not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels
shall be thine heir.
5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So
shall thy seed be.
6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for
righteousness.
7. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of
the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
8. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9. And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she
goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and
a young pigeon.
10. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid
each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
11. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them
away.
12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and,
lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a
stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall
afflict them four hundred years;
14. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward
shall they come out with great substance.
15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good
old age.
16. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
17. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark,
behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those
pieces.
18. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto
thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river,
the river Euphrates:
19. The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20. And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21. And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the
Jebusites. (Genesis 15:1-21)

137
138 Genesis
This is a very remarkable chapter, and an awe-inspiring one. Abram had left
friends and family at God’s command. He had undergone a famine, the
humiliating experience in Egypt, separation from Lot, and more. God therefore
spoke to Abram in a vision to strengthen him: “Fear not Abram: I am thy shield,
and thy exceeding great reward” (v. 1). Obviously, Abram had fears about his
future and what God might still have in store for him. Clearly, God was not a
soft-hearted grandfather but the eternal and absolute Lord whose ways are
beyond man’s conceiving.
Abram’s response was plainspoken: What will you give me, since I am
childless, and my heir is now my steward, Eliezer of Damascus? Where is the
promised seed? (vv. 2-3).
God had already told Abram, “I am thy shield,” your protector, and your
“exceeding great reward” (v. 1). Now God says, you will have an heir of your
own blood and line (v. 4). God then pointed Abram to the sky: as innumerable
as the stars were and are, so innumerable would his seed be (v. 5). We are then
told, Abram “believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for
righteousness” (v. 6). This verse is cited in Romans 4:9 and 22, and, in Galatians
3:6, it is basic to Paul’s letter. We see it also in Romans 4:3 as the premise of that
chapter, and in James 2:23 it is used to show that faith without works is dead.
The Hebrew word translated is aman, and it is closely related to the Hebrew and
English word, amen. Abraham said amen to God; he trusted Him totally; God had
spoken, and Abraham trusted in God’s every word. Given what Abram had
undergone, and would still undergo, his was not an easy-believism but a total
trust in God. The closest approximation we have to this is Job’s statement,
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15). This is the first use of
the word believe in the Bible. It means far more than assent or agreement: it is
total faithfulness and trust.
After God says to Abram, “I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of
the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it,” Abram asks, “Lord GOD,
whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” (vv. 7-8). The verses that follow (vv.
9-21) describe the covenant that follows, a most startling one. Covenants are
basically of two kinds. The first is between equals. Two parties agree on a law that
will bind them both. The penalty for any violation is death. This is a covenant of
law. The second kind of covenant is between unequals, in Scripture between God
and man. The superior gives His law to the other party as an act of grace, so that
it is again a covenant of law. Any covenant with God is inevitably a covenant of
both grace and law, and to deny the law any validity is to reject God’s grace in
giving it.
Because the covenant is a treaty with a death penalty for violation, it is also a
covenant in blood. It requires animal sacrifices to set forth this fact; the sacrifices
not only ratify the covenant at its inception, but are also a continuing reminder
of the penalty of death for the violations of the covenant. Thus a covenant with
God in particular is a witness to the gift of life and grace as well as to judgment
 The Great Covenant (Genesis 15:1-21) 139
and death. Scripture tells us that ours is a covenantal life, so that all our activities
are totally consequential.
The covenant of God with Abram in Genesis 15:9-21 is particularly startling
because here it is God who initiates it, but He does more also: He sets forth the
consequences for the Godhead.
But, first, God orders Abram to prepare for the making or cutting of the
covenant. He was to take a heifer of three years, a she-goat of the same age, a
ram of the same age, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon (v. 19). These he was to
cut into two pieces each, except for the birds, placing one on each side (v. 10).
Abram then stood there to drive away the birds that sought to seize the meat (v.
11).
Now, normally, in the making of a covenant, both parties would walk between
the two rows of sacrificed animals, saying, in effect, so may I be destroyed if I
am faithless to the covenant bond between us and its law. Abram is not asked to
do this, although God had ordered the covenant sacrifice. Instead, a deep sleep
fell on Abram, and “an horror of great darkness” (v. 12).
Second, this covenant did not require Abram to walk between the sacrifice
because God, who ordered it, would provide the sacrificial victim who would
pay the death penalty for man’s sin. This would be God’s Son and Abram’s seed.
Abram’s vision for the time filled him with great horror (v. 12). Later, as he
became aware of what it meant for man’s salvation, he was able to be joyful
because of it. Our Lord says, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it,
and was glad” (John 8:56). Peter was horrified when our Lord spoke of the cross
(Matt. 16:21-23), but he later rejoiced in it (1 Peter 1:2-4).
Third, God here reveals to Abram that God the Son would take upon Himself
the death penalty for the transgression of the covenant law by men. This means
much more than death for mankind. The Creator of all things is revealed as the
Redeemer of all things. This sets forth both the greatness of grace and the
seriousness of the law. No man who sees the seriousness of God’s covenant can
take the covenant grace and law lightly, which is the reason men refuse to think
seriously about the implications of either. Pious gush passes as a substitute for
understanding and faith. Abram’s horror and joy both revealed his faith and
knowledge.
Abram also knew that the God who would redeem man by the incarnation
and crucifixion would not hesitate to prepare Abram (and us) for our life in His
eternal Kingdom by much tribulation (John 16:33).
What passed between the pieces of the sacrificed animals when it was dark
was a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire (v. 7). These signified the presence of
God (Ex. 3:6; 19:18; etc.), as did the pillar of fire and the cloud in the wilderness.
He was assuming the responsibility for covenant violations in the person of the
Son.
140 Genesis
Meanwhile, Abram was told that his posterity would spend 400 years in
captivity in another land. God would then judge that land and deliver Abram’s
posterity to the possession of Canaan. In the meantime, God would permit the
viciousness of the people of the land of Canaan to reach its fulness (vv. 13-16).
Abram’s posterity would be granted all the land from Egypt to the river
Euphrates (v. 18). They approximated this in Solomon’s day. They would also
conquer the peoples of Canaan and the adjacent area (vv. 19-21).
There is a reference to the divided sacrifices and the princes of Judah passing
between them in Jeremiah 34:18-20.
 Chapter Thirty-Four
Hagar
(Genesis 16:1-16)
1. Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an
handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me
from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain
children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram
had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband
Abram to be his wife.
4. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that
she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my
maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was
despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.
6. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as
it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her
face.
7. And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the
wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
8. And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt
thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and
submit thyself under her hands.
10. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed
exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child,
and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD
hath heard thy affliction.
12. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every
man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.
13. And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God
seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
14. Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between
Kadesh and Bered.
15. And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which
Hagar bare, Ishmael.
16. And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael
to Abram. (Genesis 16:1-16)
After ten years in Canaan, Abram and Sarai were still childless. Abram was
now 85 years old, and perhaps Sarai had undergone her menopause and so
despaired of having a child. As a result, Sarai took the initiative and urged Abram
to take her handmaid, Hagar, to wife as a concubine. A concubine was a wife
without a dowry, i.e., legal, financial security. We do know that, much later, some
rabbis held that after ten childless years, a man could take another woman to

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142 Genesis
bear him seed. Perhaps this belief went back to ancient times and was simply
reflected by Sarai; we do not know. At least some aspects of what followed had
ancient origins and were later used by Leah and Rachel with their handmaids,
Bilhah and Zilpah; these two aspects were, first, the power of the wife over her
handmaid and, second, the child born of such a union was legally the child of the
wife. Sarai cites this by stating the hope, “that I may obtain children by her” (v.
3).
Such a plan was standard procedure, so that apparently there was a simple
agreement on Abram’s part. From start to finish, he was passive. It was, in the
cultures of the day, an accepted fact. It was not an idea original with Sarai. It was
commonplace, as Nuzi tablets have shown. The Code of Hammurabi forbad the
handmaid, or the slave girl, to assert equality with her mistress on pain of
reduction to slavery.1
In this instance, the handmaid, Hagar, was Egyptian, no doubt a gift of
Pharaoh (Genesis 12:16). The Egyptians, great and small, were prone to look
down on all foreigners, especially people who raised sheep. Hagar’s flight was an
attempted return to Egypt, because her stopping point, Shur, was on the route
going South.
In v. 4, the meaning in Hebrew is that Hagar conceived at once when Abram
went in unto her, so that it was at once obvious that the failure of Sarai to
conceive was not Abram’s lack of fertility. Hagar’s reaction was to despise Sarai.
In a camp of 2000 people, there were many women who regularly worked and
visited together. There were other Egyptian women who had been given to
Abram by Pharaoh (Gen. 12:16). Hagar’s pregnancy by the overlord of all made
her not only happy but also proud and arrogant. We are told, “when she saw that
she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes” (v. 4).
Sarai’s reaction was an angry one. She had honored a young slave girl by her
own choice, and we can assume that Hagar had up to this point been highly
pleasing to her. Twice the word despised is used to describe Hagar’s attitude
toward Sarai (vv. 4, 5). The Hebrew word (kawlal) means to express contempt.
In Genesis 25:34, the same word is used when we are told that Esau despised his
birthright. It means treating something or someone deserving respect casually,
lightly, and disrespectfully.
Hagar obviously assumed that her position was a secure one, and she
therefore counted on Abram to be so overjoyed at imminent parenthood that
she would be free to act as she pleased towards Sarai.
Sarai went to Abram to tell him of the situation without any equivocation (v.
5). Abram at once acknowledged her authority over Hagar saying, “Behold, thy
maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee.” And when Sarai dealt hardly
with her, “she fled from her face” (v. 5). Hagar had obviously expected Abram

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan,
1976), 160f.
 Hagar (Genesis 16:1-16) 143
to side with her. Shocked by Abram’s refusal to condone her behavior, she fled
southward towards Egypt. We can safely assume that Hagar was quite young,
and had been a child when given to Abram ten years earlier. Her behavior was
immature and unplanned, a hasty and emotional response.
At Shur, by a spring, she stopped. The way ahead was a very difficult one, and
she was pregnant. It was there that “the angel of the LORD,” God the Son in
His pre-incarnation appearance, found her and spoke to her. He asked her from
whence she came and where she was going. Without making any excuses, she
admitted that she was running away from “my mistress Sarai” (v. 8). By
acknowledging Sarai as her mistress, and by making no excuses, we see another
side of Hagar.
The angel of the LORD then commands her, first, “Return to thy mistress,
and submit thyself under her hands” (v. 9). We know, of course, that she did this,
and we know therefore that Sarai had not been unwise in choosing Hagar. She
was a woman of character. Second, Hagar is told that her seed, like Abram’s, will
be multiplied greatly, “that it shall not be numbered for multitude” (v. 10). This
is important because this great blessing is pronounced on Hagar, not here on
Ishmael nor on Abram. God honors her specifically (as should we). Third, a
prophecy is made concerning her seed. “The LORD hath heard thy affliction,”
so that she, Hagar, is in particular honored and blessed apart from the blessings
on Sarai and Abram. Her son, Ishmael, meaning God shall hear, shall flourish,
even though he is alone, against all, and all against him. Stigers translates the first
clause of v. 12, “And he shall be a choice man,” others a “wild man.”
Hagar then defined God as “Thou God seest me,” and she recognized that
she had seen God briefly, and that He was always mindful of her.
The name of the well was called after that by her descendants, Beerlahai-roi,
“The well of Him that liveth and seeth me” (v. 14).
On her return, at some point in time, Hagar bore Abram a son. Clearly, she
had shared her vision or theophany with both Abram and Sarai, and Abram
therefore called the boy’s name Ishmael (v. 15). At this time, Abram was 86 years
of age.
Properly read, this is a comforting and rewarding episode. God, the Creator
of all things in heaven and earth, is affectionately mindful of a slave girl named
Hagar. Her pride and foolishness are forgiven, and the repentant girl is given a
great place in God’s history, one not yet over. The human reaction to Hagar
would have been to nag her for her sorry reaction to Sarai. God, who loved both
Sarai and Hagar, is patient and kindly. This episode tells us much about God. It
is sad that too many people want to throw verbal stones at Hagar.
144 Genesis
 Chapter Thirty-Five
The Promise: Father of Many Nations
(Genesis 17:1-27)
1. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared
to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and
be thou perfect.
2. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply
thee exceedingly.
3. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4. As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father
of many nations.
5. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be
Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee,
and kings shall come out of thee.
7. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after
thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto
thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein
thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession;
and I will be their God.
9. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore,
thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy
seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a
token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
12. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every
man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with
money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
13. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money,
must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an
everlasting covenant.
14. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not
circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my
covenant.
15. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call
her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
16. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her,
and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart,
Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah,
that is ninety years old, bear?
18. And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19. And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou
shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an
everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

145
146 Genesis
20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and
will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes
shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
21. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto
thee at this set time in the next year.
22. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
23. And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house,
and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of
Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the
selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
24. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin.
25. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin.
26. In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
27. And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with
money of the stranger, were circumcised with him. (Genesis 17:1-27)
At the age of 99, Abram received a remarkable revelation from God, who first
identifies Himself, saying “I am the Almighty God,” and then, second, commands
Abram saying, “walk before me, and be thou perfect” (v. 1). Third, God tells
Abram, “And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply
thee exceedingly” (v. 2). But a covenant had already been made, so that this
promise is at first glance a strange one. The difference appears when we learn
that the promised line is to be through Sarai, and the promised child is to be
named Isaac (vv. 15-19).
Abram had come to regard Ishmael as his child of promise, and he loved
Ishmael dearly. Ishmael had his faults, but he was obviously a good son, so that
Abram cries out, “O that Ishmael might live before Thee!” (v. 18). We cannot
doubt that God’s promise was well known in the entire household and therefore
familiar to Ishmael, who even as a boy regarded himself as a forbear of the
Messiah. God’s revelation was thus a shock to Abram and also to the young
Ishmael.
God tells Abram, first, that he shall be a father of many nations, a declaration
made before but now focused on the line of descent through Isaac (v. 4). Second,
a name change accompanies this revelation: Abram will now be Abraham
because he will be the father of a multitude of peoples. Nations and kings will
come out of his seed in time (vv. 5-6). Third, God’s covenant is now localized in
the line of Abraham, his progeny by faith. The “everlasting covenant” is a matter
of faith in essence, although it will for a time parallel his seed (v. 7). The land of
Canaan will be given to his seed, again as an everlasting possession, which means
it will in time be again as in the past, a Christian realm (v. 8).
Then, fourth, the sign of covenant membership is circumcision on the eighth
day for all males, and later for uncircumcised adults. On the eighth day, the
child’s blood coagulates, making circumcision safe. Everyone in Abraham’s
household who is a male must be circumcised, because all, whether members by
 The Promise: Father of Many Nations (Genesis 17:1-27) 147
birth or by purchase, must be under the covenant of life (vv. 9-14). Circumcision
as a rite meant that man’s hope was not in generation but in regeneration. The
act is a confession that in generation there is neither hope nor salvation, and that
man’s future is assured only in regeneration. To reject circumcision is to reject
the covenant, Abraham is told.
Fifth, Abraham is told that Sarai’s name is to be changed to Sarah, from “my
princess” to “princess,” because her standing is to be more than personal.
Sixth, Sarah will give birth to a son; she shall be blessed and be a mother of
nations and kings (v. 16). This promise caused Abraham to fall on his face,
laughing. Physically, both he and Sarah were now past time for bringing forth a
child. But God declares that a son shall be born, and his name is to be Isaac.
God’s everlasting covenant will be established through Isaac (v. 19).
Seventh, God’s love of Abraham is shown clearly in His word concerning
Ishmael. He will be blessed and multiplied, and twelve princes will be born to
him. “I will make him a great nation” (v. 20). In Genesis 25:12-16, we learn that
twelve sons were born to Ishmael. These became princes of small city-states or
nations. But God’s covenant would be through Sarah and Isaac.
Abraham at once began the circumcision of his male entourage (v. 23). At the
time, Abraham was 99 years of age and Sarah 89 (v. 24). Ishmael, age 13, was
also circumcised (v. 25).
As we have seen earlier, there were probably about a thousand males and an
equal number of females in Abraham’s household. All males became members
of the covenant and Hebrews, whatever their racial background, when they were
circumcised. Their faith made them not slaves but family members. Ishmael was
later separated and Isaac replaced him. This meant that the Abrahamic blood in
the chosen people was about one two thousandth. The foreigners incorporated
into Israel on departing from Egypt and the numbers of aliens from the
conquest of Canaan on were very great. Thus any attempt to align the covenant
with blood is obviously contrary to the Biblical evidence. Abraham’s place in the
covenant was by faith; all who accepted circumcision in his day did so by faith.
To claim that Israel, a religious term, referred to a blood line is to misread
Scripture. The ancestry of Jesus is traceable to Abraham, but it includes
foreigners. The modern practice of Jews is to consider as Jewish all who have a
Jewish mother. This standard would have excluded King David, Solomon,
almost all other kings, as well as Jesus because of His ancestry.
With respect to circumcision, many pagan examples of it can be cited. It was
a common rite of initiation. As far as is known, infant circumcision did not exist
before God’s instructions to Abraham. Adult rites of circumcision were by
choice, a form of entrance or membership, whereas circumcision made
mandatory for male children and adults stresses God’s priority and His decision.
A child, whether in circumcision or baptism, does not choose: he is chosen, or,
148 Genesis
better, given to God in the hopes that the covenant promises and blessings will
be his or hers.
The covenant does not rest on Abraham. He is long dead and gone. It rests
on God’s promise through Abraham to all generations to the end of time and
beyond: it is an everlasting covenant. God who cannot die remains faithful: He is the
covenant God.
The promise to Abraham had a double meaning. He was, literally, the father
of many nations. However, as John Calvin noted, the true and necessary
meaning of the promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations
was that “many nations were to be gathered together unto him.”1 As the nations
are brought to Jesus Christ, this prediction finds fulfillment.
A further note about pagan circumcision: it is of adults or young men. God’s
requirement is for babes. The choice is God’s, not man’s. His salvation is His
sovereign decision, not man’s.

1.
John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Genesis, vol. I (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948),
447.
 Chapter Thirty-Six
The Justice of God
(Genesis 18:1-33)
1. And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat
in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2. And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and
when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed
himself toward the ground,
3. And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not
away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest
yourselves under the tree:
5. And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that
ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said,
So do, as thou hast said.
6. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready
quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the
hearth.
7. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and
gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set
it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
9. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold,
in the tent.
10. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of
life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door, which was behind him.
11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it
ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old
shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
13. And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying,
Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
14. Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return
unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
15. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he
said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
16. And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and
Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
17. And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18. Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and
judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath
spoken of him.
20. And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great,
and because their sin is very grievous;

149
150 Genesis
21. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether
according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom:
but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous
with the wicked?
24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also
destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25. That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with
the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from
thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26. And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city,
then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
27. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me
to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
28. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou
destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and
five, I will not destroy it.
29. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be
forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
30. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak:
Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do
it, if I find thirty there.
31. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the
Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will
not destroy it for twenty's sake.
32. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this
once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy
it for ten's sake.
33. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with
Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
(Genesis 18:1-33)
This well-known chapter is a vivid glimpse of life in Abraham’s day and in like
eras of history. We see the readiness to extend hospitality, for at one time,
instead of every man living in isolation, they lived with a sense of community.
The alternative to community was hostility and even warfare. Hospitality was a
duty, and it was unhurried. Food was prepared and, in this instance, Abraham
not only had Sarah prepare or supervise the preparation of bread and more, but
he had a calf butchered and roasted for his guests. This took time, and such time
was spent in extended conversation as a means of knowing one another.
Such hospitality was generous. The common meal could take hours. Abraham
had Sarah prepare a bushel of bread, which provided enough for the meal, for
the guests to take with them on their journey, and for those who helped prepare
and serve the meal. It is an ancient premise of Biblical faith that the laborer is
worthy of his hire (Luke 10:7; 1Tim. 5:18). It goes back to the law in
Deuteronomy 25:4, cited by Paul to Timothy, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox
when he treadeth out the corn.”
 The Justice of God (Genesis 18:1-33) 151
By the way of contrast to the patriarchal hospitality, we see in Genesis 19:5
the Sodomite reception of strangers, the insistence on homosexual rape.
Romans 1:20-32 tells us that the fullness of the hatred of God and His law is
manifested in homosexuality, which reverses all Godly order. Its perversity is
such that it replaces hospitality with rape. The antitheses is very clear and sharply
depicted. In no way can it be overlooked.
Abraham and his guests sat, visited, and ate under a shade tree (v. 8). At some
point during their conversation, it was apparent to Abraham that the three
strangers were God and two angels (19:1); God early on identified Himself to
Abraham.
The first statement by God to Abraham was that Abraham would have a son
by Sarah (v. 10). Some time earlier, God had made a like statement to Abraham,
who had laughed, apparently with great delight (17:17). Now Sarah laughed, with
amusement and unbelief (vv. 9-15), because the idea of an old and impotent
husband becoming again potent and fertile struck her as amusing. Perhaps in
such matters men are more hopeful than women! God, however, treated Sarah’s
amusement with humor. Even as He had been gracious to Hagar, so He was
with Sarah. When Sarah, embarrassed, said, “I laughed not,” God said, “Nay, but
thou didst laugh” (v. 15).
Second, after the dinner, the three arose to leave. As per custom, Abraham
walked a short distance with them on their way. This was once a common
custom, but now it is limited to seeing people to the door, or to their automobile.
God then spoke to Abraham in a remarkable way, almost as an associate. He
says that He will not hide from Abraham what He is about to do since Abraham
is the man through whom He will bring His purposes to pass (vv. 17-19). The
offense of Sodom is to be dealt with because God’s patience is at an end (vv. 20-
21). The two angels or men go towards Sodom, but God stays with Abraham for
a time. Abraham is deeply concerned, not for Sodom but for Lot and his family.
He asks God if He would spare the city for the sake of 50 righteous men. “Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?,” or in Harold G. Stigers’ translation,
“Shall not the judge of the whole earth administer justice?” Abraham knows that
justice requires judgment, but what constitutes a saving remnant? God’s answer
was that He would spare Sodom if there were 50 righteous persons (vv. 23-26).
His basic question was this: “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the
wicked?” (v. 23). As we see in Genesis 19, God does spare the righteous, but
only if they use the opportunity to separate themselves from evil.
Abraham persisted: Would God spare Sodom if there were 45 righteous
persons? (v. 28). We cannot reduce this to 45 decent people: righteous means
wholly given to justice. It does not include the lukewarm, of whom our Lord
speaks with especial contempt in Revelation 3:15-16. God’s response is, He will
not destroy it if 45 righteous persons are there. Abraham then asked about 40
persons, or 30, or 20, always with the same answer from God. Finally, Abraham
152 Genesis
asked if the city would be spared for the sake of 10 men, and again God promises
mercy. Abraham then “returned unto his place” (v. 33), confident in God’s
mercy, having been assured of its extent.
In v. 20, we are told that “the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, because
their sin is very grievous.” Although Abraham’s concern is with Sodom, God’s
judgment was on the cities of the plain, of which Sodom and Gomorrah were
the most important. Abraham recognizes that God’s purpose is total judgment,
and he uses the word consume, meaning utter destruction, to show that he
recognizes what God has in mind.
Calvin made clear that, while God was ready to spare Sodom for the sake of
ten righteous men, He was by no means ready to do the same for Jerusalem in
our Lord’s day.1 Jerusalem crucified the incarnate God the Son, and its offense
was greater.
Abraham may have been aware of the identity of his visitors from the
beginning, since the text appears to indicate their sudden appearance before him.
The question raised by Abraham is with respect to the justice of God: Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right? By raising this question, Abraham makes
clear his faith that justice is the very nature of God, and he expects it from Him.
The problem for Abraham as for us is, do we understand the nature of God’s
justice, and do we believe in it and accept it? Abraham’s question presupposed
two things: First, because God is the God of justice, judgment on Sodom is
necessary. Second, because God is the righteous Lord, He will save the just
persons in Sodom; again, this is necessary because God reveals Himself as God
in all His ways and acts; God is always God.

1.
John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of Genesis, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948
reprint), 488.
 Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lot’s Rescue
(Genesis 19:1-38)
1. And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of
Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself
with his face toward the ground;
2. And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your
servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up
early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the
street all night.
3. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and
entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened
bread, and they did eat.
4. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom,
compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every
quarter:
5. And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which
came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know
them.
6. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
7. And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
8. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me,
I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your
eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the
shadow of my roof.
9. And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in
to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee,
than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came
near to break the door.
10. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to
them, and shut to the door.
11. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with
blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the
door.
12. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and
thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring
them out of this place:
13. For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great
before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
14. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his
daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will
destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying,
Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be
consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the
hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being
merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the
city.

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154 Genesis
17. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that
he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all
the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
18. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
19. Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast
magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life;
and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20. Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let
me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing
also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
22. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come
thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone
and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants
of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of
salt.
27. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood
before the LORD:
28. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land
of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the
smoke of a furnace.
29. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that
God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the
overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two
daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave,
he and his two daughters.
31. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is
not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
32. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that
we may preserve seed of our father.
33. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn
went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down,
nor when she arose.
34. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the
younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink
wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve
seed of our father.
35. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger
arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when
she arose.
36. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
37. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the
father of the Moabites unto this day.
38. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi:
the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. (Genesis
19:1-38)
 Lot’s Rescue (Genesis 19:1-38) 155
This chapter is grim reading because we see man in his depravity and also in
his weakness and vacillation.
The three strangers are now two: God leaves the two angels to rescue Lot and
bring on the judgment, or, at least, announce it. 2 Peter 2:4-8 refers to this
chapter, but it singles out Lot for praise. He is called “just Lot;” the word just
translates the Greek dikaion, meaning righteous, innocent, or just. Since this is
God’s verdict concerning Lot, we cannot charge him when God has refused to
do so. Because this is an ugly story, we are not thereby commissioned to be
judges. God remains the judge forever.
Lot was an elder at the gate, a city judge, and as such he was resented (vv. 1,
9). Being at the gate, Lot saw the two angels, in the appearance of men, enter
Sodom at even (v. 1). The two offered to camp in the open that night (v. 2), but
Lot insisted that they stay with him, and he had a dinner prepared for them (v. 3).
But before they could all go to bed, “the men of Sodom compassed the
house,” and “these were both old and young from every quarter of the city” (v.
4). Precisely because Lot, as 2 Peter 2:7-8 makes clear, stood against the city’s
depravity, they were determined to shame and humiliate him in front of his
guests. On the last night of their existence, the men of Sodom revealed the
extent of their depravity and their hatred for morality and justice. They
demanded that Lot turn over his visitors to be sodomized. Romans 1:21-32 tells
us that homosexuality is the culmination or full expression of unbelief in and
hatred for God. Suddenly now all the forms of civility were dropped, and the
Sodomites openly expressed their hatred for Lot.
Lot has been very much condemned for what he proposed in vv. 7-8, to give
his two virgin daughters to the mob rather than his guests. The laws of
hospitality required that he do everything possible to protect his guests. These
men have “come under the shadow of my roof,” he said. He could have added
what the mob knew, that they had broken bread with him, and Lot was duty-
bound to protect them. It was an ugly decision to offer his daughters, but all
Lot’s decisions were ugly alternatives.
In v. 9, the mob shouts, “Stand back.” They then shouted that Lot, an
outsider, had come to Sodom to sojourn, and now he judges them. “Now will
we deal worse with thee, than with them.” They crowded up to the door and
almost broke it down (v. 9). Their real target was now more obvious: it was Lot.
The two angels pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door (v. 10). At
the same time, “they smote the men that were at the door of the house with
blindness, both small and great,” and these men staggered about still determined
to destroy Lot (v. 11).
The two men, or angels, asked Lot to round up all his family to escape from
Sodom and the area, because it was to be destroyed (vv. 12-13). Lot spoke to his
sons-in-law and daughters, and to his sons, but they treated his urgent plea as a
joke (v. 15).
156 Genesis
In the morning, therefore, very early, the two men hastened Lot, who was
paralyzed with horror. He had seen the full depravity of the men of Sodom, and
he also knew that judgment was due, because he pleaded with his family to leave.
The two men took charge and led Lot, his wife, and his two unmarried daughters
out of the city (v. 15). At this point, Lot was on his own, but first the angels gave
him a warning. He was to leave the entire area and head for the mountains to
escape for his life (v. 16-17). Otherwise he would be consumed by the fiery end
of the cities of the plain. Lot had no doubt been awake all night, and he was
exhausted, so he pleaded, after thanking them for their mercy (v. 19), for
permission to rest at Zoar (vv. 20-23). This was to be a stop in their flight. It was
fully daylight when they reached Zoar (v. 23). The name Zoar means small in
Hebrew. The angels promised to withhold judgment on the cities of the plain
until Lot was safely in Zoar (v. 22). This fact should make us hesitate to
condemn Lot. Granted it was Abraham’s plea that was the primary cause, all the
same we must recognize God’s regard for Lot. Will God ever spare a city for
your sake or mine?
Then, Lot being in Zoar, God rained fire and brimstone on the cities and all
the plain (vv. 24-25). Early that morning, Abraham, knowing that God would
destroy those cities, looked toward the plain and saw the smoke (vv. 27-28).
Meanwhile, Lot’s wife, not sharing his faith and apparently contemptuous of the
warnings given (v. 26), “looked back,” or lagged behind in order to return to her
home. The explosions reduced her, or oxidized her, to a charred pillar.
Lot, however, was protected because of God’s promise to Abraham (v. 29).
Apparently on the next day, Lot left Zoar for the nearest mountain, together
with his two daughters; he was afraid to remain in Zoar. A cave was located as a
temporary dwelling place (v. 30).
The older of the two daughters then assessed the situation from her
perspective. Her conclusion was, first, that Lot their father was old. This meant
there was little likelihood of marriage for them. Lot’s wealth was gone, also his
wife, sons, and other daughters. Who would marry either of the two exceedingly
poor girls? Second, they believed that their father was a good and important man.
They saw it as important that Lot’s line did not die out. They were thus girls with
a great respect for their father. To “preserve seed of our father” (v. 32) was more
important to them than anything else. Third, the plan proposed by the elder sister
and accepted by the younger was to use their supply of wine to get their father
drunk and to lie with him.
This they did, the elder the first night and the younger the second night. The
exhausted and intoxicated or drugged Lot was unaware of what the girls did (vv.
33-35). Thus the girls became pregnant by their father (v. 36).
At this time, the genetic pool was so diverse that incest did not have the
serious consequences that appeared later. It was not forbidden until the time of
Moses, although it was practiced for many subsequent centuries in other
 Lot’s Rescue (Genesis 19:1-38) 157
cultures. The horror of it rightly developed as the consequences became
apparent in later eras.
The firstborn daughter’s son was named Moab, meaning “from the father.”
The other girl’s son was named Ben-Ammi, “son of my people,” and from him
the Ammonite people developed (vv. 37-38)
What is clear from the narrative is that neither daughter tried to conceal what
she did; the names given to their sons indicate this. Although arguments from
silence are tenuous at times, in this instance we have no record of other children
born to these girls. Their concern was to perpetuate their father’s seed, and no
more.
The Bible records this without blame or praise. We cannot justifiably read our
own reactions into the narrative.
A note about incest: The Renaissance era apparently saw extensive incest by
fathers with daughters, if Brantome’s comments are correct. Certainly the
extensive and deliberate inbreeding for dynastic purposes by the royal families
of Europe was a considerable factor in their decline and fall. In recent years,
incest has become more common in a certain element of modern society as a
means of expressing contempt for God and His law. Some have urged its
legalization as a part of the process of de-Christianization.
In the incident with Lot’s daughters, the motivation, whether erroneous or
not, was the preservation of Lot’s line.
 Chapter Thirty-Eight
Abimelech of Gerar
(Genesis 20:1-18)
1. And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and
dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
2. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech
king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him,
Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken;
for she is a man’s wife.
4. But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay
also a righteous nation?
5. Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He
is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have
I done this.
6. And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in
the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me:
therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
7. Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall
pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou
that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
8. Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his
servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore
afraid.
9. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou
done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on
me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that
ought not to be done.
10. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast
done this thing?
11. And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in
this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.
12. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but
not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
13. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s
house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show
unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
14. And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and
womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his
wife.
15. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it
pleaseth thee.
16. And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand
pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that
are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.
17. So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his
wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
18. For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of
Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife. (Genesis 20:1-18)

159
160 Genesis
This episode reminds us of the similar one in Egypt (Gen. 12:10-30) and a
later like occurrence to Isaac and Rebekah at Gerar (Gen. 26:6-11). It is not
necessary to maintain, as many do, that Sarah, having been rejuvenated, was
again very attractive. Abimelech, king of Gerar, had an incentive in the fact that
Abraham had a sizable army of men in his entourage, was a proven military man
in his war against the kings of the east, and therefore was a valuable man to have
as an ally. Except for great powers like Egypt, most rulers took wives to create
a network of alliances. Alliances were made through marriages.
Abraham, when approached, said of Sarah, “She is my sister” (v. 2); as he
explained later, Sarah was a half-sister, by his father and not by his mother (v.
12). He explained his act in terms of his belief that “the fear of God is not in this
place” (v. 11). It would have been easy, in terms of common practice, to kill
Abraham and then to absorb all of his entourage into Abimelech’s family by
choosing a leader from among Abraham’s men.
Here again, Abraham is commonly abused as a coward and a liar, but there is
no condemnation in the text. In fact, God clearly stands supportive of Abraham.
Abimelech pleads innocence: “Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation” as
well as me (v. 4)? Abimelech would have taken Sarah whatever Abraham had
said, and he never denies that fact. God tells Abimelech he is a dead man for his
act, potential adultery, even though he had not yet taken Sarah sexually (v. 4). It
had not been lust which had motivated taking her, or else he would have taken
her sexually. Abimelech’s essential motivation was political, the desire for
additional military man-power of a tested variety.
God tells Abimelech that He recognizes that he acted with integrity insofar as
the sexual aspect was concerned. He says further, “I also withheld thee from
sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her” (v. 6). God does
not allow Abimelech to claim too much moral merit for not taking Sarah
sexually. In all that happened, God was protecting both Abraham and Sarah.
He then warns Abimelech, restore Sarah, or else you and your people shall
surely die. The reason for this kind of vengeance on any transgression against
Abraham is then stated: “for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou
shalt live” (v. 7). This is the first time in the Bible that anyone is called a prophet.
The implications are enormous. First, God makes it clear that Abraham is His
prophet, His man. This is very far from the condemnation most commentators
are prone to indulge in. Precisely at this humiliating point in Abraham’s life God
calls him a prophet in speaking to Abimelech.
Second, Abimelech is prompted by this honor God accords to Abraham to
reward Abraham rightly with sheep and oxen, menservants and womenservants,
and a thousand pieces of silver (vv. 14, 16). Abraham is also told, “my land is
before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee” (v. 15).
Third, to protect himself, Abimelech most certainly warned his people against
ever molesting Abraham, or any of his people, or his property. The people were
 Abimelech of Gerar (Genesis 20:1-18) 161
no doubt warned that Abraham was a prophet of God, and a dangerous man to
harm in any way. Abimelech’s own gifts to Abraham certainly became common
knowledge, thereby increasing the fear of Abraham (v. 8).
God had in some way prevented conception by Abimelech’s wife and
maidservants. When Abraham prayed for them, God healed them all (v. 17-18).
All this is very far from the usual treatment of Abraham by commentators and
preachers. We are given instead God’s commendation and protecting care.
Herbert E. Ryle, in The Book of Genesis (1914), speaks of Abraham’s “cowardice
and dissimulation,” and others are equally harsh.
In v. 16, Abimelech speaks to Sarah to claim that he has attained a position of
equity with Abraham by his many gifts. Abimelech has a double concern, first, to
be in the clear with God, and, second, to be in the clear with Abraham. Since
Abimelech had no desire to deal further with either God or Abraham, he speaks
to Sarah. Her answer is not recorded.
In terms of “the custom of that day,” a ruler could claim any unmarried
woman, even if she was a temporary visitor in his land, for his harem.1 Such a
custom no man could fight against, but God here undertakes the battle for His
prophet.
That God’s law was then known even by pagans is evident in v. 3, where God
tells Abimelech that he is under sentence of death for seizing another man’s wife,
even though no sexual contact had yet taken place.
Abraham emerges from this incident greatly enriched and with no small
protection as well. He is now marked for protection and known as a prophet.
This does not jibe with all the condemnation most commentators heap on
Abraham. In doing so, they are implicitly condemning God for tolerating and
blessing Abraham’s acts. Either the commentators are wrong, or God is. But if
God is right, we have not rightly understood who and what He is. Abimelech of
Gerar knew better.

1.
G Ch. Aalders, Genesis, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Regency; 1981), 28.
 Chapter Thirty-Nine
The Covenant with Abimelech
(Genesis 21:1-34)
1. And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto
Sarah as he had spoken.
2. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set
time of which God had spoken to him.
3. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom
Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
4. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God
had commanded him.
5. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born
unto him.
6. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will
laugh with me.
7. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should
have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
8. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast
the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto
Abraham, mocking.
10. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her
son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even
with Isaac.
11. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight
because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath
said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because
he is thy seed.
14. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a
bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the
child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness
of Beersheba.
15. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one
of the shrubs.
16. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it
were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And
she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
17. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to
Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not;
for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a
great nation.
19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went,
and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
20. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness,
and became an archer.

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164 Genesis
21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a
wife out of the land of Egypt.
22. And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief
captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that
thou doest:
23. Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal
falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to
the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the
land wherein thou hast sojourned.
24. And Abraham said, I will swear.
25. And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which
Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
26. And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst
thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.
27. And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech;
and both of them made a covenant.
28. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs
which thou hast set by themselves?
30. And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand,
that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
31. Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware
both of them.
32. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and
Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the
Philistines.
33. And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the
name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
34. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.
(Genesis 21:1-34)
In this chapter we again meet Abimelech. The name Abimelech means king’s
father. It is a name we find in this chapter and the previous one, in Judges 8, 9,
and 10, in 2 Samuel 11:21, 1 Chronicles 18:16, and in the title to Psalm 34. The
name has been translated also as “The (Divine) King is Father,” or “The
(Divine) Father is King.”
The Abimelech of Genesis 20 and 21 was apparently a true believer, as was of
course Melchizedek, whom we encountered earlier. The best evidence of this is
the fact that Abraham entered into a covenant with Abimelech. The covenant,
always a treaty of law, was also evidence of a common faith between the two
parties. It is significant that Abimelech does not consider this covenant an act of
grace on his part, because he stated, “God is with thee in all that thou doest” (v.
22). The special and particular providence of God was plainly with Abraham,
and Abimelech saw this clearly. Abimelech was a Philistine; the main invasion by
the Philistines came later, but this Abimelech represented an early settlement
and a substantial city-state. This episode is tied to the Hagar-Ishmael episode
and the birth of Isaac. The birth of a son by the wife, Sarah, greatly strengthened
Abraham’s power because in that era the family’s priority was clear, and a birth
 The Covenant with Abimelech (Genesis 21:1-34) 165
by the wife consolidated power. There was a focus now for the loyalty of more
than 2000 persons.
On the eighth day, the infant Isaac was circumcised (v. 4). The continuity of
the covenant with God in this seed of Abraham and Sarah was celebrated by this
circumcision, a covenantal act. The covenant with Abimelech extended to their
sons, and their sons’ sons (v. 23), and it was so specified. With Isaac, there was
now someone born to carry on the covenantal obligations which fall most on the
blood heir.
In vv. 1-5, we are told that, when Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth
to Isaac. The name Isaac means laughter, even amazed and mocking laughter. It
recalls the happy laughter of Abraham and the amused laughter of Sarah. Isaac
was born at the time named and appointed by God. Sarah happily recalls her
laughter, now a joyful one because Isaac is born. Who would have thought it,
she asks with delight (vv. 6-7).
The child was circumcised on the eighth day (v. 4) as a joyful covenantal act.
Such an occasion was commonly a religious festival and a celebration of the
family’s faith and future.
However, as Isaac grew and was weaned, another occasion for a feast, (v. 8),
Ishmael mocked Isaac (v. 9), i.e., made fun of him. Sarah saw this, and she at
once recognized that Ishmael resented being displaced as the heir. She at once
ordered Abraham to cast out both Ishmael and Hagar. Legally, Ishmael was her
son, but the strong bond between Hagar and Ishmael outweighed the legal fact
(vv. 9-10).
The idea of casting out Ishmael, a son he loved, was at the least repellent to
Abraham (vv. 11-13). God, however, tells Abraham to obey Sarah’s requirement.
He will protect both Hagar and Ishmael and make a great nation of Ishmael’s
family.
There is every reason to believe that Abraham provided generous sustenance
for Hagar and Ishmael’s journey, but we are told that they “wandered in the
wilderness of Beersheba” (v. 14). Because of this, their water was soon used up
(v. 15). Placing Ishmael under a shrub, Hagar walked a little way so as not to see
her son’s death, and she wept (v. 16). God then spoke to Hagar to comfort her.
Ishmael had apparently prayed (v. 17), and God was now coming to their rescue.
He once again assured Hagar that Ishmael would be the father of a great nation
(v. 18). Moreover, God opened her eyes to see a nearby well of water, whereby
they were revivified (v. 19). God blessed Ishmael and prospered him (vv. 20-21).
Meanwhile, Abimelech, seeing God’s obvious blessing on Abraham, whom
God had called a prophet earlier, now wanted to tie himself to Abraham by
covenant in order to share in Abraham’s blessings (vv. 22-23). To this Abraham
agreed (v. 24), but he added a condition. Abimelech’s men had violently taken a
well away from Abraham’s men (v. 25). Abimelech was ignorant of this, but he
promised to restore the well (v. 26).
166 Genesis
Abraham gave sheep and oxen to Abimelech to strengthen the covenantal
bond. He also separated seven ewe lambs as a gift and as a token whereby he
backed his word that his own men had dug the well (vv. 28-30). At this well, the
covenant oath was made, and the place was named Beersheba, meaning “the well
of the oath” (v. 30).
Abraham planted a tree there to commemorate the covenant oath (v. 33).
Abraham now felt secure to sojourn in Philistine territory (v. 34).
The covenant oath had been made at Beersheba. Abraham “called on the
name of the LORD, the everlasting God” (v. 33). The Name of the Lord was not
used with Abimelech: it was the covenant name of God in His covenant with
Israel.
The tardy birth of Isaac made clear that the line of the Promised Seed was
more than a natural line: it was a line that stressed God’s mercy and grace. Other
men and women had many children, as would be the case with Abraham’s
grandsons, Esau and Jacob, but not so at this point with Abraham. He could not
take for granted a natural promise but was compelled to wait on a supernatural
hope.
Abimelech had every natural reason to dislike Abraham for the incident
involving Sarah (Gen. 20:1-18) Instead, Abimelech not only enriched Abraham
but entered into a covenant with him. He was clearly a Godly man, and one who
believed God when God called Abraham a prophet.
 Chapter Forty
The Expanded Promise
(Genesis 22:1-24)
1. And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and
said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and
took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood
for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God
had told him.
4. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar
off.
5. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and
I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon
Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went
both of them together.
7. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he
said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but
where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8. And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt
offering: so they went both of them together.
9. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son,
and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his
son.
11. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said,
Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing
unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a
ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram,
and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said
to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
15. And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the
second time,
16. And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;
and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because
thou hast obeyed my voice.

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168 Genesis
19. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went
together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
20. And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying,
Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;
21. Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,
22. And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor,
Abraham’s brother.
24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and
Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah. (Genesis 22:1-24)
We have now a very remarkable episode that again tells us that God was
preparing Abraham to be the father of the faithful. Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us
that Abraham so trusted God that he believed God was able to raise up Isaac
from the dead. Such a faith was essential in God’s eye’s for Abraham.
We are told in v. 1 that “God did tempt” Abraham, meaning “made a trial of”
or “put to the test.” It was not that God was ignorant of Abraham and his faith,
but rather that God by this test brought home to Abraham and to us what faith
means and requires.
God tells Abraham to take his only son into the land of Moriah nearby and
there offer him up as a burnt offering. God knew, of course, that Ishmael was also
Abraham’s son, but Isaac is the son of the covenant and its promised hope, and
Isaac was the only son linked to this hope. Abraham was thus asked to surrender
his hope for the future because God required this of him.
Abraham was prompt to obey. Nothing other than obedience occurred to
him. He took two young men with him and Isaac; the required wood for a burnt
offering was considerable. On the third day, they saw the appointed place. The
two young men were told to wait, and Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain
with the wood (vv. 3-6). At this point, Isaac asked a logical question: they had
the wood for the fire, but where was the lamb for a burnt offering (v. 7)?
Abraham’s answer was that God would provide the sacrifice, an expression of
his hope and faith (v. 8). When they came to the appointed place, Abraham
bound Isaac and laid him on the altar. We have no word of protest from Isaac.
Then Abraham reached with his knife to kill Isaac (vv. 9-10). At this point “the
Angel of the LORD” intervened, stopping the sacrifice and saying, “now I know
that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son,
from me” (v. 12). When Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in a thicket;
he took it and sacrificed it instead (v. 13). He called the name of the place
Jehovah-jireh, meaning, the Lord will see, or, provide (v. 14). God then tells
Abraham that he will be even more richly rewarded for his faith in blessings to
his posterity (vv. 15-18). Abraham then returns to Beersheba.
What God tells us in this episode is that the sacrifice He does not require of
man He Himself makes in giving His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for the
atonement of our sins. Theologically, God bars all attempts by man to make
atonement because man can offer nothing that can take away sin, nor can man
 The Expanded Promise (Genesis 22:1-24) 169
in any way effect the necessary concomitant of atonement, regeneration.
Atonement and regeneration alike require an act of God. Sinful man’s efforts at
atonement only compound sin; they are either acts of masochism or sadism; they
lay the guilt of sin either on oneself or on others, but in neither case can they
remove either sin or guilt. God does this through Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son.
Isaac is thus a type of Christ. We are here told that what God does not ask of
man, He does Himself.
In vv. 15-18, the “Angel of the LORD” speaks plainly as God Himself.
In vv. 20-24, we have the genealogy of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. Milcah was
Nahor’s niece (Gen. 11:27, 29). Our knowledge of these peoples is limited, but
it is an important reference all the same. God in vv. 15-18 promises to make
great Abraham’s family. This note tells us that God in His grace is mindful even
of his brother and his brother’s family. In 1 Corinthians 7:14 we are told that an
unbelieving marital partner who does not cause problems for the believer is
separated unto blessings and God’s protecting care. Here we are told that God
is mindful of Abraham’s relatives. God is gracious to the relatives of Abraham
because Abraham is the forefather of Jesus Christ, and we by faith are the
children of Abraham.
With this in mind, we can look again at v. 17, which culminates with the
promise, “thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” Seed is here singular.
Not only shall the Promised Seed be the great King over all kings, (1 Tim. 6:15),
but He shall take over all the realms of His enemies. This is a promise of total
victory. None shall be able to withstand His power and kingdom.
The Old Testament contains many prophecies of the universality of Christ’s
Kingdom. All nations shall flow into it; all nations will be represented in it.
Malachi 1:11 predicts the universal worship of the God of Scripture. Matthew
5:5 tells us that the meek shall inherit, not merely the Promised Land, but the
earth.
There is no restriction on the conversion of the enemies who shall become a
part of the realm of Abraham’s Promised Seed. It is the whole earth that Christ
and His people shall inherit.
 Chapter Forty-One
The Death of Sarah
(Genesis 23:1-20)
1. And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were
the years of the life of Sarah.
2. And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of
Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons
of Heth, saying,
4. I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a
buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
5. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
6. Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of
our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his
sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
7. And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land,
even to the children of Heth.
8. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should
bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the
son of Zohar,
9. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in
the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for
a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.
10. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite
answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that
went in at the gate of his city, saying,
11. Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein,
I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury
thy dead.
12. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
13. And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land,
saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money
for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
14. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
15. My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of
silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to
Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of
Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.
17. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before
Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were
in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure
18. Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of
Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
19. And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field
of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
20. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto
Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
(Genesis 23:1-20)

171
172 Genesis
This chapter is of interest because it is concerned with burial ground.
“Spiritual” religion looks down on such concerns. One person recently
advocated cremation because it was held that things material are unimportant,
and, on environmental grounds, burial was unethical. The answer given by a
young woman was to the point. “God made the human body, and it must be
treated with respect.”
Abraham’s action had future consequences. Not only were Sarah and
Abraham buried there (Gen. 25:9), but also Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah (Gen.
49:31), and, later on, Jacob (Gen. 50:13). The mosque of Hebron now stands
over the site because Arabs, like Jews, claim descent from Abraham.1
A decent burial was seen as a religious fact. One of the curses on disobedience
pronounced by God in Deuteronomy 28:26 it this: “And thy carcass shall be
meat unto all the fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man
shall fray them away.” Jeremiah pronounced judgment on King Jehoiakim in
these words: “He shall be buried with the burials of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jer. 22:19). Many texts tell us that a good and
honorable burial was important (Josh. 24:30, etc.), whereas the leprous king
Uzziah was buried in the same field but separately from his fathers (2 Chron.
26:23). In the Apocrypha, in the Book of Tobit, we see that one aspect of charity
was to provide a decent burial to the needy and to the victims of oppression:
In the time of Shalmaneser I used to do many acts of charity for my
brothers. I would give my bread to the hungry and my clothes to the naked,
and if I saw one of my people dead and thrown outside the wall of
Nineveh, I would bury him. And if Sennacherib the king killed anyone who
had come as a fugitive from Judea, I buried them secretly, for he killed
many in his anger, and their bodies were looked for by the king and could
not be found.2
Unlike pagan cultures, which either exalted the dead to an amazing degree at
times, or else feared the dead, and sought to avoid or placate them, the Bible
shows us that the Godly respected their dead and cared for their remains. Jacob,
when dying in Egypt, said to his sons, “I am to be gathered unto my people: bury
me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite” (Gen.
49:29).
The New Testament tells us something also about covenant burials. Myrrh
and aloes, with spices, were used to bury the dead (John 19:40). Burials did not
take place on the Sabbath (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56).3 In Bible times and later,
respect for the dead required that, if a funeral procession passed by, everyone

1. Howard F. Vos, Genesis (Chicago: Moody Press, 1982), 90.

2. Tobit 1:16-18; in Edgar J. Goodspeed, The Apocrypha (New York: Vintage Books, Ran-
dom House, 1938, 1959), 110.
3.
Delbert Roy Hillers, “Burial,” in Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 4, B (Jerusalem, Israel: Keter
Probe Co., 1971), 1515f.
 The Death of Sarah (Genesis 23:1-20) 173
along the way went with the mourners for a short distance. A wedding
procession took precedence over a funeral, life over death.
The text tells us that the area was in Hittite hands, i.e., the sons of Heth (v. 3).
It refers to Ephron the Hittite in v. 10. Some commentators have denied a
Hittite presence in Canaan at this time, but, as Stigers has shown, the text can
only be understood in terms of Hittite law. In the Hittite law code, number 47,
lands held as gifts from the king had no feudal obligations, whereas lands
purchased from craftsmen carried such duties.4
This tells us much about the transaction. Abraham wanted only the cave,
Machpelah, the name of which indicated a double cave which could serve as a
burial place for several generations. Ephron wanted to sell the land around the
cave in order to be rid of the feudal obligations. In such a transaction, the land
would be very specifically described in the deed of sale, and the reference to the
field, the cave, the trees and the borders, as well as to the 400 shekels or weights
of silver, indicate that the deed was in mind when this text was written (vv. 16-
17). In v. 18, we have the deed recorded at the gate of the city, the place where
court was held, and also where the city council met.
According to Stigers, neither the code of Hammurabi nor the Nuzu law
covered the terms of this transaction, whereas Hittite law fully covered it.5 Burial
sites meant the home place, so Abraham by this act formally recognized that
Canaan was his and his descendants’ home.
The Hittites (vv. 5-6) described Abraham as a mighty prince, and they
indicated a willingness to give him the cave. This was in part respectful courtesy
and a way of prompting Abraham to do what a prince should do, be generous.
It was, it is true, Eastern custom, but the formal courtesies had as their purpose
the opportunity to assess one another’s character. Apparently the field gave legal
access to the cave, and therefore the two were tied together by Ephron. In the
bargaining, Ephron cites a price in v. 15, “a piece of land worth four hundred
shekels; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.” Ephron says
thereby, you, Abraham, are rich, and I am not, so what is 400 shekels to you? Pay
it, and bury your dead. This Abraham did. Christians have not been allowed to
visit this cave, with but two exceptions. In 1869, the Prussian Crown Price
Frederick, and in 1881 the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, received
permission from the Moslems to visit the grave.
Verses 1-3 tell us that Sarah died at age 127, at Hebron, and Abraham, who
apparently was elsewhere at the time, came and wept. It is possible that Sarah
had been ailing for a time and so Abraham had found an urban house for her
instead of his encampment in the fields.
Some people are not happy that the Bible gives space to this episode. For
them, it is unspiritual, and it is for them part of the Old Testament’s unspiritual
4.
Harold J. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 193.
5.
Ibid.
174 Genesis
nature in great measure. Of course, once this attitude prevails, it soon works on
the New Testament and on Christian history. It is a mask of impotence because
God’s word and law covers all of life, and to become as “spiritual” as some
demand means to secede from history and to show contempt for God’s law
word.
The Bible does not give us a way of life abstracted from this world, but one
in command of it.
 Chapter Forty-Two
Rebekah and God’s Particularity
(Genesis 24:1-67)
1. And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had
blessed Abraham in all things.
2. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over
all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
3. And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the
God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
4. But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife
unto my son Isaac.
5. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be
willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto
the land from whence thou camest?
6. And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son
thither again.
7. The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and
from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware
unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel
before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
8. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be
clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
9. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master,
and sware to him concerning that matter.
10. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and
departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and
went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
11. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of
water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw
water.
12. And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send
me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.
13. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men
of the city come out to draw water:
14. And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down
thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will
give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for
thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness
unto my master.
15. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold,
Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of
Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
16. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any
man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and
came up.
17. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a
little water of thy pitcher.

175
176 Genesis
18. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher
upon her hand, and gave him drink.
19. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water
for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
20. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again
unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
21. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the
LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
22. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took
a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of
ten shekels weight of gold;
23. And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room
in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?
24. And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah,
which she bare unto Nahor.
25. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender
enough, and room to lodge in.
26. And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.
27. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who
hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the
way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
28. And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things.
29. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran
out unto the man, unto the well.
30. And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his
sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying,
Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he
stood by the camels at the well.
31. And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest
thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
32. And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and
gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and
the men’s feet that were with him.
33. And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat,
until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.
34. And he said, I am Abraham’s servant.
35. And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great:
and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and
menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.
36. And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old:
and unto him hath he given all that he hath.
37. And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to
my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:
38. But thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take
a wife unto my son.
39. And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow
me.
40. And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his
angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son
of my kindred, and of my father’s house:
41. Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my
kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.
 Rebekah and God’s Particularity (Genesis 24:1-67) 177
42. And I came this day unto the well, and said, O LORD God of my
master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:
43. Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that
when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I
pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
44. And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels:
let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my
master’s son.
45. And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came
forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well,
and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
46. And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and
said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made
the camels drink also.
47. And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The
daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put
the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
48. And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed
the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way
to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.
49. And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if
not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.
50. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth
from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
51. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy
master’s son’s wife, as the LORD hath spoken.
52. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words,
he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
53. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and
raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her
mother precious things.
54. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and
tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me
away unto my master.
55. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a
few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.
56. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath
prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
57. And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth.
58. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this
man? And she said, I will go.
59. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s
servant, and his men.
60. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be
thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate
of those which hate them.
61. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels,
and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
62. And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the
south country.
63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted
up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
178 Genesis
64. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted
off the camel.
65. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the
field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she
took a veil, and covered herself.
66. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.
67. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah,
and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after
his mother’s death. (Genesis 24:1-67)
In v. 1, we are told that Abraham had been richly blessed in all things by God,
but he was also “old and well stricken in age.” Although we see later the
rejuvenation of Abraham, at this point he felt both the loss of Sarah and the
infirmities of age. As a result, he felt an urgency in getting Isaac married to the
right woman. This meant a Godly wife, and the only ones he knew were his
kinfolk, some distance away. This does not mean there were no Godly women
in Canaan, related, for example, to Melchizedek or to Abimelech, but marriage
to them would have meant the absorption of Abraham’s family into more
powerful ones.
For this reason, Abraham sent his steward, Eliezer, to his relatives to seek a
bride for Isaac (vv. 3-4). Abraham’s two conditions were, first, although the bride
is from outside Canaan, she must be willing to live there. She must not be a
Canaanite. This meant that the bride would be totally separated from her family
and friends to become exclusively a part of Isaac’s family and locale. Second, she
must be a worshipper of the true God.
The steward raises a third point. What if the girl is willing to marry Isaac but
wants to live in her home country? Abraham is very firm on this. Canaan is the
land of promise, and Isaac must not leave it. The steward is freed from his oath
if the woman will not leave home (vv. 3-8).
In vv. 1 and 9, the servant is ordered to swear an oath by placing his hand
under Abraham’s thigh. This has led to speculations as to whether or not this
was a fertility cult act or survival, whereas in truth it is covenantal. It invoked the
covenant and the sign of the covenant, circumcision. It invoked death and no
posterity for the one who broke such an oath. For Abraham, the future of the
covenant was at stake; he therefore required an oath wherein his steward placed
his posterity at stake for God’s judgment and obliteration if he were false to his
oath. If the steward’s action led to the betrayal of the covenant and Isaac’s
future, then by his covenant oath he invoked a like judgment on himself.
The oath deeply concerned the faithful steward, so he asked God’s help in
being true to it. So he left for “the city of Nahor” (v. 10), or Haran (Gen. 27:43;
28:10; 29:4; Acts 7:2). He asked God’s help in identifying the right girl. There
would be many relatives in Haran, because Nahor’s family was prolific, but
which girl would be the right one? He prayed that the right girl would offer him
water from the well, and also water for his entourage and camels. He had with
him some of Abraham’s men (v. 32), all able to draw water. This was, however,
 Rebekah and God’s Particularity (Genesis 24:1-67) 179
a well belonging to Haran, and good behavior called for waiting for a local
woman or man to offer the water. This would be a mark of hospitality on the
town’s part, whereas to take the water without an invitation would be an act of
presumption. All of life had rules.
The steward prayed that the right girl help him. This helpful girl proved to be
Rebekah, who gave him water, also the men, and the camels too. This satisfied
the old man, who at once gave her earrings and a bracelet of gold, ten and a half
shekels of gold, a very costly and wealthy gift. Rebekah ran home, after
identifying herself and her family, and after inviting Eliezer and his men to stay
with her family. The steward was overjoyed to find that this girl was descended
from Nahor (vv. 10-28).
Rebekah’s brother, Laban, seeing the wealthy gifts, ran out to greet the men
and to urge them to come to their home (vv. 29-30). After the men and the
camels were fed, the steward was to speak, but he insisted on speaking before
eating (vv. 31-33). This was again an act of courtesy. Before partaking of their
hospitality, he wanted to be assured that they would accept his mission.
The steward identified himself as Abraham’s servant, and he spoke of
Abraham’s power and wealth. “The LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and
he is become great” (v. 35). He spoke of Isaac, and how God led Rebekah to him
(vv. 36-49).
Laban and Bethuel agreed to the marriage at once (vv. 50-52). Very costly
jewels of silver, and gold, and raiment were at that moment given to Rebekah,
who shared some with her family (v. 53).
There was then an all-night celebration of the betrothal. In the morning, the
steward asked to be sent away, i.e., to be allowed to leave with Rebekah (v. 54).
The brother and mother left the decision up to Rebekah, who agreed to go at
once rather than after as much as ten days of celebration (vv. 55-58). Rebekah,
with her nursemaid, was then given leave to go, with the family’s blessing and
their wishes for a numerous progeny and posterity (vv. 59-61).
On their return, Rebekah saw Isaac and veiled herself; the servant made his
report, and Isaac gave to Rebekah his mother’s tent, a very superior one, which
now marked Rebekah as the governing woman (vv. 62-67).
In Genesis 25:20, we are told that Isaac was forty years old when he married
Rebekah. In terms of the lifespan of the patriarchs, this was more comparable
to twenty in our terms.
Again, the Bible gives much space to what some scholars would see as trivia,
i.e., the details of locating the bride. Obviously God feels differently! The details
are aspects of His total providential care for us. Life is a collection of details, and
God is in the details. To despise details is to lose God and to make of Him no
more than an idea. Greek philosophy dealt with abstractions, ideas, and the
Greek mindset then and now is contemptuous of the Bible’s particularity. The
Hindu “holy” books, for example, deal in generalities, whereas the Bible is
180 Genesis
particular and specific. Our Lord, God the Son, stresses this particularity by
telling us that God is mindful of the sparrows, and the very hairs of our head are
all numbered (Matt. 10:29-31). This is a particularity that exceeds the capability
of the mind of man to fathom, and it is one of the glories of Biblical faith. Our
lives are continual masses of details rather than glittering generalities, and it is
the detail that means life and individuality; abstractions are not real. The Bible
revels in details, and for us to despise them is to hate life.
This chapter is at times the subject of strange typological interpretations by
some who “believe the Bible.” At least one scholar, a modernist who rejected its
historicity, spoke of its accurate description of folk customs!
 Chapter Forty-Three
Keturah and Esau
(Genesis 25:1-34)
1. Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
2. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and
Ishbak, and Shuah.
3. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were
Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
4. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah,
and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
5. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.
6. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham
gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived,
eastward, unto the east country.
7. And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an
hundred threescore and fifteen years.
8. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old
man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
9. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in
the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;
10. The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was
Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.
11. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his
son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.
12. Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom
Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
13. And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names,
according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and
Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
14. And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,
15. Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
16. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their
towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.
17. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty
and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto
his people.
18. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou
goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.
19. And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat
Isaac:
20. And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the
daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the
Syrian.
21. And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren:
and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so,
why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.
23. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two
manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people

181
182 Genesis
shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the
younger.
24. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were
twins in her womb.
25. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they
called his name Esau.
26. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s
heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old
when she bare them.
27. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field;
and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
28. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah
loved Jacob.
29. And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
30. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
31. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
32. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall
this birthright do to me?
33. And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he
sold his birthright unto Jacob.
34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and
drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
(Genesis 25:1-34)
Perhaps more than half a century ago, I heard an older pastor comment on
Genesis 25:1-6, on Abraham’s wife or concubine—for she is called both (vv. 1,
6)— Keturah. The pastor expressed annoyance at such passages, and he
wondered why the Bible included them. God loved Abraham, and He had tested
and tried him as few men have been. Abraham had met the tests marvelously,
and now, rejuvenated, God blessed him with a young woman. Earlier (Gen.
24:1), we see Abraham “old, and well stricken in age.” Now he marries Keturah
and fathers six sons, and he sees them grow to maturity. More than what this
tells us about Abraham is what it tells us about God. God does not bless
Abraham by finding some ancient, unknown monastery for him. Rather, God
provides for His friend (James 2:23) a fresh bride in his old age. Failure to see this
means a failure to know the God of Scripture.
The chapter tells us that we do not live for heaven alone. The distressed
minister felt God should have taken Abraham to heaven. After all, what more
should we want? But God makes clear that Abraham was to be blessed in the
face of men and personally rewarded with a young bride in his old age.
Was this “unspiritual” of God, as this minister inferred? Or was it not rather
a clear act, indication that God’s ways far transcend our concepts of spirituality?
Other old men have had young brides, and, as Calvin observed, this was
commonly a ludicrous match. But not so that of Abraham and Keturah.
There was also a side effect. With Abraham busy with a young bride and a
growing family, it kept him out of the way where Isaac and Rebekah were
 Keturah and Esau (Genesis 25:1-34) 183
concerned. So strong a man could have been an intimidating influence in the
lives of the young couple.
A concubine was a wife without a dowry. Keturah may have been one of the
many women in Abraham’s clan. All the same, Abraham did provide generously
for Ishmael, Hagar’s son, and Keturah’s six sons, and sent them eastward into
what was then good country (v. 6). All were enriched, but the entourage and the
main body of livestock went to Isaac.
Abraham lived to be 175 years of age. Isaac and Ishmael were in charge of his
funeral, Ishmael as the eldest, and Isaac as the heir. Abraham was buried in the
cave of Machpelah, where Sarah had been interred (vv. 8-10). Ishmael’s presence
indicates his reconciliation with Abraham and Isaac, and his covenant faith.
God blessed Isaac after Abraham’s death. Isaac lived by the well Lahai-roi
(Gen. 24:62; 25:11), “the well of the Living One who beholds me.”
We have then in vv. 12-28 the family records of Ishmael, who lived 137 years,
and who “died in the presence of all his brethren” (v. 18). Isaac survived him by
58 years. Although some give a strange reading to the final clause of v. 18, it does
seem that the brothers were united, and they came together when Ishmael was
dying.
In vv. 19ff., we have the family records of Isaac. Isaac had married at age 40,
but, as with his fathers, barrenness marked his marriage for some years. When
he prayed to God, conception followed (v. 21). Rebekah was pregnant with
twins, but she at first was afraid that her pregnancy might be abnormal. God told
her that two nations were in her womb. The elder would serve the younger, and
the one would be stronger than the other, i.e., the younger would in time prevail
as the stronger (vv. 22-23). When the twins were delivered, the firstborn, Esau,
was hairy; the other, Jacob, had hold on Esau’s heel (vv. 25-26). At this time,
Isaac was 60 years old (v. 26); at this time also Abraham was still living, and
Abraham was 160; thus Abraham lived to see the twins reach the age of 15.
Esau was a skilled hunter, while Jacob was a plain, simple person, content to
do his duty and to do what was expected of him (v. 27). “Isaac loved Esau” and
relished the venison Esau provided him, but Rebekah loved Jacob, whom she
knew was in the line of promise (v. 28).
On one occasion, Esau came home from a hunt hungry and faint, and he
demanded of Jacob some of his red lentils because he was famished (vv. 29-30).
Esau’s name, meaning red, came in part from this request.
Like his mother, Jacob saw his brother’s superficiality, and he asked, “Sell me
this day thy birthright” (v. 31). In terms of the current Hurrian law, the eldest
son had the birthright or right of inheritance, a practice not followed by
Abraham, although God had to correct Abraham here (Gen. 17:18). Esau’s
answer is revelatory of his impulsive and thoughtless character. “Behold, I am at
the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” (v. 32). But Jacob
required Esau to transfer the birthright to him by an oath, which Esau did (v.
184 Genesis
33). “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and
drink, and rose up, and went his way; thus Esau despised his birthright” (v. 34).
What the Bible tells us clearly is that Esau was so contemptuous of his privileged
status with his father that he could thoughtlessly sell his birthright, of which he
was clearly unworthy. There is no condemnation in the text for Jacob, only for
Esau. His action was contemptuous of his father and of his birthright. Esau was
childish to the extreme. To despise his birthright, as the text tells us, meant that
he was clearly undeserving of any place in God’s promised line. However we
may feel about Jacob’s action, it was basically God who set Esau aside in an open
way.
In Hebrews 12:16 Esau is described as a fornicator and a profane person
“who for one morsel (or, portion) of meat sold his birthright.” Some try to
describe Esau as only “spiritually” a fornicator. But how can a man
contemptuous of his birthright have been so moral as to avoid fornication? Esau
was a profane person, and profane means to lack all affinity to God, to be an
outsider to God’s law and way. This is not a gentle or kindly statement: it states
that Esau’s way of life was outside of God. Esau was a good hunter; he was
perhaps often a pleasant person to be near because of his impulsive ways. But
his life was outside of God’s law and alien to God’s purposes. Therefore God
separated Esau from the promise. But too many are predisposed to excuse
sinners and find fault with God’s appointed ones. Of course, if we ourselves are
faultless, we can do so, no doubt.
If Keturah is a problem to us, and Esau an innocent victim, perhaps we need
to know God better. Esau despised the birthright because He despised God.
 Chapter Forty-Four
Isaac at Gerar
(Genesis 26:1-35)
1. And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in
the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the
Philistines unto Gerar.
2. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt;
dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto
thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform
the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4. And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give
unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed;
5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my
commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
7. And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my
sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place
should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
8. And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech
king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac
was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
9. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife:
and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I
said, Lest I die for her.
10. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the
people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have
brought guiltiness upon us.
11. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this
man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
12. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an
hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
13. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became
very great:
14. For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great
store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
15. For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of
Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with
earth.
16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much
mightier than we.
17. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar,
and dwelt there.
18. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the
days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the
death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his
father had called them.

185
186 Genesis
19. And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of
springing water.
20. And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The
water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove
with him.
21. And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called
the name of it Sitnah.
22. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that
they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For
now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
23. And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
24. And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the
God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless
thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.
25. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD,
and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.
26. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his
friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
27. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate
me, and have sent me away from you?
28. And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we
said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and
let us make a covenant with thee;
29. That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we
have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace:
thou art now the blessed of the LORD.
30. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31. And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another:
and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told
him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We
have found water.
33. And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba
unto this day.
34. And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter
of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
35. Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
(Genesis 26:1-35)
Our text concerns, among other things, a famine which led Isaac to plan a
migration to Egypt. This God forbad and ordered Isaac to remain in Canaan in
Philistine territory, in Gerar. Abraham had previously resided in Gerar and had
been involved in a ‘seizure’ by Abimelech of his wife Sarah. The seizure was a
routine event whereby powerful princes allied themselves to important families
by taking one of their women into a harem. Whether it pleased the family of the
women or not, it afforded them protection and princely favors. God told Isaac
to remain in Canaan, where God would bless him (vv. 1-4). Isaac therefore
remained in Gerar instead of moving on to Egypt.
When local men inquired of Rebekah, for she was beautiful, Isaac used his
father’s excuse, saying, she is my sister, which was not true. According to Stigers’
 Isaac at Gerar (Genesis 26:1-35) 187
calculations, some sixty years had passed since the incident reported in Genesis
20:1-18. This was not the same Abimelech.1
After Isaac had been in Gerar “a long time,” Abimelech looked out of a palace
window and saw, in an area apparently taken over by campers, Isaac fondling
Rebekah in a way which made it clear that they were not brother and sister but
man and wife. Abimelech at once summoned Isaac into his presence to demand
why he had lied. Isaac answered, “Because I said, lest I die for her” (v. 8-9).
Abimelech not only rebuked Isaac but also charged his people, stating that
any man who touched Rebekah would be put to death (vv. 10-11).
God, however, clearly blessed Isaac by giving him a hundredfold harvest
when he sowed grain in that area (v. 12). We are told, “the LORD blessed him.”
Isaac had acted defensively, as had Abraham. His decision to lie was not a happy
one, but God protected and blessed him whether we like it or not. We are told
that Isaac “waxed great” and that he became “very great” (v. 13). He increased
his flocks, herds, and possessions so much that the Philistines envied him (v. 14).
At this point they were apparently unwilling to remember the covenant made
with Abraham.
Abimelech, in fact, asked Isaac to leave, saying, “Go from us; for thou art
much mightier than we” (v. 16). This refers to God’s obvious blessings on Isaac,
not to military prowess. Abraham’s entourage, by the time of his death, may have
numbered three thousand persons. Since then, Isaac’s wealth and man-power
had increased.
Isaac left for a nearby valley. Abraham had dug many wells in the area, which,
after his death, the Philistines had filled up out of envy and hatred. Isaac
renamed the wells with the names his father had used. In addition, in one
excavation, Isaac’s men uncovered a spring (vv. 17-19). This, in a time of
drought, pointed to God’s obvious blessing. It would be unwise to judge Isaac,
whom God richly blessed; the Bible is God’s book, not ours.
Isaac’s men dug a well also, named Sitnah, hatred, because the Philistine
herdmen had seized the spring, Esek (contention). Isaac, determined to keep the
peace, moved on and had his men dig another well, named Rehoboth, room,
because the Philistines now left him alone. His comment was, “For now the
LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land” (v. 22). He
then returned to Beersheba (v. 23).
At Beersheba “the LORD appeared unto him the same night,” saying, “I am
the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee,
and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake” (v. 24). God does not
demand of Isaac an abstract and ideal ethical conduct; He does not rebuke Isaac
for his lie in Gerar; instead, He promises great blessings “for my servant
Abraham’s sake.” This is the essential fact: it does not belittle Isaac, but it does

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 212.
188 Genesis
give priority to the one who made the covenant with God, the man whom God
chose.
At Beersheba, Isaac built an altar, i.e., collected stones to make an altar that
showed no human artifice but was simply an unsophisticated and unadorned
place for sacrifice. Such an altar was devoid of man’s works. There also Isaac’s
men dug a well.
Abimelech came from Gerar to meet with Isaac. Phicol, the chief captain of
his army, came also; the name Phicol (meaning perhaps great) may have been a
hereditary name or title for the military leader, and the name Abimelech for the
king. With them was a friend of Abimelech, Ahuzzah (v. 26).
Isaac was blunt with them. Having sent him away, why did they want to see
him? (v. 27). The response was similar to that made to Abraham (Gen. 21:22).
God was obviously with Isaac. Remarkably, they used God’s covenant name,
Jehovah, or Yahweh (v. 28). They wanted a covenant with Isaac, an oath of
faithfulness, and a bond between themselves and a man so clearly protected and
blessed by God. They asked that Isaac do them no “hurt” (v. 29). They saw
clearly that he was “the blessed of the LORD.”
A covenant meal followed (v. 30), and a covenant oath, and they separated in
peace (v. 31). On the same day, Isaac’s servants reported that they had dug
another well and found water (v. 32). The name of the well was called Shebah,
and, later, the city of Beersheba was located there (v. 33).
Esau meanwhile, at age forty, married two women, both Hittites, Judith and
Bashemath (v. 34). This was a source of great grief to Isaac and to Rebekah (v.
35).
Stigers has pointed out that, in terms of Nuzu law, a wife was an adopted
sister.2 This is true enough, but the fact is that Isaac’s lie was a defensive measure
to avoid being murdered. God protects and blesses Isaac in this situation. Do
modern commentators have a superior morality to God, or have they failed to
read God’s word with God’s word and purposes in mind? The God who knows
the number of hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30) is a better judge of men and their
morals than we are, and He does not condemn Isaac. He knows our frailties, and
He remembers that we are dust (Ps. 103:14). For the dust He has created to
judge Him is most evil. If we fail to understand Him, we can hold our peace and
rejoice in His mercies. For those who will receive it, this chapter is a comforting
and strengthening one. It tells us about the covenant faithfulness of our God.
Reference has been made to the Nuzu law whereby a wife becomes an
adopted sister. This witnesses also to the priority of the family. A wife became a
member of a new family with a new unity. She was to see herself primarily as a
member of her husband’s family and clan. Her loyalties were to be to the new
unit, not to the old. In some ancient cultures, a wife always saw herself as forever

2.
Ibid., 213.
 Isaac at Gerar (Genesis 26:1-35) 189
a member of her original family and would steal from her husband and his family
to carry food and various articles to her own, original family. Biblical law even
more than Nuzu law made a wife a full member of her husband’s family. Only
very serious misconduct could end that tie.
Not all cultures perhaps followed Nuzu law. Abraham’s family did because it
reinforced God’s revelation to them, i.e., the verbal presentation of God’s order
to them.
Our problem today is a radical individualism whereby the individual
essentially stands alone. This means a social anarchism in which every family and
person is the loser.
 Chapter Forty-Five
The Blessing
(Genesis 27:1-46)
1. And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so
that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My
son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
2. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
3. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow,
and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
4. And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may
eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
5. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went
to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.
6. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy
father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
7. Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless
thee before the LORD before my death.
8. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I
command thee.
9. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the
goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10. And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may
bless thee before his death.
11. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a
hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
12. My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a
deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
13. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only
obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
14. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his
mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.
15. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were
with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:
16. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon
the smooth of his neck:
17. And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared,
into the hand of her son Jacob.
18. And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am
I; who art thou, my son?
19. And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done
according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison,
that thy soul may bless me.
20. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly,
my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.
21. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee,
my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
22. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said,
The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

191
192 Genesis
23. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother
Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.
24. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.
25. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that
my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and
he brought him wine, and he drank.
26. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my
son.
27. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his
raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell
of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
28. Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the
earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
29. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy
brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one
that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
30. And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing
Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his
father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and
said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that
thy soul may bless me.
32. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am
thy son, thy firstborn Esau.
33. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that
hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou
camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.
34. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and
exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O
my father.
35. And he said, Thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy
blessing.
36. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me
these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath
taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for
me?
37. And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy
lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn
and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
38. And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father?
bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and
wept.
39. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling
shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;
40. And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it
shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt
break his yoke from off thy neck.
41. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father
blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my
father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.
42. And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she
sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy
 The Blessing (Genesis 27:1-46) 193
brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill
thee.
43. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban
my brother to Haran;
44. And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;
45. Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which
thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why
should I be deprived also of you both in one day?
46. And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the
daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as
these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do
me? (Genesis 27:1-46)
This chapter is a sad one; it begins with Isaac old and blind, or nearly so, and
determined to confirm Esau as his main heir and as the line of promise. It is not
likely that he was unaware of the Lord’s declaration concerning Jacob (Gen.
25:23). Humanly speaking, Esau was far more appealing to Isaac than Jacob, and
Isaac was apparently trying to over rule God by his own choice. Isaac, to make
an occasion of the blessing of Esau, asked him to bring a deer to and prepare his
father a dish of venison (vv. 1-4).
Rebekah heard this conversation. Determined to prevent her husband from
sinning by trying to replace God’s choice with his, she ordered Jacob to bring in
two kids. She knew how to prepare them so as to fool Isaac, so that the blessing
would go to Jacob (vv. 5-10).
Jacob doubted whether such a deception would succeed. Esau was a hairy
man, Jacob smooth of skin (v. 11). The blind Isaac, in placing a hand on Jacob,
would know the difference, and he would then curse Jacob as a deceiver (v. 12).
Rebekah’s answer was, “Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice,
and go fetch me them” (v. 13).
At this point, it is important to understand what Rebekah meant when she
said, “Upon me be thy curse.” Curses and blessings are covenant facts, blessings
for covenant faithfulness, and curses for disobedience. An oath is a personal
invocation of blessings and curses for obedience or disobedience. We can only
understand Rebekah and Jacob in terms of a knowledge of the meaning of
blessings and curses.
Rebekah did not expect to be cursed; she sought to prevent Isaac from
bringing down a curse on his own head. Loving Isaac, she wanted to prevent him
from coming under God’s curse. Loving Jacob, she encouraged him to be bold
because he was ordained by God to be blessed. Rebekah feared God and His
possible judgment on Isaac, and also on Jacob.
Accordingly, the meat was prepared in the way Isaac relished it. Esau’s
garments were placed on Jacob, and the kid skins were placed on Jacob’s hands
and neck. Isaac was blind and feeble, and he could thereby be fooled, as he was
(vv. 15-17).
194 Genesis
When Jacob went in to see Isaac, the old man was surprised by the speedy
return of the supposed Esau. He remarked, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the
hands are the hands of Esau” (v. 22). After eating, Isaac blessed Jacob, assuming
he was Esau. His blessing was that dominion be exercised; the earth would
enrich him; and his brethren or kinsmen would be under his power. “Cursed be
every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee” (v. 29). Once
again, we are faced with the covenantal curses and blessings. The blessing of
Isaac had gone to Jacob, and Isaac was preserved from God’s judgment or curse.
Shortly thereafter, Esau returned to find that Jacob had received the blessing
(vv. 29-33). Esau’s response at the moment was grief, not anger towards Jacob:
he knew that he had sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Esau begged for a
blessing also, which Isaac gave, but it gave Esau a subordinate role (vv. 34-40).
Afterwards, Esau decided that he would soon kill Jacob; he assumed that his
ailing father would shortly die, and then he could kill his brother with impunity
(v. 41).
Rebekah then decided that Jacob must leave for his safety, and to look for a
wife in her homeland. Isaac concurred in this (Gen. 28:1). Isaac and Rebekah
needed a better daughter-in-law than Esau’s marriages had provided (vv. 42-46).
In Genesis 28:1-4, we see a renewed Isaac giving counsel to Jacob.
Disobedience in the form of favoring an ungodly son had not given him God’s
blessing. Now, the renewed Isaac assumed a commanding position. Stigers’
calculation is that Isaac lived 37 years more after this event.1 His vigor and
renewal may have included a restored vision. Rebekah had saved him from the
curse.
Rebekah’s purposes included, first, preventing Isaac from bringing God’s
curse on himself. The fact that Isaac was now concerned about Jacob’s safety is
a sure indication of a change in his stance. Second, Rebekah had enabled Jacob to
make a stand, not only to get a blessing already ordained by God for him, but
against his ruthless brother. Third, Rebekah wanted a Godly wife for Jacob. She
was not aware of the religious decline of her family, but its daughters were better
than local girls.
What Rebekah did was to stand unequivocally for the covenant and its
integrity. She feared God’s judgment on Isaac and Jacob.
To apply present day perspectives to the events of this chapter is
commonplace, but for Rebekah God’s covenantal promise was paramount, and
she acted accordingly. It will not do to say that her favoritism to Jacob was the
reason; her concern was covenantal, and God’s promise concerning Jacob was
no doubt basic to her partiality to Jacob.

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 217.
The Blessing (Genesis 27:1-46) 195
 Chapter Forty-Six
Jacob’s Ladder
(Genesis 28:1-22)
1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto
him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
2. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and
take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s
brother.
3. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee,
that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
4. And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with
thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which
God gave unto Abraham.
5. And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son
of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.
6. When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to
Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he
gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of
Canaan;
7. And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to
Padanaram;
8. And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his
father;
9. Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had
Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth,
to be his wife.
10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
11. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because
the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for
his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top
of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and
descending on it.
13. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God
of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
14. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread
abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and
in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither
thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee,
until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in
this place; and I knew it not.
17. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none
other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
18. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had
put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top
of it.

197
198 Genesis
19. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city
was called Luz at the first.
20. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep
me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put
on,
21. So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the
LORD be my God:
22. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and
of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
(Genesis 28:1-22)
It is always easy to criticize dead men, and Jacob, among others, has been
generously condemned by scholars in the Christian camp while being unduly
exalted by the rabbis, as witness Rabbi Meier Zlotowitz.1
This chapter begins with a changed Isaac, no doubt well informed by his wife
Rebekah. He takes the initiative now, calling in Jacob to charge him, first, not to
marry a Canaanite woman, and, second¸ to go to Padan-aram to marry someone
from his mother’s family (vv. 1-2). Isaac then prays that God bless Jacob, make
him fruitful, “and give thee the blessing of Abraham” (vv. 3-4). Clearly, Isaac had
come to realize that Jacob, not Esau, was the chosen man. Jacob was then sent
on his journey (v. 5).
Esau, seeing that his parents felt so strongly about the need for a Godly
marriage, decided to please them by marrying a daughter of Ishmael. (vv. 6-9).
Jacob, on his way towards Haran, stopped at night at a place later known as
Bethel (v. 11). He had little more than stones for a pillow (v. 11). As Jacob slept
God gave him a vision of a “ladder,” or, actually, an incline or passageway from
earth to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on it (v. 12).
“And, behold, the LORD stood above it.” (v. 13). The angelic activity was not
specified as occurring for Jacob’s benefit or for him exclusively. What it clearly
showed was that God is no absentee landlord. He is totally active in all His
creation, and the angelic hosts serve Him in this involvement. Jacob is alone, as
we are often, and yet not alone, because the heavenly hosts are forever active.
We cannot normally see them, but they accomplish God’s purposes, and we are
among them. With this vision, Jacob could endure the hard years in Padan-aram.
But there was more, as we have seen: God stood above the “ladder.” There is
nothing impersonal in all God’s creation, nor in Him. The activities of heaven
and earth are totally under His care and government. More than angels are
involved in our lives and world: the Almighty and Triune God is always there
and always mindful of us. As Psalm 121:4 tells us, “Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep,” and we are the Israel of God in Christ (Gal.
6:16).

1.
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, Bereishis, Genesis, vol. IV (Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah Publi-
cations, 1979), 1177-1203.
 Jacob’s Ladder (Genesis 28:1-22) 199
This is the first of seven visions of God given to Jacob: Genesis 28:12-15;
31:3; 32:1, 2; 32:24-30; 35:1; 35:9-13; 46:1-4. Obviously, Jacob was greatly
blessed and honored by God. That he underwent severe trials means no more
than what Paul endured in the way of brutal experiences. It was a part of God’s
schooling in terms of time and eternity.
In what follows, Jacob is badly abused by scholars for ostensibly bargaining
with God. Jacob’s promise to give God a tithe (v. 22) is seen as crass materialism
on Jacob’s part, as though he said to God, if you will give me what you promise,
I will tithe to you.
But the obvious fact is that we are in the world of the covenant. In a covenant,
both parties have duties and obligations. The covenant until now had been
directly in the names of Abraham and Isaac as executors, to use a modern term,
but now Jacob is the covenant representative for God’s chosen or covenant
people.
Covenants between equals are covenants of law. But this is a covenant
between unequals, between God and man, and it is a covenant of grace and law.
The terms can only be established by God. It is therefore an error to see Jacob’s
promise to tithe as one made on his initiative: it reflects God’s requirement, among
other things, of Jacob. If one objects that no covenant was cut here, the answer
is that the covenant already existed from Abraham’s day, and this was a covenant
theophany. It made clear to a troubled Jacob, in flight from his brother, that he
was God’s covenant man.
Covenant promises are renewed to Jacob specifically. First, the land he was
lying on would in time belong to his seed. Second, his seed would possess the land
on all sides, north, south, east, and west. Third, in “thy seed,” singular, i.e., the
person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, “shall all the families of the earth be
blessed” (vv. 13-14). Fourth, God will keep him in safety wherever he goes, and
God will then return Jacob safely home (v. 15).
Jacob then awoke, fully aware of the vision and God’s providential care. The
place thus had a supernatural meaning for Jacob as God’s house, and was in
effect for Jacob the gate to heaven (v. 16-17). He therefore used the stones he
had used as a pillow towards building an altar, and he poured oil upon it as an
offering (v. 18).
The location of this place was near Luz, but Jacob renamed it Bethel, the
house of God, and he promised to make a sanctuary there (vv. 19-22).
What Jacob says in vv. 20-21 is usually seen as bargaining, but such a
statement is absurd. Jacob is repeating God’s promise in the vision, of which we
are given only the larger promises. Jacob now knows that God will care for him,
and he repeats the promises and says amen to God’s requirements, the tithe in
particular.
200 Genesis
To read this chapter, or the Bible, apart from the covenant, is to warp it and
to misunderstand its meaning. Jacob was not trying to bargain with God: he was
saying amen to Him.
Moreover, as against his powerful brother, Jacob did not see himself as God’s
chosen line. Despite gaining the birthright from a moment’s opportunity, Jacob
was unsure of himself. His mother and his father confirmed his status, but it
required God’s revelation fully to convince Jacob. When Jacob made his vow (v.
20), he said that if God’s revelation is true, and I am to be preserved and blessed
as the chosen line, then indeed I will be God’s covenant man. Rather than a
calculating man, Jacob was a man unsure of himself. Patient and stubborn Jacob
certainly was, but he was not the cold planner some hold him to be. When Laban
gave Jacob Leah rather than Rachel, had it been Esau who was so deceived, both
Laban and Esau might well have been dead in the explosion of the following
morning. Jacob was realistic and patient, and he worked another seven years.
Much Pharisaism has gone into criticism of the patriarchs by lesser men.
 Chapter Forty-Seven
Jacob in Haran
(Genesis 29:1-35)
1. Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people
of the east.
2. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three
flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and
a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.
3. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from
the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the
well’s mouth in his place.
4. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said,
Of Haran are we.
5. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they
said, We know him.
6. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and,
behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.
7. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should
be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.
8. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and
till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.
9. And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep:
for she kept them.
10. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his
mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob
went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the
flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
11. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.
12. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was
Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.
13. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s
son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and
brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.
14. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he
abode with him the space of a month.
15. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest
thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
16. And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the
name of the younger was Rachel.
17. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
18. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for
Rachel thy younger daughter.
19. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should
give her to another man: abide with me.
20. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him
but a few days, for the love he had to her.
21. And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled,
that I may go in unto her.
22. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

201
202 Genesis
23. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and
brought her to him; and he went in unto her.
24. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an
handmaid.
25. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he
said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with
thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?
26. And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the
younger before the firstborn.
27. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which
thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his
daughter to wife also.
29. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her
maid.
30. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than
Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
31. And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb:
but Rachel was barren.
32. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben:
for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now
therefore my husband will love me.
33. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD
hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and
she called his name Simeon.
34. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will
my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons:
therefore was his name called Levi.
35. And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I
praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
(Genesis 29: 1-35)
When Eliezer went to Haran to bring back a bride for Isaac, he went laden
with jewels of silver and gold for a dowry, Rebekah’s dowry (Gen. 24:53). Jacob
left home alone, without Eliezer’s entourage. We are not told why. There was no
lack of wealth in the family, so this was not the reason. Perhaps it was necessary
for Jacob to run off alone, lest Esau learn of it and have him killed. A train of
camels would have been quickly spotted, but Jacob going off alone aroused no
alarms; he could have been checking on some herdsmen.
When Jacob arrived in the area of Haran, he saw a well with three flocks of
sheep and the boys who tended them, three in number most likely. Young boys
normally tended sheep, and sometimes girls as well. (My father, at about five or
six, was assigned a few sheep to tend, but, in his case, streams were near for
watering.) Apparently the water table was low, a drought under way, and the sun
hot, and so a large flat rock capped the well to prevent evaporation. The boys
could not by themselves move the rock; they were waiting for Rachel and
probably others to help move the rock. This Jacob did for them.
Before that, he asked about Laban, his mother’s brother, and was told that
Laban’s daughter, Rachel, was coming near with her family’s sheep (v. 6). Jacob
 Jacob in Haran (Genesis 29:1-35) 203
first moved the stone, and then with tears of joy kissed Rachel and identified
himself (vv. 10-11). Rachel ran and told her father, who came to escort Jacob to
his house (v. 13). Laban said to Jacob, “Surely thou art my bone and my flesh”
(v. 14). Jacob, in the next month, worked with Laban, who offered to pay him
(v. 15). This gave Jacob the opportunity to raise the question of a bride, and he
asked for Rachel, who was beautiful; Leah, the older sister, was “tender eyed,”
meaning that her eyes were not dark. The preference then was against blue and
greenish eyes (vv. 16-18)
In what follows, Laban is commonly abused by commentators. It is true that
Laban deceived Jacob, but this is not the whole story. Rebekah had been given
a very generous dowry by Eliezer for Isaac; obviously, wealth was in the family.
Whatever story Jacob could tell could not erase the fact that he had come with
nothing. There was no assurance that, when Jacob returned, his parents might
not be dead and Esau in possession of everything. It would have been unwise
for any father to entrust his daughter to a man in such a plight. Laban clearly
wanted to keep Jacob and his daughters in Haran. His actions were those of a
good father. It was his hope that after fourteen years, Jacob would prefer to
remain.
It was Jacob who offered to serve Laban seven years as a dowry for Rachel
(vv. 19-20). He perhaps reasoned that, after seven years, Esau might be less
hostile.
At the end of seven years, Jacob asked for his bride, and the wedding was
celebrated with a feast (v. 21-22). It was a custom to veil the bride, and so Jacob
did not see that it was Leah who had been brought to his bed. In the morning,
to his dismay and anger, Jacob saw that he had taken Leah. He angrily
confronted his father-in-law, who said that custom required the older daughter
to marry first (vv. 23-27). This was indeed a common custom in many countries,
and, while perhaps not mandatory in Haran, was apparently enough well known
that Jacob had no response. Laban suggested another seven years of labor as a
dowry for Rachel. Jacob agreed, and he was given Rachel as a bride the following
week. Laban by this time knew that Jacob was a man of his word. Laban then
gave Leah Zilpah as a handmaid, and to Rachel he gave Bilhah (vv. 27-30). Both
these handmaidens subsequently became Jacob’s concubines, as Laban probably
expected, and this would further tie Jacob down and make his continuance at
Haran more likely. He no doubt suspected that Jacob’s return to Canaan could
mean his death, and this he did not want.
We are told that Leah was hated by Jacob (vv. 31, 33). The word hated in
Hebrew means utterly odious. Jacob felt trapped by the situation, and some of
his resentment was against Leah for her part in the deception. This hatred later
disappeared, and he, while preferring Rachel, came to love and trust Leah,
because when he decided to flee from Haran, he called Leah and Rachel both out
to the pasture-land to tell them of his plan (Gen. 31:4ff.). He now knew that he
204 Genesis
could trust Leah. Leah may have agreed to the marriage deception out of love
for Jacob.
When God saw that Leah was hated, He gave her, and not Rachel, children.
Leah bore first Reuben, meaning, “See, a son,” then Simeon, or “hearing,” for
God had heard her prayer. Levi was next born; Levi means “attachment,” for
she hoped that these births would attach Jacob to her. Then Judah was born, the
name meaning “praised,” and Leah said, “Now I will praise the LORD” (vv. 31-
35).
As we know, the Messiah came through the line of Leah, through Judah. Leah
was the wife favored by God, if not by Jacob. Leah’s clear devotion to Jacob is
always apparent, and God’s grace to her is also obvious. Rachel’s sons were
Joseph and Benjamin, good sons both, but God passed over them to choose
Judah for the messianic line.
There was no communication between Jacob and his family as far as we
know. Esau was apparently kept in the dark as to Jacob’s whereabouts, and he
did not know whether Jacob was alive or dead. This no doubt helped dull his
hatred for Jacob. Isaac and Rebekah had committed Jacob to God’s care as
God’s man, and they lived their faith.
 Chapter Forty-Eight
Jacob’s Way
(Genesis 30:1-43)
1. And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her
sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
2. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in
God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
3. And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear
upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
4. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto
her.
5. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice,
and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.
7. And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister,
and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
9. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and
gave her Jacob to wife.
10. And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.
11. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
12. And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.
13. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and
she called his name Asher.
14. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes
in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to
Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.
15. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my
husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And
Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s
mandrakes.
16. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to
meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired
thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
17. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the
fifth son.
18. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my
maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.
19. And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
20. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my
husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called
his name Zebulun.
21. And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
22. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened
her womb.
23. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my
reproach:
24. And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me
another son.

205
206 Genesis
25. And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said
unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my
country.
26. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and
let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
27. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine
eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed
me for thy sake.
28. And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
29. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how
thy cattle was with me.
30. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased
unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and
now when shall I provide for mine own house also?
31. And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give
me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep
thy flock.
32. I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the
speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and
the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
33. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall
come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and
spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be
counted stolen with me.
34. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
35. And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstreaked and
spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one
that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave
them into the hand of his sons.
36. And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob
fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37. And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and
chestnut tree; and pilled white streaks in them, and made the white appear
which was in the rods.
38. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters
in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should
conceive when they came to drink.
39. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle
ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted.
40. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward
the ringstreaked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his
own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle.
41. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that
Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they
might conceive among the rods.
42. But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were
Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
43. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and
maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
(Genesis 30:1-43)
 Jacob’s Way (Genesis 30:1-43) 207
Jacob was obviously partial to Rachel, and God therefore showed partiality to
Leah, as Genesis 29:31 tells us. The two sisters were engaged in a sorry
competition for Jacob’s love, a common problem in polygamy, despite Mormon
propaganda to the contrary. Some of the saddest stories about polygamy come
out of the Mormon practice.
While Leah was bearing sons to Jacob, Rachel’s envy grew. She finally turned
on her husband as though her childlessness was his fault. Jacob angrily
responded to her tantrum. She said, “Give me children, or else I die.” Jacob, very
angrily, if correctly, answered, “Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from
thee the fruit of thy womb?” (vv. 1-2). Rachel then offered her maid, Bilhah, to
Jacob. Again, this was a legal practice in the society out of which Abraham’s
family came. It was common to Nuzu and Hurrian law.1 The child of the union
when the concubine was given to the husband by the wife, was legally the wife’s
son, as Rachel’s comment in v. 3 makes clear. In antiquity, women saw the
children under their care as their own children. If, as Hagar did, someone created
a division, that was another matter. Sarah’s bitterness was due to the fact that
Hagar created a break where harmony and gratitude should have existed.
Leah bore Jacob six sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and
Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah. Her maid, Zilpah, bore two sons, Gad and
Asher. Rachel bore Joseph and Benjamin, and Bilhah two also, Dan and
Naphthali. The names given to all these sons reflect the conflict. Reuben: see, a
son; Simeon: hearing, i.e., God has heard me; Levi: joined, i.e., this will join me
to my husband; Judah: praise, I will praise the LORD; Issachar, a hire, or pay;
Zebulun: dwelling, hoping that God would now endue her with her husband’s
favoritism. Zilpah’s sons were Gad: a troop or company; Asher: happy. Rachel
bore Joseph, meaning adding, because she now expected another son; Benjamin
means the son of the right hand. Bilhah’s sons were Dan, meaning judging,
because Rachel saw his birth as a judgment in her favor; Naphthali means my
wrestling, i.e., with her sister.
The competition between the sisters had as its primary victim Jacob.
Apparently nothing he could do or say altered the matter. We have seen how
bluntly he had spoken to Rachel (vv. 1-2). The sisters were in an intense
competition, and, at one point, Rachel gave her bed-right to Leah in exchange
for Reuben’s mandrakes. Mandrakes are a tasty root of the same family as
potatoes. They are edible raw, very prized in many cultures, and, in antiquity,
they were believed to help conception. In Leah’s case, gaining Jacob for the night
subsequently led to Issachar’s birth.
The time came when Jacob, having served Laban for fourteen years for Leah
and Rachel, asked to be allowed to leave. Laban was reluctant to see Jacob leave.
Esau could well be awaiting Jacob’s return to kill him and the children and seize
the inheritance. There was no reason to believe otherwise. Also, Laban frankly

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 232.
208 Genesis
admitted that Jacob’s presence had meant, “the LORD blessed me for thy sake”
(v. 27). He urged Jacob to remain and asked him to set his own wages (v. 28).
Jacob asked only the speckled, spotted, and brown births of the cattle, sheep,
and goats (vv. 30-33). To this Laban agreed, but he then removed all such
animals from those tended by Jacob and placed them in the hands of his sons,
three days’ journey away from where Jacob was tending the flocks and herds (vv.
34-36).
Jacob then resorted to a folk custom, hoping to mark the animals before birth.
He used debarked branches, and the results were prolific births favoring him (vv.
37-43). In Genesis 31:12f., God lets Jacob know that it was He, not Jacob’s
device, that led to the births of animals favoring Jacob. By so informing Jacob,
God let him know that it was not Jacob’s devising but God’s providence that was
prospering him. Jacob was in a very difficult bind. At home, his brother wanted
to kill him. In Haran, his father-in-law wanted to keep him because he was a
great asset, and also because he did not want to lose his daughters and
grandchildren. Jacob, however, had no desire to be Laban’s heir, and hence his
request for the freedom to develop his own herds and flocks. This request made
obvious the fact that Jacob was refusing to become a part of Laban’s household
and family. It did create a breach. For Laban, it meant losing his daughters and
grandchildren to at least an uncertain future and possible death. It was not
unreasonable for Laban to oppose in one way or another their departure.
On the other hand, for Jacob this was not a matter of being reasonable or
sensible but an act of faith. The land of Canaan and the promised Messiah were
to be his future, and he stood on that faith. Jacob was a man of stubborn and
unbending faith, and nothing was going to shake him or deter him from his
God-ordained course. He was God’s man, not Laban’s, or Leah’s, or Rachel’s.
Jacob had begun as the hesitant and timid son of Isaac and Rebekah. Step by
step, God was compelling Jacob to stand in terms of his calling and not to be
overly hesitant in terms of his necessary requirements. Justice was and is no
matter for hesitancy and modesty. This God was requiring Jacob to learn.
 Chapter Forty-Nine
Jacob’s Departure
(Genesis 31:1-55)
1. And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away
all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten
all this glory.
2. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not
toward him as before.
3. And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and
to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
4. And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
5. And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward
me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
6. And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
7. And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but
God suffered him not to hurt me.
8. If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare
speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstreaked shall be thy hire; then bare
all the cattle ringstreaked.
9. Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to
me.
10. And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted
up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped
upon the cattle were ringstreaked, speckled, and grisled.
11. And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I
said, Here am I.
12. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap
upon the cattle are ringstreaked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all
that Laban doeth unto thee.
13. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where
thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and
return unto the land of thy kindred.
14. And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any
portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?
15. Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath
quite devoured also our money.
16. For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours,
and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
17. Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
18. And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten,
the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to
Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
19. And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images
that were her father’s.
20. And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him
not that he fled.
21. So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the
river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.
22. And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

209
210 Genesis
23. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’
journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
24. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto
him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
25. Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the
mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.
26. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen
away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken
with the sword?
27. Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and
didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with
songs, with tabret, and with harp?
28. And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast
now done foolishly in so doing.
29. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father
spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to
Jacob either good or bad.
30. And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore
longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
31. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said,
Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
32. With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our
brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob
knew not that Rachel had stolen them.
33. And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the
two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of
Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.
34. Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s
furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found
them not.
35. And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot
rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he
searched, but found not the images.
36. And Jacob was wroth, and chided with Laban: and Jacob answered and
said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly
pursued after me?
37. Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all
thy household stuff ? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that
they may judge betwixt us both.
38. This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats
have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
39. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss
of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by
night.
40. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by
night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
41. Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen
years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast
changed my wages ten times.
42. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of
Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God
 Jacob’s Departure (Genesis 31:1-55) 211
hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee
yesternight.
43. And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my
daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my
cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these
my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?
44. Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let
it be for a witness between me and thee.
45. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
46. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones,
and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.
47. And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
48. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day.
Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
49. And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee,
when we are absent one from another.
50. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives
beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and
thee.
51. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar,
which I have cast betwixt me and thee;
52. This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over
this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar
unto me, for harm.
53. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father,
judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
54. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren
to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
55. And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his
daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his
place. (Genesis 31: 1-55)
This chapter tells us, first, that Jacob’s obvious blessing by God rankled with
Laban and his sons. During Jacob’s stay, fourteen years for Rachel and Leah, and
six years to earn something for himself, Laban changed the terms of
employment “ten times,” i.e., very, very often. God so obviously favored Jacob,
no matter what the terms were, that it was apparent to all that Jacob was God’s
man. Up to this point, Laban was circumspect. Now his faulty premises began
to appear. Had he rejoiced in the success of his son-in-law, God would have
blessed him also. Instead, he did all that he could to cheat Jacob.
Second, God made it clear to Jacob that he had prospered, not because of his
silly devices at breeding time for the animals, but because God blessed him no
matter what Laban did: God made known to Jacob that it was not Jacob’s doing
but God’s that had prospered him. Whatever kind of cattle Laban said would be
Jacob’s, those varieties predominated at birthing time (vv. 7-13).
Third, Jacob was ordered by God in a vision to return to Canaan (v. 13).
Jacob’s schooling by God at Haran was now over. There would be more training
in Canaan.
212 Genesis
Fourth, both Rachel and Leah were agreed with Jacob that their father had
wronged them and Jacob (vv. 14-16). They recognized their father’s duplicity
and were totally with their husband in his decision to leave. In order to prevent
serious conflict, it was decided that they would leave secretly when Laban and
his sons were far out in the hills with their livestock (vv. 17-24). The distance
from Padan-aram to Canaan was some 300 miles, not an easy journey with herds
of livestock that had to be fed and watered along the way. Progress would be
slow.
It is noteworthy that both Rachel and Leah not only sided with Jacob but were
also strongly against their father’s conduct (vv. 14-16). This tells us much about
Jacob. Normally then, and even now in many cultures, the father and the
brothers were a woman’s defenders against any abuse by her husband. Women
maintained the best possible relationship to their father and brothers in order to
keep their husbands in line. Their security against spousal abuse depended on
keeping close ties to their own family. Leah and Rachel make clear that they want
to break such ties.
Fifth, as against his daughters, Laban insisted on seeing his sons and himself
as their protectors. This was one of the purposes of his pursuit of Jacob. Laban
accuses Jacob of carrying “away with my daughters, as captives taken with the
sword” (v. 26). Had Jacob sought to leave openly, there could have been a party
first, music and feasting (v. 27). Now, if he had not caught up with Jacob, Laban
would not have been able to bid farewell to his grandchildren (v. 28).
Sixth, Laban accuses Jacob of stealing his household gods (v. 30). This was a
matter of importance. Laban, a syncretist, recognized both the living God and
the local gods. The possession of these images meant that the possessor was the
true heir of the family’s wealth, the new head of the household. Laban thus
accuses Jacob of a double theft, of his daughters and of his gods. Their
possession would make Jacob Laban’s heir. The matter was thus very important
because it separated the estate from Laban’s control.
Jacob was then angry and showed it. He invited Laban and his men to go
through all his possessions to search for the idols (vv. 32-36). In fact, Jacob was
ready to see the thief killed, so sure was he of his and his household’s innocence.
He did not know that Rachel was the thief (v. 32). When the search was
conducted, Laban himself searched the tents of Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and
Zilpah (vv. 33-34). Rachel, pretending to be menstruating and ill, sat on a camel’s
saddle wherein the gods were hidden. Her father did not ask her to get up, and
so the gods were not discovered (v. 35). Jacob then gave vent to his anger, and
he went over the indignities he had suffered at Laban’s hands (vv. 36-42). It had
only been tolerable for Jacob because his covenant with God had sustained him.
Seventh, God had warned Laban that Jacob was His man, and that Laban was
not to speak either good or bad to him (v. 24). Whatever Laban said was thus
limited by this fact. His purpose in the chase was thus to say good-bye to his
 Jacob’s Departure (Genesis 31:1-55) 213
daughters and grandchildren and to recover the household gods. There was a
problem now, in that these images were not located, and Jacob was apparently
innocent. Anyone in the family could have stolen the images and hidden them
as Laban approached. Laban, to protect his heirs, now proposed a covenant.
Stones were gathered for an altar, called “the heap of witness” (v. 46f.). The
covenant made, the altar was seen also as a beacon or watch tower, Mizpah. The
covenant concluded with the statement, “The LORD watch between me and
thee, when we are absent one from another” (vv. 48-49). The terms are given to
us in vv. 50-53. They require that neither side will pass beyond the altar to do
harm to the other. This precluded Jacob from any claim to Laban’s estate. By
invoking God to watch over him, Jacob promised to treat Leah and Rachel in a
Godly manner. This safeguarded Laban’s concerns, and it protected Jacob from
interference. After a covenant meal together, Laban kissed his daughters and
grandchildren and left.
Eighth, Jacob is cautious in what he does. In v. 1, we see that the real problem
is more Laban’s sons than Laban. They held that Jacob was profiting at their
father’s expense, meaning at their own. Their hostility began to affect Laban (v.
2) and altered his attitude towards Jacob.
At the same time, Leah and Rachel resented the terms on which they had been
given to Jacob. They felt that their father had treated them as “strangers; for he
hath sold us, and hath also quite devoured our money” (v. 5). God had righted
this theft by blessing Jacob (v. 16). We are told no more of this, but there is no
reason to doubt what Rachel and Leah said. Jacob had worked to provide a
dowry, a very high one, and no dowry was given to the girls by Laban in recompense for
Jacob’s fourteen years of service. In this matter, Laban was clearly at fault.
Moreover, Jacob had bent over backwards to be favorable to Laban. A herd
or flock will have certain losses due to wild animals. Jacob had absorbed all such
losses (v. 39), more than honorable conduct on his part. Normally, the killed
animal was sent to the rancher as proof that a wild animal was responsible.
The Hebrew word for sons can also mean grandchildren. In chapter 29, there
is no mention of any sons of Laban. Genesis 31:23 speaks of Laban’s brothers or
kinsmen, but not sons. Speiser thus held that Laban had no sons, only male
kinfolk, grandsons, or the like.1 This would mean that Laban, seeing that Jacob
was not planning to stay, would favor others over Jacob.
Rachel, in stealing the household images (and it was theft), obviously saw it as
reclaiming what was rightfully hers, Leah’s, and Jacob’s property.
Speiser sees this chapter as very important and “a key witness on the subject
of patriarchal traditions in general.”2 Under Nuzu and Hurrian law, all that Jacob
had could be claimed by Laban; without the household gods, whose guardian
owned all, Laban owned nothing. Rachel had destroyed any legal claim by Laban
1.
E.A. Speiser, Genesis (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1964), 244.
2.
Ibid., 248.
214 Genesis
over Jacob and his possessions. It was not paganism on Rachel’s part to take the
images, but a decision, however wrong, to protect her husband’s property.
Earlier, Isaac’s wealth had made the Philistines jealous; now, Jacob’s wealth
made Laban and his family angry and jealous.3
If Speiser is right, and Laban had no sons, it does explain Laban’s urgent
desire to keep Jacob with him one way or another: he wanted a reliable and able
heir. In the process, however, he alienated his daughters and Jacob and lost his
grandsons by Jacob. It was an ugly situation, and Laban’s call for a covenant
provided the only safe way out of it.
Jacob was ignorant of what Rachel had done. He had pinned his hope on
flight, but the slow movement of his herds and flocks enabled Laban to catch up
with him. Possibly he had hoped that Laban would not be informed of his flight
in time to catch up with him, but, clearly, Laban had been hastily informed.
Persons at the home base would quickly recognize that, however much they may
have preferred Jacob, their future was with Laban.

3.
Frank E. Gaebelein, editor, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan Regency, 1990), 204.
 Chapter Fifty
The Prince of God
(Genesis 32:1-32)
1. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the
name of that place Mahanaim.
3. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land
of Seir, the country of Edom.
4. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord
Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and
stayed there until now:
5. And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and
womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy
sight.
6. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother
Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people
that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two
bands;
8. And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other
company which is left shall escape.
9. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father
Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to
thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
10. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth,
which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over
this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
11. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand
of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother
with the children.
12. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the
sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13. And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to
his hand a present for Esau his brother;
14. Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and
twenty rams,
15. Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty
she asses, and ten foals.
16. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by
themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a
space betwixt drove and drove.
17. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother
meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest
thou? and whose are these before thee?
18. Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent
unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
19. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed
the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find
him.

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216 Genesis
20. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he
said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and
afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.
21. So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in
the company.
22. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two
womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that
he had.
24. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the
breaking of the day.
25. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the
hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he
wrestled with him.
26. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me.
27. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as
a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he
said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him
there.
30. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face
to face, and my life is preserved.
31. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted
upon his thigh.
32. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank,
which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched
the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.
(Genesis 32:1-32)
When Jacob began his journey to Haran, he had at Bethel a vision of angels
ascending and descending. Now, on his return, he is met by the angels of God
(v. 1). He recognized them, and he named the place Mahanaim, meaning “two
hosts” (v. 2). The one host or company was his family, the other being the
angels. Jacob had recognized that he was not alone, the Lord God was with him.
Given this fact, Jacob decided against sneaking into the land. He could have
gone home quietly to get his father’s protection. He sent messengers to his
brother Esau, who was in Edom, to inform Esau of his return (v. 3). Esau was
to be told of Jacob’s prosperity and wealth (vv. 4, 5). There was to be no evasion.
The messengers returned to tell Jacob that Esau was coming to meet him with
four hundred men (v. 6). It is possible that the size of this company of men had
as its purpose to impress Jacob with Esau’s power. This is likely, with the added
proviso that Esau could easily overwhelm Jacob with his men. The impulsive
Esau may not have been entirely sure what course to take.
Jacob’s reaction was to prepare for disaster. Jacob had his family and livestock
divided into two companies, so that if Esau attacked, some at least would escape
(vv. 7-8).
 The Prince of God (Genesis 32:1-32) 217
Esau’s four hundred men were perhaps only a part of his forces, since Seir,
latter Edom, was the old domain of the Horites.
Jacob also sent ahead of his family presents for his brother Esau: 200 she-
goats; 20 he-goats; 200 ewes and 20 rams; 30 milk camels with their colts; 40
cows and 10 bulls; and 20 she asses and 10 foals. This was a total of 550 animals
divided into 5 groups, each to announce itself as a present for Esau (vv. 13-20).
Jacob knew his brother, and he knew how to please him. Jacob’s gifts alone were
enough to make Esau wealthy.
In Genesis 36:6-8, we read that Esau still lived at least part time with or close
to his parents. Seir was not yet fully his possession. Because the home land could
not support both Jacob and Esau, Esau left for Seir. From this it is clear that the
two brothers lived together in peace for a time.
Before this precautionary step was taken, Jacob prayed earnestly to God (vv.
9-12). He reminded God of His promises, but Jacob began by confessing his
unworthiness and God’s grace. The words of v. 10 are especially wonderful:
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which
thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this
Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
In his prayer, Jacob asks, first, for deliverance from Esau’s plan to kill him. He
says honestly, “I fear him;” Jacob does not lie to God. He fears also for his wives
and children. Second, he reminds God of His promises, covenant promises,
because the covenant is his future and the source of contention with Esau.
Jacob sent his servants, with the gifts for Esau, ahead of him in five groups.
Then the womenfolk and children were sent over the ford Jabbok. Jacob was
now alone. In vv. 24-30, we have an account of Jacob’s wrestling with someone,
i.e., with God, through the night. We have an interpretation of the episode in
Hosea 12:3-5:
3. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had
power with God:
4. Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made
supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us;
5. Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
In these verses, Hosea, speaking to the covenant people, asks them to look to
their forefather Jacob and emulate him. Before his birth, he seized his brother’s
heel, eager to gain the promise of God to Abraham.1 This, then, is the strength
of Jacob which God respects, his tenacity. It is in this sense that Jacob prevailed
with God in what is described as wrestling. God, in confronting Jacob, “would
not overthrow his faith and constancy.”2 Hosea tells us that Jacob “wept and
made supplication unto” God. He, with all his being, asked God, cried out to
1.
Theodore Laetsch, The Minor Prophets (Saint Louis, Missouri: Concordia, 1956), 96.
2.
E.B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1880,
1956), 118.
218 Genesis
God, implored God to sustain him and to use him as His covenant man. This
was a remarkable faith. Jacob could live and die a rich man, a happy man, and an
honored man, but his intense and passionate hope was to be the ancestor of the
Messiah. Jacob at Bethel had seen his mother’s word confirmed. In subsequent
revelations, the promises were repeated and detailed. Now, faced with possible
death, Jacob wanted an open confirmation from God in the face of his rival,
Esau. He received it, as v. 5 tells us, in the fact of God’s “Name” (Ex. 3:14). The
God who does not change (Mal. 3:6) would sustain and bless Jacob. There, in
this strange wrestling, God “spake with us” (Hosea 12:4) and assured us also of
His constancy. We change, but God does not.
The details of this strange event are beyond us; we cannot conceive of them.
Their meaning, however, is clear. Like Jacob, we must seek God’s blessings and
work and fight for them without ceasing.
The tenacity of Jacob was such that, in this encounter, he would not end
things unless he be blessed (vv. 24-26). Jacob’s Wrestler asked, “What is thy
name?,” and when Jacob gave his name, he was told, “Thy name shall be called
no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with
men, and hast prevailed” (vv. 27-28). A prince in antiquity was not so by blood
but by the adoption of grace. Jacob was such a prince.
Predestination, taught throughout the Bible, or, better, assumed, does not
negate responsibility but requires it, and therefore Jacob’s tenacity was a
manifestation of his calling and ordination.
All struggle exacts a price, and Jacob came out of this one with a shrunken
sinew in his thigh. We pay a price in our struggle to manifest God’s calling, and,
in terms of this world we often cripple ourselves. But for Jacob it was a triumph,
and he named the place Penuel, meaning the face of God, “for I have seen God
face to face, and my life is preserved” (v. 30). He was thereafter a bit crippled (v.
31). Awed by this event, his descendants thereafter would not eat that particular
sinew in animals (v. 32). This practice has no necessity attached to it in God’s
law.
The Penuel experience is, past a certain point, beyond our comprehension,
and deliberately so. Some things are not for us fully to understand, but we can
grow in terms of them. We cannot accept God and His grace as a kind of natural
endowment but must recognize that His grace is sovereign, and our response
must be one of determined struggle and growth therein.
Jacob met the Angel of the Lord first as an enemy of some kind, perhaps, but
later saw Him as the only hope of his life and sought His blessing. Rebekah had
not sent for Jacob, as she had promised to do when and if Esau relented of his
plan to kill Jacob. God had still ordered Jacob to return, but to what? Jacob
obeyed, but what was God’s purpose for him?
God’s purpose was revealed in Jacob’s new name, Israel, because he had
struggled with both God and man and had prevailed (v. 28).
 The Prince of God (Genesis 32:1-32) 219
If God calls Jacob His prince, we had better be careful of being disrespectful
of one whom God so honors.
 Chapter Fifty-One
The Meeting with Esau
(Genesis 33:1-20)
1. And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and
with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and
unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
2. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and
her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
3. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground
seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him: and they wept.
5. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said,
Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath
graciously given thy servant.
6. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they
bowed themselves.
7. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and
after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.
8. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he
said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.
9. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto
thyself.
10. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight,
then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as
though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
11. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath
dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him,
and he took it.
12. And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before
thee.
13. And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender,
and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should
overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.
14. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on
softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able
to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.
15. And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are
with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my
lord.
16. So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.
17. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made
booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
18. And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of
Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the
city.
19. And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the
hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces
of money.

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222 Genesis
20. And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel.
(Genesis 33: 1-20)
Esau had come hastily to confront Jacob, and Jacob at once placed the
handmaids and their children first, then Leah and her children, and last Rachel
and Joseph. He preceded them, bowing to the ground seven times before his
brother (vv. 1-3). In v. 7, we see Jacob greeting Esau and thanking him for his
merciful graces. “I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and
thou wast pleased with me.” The bowing and the words echo the letters in
Amarna tablets on the procedure used by subject princes before Pharaoh.1
Jacob’s action was realistic. Esau was now a ruler who could command 400 men
on short notice; he might see Jacob as a brother, but he was also a ruler with
military power. Jacob was giving Esau his due honor as a small but real prince.
Esau’s response to this was apparently joy and pride in his brother. He ran to
meet, embrace, and kiss Jacob, and both men wept. All of Jacob’s family were
introduced to Esau, and all bowed to him (vv. 4-7). As the elder brother and a
lord, he was given the honor which he was due, and Esau was moved by this.
No doubt Rebekah had made known to Esau Jacob’s religious preeminence, but
Jacob was acknowledging Esau’s personal power and priority. It was a sincere
tribute, but also a fully correct one in terms of ancient rules of conduct.
Esau then asked about the five herds of livestock that he had met, to see if
they were truly a gift to him. Jacob answered, “These are to find grace in the sight
of my lord” (v. 8). Esau was overwhelmed. He knew that his mother had
prompted the deception of Isaac, and he was not about to fight his mother. Now
Jacob was overwhelming him with his gifts and deferential respect. His response
to the gifts was, “I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast to thyself” (v.
9). This Jacob refused to do and urged Esau to accept the gifts, which he did.
Jacob gave two reasons, saying, first, “God hath dealt graciously with me.” God
had given Esau power, but His grace and prospering hand were with Jacob. This
was a quiet reminder that God’s choice was real, although it did not detract from
Esau’s blessings. Second, Jacob added, “I have enough” (v. 11). So Esau accepted
the gifts and thereby shared in God’s blessings, as Jacob intended he should.
Esau then offered to accompany Jacob on the rest of his journey, but Jacob
said this was not necessary. The slow movement of his herds would limit Esau’s
faster pace (vv. 12-15). Many commentators have seen Jacob as fearful of too
close a tie to Esau, but, while this is possible, it is not a necessary interpretation.
Jacob was right: the pace of the two groups was too ill-matched for a good trip
together.
Esau then returned to Seir, or Edom (v. 16). In Genesis 36:6-8, we see Esau,
who until then spent part of his time in residence with his parents, move all his
“substance” and livestock to Seir. Their cattle could not coexist in the same area.

1.
W.H. Bennett, Genesis (New York: Henry Frowde, n.d.), 316.
 The Meeting with Esau (Genesis 33:1-20) 223
Until then, most likely, Esau had helped his aged father manage his holdings as
well as caring for his own.
We are not told at what point Jacob returned home. What we are told in v. 17
is that Jacob, having met Esau, and apparently his parents, recrossed the Jordan
to build a house at Succoth, and there to make enclosed and shaded areas for his
livestock (v. 17).
Because the herds Jacob possessed were grazed by his men over a wide area,
Jacob felt the need for an additional site, a camping location, and he purchased
land near Shechem. This was bought from Hamor’s family, and Hamor was
Shechem’s father. The price was a hundred pieces of money, or metal, although
we are not told whether it was gold or silver.
According to Joshua 24:32, the embalmed body of Joseph was brought from
Egypt and buried on this property. Since perhaps 500 years passed between
Jacob’s purchase to Joseph’s burial, this time gap tells us that property then was
neither taxed nor confiscated.
In gratitude to God, Jacob there erected an altar and worshipped God (v. 20).
The altar was named El-elohe-Israel, God, the God of Israel. This calls attention
to God as the covenant God. Other peoples may speak of God, El, but the living
God is the covenant God, not the god of the philosophers. He is not an idea but
the supreme and ultimate person.
In v. 3, we see Jacob’s strong trust in God. He divided his women and
children into three companies (vv. 1-2). Jacob, however, went before them to
make sure that he first met Esau. He thereby made sure that the confrontation
would be directly between himself and Esau. We have a mature Jacob, a
responsible man, who has been prepared to deal with the difficult problems
soon to confront him. From Abraham’s day to Jacob’s, Canaan had gone
downhill morally and religiously. It would soon be necessary for God to remove
His covenant people from a degenerating people to keep them for His calling.
Jacob’s return was notable, and the Canaanites could clearly see his wealth and
power. Added to this was the wealth of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob was clearly a
man of powerful standing, and the Canaanites did not trouble him as they had
his father.
A final note: Esau’s success was very prominent, and he may well have
believed that, in spite of his brother’s deception, the birthright was his in fact and
in actual fulfillment. Certainly in New Testament times, the Idumeans and
Herod so believed.
In light of Esau’s power, his reception of his brother constitutes a very
impressive fact: Esau, in offering Jacob his protection (v. 12) was thereby stating
his acceptance of Jacob’s homage. This fact no doubt became well know as
Esau’s 400 men reported it on the way home. In Genesis 36:15, we see Esau’s
descendants listed as dukes, (later, as kings), meaning chieftans. The unity of the
brothers meant that few men would dare to cross them. Jacob was content to
224 Genesis
leave present priority to Esau, and to recognize his power and over-lordship.
Esau was happy with this, and he apparently believed that his success was
evidence that the messianic promise was his also. We see evidence of this
erroneous belief in Herod (Acts 12:21-23).
 Chapter Fifty-Two
The Rape of Dinah
(Genesis 34:1-31)
1. And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out
to see the daughters of the land.
2. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country,
saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
3. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the
damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
4. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel
to wife.
5. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons
were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were
come.
6. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune
with him.
7. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the
men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly
in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done.
8. And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem
longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
9. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and
take our daughters unto you.
10. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and
trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
11. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find
grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
12. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye
shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.
13. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father
deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
14. And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to
one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:
15. But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every
male of you be circumcised;
16. Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your
daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one
people.
17. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take
our daughter, and we will be gone.
18. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son.
19. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had
delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house
of his father.
20. And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and
communed with the men of their city, saying,
21. These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land,
and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us
take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

225
226 Genesis
22. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be
one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are
circumcised.
23. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be
ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
24. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went
out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went
out of the gate of his city.
25. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of
the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his
sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
26. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword,
and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.
27. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because
they had defiled their sister.
28. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which
was in the city, and that which was in the field,
29. And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they
captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
30. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me
to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the
Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves
together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
31. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
(Genesis 34: 1-31)
In this chapter, we have the account of the rape of Dinah and the murder of
the men of Shechem by Simeon and Levi. Very commonly, blame is readily laid
on many in this episode: Dinah, for gadding about; Jacob, for doing a poor job
of rearing his sons, and so on. The text has none of this.
Dinah, who was probably in her early teens, went out to visit other girls in the
area. She apparently had become acquainted with them. This was not a foolhardy
thing on her part, and no doubt both Leah and Jacob knew what she was doing.
It was an immoral era, but there were customs which normally protected a girl
like Dinah. Persons who were members of a powerful family were not normally
molested. Abraham commanded 318 trained fighting men (Gen. 14:14). Under
Isaac, their number had doubtless increased, and they were now available to
Jacob, who had his own men. Then too there was Esau, with 400 men readily
available. Under normal circumstances, a girl like Dinah would have as
protection the general knowledge of her family’s power. (I recall as a high
school student, when families were stronger, one youth telling another about a
girl, “Don’t fool around with her; don’t you know who her family is?” In that
case, it was a prosperous Portuguese family.) Normally, Dinah would have been
safe.
Shechem, the son of Hamor, the prince of that area, a Hivite, believed,
however, that his position and his father would give him protection. Then and
now, in some areas of the world, daughters of unimportant men have no
 The Rape of Dinah (Genesis 34:1-31) 227
protection, whereas being a member of a powerful family is a very powerful
safeguard.
But senseless Shechem, Hamor’s son, “took her (Dinah), and lay with her, and
defiled (or, humbled) her” (v. 2). Shechem found himself at once so attracted to
his victim that “he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel” (v. 3).
The Jewish Publication Society of America, in its translation of the Massoretic
text, gives us this reading: Shechem “spoke comfortingly unto the damsel.” His
goal now became marriage, and he spoke to his father so as to arrange it.
Normally, marriages then and throughout much of history involved the whole
family because the bride was brought into an important position in the family (v.
4).
For Hamor, a dangerous act by his son offered a potential for great gain. The
inhabitants of Shechem were apparently of sufficient numbers to absorb Jacob’s
family so that it would disappear into their population. In addition, the great
wealth of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be a very great asset. Hamar
therefore proposed a union of the peoples as a part of the marriage (vv. 8-12).
Marriages have at times not only made peace between tribes and clans but have
also been steps towards mergers. For Hamor, a potential disaster could be
turned into a major advantage.
Jacob had waited until his sons, who were afield with the livestock, could
return before making a decision. This was necessary on his part. A major family
crisis required a family council, and the decision, as expressed by his sons (v. 13),
was that marriages and a clan merger were for them religious acts. Would the
Shechemites be ready to accept circumcision and the covenant and its law?
Would they change their religion?
The men of Shechem were agreeable because the advantages were
considerable. Such a union would have meant, of course, replacing the covenant
people with another.
Behind their words, the sons of Jacob concealed their fury. We are told that
“the men were very grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought
folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done”
(v. 7). We are aware of Hamor’s self-promoting goal; Jacob was not. For his
sons, there was anger at the affront to family honor. They rightly saw it as
“folly,” nebaylaw in the Hebrew, wickedness. Hamor’s plan, if they grasped it,
would have topped Dinah’s rape with the “rape” of Jacob’s tribe.
Shechem himself, for all his evil in raping Dinah, was, we are told, “more
honourable than all the house of his father” (v. 19), which does not say too much
for the Shechemites.
As a result of Jacob’s assent and Hamor’s agreement, all the male Shechemites
were circumcised (v. 24). In adults, circumcision can incapacitate a man for a
week. On the third day, when all the males were most handicapped and barely
able to get around, Simeon and Levi killed all the males of Shechem and took
228 Genesis
Dinah and left (vv. 25-27). Not only so, they took all their livestock, their wealth,
and their womenfolk, young and old (vv. 28-29).
The reaction of Jacob was one of horror. First, he tells them, you have made
me to stink in all the land; you have fouled my reputation. Second, what is to
prevent others, since we are fewer in number than the Canaanites and the
Perizzites, from waiting to destroy us?
Jacob assumed that others would react with the same moral outrage as he did.
It was assuming too much; nothing happened because such an act was more
likely to gain admiration than anger from an evil people.
The answer of Levi and Simeon was, “Should he deal with our sister as a
harlot?” (v. 31). Family codes have had their evils, and this was an aspect of that
evil because its doctrine of righteousness was narrow and unjust. Jacob never
recovered from his moral indignation and horror over this episode. On his
death-bed, he refers to it and curses the anger of the two sons (Gen. 49:4-7). He
still burned with shame over the incident. It was the way of Canaan, not of Israel.
Jacob had called in his sons, on learning of the rape, but the family council
was not a covenant council. The family is God’s basic unit of government, but
the family is no more immune to the Fall and human depravity than any man or
institution. As a covenant man, Jacob, Israel, a prince with God, now saw his
sons as covenant-breakers.
Jacob’s fear, however, of Canaanite vengeance was not realized. The
manpower resources of Isaac, Esau, and Jacob were so great that few would dare
attack them. Levi and Simeon were apparently more keenly aware of this
because, as sinners, they thought pragmatically, whereas their father thought
morally.
 Chapter Fifty-Three
A Cleansing and a Funeral
(Genesis 35:1-29)
1. And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and
make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest
from the face of Esau thy brother.
2. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put
away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your
garments:
3. And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto
God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the
way which I went.
4. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand,
and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under
the oak which was by Shechem.
5. And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were
round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
6. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he
and all the people that were with him.
7. And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there
God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
8. But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel
under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
9. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram,
and blessed him.
10. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be
called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name
Israel.
11. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply;
a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come
out of thy loins;
12. And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and
to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
13. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.
14. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a
pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil
thereon.
15. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him,
Bethel.
16. And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come
to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
17. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said
unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
18. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she
called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
19. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is
Bethlehem.
20. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave
unto this day.

229
230 Genesis
21. And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
22. And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went
and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the
sons of Jacob were twelve:
23. The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi,
and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:
24. The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
25. And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
26. And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are
the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.
27. And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of
Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
28. And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.
29. And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his
people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
(Genesis 35: 1-29)
At this point, God ordered a return to Bethel, where God met Jacob with the
vision of angels (v. 1). His family needed to be confronted with God and the
covenant. Having spent 20 years with Laban, Jacob’s family had not been
confronted with a clear division between covenant-keepers and covenant-
breakers. Their faith had become syncretistic, i.e., it involved contradictory
beliefs and alliances. We know that God now required that, whether or not they
received it, Jacob’s family had to know the difference between God and what
Jacob calls “strange gods” (v. 2). These gods are called “strange” or foreign
because they are alien to God’s covenant. These were to be “put away.” They
were to “be clean,” i.e., freshly bathed, and to wear a newly washed change of
clothing (Ex. 19:10). Respect for God from the time of Genesis to the present
has meant such cleanliness as a sign of respect.
As a result, all who had any “strange gods” gave them up. These would be
small “lucky pieces” that would fit in the hand. Also surrendered would be all
the earrings; these would not be ones belonging to the women but those used
by men. Jacob’s household included numerous servants, and this applied to
them as well. Male earrings have meant over the centuries slavery on their part,
so that a male with earrings was indicating bondage to a man or to a god. (Such
usage has also meant that the user is a passive homosexual and was commonly
so used by pirates in the eighteenth century.) Jacob buried the idols and the
earrings under an oak near Shechem; he did this secretly.
As Jacob moved towards Bethel, none dared attack him for “the terror of
God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue
after the sons of Jacob” (v. 5). This was not because of any fear of Simeon and
Levi but because God had for other reasons put terror in their hearts.
Jacob went to Bethel with all his people, built an altar, and worshipped God
(vv. 6-7). At this time, Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried there
under an oak, named “the oak of weeping” (v. 8).
 A Cleansing and a Funeral (Genesis 35:1-29) 231
God then spoke to Jacob, first, reminding him that his name was Israel, a
prince with God. The conduct of Levi and Simeon in murdering the
Shechemites had left Jacob horrified and depressed. The girls and womenfolk of
the Shechemites had been seized by Levi and Simeon, some perhaps sold, others
taken into their households. This alone brought in paganism. Jacob needed to be
reminded who and what he was in God’s sight.
Second, the covenant blessing of fertility is again set forth. One more son
would soon be born to Jacob, so the promise was mainly for his posterity.
Third, nations and kings would be born from his line, and God’s promise of
the land to Abraham and Isaac applied to Jacob also. It is worth noting that the
key people did not derive their name from Abraham and Isaac but from Jacob
and Israel (vv. 9-13).
When Jacob left Bethel, Rachel, who was pregnant, gave birth to Benjamin.
She died in childbirth, and she called her son Ben-oni, meaning son of my
sorrow, but Jacob changed it to Benjamin, the son of the right hand (vv. 16-18).
Rachel was buried at Bethlehem. Jacob marked the grave with a pillar (vv. 19-20).
Jacob went off to a remote area with his herds, and, while gone, Reuben, his
eldest son, an unstable person (Gen. 49:4), “went and lay with Bilhah” (v. 22).
Nothing more is said other than that “Israel heard it” (v. 22). We are not told
whether or not this occurred in an isolated place and was in effect rape, or
whether Bilhah was guilty as well. Two things can be said: First, Bilhah was
Rachel’s handmaid and thus dear to Jacob, so that it destroyed that relationship.
Second, while the sisters had ceased their rivalry, the sons clearly had not.
Reuben’s act was to obliterate the Rachel tie by polluting Bilhah, Rachel’s
handmaid. Jacob never forgot nor forgave this act.
Then, in vv. 23-26, we are given a list of the twelve sons by their mothers.
Jacob went to see his father Isaac at Hebron, where both Abraham and Isaac
had lived. There Isaac died at age 180. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him (vv.
27-29), a fact which indicated that there was peace between them and some
element of the covenant faith in Esau, however formal.
Two facts about death need to be noted. First, death and burial have always
been a family rite. Historically, in many cultures it is a time of family gatherings,
and, today, in many Christian countries, a time of reunions, dinners, and a
renewing of family ties. In the United States, less traditional than many
countries, such family gatherings are still quite important.
Second, even more, funerals are religious events. Without the religious faith,
the funeral soon disappears. Cremation and a scattering of the ashes is done
without ceremony. Funerals are family events because of their religious nature.
As a result, syncretism in a funeral was a very serious matter. In Psalm 106:28,
God indicts Israel for flagrant waywardness, declaring, “They joined themselves
unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.”
232 Genesis
In very recent years, the importance of the funeral as religious act was such
that some, even in the 1950s, sorrowfully abstained from attending the funeral
of a friend or relative on religious grounds. This could mean the “wrong” church
was in charge because of a son’s divergent faith, or it could be, as in one instance,
because an atheistic group was conducting the service.
The rise of funeral chapels was a convenience to the mortician, but it also
“neutralized” the religious problem by taking the funeral service out of a
particular church.
Unless Esau had in some sense recognized the priority of the covenant God,
his presence at the funeral would have been a very serious breach of conduct.
For untold ages, presence at a funeral has normally been a religious act first, a
family act second.
Our narrative begins with a religious cleansing and ends with a funeral. The
two events are not dissimilar.
 Chapter Fifty-Four
The Family Records of Esau
(Genesis 36:1-43)
1. Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
2. Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of
Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of
Zibeon the Hivite;
3. And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
4. And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;
5. And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these are the sons
of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of Canaan.
6. And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the
persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance,
which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from
the face of his brother Jacob.
7. For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the
land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their
cattle.
8. Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.
9. And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in
mount Seir:
10. These are the names of Esau’s sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife
of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.
11. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and
Kenaz.
12. And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau’s son; and she bare to
Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau’s wife.
13. And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and
Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife.
14. And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the
daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam,
and Korah.
15. These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn
son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
16. Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek: these are the dukes that
came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.
17. And these are the sons of Reuel Esau’s son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah,
duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in
the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife.
18. And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau’s wife; duke Jeush, duke
Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes that came of Aholibamah the
daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.
19. These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.
20. These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan,
and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
21. And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites,
the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
22. And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister
was Timna.

233
234 Genesis
23. And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal,
Shepho, and Onam.
24. And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was
that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of
Zibeon his father.
25. And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the
daughter of Anah.
26. And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and
Ithran, and Cheran.
27. The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.
28. The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran.
29. These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal,
duke Zibeon, duke Anah,
30. Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came
of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
31. And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there
reigned any king over the children of Israel.
32. And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city
was Dinhabah.
33. And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his
stead.
34. And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his
stead.
35. And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in
the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith.
36. And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
37. And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his
stead.
38. And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
39. And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead:
and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the
daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
40. And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to
their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah,
duke Jetheth,
41. Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
42. Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
43. Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to
their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the
Edomites. (Genesis 36:1-43)
This is for many a baffling chapter because it gives us a detailed account of
Esau’s family, and also the family of Seir the Horite. We know next to nothing
about Seir, nor are we interested in him, but God is, for His own reasons. We
find references to the people of Seir, or perhaps the inhabitants of Seir, in
Ezekiel 25:8 and Numbers 24:18. Edom is also called Seir in the Bible.
According to Deuteronomy 2:12, the Edomites not only conquered Seir but also
destroyed them totally. It is likely, however, that the women of Seir were
absorbed into the Edomite community, so that Seir and Edom in that sense
merged. Seir and Edom then became synonymous in the Bible.
 The Family Records of Esau (Genesis 36:1-43) 235
We can then ask, why Esau’s genealogical history? Esau was of the line of
Abraham, and, however faulty his character at times, he apparently did in time
come vaguely to the covenant faith and therefore took part in his father’s funeral
with Jacob (Gen. 35:29). The fact that participation in the funeral service has no
meaning for us should not blind us to the fact that it was once a radically
religious rite. It will help us to understand this chapter if we remember that the
words, “Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom,” tell us that these
are the family records of Esau. Jacob, in compiling the family records for his
household, gained from Esau his records. The section including vv. 31-43 was
apparently added by Moses, giving later data. This inclusion tells us that it is
likely that Esau had to some degree conformed to the covenant faith and was
close to Jacob. The reference in Hebrews 12:16-17 to Esau as a “profane
person” has to do with inheriting the blessing.
There are differences in some of the names here, as of Esau’s wives, from
previous references, but differing names in terms of differing languages is
common in the Bible.
The reference to “mules” in v. 24 is an error, because the word used had lost
its meaning but perhaps means “hot springs.”
In v. 20, Seir is called “the Horite,” and in v. 29 the dukes of the Horites are
mentioned. Horite may refer to cave dweller, which, since Darwin, has come to
mean “primitive man.” But Petra, the capital of Edom, was a city whose central
buildings were carved out of rock. In origin, the Seirites may have begun the
work of constructing these remarkable and advanced centers of state
administration, so that the term may witness to their superior nature.
There are seven sections in this chapter: 1) Esau’s wives and children, vv. 1-
5; 2)Esau’s migration into Seir, vv. 6-8; 3)the genealogy of the sons of Esau, vv.
9-14; 4) the chiefs of the house of Esau, vv. 15-19; 5) the Horites genealogy and
their chiefs, vv. 20-30; 6) the kings of Edom, vv. 31-39; and 7) other Edomite
chiefs, vv. 40-43.
Esau’s migration was a gracious act on his part. While he was already lord over
Edom, he still had some right to remain in Canaan proper, but he ceded this to
Jacob because together their livestock numbered more than the land could bear
(v. 7). It does no justice to the text to see Esau as simply an evil man.
Edom developed a monarchy very early in its history. In. v. 31, a note tells us
that, long before the days of Saul, there was a monarchy in Edom. This note was
added by one of the prophets, as a custodian of God’s word, perhaps Samuel.
The reference to Amalek in v. 12 is not to the nation of that name necessarily;
it means simply “warlike.” In v. 35, we have a Hadad, again a common name. It
was also the name, in later times, of a Canaanite and Syrian storm-god.
In part, the purpose of this chapter is to tell us that God keeps His promises.
In Genesis 25:23, the pregnant Rebekah is told that two nations are in her
womb, and Edom is early evidence that this promise is already fulfilled in Esau.
236 Genesis
If God keeps His promise concerning Esau, He will be no less faithful to Jacob,
or to us.
In vv. 31-39, we have a series of kings, and we are told of the various cities
they came from. This means that the kingship then was not hereditary and could
even have been elective. This has not been uncommon in history, and, in the
medieval Holy Roman Empire, the emperor was normally elected.
The references to Edomite idolatry do exist in its later history, but they are
not many. In fact, the prophets tell us much more about the idolatry of Judah
and Israel. 1 Kings 11:1 warns us of the threat of unbelieving wives and
mentions Edomites. We have a reference also to Edomite idolatry in 2
Chronicles 25:14, which tells us that King Amaziah imported Edomite gods
after defeating Edom.
God, however, warned Israel that Edom was under His care, and they were
not to “meddle” with them (Deut. 2:4-5). Again, Edom is mentioned favorably
in the law, in Deuteronomy 23:7-8:
7. Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not
abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.
8. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation
of the LORD in their third generation.
Edomites as a related people are to be respected. The Egyptians, who had
enslaved the Israelites and for a time killed off their male children, were to be
remembered all the same with gratitude because Israel had lived for generations
on Egyptian soil.
However, both Edomites and Egyptians could not be full-fledged covenant
members until the third generation of covenant faithfulness. This was to
protect the covenant from being casually regarded.
Since God chooses His own covenant heirs, He allows no man the option of
boasting or glorying in his status. Those who see themselves as self-chosen can
become arrogant in their status, and pharisaical, but to be chosen by God’s grace
is an incentive to humility and gratitude.
 Chapter Fifty-Five
Joseph is Sold into Egypt
(Genesis 37:1-36)
1. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land
of Canaan.
2. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old,
was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of
Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought
unto his father their evil report.
3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the
son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
4. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his
brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
5. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated
him yet the more.
6. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have
dreamed:
7. For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf
arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round
about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
8. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt
thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for
his dreams, and for his words.
9. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said,
Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon
and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked
him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall
I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to
thee to the earth?
11. And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
12. And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in
Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here
am I.
14. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy
brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him
out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the
field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16. And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed
their flocks.
17. And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let
us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in
Dothan.
18. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them,
they conspired against him to slay him.
19. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

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20. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit,
and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what
will become of his dreams.
21. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said,
Let us not kill him.
22. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit
that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him
out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that
they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on
him;
24. And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there
was no water in it.
25. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and
looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with
their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to
Egypt.
26. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our
brother, and conceal his blood?
27. Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be
upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were
content.
28. Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and
lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for
twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the
pit; and he rent his clothes.
30. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I,
whither shall I go?
31. And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped
the coat in the blood;
32. And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their
father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s
coat or no.
33. And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath
devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
34. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and
mourned for his son many days.
35. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he
refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave
unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
36. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard. (Genesis 37:1-36)
The narrative now grows very grim. The sons of Jacob were not only in
Canaan, but Canaan was in them. The providence of God will soon remove
them from Canaan to a long stay in Egypt. Ultimately, however, it is not the
people’s virtue that comes through but God’s grace. All other ground is taken
from them.
 Joseph is Sold into Egypt (Genesis 37:1-36) 239
In v. 2, we are told that this is the family history of Jacob. This is an unusual
family history in that it is no boast of family heritage but an account of sin and
grace.
Joseph, seventeen years old, worked in the pastures with his brothers. In v. 2,
these are the sons of Zilpah, Gad and Asher; and Bilhah’s sons, Dan and
Naphthali. These men were irresponsible in their duties, and Joseph reported
this to his father. Joseph may have been in part assigned by his father to work
with these brothers because Jacob had reason to mistrust them, and Joseph’s
report confirmed this fact.
We are told that Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons because “he was
the son of his old age” (v. 3). It is our natural inclination to give Joseph priority
as Rachel’s son, but the text does not say so. Apparently for this and other
reasons, Jacob decided to make Joseph his primary heir. He made for Joseph
what Stigers has called “a regal robe.” It was a status robe (cf. 2 Samuel 13:18-
19), and its meaning was not missed by the other ten brothers. Jacob was a small
prince, and it was appropriate for his heir to wear such a robe.1 This at once
aroused the hostility of all ten brothers.
Joseph shared with his brothers two dreams that he had. In the first, all were
binding sheaves of grain in the field, and his brothers’ sheaves made obeisance
to Joseph’s sheaf. His brothers state the meaning: Joseph would have dominion
over them (vv. 6-8). In a second dream, the sun, moon, and eleven stars made
obeisance to him (v. 10). When he reported this dream to his father also, Jacob
rebuked him. The meaning was obvious: his parents and brothers would in due
time bow down before him (v. 11). Joseph is not shown as boasting in this
dream, but rather sharing it out of amazement. His brethren envied him, but his
father kept the dream in mind as a portent (v. 11).
Not long after, all the brothers were feeding their father’s flock near Shechem,
and Jacob sent Joseph there to check up on them and to bring him a report (vv.
12-14). Jacob already had good reason to distrust Reuben, Simeon, and Levi.
Joseph had confirmed his suspicions about Gad, Asher, Dan, and Naphthali;
which left only Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun as possibly trustworthy. At this
point, Benjamin was an infant. Jacob was thus suspicious of his sons. They may
well have been selling some of the livestock for their personal profit. We do
know that Joseph “brought unto his father their evil report” (v. 2), or, “account
of their evil.” This could also have meant adulteries such as Judah’s in Genesis
38:15-18.
As Joseph went to the place where the brothers and the livestock should have
been, he found no one, but a stranger told him where they had gone with their
flocks. Joseph then found them in the area of Dothan (vv. 14-16).
The brothers saw him coming and decided to kill him. Their first plan was to
kill him and to throw his body into a pit, but there was some uncertainty as to
1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1976), 271.
240 Genesis
what precisely should be done. Reuben in particular objected, hoping secretly to
save Joseph and then deliver him up to Jacob. He hoped perhaps by this act to
regain his status as the main heir.
Joseph was stripped of his princely robe and cast into an empty pit, perhaps
a dry well. As they ate, a caravan of Ishmaelite traders approached and passed;
Judah suggested selling Joseph into slavery, and the brothers agreed (vv. 21-27).
Apparently, by the time they agreed, the Ishmaelite caravan had passed, and
Midianite merchantmen approached, and Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of
silver (v. 28).
When Reuben returned from a duty with the livestock, he was shocked to find
Joseph gone (vv. 30-31). The brothers then agreed to a common story: some
wild animal had apparently killed Joseph, and hence his blood-stained robe (v.
32). Jacob recognized Joseph’s robe and said, “Joseph is without doubt rent in
pieces,” and he went into mourning and would not be comforted (vv. 33-35).
Meanwhile, the Midianite merchantmen reached Egypt and there sold Joseph
to “an officer of Pharaoh’s, a captain of the guard” (v. 36). The term used for
Potiphar can mean eunuch, but it is also a word then used by Egyptians then for
any high-ranking official. His captaincy made him also an executioner. Some see
Potiphar as a eunuch to account for his wife’s sexual overtures to Joseph, but an
urge to sin is enough to explain Potiphar’s wife.
This story is remarkable in that it obviously sets forth God’s total
predestination of all things. For example, Rabbi Meir Zlotowicz titles this
section in his commentary “Predestined Event.”2 It is that, clearly, and we
misread Genesis (and all of the Bible) if we fail to see God’s total determination
and governance of all things. Joseph goes to Egypt to prepare a place for all
Israel during the times of Canaan’s radical degeneration. God had so ordained
and effected it, in total harmony with the lives of all involved and in terms of
their character.

2.
Rabbi Meier Zlotowitz, Bereishis Genesis, vol. V 1579. (Brooklyn, New York: Mesora
Publications, 1980, 1981), 1579.
 Chapter Fifty-Six
Judah and Tamar
(Genesis 38:1-30)
1. And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his
brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
2. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was
Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.
3. And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
4. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
5. And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah:
and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
6. And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the
LORD slew him.
8. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry
her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass,
when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground,
lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew
him also.
11. Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy
father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure
he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s
house.
12. And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and
Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he
and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13. And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to
Timnath to shear his sheep.
14. And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with
a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way
to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto
him to wife.
15. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had
covered her face.
16. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me
come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And
she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17. And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt
thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?
18. And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet,
and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her,
and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19. And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put
on the garments of her widowhood.
20. And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to
receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.

241
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21. Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that
was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this
place.
22. And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men
of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
23. And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent
this kid, and thou hast not found her.
24. And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah,
saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold,
she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her
be burnt.
25. When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By
the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray
thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.
26. And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more
righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he
knew her again no more.
27. And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were
in her womb.
28. And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand:
and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying,
This came out first.
29. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother
came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon
thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.
30. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon
his hand: and his name was called Zarah. (Genesis 38: 1-30)
In v. 1, we are told that Judah left his brothers or went away from them. He
was apparently sufficiently disgusted with his brothers over their treatment of
Joseph that he separated himself from them. All the same, he neither denounced
them nor condemned them. His suggestion had been enslavement (Gen. 37:26-
28), so that his hands were not clean.
In his separate estate, Judah married a Canaanite woman, the daughter of
Shuah, and sons Er, Onam, and Shelah were born. We do not know how long
his isolation from his father and brothers continued. We later see him again in
contact with them all.
When Er matured, Judah “took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was
Tamar” (v. 6). This is very interesting, because Judah had chosen his own wife,
and he had some evil results in his sons. As we see later, Tamar was a woman of
strong character. We are then told that, because Er was wicked, God “slew him”
(v. 7). In terms of the levirate law, the next son had the duty to provide seed for
his dead brother. Onan, however, had no desire to provide Tamar with a son to
inherit the major part of their father’s estate, so that he, in going in to Tamar,
withdrew his penis in time to allow the seed to be wasted, “lest that he should
give seed to his brother” (v. 9). As a result, God took Onan’s life also (v. 10).
Now Shelah, the youngest son, was not fully of age, although apparently old
enough to provide seed to Tamar. Judah, however, apparently feared that Shelah
 Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:1-30) 243
would die also, as his brothers had, as a man of bad character. Tamar was sent
back to her father’s house (v. 11).
In time, Judah’s wife, Shuah’s daughter, died. Judah then left to join his
sheepshearers (v. 12). Tamar, meanwhile, knew that Shelah was matured, but no
step towards a levirate union had been taken by Judah, and she had apparently
recognized the reason for it (vv. 12-13). She accordingly took off her widow’s
robes, dressed as a sacred prostitute, veiled her face, and went to a place where
she knew she would meet Judah (vv. 14-15).
Various forms of sacred prostitution were then common and also widespread
in some areas over the centuries. A prostitute is someone who has sex for
money, and, over the centuries, there have been both male and female
prostitutes. A cultic or sacred prostitute was one whose hire went to the support
of a pagan sanctuary or temple. When the people of Timnath told Judah, “there
was no harlot in this place” (v. 22), the word used means a sacred prostitute.
Judah had assumed that he was dealing with an ordinary prostitute, zona, not a
quedesah, a sacred whore. However, in v. 21, he asks, “where is the qedesah that
was openly by the wayside?”
In any case, Judah comes out looking very much like another Canaanite. He
has become a part of the landscape instead of a lord over it. From Abraham to
Judah, we have a real decline.
When Judah bargained for the prostitute’s service, the price agreed upon was
a kid from the flock. Tamar asked for security, and she was given a signet ring,
some male bracelets, and Judah’s staff (vv. 16-19). From this relationship, Tamar
became pregnant.
When Judah later attempted to pay for the sexual service, no prostitute of any
kind could be found (v. 20). He could only conclude, let her keep what I gave
her lest I be shamed, or, literally “we” become ashamed for failing to pay up.
Some three months later, Judah was told that his daughter-in-law was
pregnant. He ordered her to be brought to him, “and let her be burnt” (v. 24),
the common punishment for adultery at that time, although not Biblical. “When
she was brought forth,” she sent to Judah the pledged items with the statement
that the father of her child was their owner (v. 25). Judah recognized them. He
knew that he had broken his promise to her to marry her to Shelah. He had tied
her to the family but in no way fulfilled his pledge to her. Judah publicly admitted
his guilt and said, “She hath been more righteous than I; because I gave her not
to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more” (v. 26).
Two sons were born to Tamar by Judah, Pharez and Zarah (v. 30). Pharez
became the ancestor of King David and of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:3; Luke 3:33).
A clear fact that emerges from this incident is the greater severity of God
towards his own. In those decadent times, the sins of Er and Onan were mild
compared to those of the Canaanites. But, as members of the covenant, more
244 Genesis
was required of them than of the Canaanites. Membership in the covenant
means greater blessings and greater judgments.
Tamar comes through as a woman of character, more a part of the covenant
than Judah and his sons. If a widow had children, she remained with her
husband’s family; if not, she returned to her father’s house (Lev. 22:13; Ruth
1:8). Judah had returned her to her father but tied her to his youngest son.
Tamar was an intelligent and perceptive woman. She knew that she could
depend on Judah to acknowledge his paternity, and she staked her life on his
integrity, and she was right.
The subject of this chapter is Judah and his family, but, even more, it is Tamar.
Some ancient rabbis rightly praised her. A strong-willed woman, with an intense
sense of justice, she triumphed in an unusual situation and took her place among
the notable persons of Biblical history, an ancestress of Jesus Christ.
Tamar knew Judah’s character, and she risked her life in the confidence that
Judah would vindicate her. She had not asked to be relieved of her levirate
obligations to marry someone else. She clearly wanted to be a member of Judah’s
line, perhaps fully aware of the messianic promise. Clearly, she chose a
dangerous course of action out of a sense of justice as well as in terms of faith.
 Chapter Fifty-Seven
Joseph in Egypt
(Genesis 39:1-23)
1. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of
the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
2. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he
was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD
made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
4. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made
him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
5. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his
house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s
house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that
he had in the house, and in the field.
6. And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he
had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and
well favoured.
7. And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes
upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8. But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master
wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that
he hath to my hand;
9. There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any
thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this
great wickedness, and sin against God?
10. And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he
hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11. And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house
to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there
within.
12. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his
garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
13. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her
hand, and was fled forth,
14. That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them,
saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in
unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
15. And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried,
that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.
16. And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
17. And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew
servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
18. And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his
garment with me, and fled out.
19. And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife,
which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me;
that his wrath was kindled.

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246 Genesis
20. And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place
where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
21. But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him
favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the
prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was
the doer of it.
23. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his
hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD
made it to prosper. (Genesis 39:1-23)
The Ishmaelites brought Joseph to Egypt, and he was there sold to Potiphar,
an officer of Pharaoh and a captain of the guard (v. 1). Potiphar’s title was one
borne by eunuchs, but it applied to many others, whole men, with important
offices.
Joseph’s abilities were blessed by God to such an extent that Potiphar soon
turned the entire management of his estate over to Joseph. God prospered
Joseph in Potiphar’s service, and Potiphar was also greatly blessed (vv. 2-6).
Joseph was obviously a trustworthy young man as well a an attractive one.
Potiphar’s wife very plainly demanded sex from Joseph. Since he was a slave,
she commanded it (v. 7). Joseph’s response was a moral and religious one. He
refused on the ground that it was a sin against God and his master. He then
avoided the woman and stayed away from her when she was alone (vv. 8-10).
On one occasion, when he entered the house on business, none were present
save Potiphar’s wife, who at once took the opportunity to demand Joseph’s
sexual compliance. Joseph beat a hasty retreat, but she was able to seize his outer
garment, perhaps removed because of the heat (vv. 11-12). This she took it to
the men of the house, i.e., other servants, telling them that Joseph had attempted
to rape her. She invented a story of attempted rape, rehearsed it with the other
servants, and she then confronted Potiphar with it. In essence, she blamed her
husband for bringing Joseph into the house and trusting him (vv. 13-19).
We are told that Potiphar was angry (v. 19), “that his wrath was kindled.” This
is a curious statement. We are not told that he was angry at Joseph. He was losing
a man whose presence had prospered him, and this was naturally upsetting to
Potiphar. We can assume that Joseph said he was innocent, but Potiphar could
not take the word of a slave over his wife. Dr. A.S. Yahuda, in Accuracy of the Bible,
noted the severity of Egyptian punishment, but Joseph received only a prison
sentence. But this is not all. It was the king’s prison, and Potiphar most likely had
some jurisdiction over it. We are told that again God showed favor to Joseph,
so that the keeper of the prison gave him a position of trust. He left Joseph
unsupervised in his duties and was content to do so (vv. 20-23). Perhaps
indirectly, Potiphar may well have commanded Joseph’s managerial abilities.
What we do see is that, both in Potiphar’s estate and in prison, while the
problems were serious, so too were the opportunities: they were real and
effectual for his future.
 Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39:1-23) 247
Harold G. Stigers rendered the reaction of Potiphar thus: “he was enraged.”1
If anyone had a right to be enraged, it was Joseph. His brothers and now
Potiphar’s wife were working for his destruction, but what marked him in
Potiphar’s house and in prison was a strong sense of moral responsibility. He
could have told God, as Jonah did later, “I do well to be angry, even unto death”
(Jonah 4:9). Instead, he worked faithfully and honestly.
The Joseph story from start to finish is an account of God’s predestination
and of a young man’s faithfulness to God in the face of hellish circumstances. It
tells us that there is more to God’s plan than we can see.
We are told plainly in v. 2, “the LORD was with Joseph.” This Joseph must
have believed in some sense also. Certainly his faith and morality remained
unshaken. His answer to Potiphar’s wife is a strong one: “How then can I do this
great wickedness, and sin against God?” (v. 9). He could have said, “God has
forgotten me and cast me aside.” He could have told himself, “This woman can
do more for me than God is ready to do,” but he did not.
Joseph had been subjected to one crushing blow after another. His brothers
had turned against him, and, as he lay in the pit, he could hear them first plan to
kill him, then sell him as a slave. Then his faithful service to Potiphar is rewarded
with imprisonment. As a slave, he had no rights and no future. His reaction is
again to work as a responsible man.

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 285.
 Chapter Fifty-Eight
Dreams and God
(Genesis 40:1-23)
1. And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of
Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.
2. And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of
the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
3. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into
the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
4. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served
them: and they continued a season in ward.
5. And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one
night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and
the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
6. And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them,
and, behold, they were sad.
7. And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his
lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
8. And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no
interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong
to God? tell me them, I pray you.
9. And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my
dream, behold, a vine was before me;
10. And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded,
and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe
grapes:
11. And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed
them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.
12. And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three
branches are three days:
13. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee
unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the
former manner when thou wast his butler.
14. But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I
pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me
out of this house:
15. For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here
also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
16. When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said
unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets
on my head:
17. And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for
Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
18. And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The
three baskets are three days:
19. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and
shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

249
250 Genesis
20. And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that
he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief
butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
21. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave
the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
22. But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
(Genesis 40:1-23)
According to A.S. Yahuda, the prison in which Joseph was incarcerated was
a very special and dangerous place because the inmates were political prisoners.
It was the fortress Saru on the Palestinian border, a place for slave labor by
political prisoners “under the supervision of the chief executioner.”1 The fact
that the chief butler and the chief baker were sent there seems to indicate that
Yahuda was right. Joseph’s consignment to this prison was apparently Potiphar’s
work, and his quick rise to a responsible post indicates Potiphar’s hand again.
The two new inmates were there because Pharaoh “was wroth against” them
(v. 2). In Egypt, Pharaoh’s will was justice, and to displease him was to do
injustice, and be guilty of an offense against a living and present god. All offenses
against God the Creator are personal offenses against our maker. When the state
claims to be god on earth, all offenses against the state and its men are made
personal affronts, and no moral law need be broken.
Dreams and their interpretation are important in the life of Joseph, and in other
specific cases in the Bible. Dreams can, in rare cases, be prophetic or visionary,
but in other cases are meaningless. The interpretation of dreams, Joseph says, is
from God, and both the chief butler and chief baker had dreamed strange
dreams.
The chief butler or cup-bearer was a highly trusted man who brought in to
Pharaoh his drink and tasted it to ensure that no poison was in it. Because his
own life was at stake, the chief butler made sure that no drink was prepared for
the ruler except by himself.
The butler’s dream was of a vine with three branches which brought forth ripe
grapes; he himself squeezed these into Pharaoh’s cup and gave it to him to drink
(vv. 9-11). Joseph told the butler that the dream meant that in three days he
would be restored to his position. Joseph explained his own history and asked
the butler to intercede for him on his return to Pharaoh’s side (vv. 12-15).
The chief baker then told Joseph his dream. There were three white baskets
on his head in the dream, and the top basket was full of baked items for Pharaoh,
but birds devoured them before he reached his destination (v. 16). There was a
serious problem with his dream: the baked items never reached their destination.
The dream was realistic in that Egyptian men carried burdens on their head,
while women carried them on their shoulders.2

1.
A.S. Yahuda, The Accuracy of the Bible (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1935), 4f.
 Dreams and God (Genesis 40:1-23) 251
In v. 3, we are told that these two prisoners were placed in the custody of “the
captain of the guard.” This would be Potiphar.3 Potiphar himself charged Joseph
with the care of these two men. They were apparently as unjustly imprisoned as
was Joseph, and Joseph could best understand their plight.
But the baker’s dream indicated death in three days, not release, and Joseph
told him the truth plainly and directly (vv. 16-19).
The third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and a royal birthday in antiquity, and
since then also, has commonly been a holiday, or, more accurately, a holy day.
This meant that the birthday they celebrated was that of their savior king. For
this reason, early Christians could only celebrate the birthday of Jesus secretly.
As the persecutions ended, the birthday of Jesus was openly celebrated.
There is an interesting expression in v. 11. The butler says, “I gave the cup
into Pharaoh’s hand,” or, placed it on his hand. The Egyptians of antiquity did
not use handles on cups; their cups were small bowls which they held in their
hand by way of preference.
In v. 8, Joseph says, “Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me then
(your dreams), I pray you.” Because God is the Lord, He alone can know the
future because He alone determines it. Joseph’s statement thus forbids any
humanistic attempt to interpret dreams and foretell the future. Thus, Joseph tells
these two troubled men that no humanistic interpretation of dreams is valid.
Then, by asking them to tell him their dreams, Joseph simply and calmly tells
them the he is a prophet of the true God. By God’s grace, he can tell them the
meaning of their dreams.
In one sense, Joseph is a young and bewildered man. Despite all his sufferings,
he still knows himself to be, somehow, God’s appointed man. His father and his
brothers understood the meaning of Joseph’s own two dreams. Joseph was too
intelligent not to have understood them himself.
He tells the butler and the baker, the living God who made all things and who
totally predestines all things, will give me the wisdom to explain your dreams.
Joseph is calm and matter-of-fact about it.
His one concern and plea is, to the butler, remember me when you are free,
and work for my release (v. 23). The butler, however, forgot. He may have
reasoned that any reference to his imprisonment would be indelicate in
Pharaoh’s eyes, and unwise. Whatever his reason, he forgot Joseph until God
ordained that he should remember him. Had he at once secured Joseph’s release,
Joseph would have been free to return to Canaan, but to what purpose? For a
family war? God kept Joseph in prison until his release made him Egypt’s ruler.
The butler’s lapse of gratitude was thus providential for Joseph, his family, and

2. C.F. Keil, F. Delitzsch, The Pentateuch, vol. I (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949 reprint),
347.
3.
G. Ch. Aalders, Genesis, vol. II, William Heynen, trans. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Re-
gency Library, 1981), 206.
252 Genesis
all of Egypt. Thus, we are again reminded of the amazing pattern of God’s
predestination.
 Chapter Fifty-Nine
Joseph as Vizier, or Prime Minister
(Genesis 41:1-57)
1. And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed:
and, behold, he stood by the river.
2. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and
fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
3. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill
favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of
the river.
4. And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well
favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.
5. And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of
corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
6. And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up
after them.
7. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And
Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
8. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he
sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof:
and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret
them unto Pharaoh.
9. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my
faults this day:
10. Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain
of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker:
11. And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man
according to the interpretation of his dream.
12. And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the
captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams;
to each man according to his dream he did interpret.
13. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored
unto mine office, and him he hanged.
14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out
of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came
in unto Pharaoh.
15. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is
none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst
understand a dream to interpret it.
16. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give
Pharaoh an answer of peace.
17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the
bank of the river:
18. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and
well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
19. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill
favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for
badness:
20. And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:

253
254 Genesis
21. And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had
eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
22. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk,
full and good:
23. And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind,
sprung up after them:
24. And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto
the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
25. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God
hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven
years: the dream is one.
27. And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are
seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be
seven years of famine.
28. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is
about to do he showeth unto Pharaoh.
29. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land
of Egypt:
30. And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty
shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the
land;
31. And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine
following; for it shall be very grievous.
32. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because
the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set
him over the land of Egypt.
34. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and
take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay
up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of
famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not
through the famine.
37. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all
his servants.
38. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is,
a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
39. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee
all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
40. Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my
people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
41. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of
Egypt.
42. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s
hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about
his neck;
43. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they
cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of
Egypt.
 Joseph as Vizier, or Prime Minister (Genesis 41:1-57) 255
44. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall
no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
45. And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him
to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went
out over all the land of Egypt.
46. And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of
Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went
throughout all the land of Egypt.
47. And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
48. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the
land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which
was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
49. And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he
left numbering; for it was without number.
50. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came,
which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
51. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said
he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
52. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused
me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
53. And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt,
were ended.
54. And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had
said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was
bread.
55. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to
Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto
Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
56. And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened
all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed
sore in the land of Egypt.
57. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because
that the famine was so sore in all lands. (Genesis 41:1-57)
“Two full years” passed after the butler returned to his post, and Joseph
remained forgotten (v. 1). After that time, Pharaoh dreamed a strange dream.
For Egyptians, dreams were important, and they were seen as messages from the
other world. In his dream, seven fat and healthy heads of cattle came out of the
river Nile and fed in a meadow. Then seven starving heads of cattle also came
out of the river and devoured the fat ones. Then Pharaoh awoke (vv. 1-4). This
dream was a very troubling one because in Egypt the goddess Hathor was
worshipped in the form of a cow.
The troubled ruler went back to sleep to have another disturbing dream. He
saw seven ears of corn or grain on a single stalk, fat and good grain. Then seven
thin ears, blasted by the hot east wind, sprang up and devoured the good ears
(vv. 5-7).
Since dreams were seen as messages from the other world, and since Hathor,
the goddess, seemed to be involved, those men who were experts in dream
interpretation were sent for, but none could see what message had been sent to
256 Genesis
Pharaoh (v. 8). In the Book of the Dead, seven cows appear in an offering scene,
and in the temple of Hatochepset seven cows are portrayed feeding in a
meadow.1
At this point, the butler remembered Joseph and commended him to Pharaoh
(vv. 9-13). Very hastily, Joseph was sent for, bathed, and shaved. Egyptians
disliked body hair, and Joseph had to be prepared for the presentation (v. 14).
Pharaoh then told Joseph his dreams. Joseph made clear that he had no personal
power in interpreting dreams, but God could give His answer through Joseph
(v. 15). Pharaoh then recounted his dream (vv. 18-24). The Egyptians had
sought a meaning in terms of the other world, but Joseph, who gave all the credit
to God, gave a this-worldly meaning. By making clear God’s determining part,
Joseph gave credibility to his words. Joseph interpreted the dreams and also
provided the remedy. First, Joseph said, the seven fat cows and the seven good
ears of corn signify that seven years of great and plentiful harvests are about to
come. Then seven years of famine will follow, years so bad that the good years
will be forgotten. Second, preparation must be made for the coming crisis. This
must begin with the appointment of a man who will take twenty percent of the
annual harvest, or a fifth, to be stored as a food reserve for the seven years of
famine, so that the country may be saved. Third, this requires the appointment
of a man to govern this solution, a man granted all the necessary powers (vv. 25-
36).
Both Pharaoh and his court were pleased with Joseph’s answer. Pharaoh
recognized that God, however Pharaoh saw Him, was working in Joseph. Since
God had shown Joseph all this, Joseph was obviously God’s man for the task
ahead (vv. 37-42). Pharaoh gave his signet ring to Joseph, a gold chain as his
mark of authority, and fine linen to mark his office (vv. 41f.). Joseph was taken
through the capitol in Pharaoh’s second chariot for people to bow the knee to
Joseph, who was now ruler over all of Egypt. Pharaoh told Joseph, “I am
Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of
Egypt” (v. 44). Joseph was renamed Zaphnathpaaneah, meaning “the revealer of
secrets” (v. 45). Joseph at this time was 30 years old (v. 46). At the time of his
enslavement, he was 17 (Gen. 37:2). He had been 13 years a slave, and part of
that time he had spent in prison.
Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On (or, prince of On) was
given to him as a wife by Pharaoh (v. 45). By making Joseph the son-in-law of
the religious leader, Pharaoh forestalled hostility to Joseph from that quarter.
Moreover, since in Egyptian belief Pharaoh was a god, Joseph in effect had to
have a high rank as a priest to serve him.2
Two sons were born to Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim (v. 51f.).

1.
A.S. Yahuda, The Accuracy of the Bible (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1935), 7f.
2.
Ibid., 19.
 Joseph as Vizier, or Prime Minister (Genesis 41:1-57) 257
As Joseph had predicted, seven years of drought and famine followed seven
years of plenty. Food shortages resulted, and Pharaoh referred all who came
petitioning for help to Joseph (vv. 47-49, 53-55). The famine was general, so that
many foreign countries sent buyers to Egypt to buy grain.
The names Joseph gave his sons are revealing. Manasseh means, “God hath
made me forget all my toil, and all my Father’s house.” Ephraim means, “God
hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (v. 51f.). His bitterness
was gone, and he was a great and productive man. He had not forgotten his
family, but, for the time, he was content to let God order his future relationship
to them. He does call Egypt “the land of my affliction,” so that his heart is still
tied to Canaan.
There is something more to Joseph’s situation. He was convicted for
attempted rape, and he was legally a slave. We can be sure that Potiphar gave him
to Pharaoh. Pharaoh gave Joseph his wife; however prominent her family was,
Pharaoh made the marriage. As Stigers noted, “This is in conformity with the
custom of an owner giving his slave a wife.”3 A slave grand vizier was not
unusual.
Joseph answered Pharaoh in part by saying, “God shall give Pharaoh an
answer of peace” (v. 16). Joseph shows a confidence in God’s providence and
Pharaoh’s response.
Joseph was now the second most important man in Egypt, with vast powers.
He used those powers to further Egypt, not himself. He made no attempt, for
example, to avenge himself against Potiphar’s wife. We can be sure that Joseph’s
elevation left her a rather fearful and nervous woman!
In v. 51, Joseph thanks God for enabling him to forget his past and its
sufferings, i.e., to have no thoughts of vengeance. He could most easily have
avenged himself on Potiphar’s wife, and we can very safely assume that she knew
it. Her days were no doubt filled with fear. Was Joseph delaying vengeance to
punish her? Potiphar himself may have reminded her of her evil. Her life was
surely one of dread and misery.

3.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 293.
 Chapter Sixty
The First Journey to Egypt
(Genesis 42:1-38)
1. Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his
sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
2. And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you
down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.
3. And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
4. But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he
said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
5. And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the
famine was in the land of Canaan.
6. And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to
all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down
themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself
strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them,
Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
8. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and
said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
10. And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants
come.
11. We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
12. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye
are come.
13. And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man
in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father,
and one is not.
14. And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye
are spies:
15. Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth
hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
16. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept
in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in
you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
17. And he put them all together into ward three days.
18. And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear
God:
19. If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of
your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
20. But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be
verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

259
260 Genesis
21. And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our
brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and
we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
22. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do
not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his
blood is required.
23. And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto
them by an interpreter.
24. And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to
them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and
bound him before their eyes.
25. Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore
every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way:
and thus did he unto them.
26. And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
27. And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the
inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.
28. And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even
in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to
another, What is this that God hath done unto us?
29. And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and
told him all that befell unto them; saying,
30. The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us
for spies of the country.
31. And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
32. We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest
is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33. And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know
that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take
food for the famine of your households, and be gone:
34. And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are
no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and
ye shall traffic in the land.
35. And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every
man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their
father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my
children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away:
all these things are against me.
37. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring
him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee
again.
38. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is
dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye
go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
(Genesis 42: 1-38)
In Genesis 45:8, Joseph tells his fearful brothers, first, that not they but God
had sent him to Egypt. Second, he had been made by God “a father to Pharaoh,”
 The First Journey to Egypt (Genesis 42:1-38) 261
which meant that Joseph was the great father-priest to Pharaoh. Third, Joseph
was ruler over all Pharaoh’s house, the court chamberlain. Fourth, Joseph was “a
ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” The language of the text reveals an
Egyptian origin, according to Yahuda.1
It is important to bear this in mind as the story develops, because we see
Joseph exercise total power with great freedom.
The famine Joseph predicted began, and it affected much more than Egypt,
and, specifically, it included Canaan. But the brothers of Joseph were unwilling
to go to Egypt for food. Having sold their brother into slavery in that country,
the thought of going there troubled them. Jacob had to insist on their going (vv.
1-2). Finally, the ten brothers left, with Benjamin remaining with Jacob. Jacob
was fearful that something might happen to the remaining son of Rachel (v. 3).
Jacob had perhaps become suspicious of the ten brothers, as v. 38 hints.
When the ten brothers arrived, Joseph was present at the granary and
recognized them, although they failed to recognize him (vv. 5-6). The brothers
bowed before Joseph when he entered, and Joseph remembered his dream (vv.
6-9). Joseph spoke harshly to his brothers, treating them as possibly Canaanite
spies come to scout Egypt in its distress, perhaps to invade the country (vv. 7-
9). This was not an unreasonable assumption: Egypt over the generations sought
and sometimes held a controlling power over Canaan, and, for a time, the
Hyksos or shepherd kings from the north ruled over Egypt.
Joseph did not reveal himself to his brothers because he was not sure they had
changed or were repentant. He had to deal harshly with them to test them and
see if they had indeed changed.
The brothers spoke honestly. They were twelve brothers, one with their
father, “and one is not” (v. 13). Joseph still insisted that they were spies. To
prove their honesty, he at first demanded that one of them go home and return
with with their youngest brother. Pending a decision, he imprisoned all ten of
them for three days (vv. 14-17).
After three days, Joseph permitted nine of the brothers to purchase grain,
with one remaining as hostage until they returned with their youngest brother.
Joseph promised to keep his word: “This do, and live: for I fear God” (v. 18).
Joseph spoke through an interpreter at all times (v. 23).
The brothers were fully aware of their guilt. They had sold their brother into
slavery in Egypt, and now God was using Egypt to remind them of their guilt.
Joseph had to leave the sales area to hide his tears. On his return, Simeon was
bound and imprisoned as the hostage (v. 24).
The strange behavior of the prime minister must have shaken the brothers.
Why had he taken such a hostile interest in them during a routine sale? Many

1.
A. S. Yahuda, The Accuracy of the Bible (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1935), 18ff.
262 Genesis
other foreigners were buying grain. They knew their guilt and feared that God’s
vengeance was at work.
Joseph supplied them with provisions for their return journey while also
quietly ordering each man’s payment to be included in one of his sacks. On their
way home, when one of them opened a sack to feed his ass, he discovered his
money in the sack. All the brothers were afraid, saying one to another, “What is
this that God hath done unto us?” (v. 28). They clearly were guilt-ridden and
fearful of judgment.
On their return, the brothers told Jacob all that had happened. They also
discovered their money in their sacks. We are told, “they were afraid” (v 35). It
was God whom they feared. Was God paying them back for their sin?
Jacob was filled with grief. He too sensed some kind of guilt in the brothers:
“Me ye have bereaved” (v. 36). Joseph was gone, now Simeon, and “ye will take
Benjamin away: all these things are against me.”
Jacob saw sin as basic to his bereavement, his sons’ sin, whatever it was. But
he saw it all as against himself, when it was against Joseph, and, most of all,
against God. As David says in Psalm 51:4, “Against thee, thee only, have I
sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.” Because all sin violates God’s law, it is
primarily and essentially against God.
Reuben offered his two sons as hostages to be killed if Simeon and Benjamin
were not safely returned (v. 37). This was intemperate and absurd, since a
moment’s reflection would have told him that Jacob would never kill his
grandsons.
Jacob simply said, Benjamin will not go to Egypt with you. I cannot take the
loss of Benjamin in addition to that of Joseph (v. 38). It is worthy to note that in
v. 1 we see that is was Jacob who insisted on his sons going to Egypt for grain.
The ten brothers were surely as well aware of the fact as their father, but Egypt
was to them a reminder of their evil.
Very little rain falls normally in Egypt. The Nile River depends on the heavy
rains of its high mountain sources. Thus, Canaanites who were experiencing a
drought would have no way of knowing, short of seeing low waters in the Nile,
that Egypt’s water supply had failed. The fact that near the Mediterranean Sea
full granaries were selling grain could mean that Egypt in the south was doing
well.
Because of its wealth, ancient Egypt was a frequent target of desert peoples.
Joseph’s suspicions would have been appreciated by Egyptians.
Reuben as the oldest might perhaps have been the logical hostage held by
Joseph. However, Reuben (v. 22) spoke to his brothers in Joseph’s presence,
saying, “Spoke I not unto you, saying, ‘do not sin against this child?’” Simeon
was next oldest, and so he was held as the hostage.
 The First Journey to Egypt (Genesis 42:1-38) 263
[The critics who divide the Pentateuch into four (J, E, D, P) or more sources
are a strange lot. How can a narrative such as the Joseph story be other than it
is, a seamless garment?]
 Chapter Sixty-One
Approaching the Nourisher
(Genesis 43:1-34)
1. And the famine was sore in the land.
2. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had
brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little
food.
3. And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto
us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
4. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee
food:
5. But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto
us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
6. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man
whether ye had yet a brother?
7. And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred,
saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him
according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he
would say, Bring your brother down?
8. And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will
arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our
little ones.
9. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him
not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:
10. For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second
time.
11. And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this;
take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man
a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and
almonds:
12. And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought
again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure
it was an oversight:
13. Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:
14. And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send
away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I
am bereaved.
15. And the men took that present, and they took double money in their
hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood
before Joseph.
16. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his
house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men
shall dine with me at noon.
17. And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into
Joseph’s house.
18. And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s
house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks
at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us,
and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

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266 Genesis
19. And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they
communed with him at the door of the house,
20. And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
21. And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our
sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our
money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.
22. And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we
cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.
23. And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your
father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he
brought Simeon out unto them.
24. And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them
water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.
25. And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they
heard that they should eat bread there.
26. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was
in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.
27. And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the
old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?
28. And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet
alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
29. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s
son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me?
And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.
30. And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and
he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.
31. And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said,
Set on bread.
32. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and
for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the
Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an
abomination unto the Egyptians.
33. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and
the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at
another.
34. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but
Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank,
and were merry with him. (Genesis 43:1-34)
When I was very, very young, the Joseph story was my favorite. I could not
hear it enough, and then, as I learned to read, read it too much. This story was
my textbook on predestination and God’s marvelous providence, even as years
later the Book of Job made clear to me that theology and life must be God-
centered. How can people read about Joseph and be unmoved?
Jacob’s fears delayed a return to Egypt. Already bereft, he feared further loss.
Thus far, the first trip to Egypt seemed to mean more grief for him. He therefore
feared each further step as an invitation to disaster. As Judah said, we could have
made two trips in the time we have wasted delaying our trip (v. 10). Jacob finally
gave in, because “it must be” (v. 11). Special gifts were to be taken to the grand
vizier: balm, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachios, and almonds, also double the
 Approaching the Nourisher (Genesis 43:1-34) 267
amount of silver (vv. 11-14). Even in a drought, there is sometimes some
harvest, so that these items were obtainable but very costly.
At first, Jacob blamed the brothers for telling the grand vizier too much, but
they pointed out that they had simply told the truth. They had no reason to
believe that any evil use might be made of it. And how could they lie to a man
who controlled the food they badly needed?
Jacob finally agreed to allow Benjamin to go with the brothers. Benjamin was
about 16 years younger than Joseph, who had last seen him as an infant.
Joseph in Genesis 42:6 is described as “the governor over the land,” meaning
the feeder or Nourisher, a title sometimes given to Egyptian pharaohs.1 Clearly,
Joseph’s status was very high.
In Canaan, Judah was now his father’s mainstay. He took the lead in speaking,
and he was the one whom Jacob trusted. The Tamar episode of Genesis 38 is
now in focus, because it tells us that, in a discreditable incident, Judah came
through as a responsible man. Jacob knew he could trust in Judah to be honest
with him.
On their return, the brothers attempted to restore the money found in their
sacks (vv. 20-22). They were told that God had restored it to them. They had
paid for their grain, and “your God, and the God of your father, hath given you
treasure in your sacks” (v. 23), is an important statement. A true faith is a rich
inheritance, and the Biblical stress on this is important. Men are born rich when
they are born into a family of faith.
The brothers were taken to Joseph’s house, their asses fed, their feet washed,
and they were given water to drink (v. 24). When Joseph came into the room,
they bowed themselves to him to the ground and gave him their presents (v.
25f.). Joseph asked about their welfare, and their father, and he was told that
Jacob was alive and in good health (v. 27f.). When Benjamin was presented to
him, Joseph left the room, entered his chamber to weep, and then, having
washed his face, returned to them (vv. 29-31).
When food was served, Joseph ate separately, because Egyptians never sat at
the same table with foreigners, whom they regarded as unclean (v. 32).
The table was set for the brothers in their order of birth, but Benjamin, the
youngest, received five times as much as any of the other brothers (v. 34). This
was in itself a startling fact. To be given food in superabundance was to be
treated as a man of high rank, even royalty. In doing so, Joseph was testing his
brothers. Would they be envious of Benjamin? The brothers were simply
amazed that the vizier’s staff knew their order of birth. Had Simeon been
questioned about this? They had no opportunity as this time to ask him. They
no doubt were grateful that they had been honest with the grand vizier, who was
now acknowledging their integrity.

1.
A. S. Yahuda, The Accuracy of the Bible (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1935), 25.
268 Genesis
It is important to turn again to the gifts brought to the grand vizier by the
brothers at Jacob’s request (v. 11). Such gifts were obligatory. No man could
enter into the presence of a man of power without bearing gifts. A good ruler was
in very real sense the feeder or nourisher of his people. As a result, the protocol of
gratitude called for a symbolic gift. The good ruler made life tenable, and the gifts
given to him acknowledged him to be the feeder or nourisher.
This premise underlies tithing. God, as no human ruler can do, undergirds our
whole existence and provides for us in ways beyond our ability to fathom. The
tithe is God’s due, our rent for our time and space on earth. Our gifts represent
giving above and over the tithe, our expression of thanksgiving to Him in whom
we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28). To approach God empty-
handed is in effect to say that God’s requirements are less important than our
needs, an arrogant assumption. But arrogance marks too many of modern man’s
approaches to God. Men recognize that banks, supervisors, landlords, and
superiors generally tolerate little in the way of an arrogant contempt of rules and
regulations. At the same time, they demand total tolerance from God for all their
arrogant sins, their sins of negligence, and their sins of indifference.
Despite the famine, Jacob knew that the right approach to authority had to be
made.
 Chapter Sixty-Two
Benjamin and His Brothers
(Genesis 44:1-34)
1. And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s
sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in
his sack’s mouth.
2. And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and
his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their
asses.
4. And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said
unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake
them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
5. Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth?
ye have done evil in so doing.
6. And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.
7. And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God
forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
8. Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought
again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out
of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
9. With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we
also will be my lord’s bondmen.
10. And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with
whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
11. Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and
opened every man his sack.
12. And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and
the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
13. Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned
to the city.
14. And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet
there: and they fell before him on the ground.
15. And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot
ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
16. And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak?
or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy
servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with
whom the cup is found.
17. And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose
hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up
in peace unto your father.
18. Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant,
I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn
against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.
19. My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
20. And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child
of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of
his mother, and his father loveth him.

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270 Genesis
21. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may
set mine eyes upon him.
22. And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he
should leave his father, his father would die.
23. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come
down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
24. And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we
told him the words of my lord.
25. And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.
26. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us,
then will we go down: for we may not see the man’s face, except our
youngest brother be with us.
27. And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me
two sons:
28. And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces;
and I saw him not since:
29. And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring
down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
30. Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be
not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;
31. It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he
will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our
father with sorrow to the grave.
32. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I
bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
33. Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a
bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
34. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest
peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. 
(Genesis 44: 1-34)
As we have seen, the Joseph narrative is a very powerful statement of God’s
total predestination of all things. The only two logical views of time, history, and
creation are predestination and chance. God is the presupposition of
predestination, and chance is the negation of all meaning and reason. Most men
who deny predestination all the same “borrow” some of its implications of order
and meaning. Implicit in such a denial is the rejection of God; all too many refuse
to follow the logic of their rejection of predestination; they want “God without
thunder,” or the idea, some of the power of God, but not all of God.
It is revelatory that Biblical scholars will write on Joseph without admitting
that predestination is basic to the entire account. The total interlock of events
and circumstances is so total that such an omission is startling, although
commonplace. Events move unerringly to their predestined conclusion.
There is an important aspect to this predestination that must not be
overlooked. In v. 16, Judah comments on this: “What shall we say unto my lord?
what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the
iniquity of thy servants.” Now the goblet had been deliberately planted, on
 Benjamin and His Brothers (Genesis 44:1-34) 271
Joseph’s orders, in Benjamin’s sack. Judah and his brothers did not know this.
They saw it as a mysterious work of God to avenge Joseph’s enslavement.
The guilty consciences of the ten brothers led them to see an unerring
predestination by God to punish them for their guilt. In this they were, to a
degree, right. Apart from atonement and forgiveness thereby, men are
inescapably guilt-ridden, and their reactions are masochistic (self atonement by
self-punishment) or sadistic (self-atonement by punishing others).
In either case, God’s predestination or man’s guilt-ridden view of events as
moving against him, there is no brute or meaningless factuality. Everything
carries a full load of meaning.
It is of interest that a moral order of authority has appeared among the
brothers. Reuben’s act of incest had led to the loss of his headship. Levi and
Simeon had forfeited their place by shaming their father and making Jacob’s
word of no account by their massacre of the Shechemites. None questioned
Judah’s right to be the firstborn in authority although born fourth.
The cup sown into Benjamin’s sack was a part of Joseph’s office, to be a
diviner. This meant pouring water into the bowl, staring into it until some kind
of vision appeared, and then forecasting in terms of it. Joseph himself had no
need for such a device, but it was a part of his priestly paraphernalia.
The brothers were sure of their innocence this time, and ready to surrender
for execution the one who had the bowl (v. 9). They could not imagine that
Benjamin could be held guilty, since Benjamin had the least to do with the
loading of the sacks of grain. But Benjamin had been favored by the prime
minister, which could mean greater opportunity to steal, a ‘fact’ that did not
occur to the brothers. They were sure of his innocence. The ten knew
themselves to be guilty men. They were not unwilling to recognize that, in some
mysterious way, God would avenge Joseph on one of them, but never on
Benjamin.
When the bowl was found in Benjamin’s sack, the horror-stricken brothers
rent their clothes in grief, and all returned with Benjamin to the city. Judah then
told the prime minister their family history, all save their guilt with respect to the
supposedly dead brother. They could not return to Canaan without Benjamin:
the shock of his loss would kill Jacob, their father. Judah was ready to replace
Benjamin as the bondman to the prime minister (v. 33). He could not face his
father without Benjamin (v. 34).
The ten brothers had met the test. They did not desert Benjamin: all had
returned with him, although all save Benjamin were free to go their way. They
now had very tender consciences and an obvious love of their father. Whatever
shortcoming they might otherwise have, their regard for their father was very
great.
The ten brothers now obviously recognized something they had earlier
resented, namely, that for Jacob, Rachel was his first love and his ‘real’ wife, and
272 Genesis
therefore Joseph and Benjamin were his sons in a particular way. However much
the relationship between Rachel and Leah had healed by the time they left
Laban, it had not healed where Leah’s sons, and the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah,
were concerned, until they lived with their father’s grief. The fact that Jacob
loved Joseph and Benjamin more did not mean that he did not love his other
sons.
In v. 10, we are told that only the one whose sack contained the divining bowl
would be held as slave or bondman to the prime minister; the rest would be free
to go. This meant, when the bowl was found in Benjamin’s sack, that Benjamin,
like Joseph, would become a slave in Egypt, a grim and ironic fact that the other
brothers could not miss. It was somehow God working to avenge Joseph. All
ten went to the prime minister’s house and prostrated themselves on the ground
in supplication (v. 14). Joseph told the ten they were free to go, but Judah spoke
for all in saying that they could not so mistreat their father. Their conduct was
now very different from their earlier treatment of Joseph.
 Chapter Sixty-Three
Joseph Reveals Himself
(Genesis 45:1-28)
1. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him;
and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man
with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
2. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?
And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his
presence.
4. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And
they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into
Egypt.
5. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold
me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are
five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth,
and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made
me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt.
9. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son
Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry
not:
10. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto
me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and
thy herds, and all that thou hast:
11. And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest
thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
12. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that
it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
13. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye
have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.
14. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin
wept upon his neck.
15. Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that
his brethren talked with him.
16. And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s
brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.
17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade
your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
18. And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I
will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the
land.
19. Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land
of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and
come.
20. Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

273
274 Genesis
21. And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons,
according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for
the way.
22. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin
he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.
23. And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the
good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and
meat for his father by the way.
24. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them,
See that ye fall not out by the way.
25. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto
Jacob their father,
26. And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the
land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.
27. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto
them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him,
the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
28. And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and
see him before I die. (Genesis 45:1-28)
Because history is the word of the sovereign and predestinating God, it
sometimes gives us the clearest theology. To separate theology and life is to posit
a random and meaningless creation, a junk-heap cosmos. Theology is essentially
related to history because both find their true meaning in the triune God and His
sovereign work and decree. The Bible itself is witness to this unity, and it gives
us no clearly demarcated theology nor a history separated from God’s plan.
Attempts to separate history and theology are not Christian.
This unity is clearly apparent in the life of Joseph. Genesis gives us history and
theology. The sovereign plan of God is opened up to us with a powerful
emotional impact. How can anyone read this account without sharing Joseph’s
faith and tears? I have never been able to do so, from childhood to the present.
The ten brothers had sold Joseph into slavery. Now they had an opportunity
to eliminate Rachel’s surviving son, Benjamin, by leaving him in Egypt as a slave.
Instead, they reacted with horror at the thought of it. This was enough to
convince Joseph that his brothers had changed.
Joseph, deeply moved, ordered all to leave the room save his brothers. He
could not refrain from weeping aloud. Men of his household, being essentially
Pharaoh’s men, quickly reported to Pharaoh what was happening (v. 1f.).
Joseph said to the brothers, “I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?” All that
the ten brothers had said indicated that Jacob was alive, and a horror of hurting
him further governed them. Joseph knew this, but he had to ask. His love of his
father was very great. His brothers were troubled or terrified to know that the
prime minister was Joseph (v. 3). What they had seen of the prime minister thus
far indicated a deeply suspicious man who had put them through serious trials,
and they were very much afraid.
 Joseph Reveals Himself (Genesis 45:1-28) 275
Joseph recognized this; he asked them to come closer, something normally
not allowed, for as prime minister he was almost unapproachable. Again he said,
“I am Joseph your brother,” adding, in case they had any doubt, “whom ye sold
into Egypt” (v. 4).
Then, in vv. 5-8, Joseph speaks to them of the meaning of all that had
happened. He sets aside the horrors of his enslavement, and of their evil, to urge
them, “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me
hither.” Their sin was real, and his sufferings great, but a higher power and
purpose was at work. God’s purpose was “to preserve life” (v. 5), theirs and
others.
There had been two years of famine, with five more to come, during which
there will be neither planting nor harvesting (v. 6). God, said Joseph, “sent me
before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a
great deliverance” (v. 7). Joseph views his life and his sufferings theologically,
not personally. Few would have had more justification for stressing the personal
aspect, his suffering and grief, than Joseph, but he saw all things in terms of God
and His purpose. He now urges his brothers to do the same. It was not they but
God who sent him to Egypt and made him great there to save them all (v. 8).
God used their sin to bring forth good. This did not acquit them of evil, but it
did set forth God’s providence.
Then Joseph urged them to hurry back, tell their father everything, and return
to Egypt with all their possessions (v. 9). Joseph already had in mind an area for
them to settle in, Goshen. We do not know now where Goshen was specifically.
According to Derek Kidner, it was near Tanis, in the eastern part of the Nile
delta.1 Joseph urges them to move to Egypt to avoid extreme poverty (v. 10f.).
The brothers were in shock. Was this indeed Joseph? Look at me, he asked,
and at your brother Benjamin, and recognize me (v. 12). Tell my father “of all
my glory in Egypt” and make haste to bring him here (v. 13). Joseph, with tears,
said good-bye to his brothers (v. 14f.).
Meanwhile, Joseph’s servants had reported the reunion to Pharaoh, who
summoned Joseph and gave him Egyptian wagons to use in transporting the
family and its possessions to Egypt (vv. 16-20). The Asiatic fashion in travel was
for men to ride on donkeys and for women to travel on foot.2 In Canaan, the
donkey was the preferred mode of transport. Pharaoh intended that Joseph’s
family come in as Egyptians, with status.
Joseph, before his brothers left, gave them full provisions for their journey, a
change of raiment for each man, five changes to Benjamin plus three hundred
pieces of silver, and to his father ten asses with various luxury items, and ten she
asses laden with food (vv. 21-23).

1.
Derek Kidner, Genesis (Chicago: Inter-Varsity Press, 1967), 207.
2.
A. S. Yahuda, The Accuracy of the Bible (New York: Dutton, 1935), 27f.
276 Genesis
As they left, Joseph warned them, “See that ye fall not out by the way” (v. 24).
He knew their sense of guilt; they might try to blame one another as the major
guilty party.
They arrived at Canaan and at their father’s house to tell him, “Joseph is yet
alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” Jacob could not at first
believe this: he had grown so accustomed to grief (vv. 25-26). They told him of
all that Joseph had said, and no doubt of what they had done to him. They
showed him Pharaoh’s wagons and Joseph’s gifts. Then Jacob revived. He is in
v. 28 again called Israel, a prince with God: he sees God’s hand and design in all
this. Instead of anger at the ten brothers, he says simply, “It is enough; Joseph
my son is alive: I will go and see him before I die” (vv. 27-28).
Jacob made no attempt to rebuke his sons. Events had sufficiently rebuked
them, and God had dealt with them in His own way. Ochler observed of all this,
“Man’s sin cannot thwart the divine purpose of salvation; it must rather serve to the
realization thereof.”3 Predestination and providence are not abstract doctrines.
They are more relevant to our daily lives than anything else because in them lies
the direction and meaning of our lives. Joseph was no stoic in all his sufferings;
his tears and grief tell us how intensely he felt. But Joseph was not governed by
his feelings, but rather by God’s will. He was truly himself also a prince with
God.

3.
Gustav Ochler, Theology of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d.), 122.
 Chapter Sixty-Four
The Journey of Israel into Egypt
(Genesis 46:1-34)
1. And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba,
and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
2. And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob,
Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into
Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
4. I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up
again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
5. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob
their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which
Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6. And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the
land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
7. His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’
daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
8. And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into
Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
9. And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
10. And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and
Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
11. And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12. And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and
Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of
Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
13. And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
14. And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
15. These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram,
with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were
thirty and three.
16. And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and
Arodi, and Areli.
17. And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and
Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
18. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter,
and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
19. The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
20. And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and
Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare
unto him.
21. And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera,
and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
22. These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls
were fourteen.
23. And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
24. And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

277
278 Genesis
25. These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his
daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
26. All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his
loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
27. And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls:
all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore
and ten.
28. And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto
Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
29. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his
father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck,
and wept on his neck a good while.
30. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face,
because thou art yet alive.
31. And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will
go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s
house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
32. And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and
they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
33. And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say,
What is your occupation?
34. That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our
youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in
the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the
Egyptians. (Genesis 46: 1-34)
We have in this chapter (vv. 8-27) further family records of Israel’s twelve
sons. In v. 21, we are told that Benjamin had ten sons. Numbers 26:38-40 and 1
Chronicles 7:6ff. and 8:1ff. indicate that some of these were in fact grandsons.1
The Hebraic form of reckoning differs from ours. It is a strict accounting but on
premises alien to us.
Moreover, we know that Abraham had about 2000 persons in his
establishment, and their numbers had increased greatly under Isaac and Jacob.
The Hebrews were thus a small nation of many thousands. In v. 27, we are told
that Jacob’s family numbered 70 when they came into Egypt; in terms of the
manner of reckoning in New Testament times, the family total was 75 (Acts 7:14).
Our present state of knowledge is incomplete, so we cannot settle this matter.
We do know that their numbers were such that a separate area, Goshen, was
given to them.
The royal wagons given by Pharaoh for the family’s use set apart Jacob’s sons
and families from the great throngs who were a part of the entourage of Israel.
The others came Asiatic fashion, on foot and donkey-back. This added to the
prestige of Jacob as a lord among men.
On arriving at Beersheba, Jacob offered sacrifices to God, as he had done
before at that place (Gen. 21:14, 31-33; 22:19; 26:23, 33; 28:10), for Beer-sheba
was connected with events in the lives of Abraham and Ishmael, as well as of
1.
Derek Kidner, Genesis (Chicago: Inter-Varsity Press, 1967), 209.
 The Journey of Israel into Egypt (Genesis 46:1-34) 279
Isaac and Jacob. At Beersheba, God spoke to Jacob in the night. For the second
time in his life, Jacob had to leave Canaan, the Promised Land, first to escape
from Esau’s plan to kill him, and now to escape from famine. Obviously, the
double departure from Canaan concerned him, however great his joy at the
prospect of seeing Joseph again. God tells Jacob, whom He calls by name, first,
that He is the God of his father, the God who created him and promised him
great things in time through his seed. He is the covenant God. Second, he is not
to fear that the journey to Egypt will deflect Jacob from God’s appointed
purpose. Obviously, this was a concern to Jacob, and God therefore spoke to it.
With Joseph’s great power, it was apparently Jacob’s fear that the Hebrews
would in time merge into Egypt. God says, I am going down into Egypt with
you; it is My purpose for you. I will also in time surely bring you back to the
Promised Land. Third, “Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes” (v. 4), i.e.,
when you die, Joseph will care for your body and burial. Jacob was indeed buried
in the family’s own ground with great ceremony (Gen. 50:1-13).
Jacob’s entourage went to Goshen. Jacob had sent Judah ahead to get the
correct information as to where they should settle (v. 28). Joseph at once went
to Goshen to meet his father in a happy and tearful reunion (v. 29). Jacob was
then ready to die, having seen a happy ending to his long grief (v. 30). Joseph
then prepared his family for a meeting with Pharaoh (vv. 31-34).
In the family record (vv. 8-27), Joseph is not included in the total, nor are Er
and Onan, who died earlier (v. 12). We are given a legal account of Jacob’s blood
line, not an account of all the peoples under his authority.
The journey began at Hebron, went to Beersheba, and then on to Egypt.
We are told that shepherds were “an abomination to the Egyptians” (v. 34).
Some say this was due to Egypt’s time of servitude under the Hyksos or
shepherd kings who invaded and conquered Egypt. It may well be that this
episode came before the Hyksos era. We do know that sheepherders have
commonly been resented by farmers and cattlemen. Sheep can be hard on a land,
and goats are even worse. In the United States, in earlier years, there were
hostilities between cattlemen and sheepherders that led to murders. A shepherd
is a far more responsible man than a cowboy, but sheep strip a land of vegetation
and are thus hated. Cows cannot survive in sheep-grazed lands.
In Egypt, men were clean-shaven, whereas sheepherders were in that era
bearded, as were many Asiatics. This made sheep men doubly offensive to
Egyptians.
The Egyptians tended to dislike foreigners. However, because of its great
power, over the centuries Egypt was a magnet drawing peoples to it. There was
a rigidity to Egypt’s position that led in time to a hatred of the Hebrews as aliens.
This was a weakness in Egypt and a hindrance to its development. Immigrants
are in part a compliment to a people; they indicate that the success of the host
country is widely known and draws many peoples to it.
280 Genesis
This very success may well have been a source of fear to Jacob. Would his
descendants in time forget who they were? Hence the need for reassurance by
God that His calling and election would prevail.
 Chapter Sixty-Five
Jacob Meets the Pharaoh
(Genesis 47:1-31)
1. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my
brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come
out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2. And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them
unto Pharaoh.
3. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they
said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our
fathers.
4. They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we
come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is
sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants
dwell in the land of Goshen.
5. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are
come unto thee:
6. The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father
and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou
knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my
cattle.
7. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
9. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage
are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of
my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of
my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a
possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of
Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s
household, with bread, according to their families.
13. And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so
that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the
famine.
14. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of
Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and
Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15. And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan,
all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why
should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
16. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if
money fail.
17. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread
in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds,
and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that
year.

281
282 Genesis
18. When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and
said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is
spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the
sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
19. Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy
us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto
Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be
not desolate.
20. And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians
sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the
land became Pharaoh’s.
21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the
borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
22. Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion
assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave
them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
23. Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day
and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the
land.
24. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part
unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and
for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little
ones.
25. And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight
of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.
26. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that
Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only,
which became not Pharaoh’s.
27. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and
they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
28. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age
of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
29. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son
Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury
me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
30. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and
bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
31. And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed
himself upon the bed’s head. (Genesis 47:1-31)
This is a chapter used by many to sharply criticize Joseph as a socialist who
seized the land of starving peasants to make them royal possessions. To
understand what Joseph did, we need to see clearly what the text tells us. First,
the peasants had exhausted all the money they had to buy grain from Joseph’s
granaries (vv. 14-19). They also sold him their cattle and their donkeys and like
possessions. Second, they finally sold him their land.
Now land is normally not a people’s possession, except briefly in America.
The state claims prior ownership and by taxation takes a rent for the land. The
state’s power to control land and land use, to exercise eminent domain, and to
 Jacob meets the Pharaoh (Genesis 47:1-31) 283
tax the land rests on its claim to be the true owner thereof. The private property
owner is given limited uses of the land subject to the state’s absolute ownership.1
Especially in ancient Egypt, the peasants were not private owners of their
farms. We need to recognize, third, that Egyptian land was routinely given to the
priests and temples. In so many cultures, the temples and priests in time come
to own vast portions of the country. Sometimes this is beneficial, but often it is
not. Particularly in antiquity, it meant the religious powers were more in control
of things than were the civil rulers. How much of the peasant’s income went to
the priests, we do not know, but their gratitude at Joseph’s modest requirement
is revealing.
Fourth, Joseph, called a socialist by some modern clergymen, was modest in
his requirements for Pharaoh. He asked for “a fifth part,” or a 20% tax, and no
more (vv. 23-26). When we compare this to the c. 51% tax total for modern
Americans in 1996, it is indeed modest!
But this is not all. As Yahuda discovered in his research, the Hebrew tebu’oth
means here the increase of the grain crops. The Egyptians alternated with wheat,
barley, and grass, or greens like onions, wisely caring for the crops and the soil
by diversification. This means the tax of 20% only applied to grain years,
something Joseph and the peasants knew.2
Fifth, Joseph made an exception of the lands of the priests and of the temples
(v. 26), which certainly won their favor.
The reaction of the people was intensely favorable. They hailed Joseph,
saying, “Thou hast saved our lives” (v. 25). The position of Pharaoh was also
strengthened in that he was freed from too great a religious power in the land.
Joseph took five of his brothers and his father to present them to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh then asked these men to select out of their entourages men who could
manage Pharaoh’s livestock in the land of Goshen or Ramses. This made them
a part of the controlling leadership of Egypt.
At this time, Jacob was 130 years of age. He lived 17 years more, beyond the
famine into prosperous times. Abraham had lived to 175, and Isaac to 180. It has
been questioned whether Jacob actually blessed Pharaoh, since the key word can
be rendered greeted. However, in much of history age has been respected, and to
be blessed by an aged person has been highly regarded. In v. 5, we see that
Pharaoh does not answer the five brothers except through Joseph, but his
relationship to Jacob is one of respect.
The brothers asked permission to sojourn in Egypt (v. 4). They saw their stay
as both temporary and brief, and they clearly saw Canaan as their home.

1. See Jonathan R. T. Hughes, The Government Habit (New York: Basic Books, 1977), and
Social Control in the Colonial Economy (Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia,
1976.
2.
A. S. Yahuda, The Accuracy of the Bible (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1935), 59f.
284 Genesis
We are told of the priests that Joseph’s provision for them was a daily
allowance of actual food, perhaps even prepared (v. 22). Joseph ensured the
cooperation of the priesthood by giving them security. Herodotus referred to
this as a continuing custom.
J. H. Breasted, in his History of Egypt (p. 189), said that a legal revolution had
at some point transferred ownership of the land from the hands of powerful
lords to Pharaoh.3 Whether lords or priests, the land ownership ended in
Pharaoh’s hands with a lesser tax.
The area of Goshen gave Israel various advantages, good grazing lands, and a
plentiful supply of fish from the Nile according to Numbers 11:5. Because
Pharaoh highly valued Joseph’s services, he clearly wanted to give his family the
best area available. Thus the Hebrews went from a famine area to privileged
status in the only affected area which remained capable of surviving the long
drought.
The chapter ends with Jacob, at 147, becoming aware of approaching death.
He sends for Joseph, the other sons being already around him. Joseph is asked
to make an oath by placing his hand under his father’s thigh, i.e., to swear by the
Messiah to come, to bury his father in the family plot in Canaan. This Joseph
swore to do (vv. 28-31).
We are told that, during the 17 years before Jacob’s death, he saw his family
grow and prosper mightily, so that they were a wealthy and powerful people (v.
27). This was the reason for his concern about the future. The young nation was
privileged, wealthy, and powerful in Egypt, the great power of that day. It was
necessary to see Canaan as their home, and therefore the burial of Jacob in their
burying place had a significance for all.

3.
Albertus Pieters, Notes on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1943), 175.
 Chapter Sixty-Six
Ephraim and Manasseh
(Genesis 48:1-22)
1. And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy
father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2. And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee:
and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in
the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4. And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee,
and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy
seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
5. And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto
thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as
Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6. And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall
be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7. And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land
of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto
Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is
Bethlehem.
8. And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
9. And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath
given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and
I will bless them.
10. Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And
he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo,
God hath showed me also thy seed.
12. And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed
himself with his face to the earth.
13. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s
left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and
brought them near unto him.
14. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s
head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head,
guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15. And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto
this day,
16. The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my
name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head
of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove
it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
18. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the
firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

285
286 Genesis
19. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also
shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger
brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of
nations.
20. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying,
God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before
Manasseh.
21. And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you,
and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22. Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which
I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
(Genesis 48:1-22)
The final illness of Jacob (Gen. 47:28-31) did not take him away immediately.
Joseph had returned to his home and work when he received word that his father
was not far from death. He went to his father, taking his two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim, with him (v. 1). Currently, children are usually excluded from a
deathbed scene; at one time, they were routinely present, to be blessed.
When Jacob was told that Joseph and his sons had arrived, he strengthened
himself to sit up in bed (v. 2). He reminded Joseph of God’s revelation of
Himself at Luz, and of His promise to give Jacob Canaan (vv. 3-4). He then told
Joseph that Joseph’s two sons were now his, to share equally with the other
eleven in Jacob’s estate. Any other sons of Joseph could share in Joseph’s estate.
Manasseh and Ephraim were to become tribal or clan leaders in Israel (vv. 5-6).
Rachel had died at Bethlehem, and she had been buried there, the dying man
recalled (v. 7).Now Jacob turned his attention to Joseph’s sons, whom he kissed
and embraced. He was virtually blind, and his hands needed guiding as he
prepared to bless the two. But Jacob, despite Joseph’s objection, placed his right
hand on Ephraim’s head, rather than on Manasseh, the first born (vv. 8-12).
Joseph tried to correct Jacob, but Jacob corrected Joseph, telling him that he
knew what he was doing (vv. 13-14).
Jacob did two things of note. First, he adopted his grandsons as his heirs.
Joseph, with his great wealth, needed nothing. Second, he reversed their order of
priority, making the younger the main heir. Joseph was told by Jacob that this
was intentional. Isaac had been given priority over Ishmael, and Jacob over
Esau. God’s priorities are not man’s. Even in the appointed line of the coming
one, there were displacements and replacements. God did not allow anyone to
see an automatic succession as valid. God always retained the priority in His
purpose (vv. 15-20).
Jacob invoked the God of his fathers, the Angel of His presence, to bless the
two grandsons. This Angel had “redeemed from all evil” (v. 16) Jacob and his
family. Looking back, Jacob sees only God’s providential care.
Jacob then assured Joseph that God would be with him. In due time, God
would return them to Canaan (v. 21).
 Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:1-22) 287
When in v. 5 Jacob says that Ephraim and Manasseh would be “as Reuben
and Simeon,” he meant that they would now be as his first and second born, with
Ephraim as the primary heir. Reuben and Simeon had previously been
supplanted, so it was now Judah who was replaced as main heir by the boys.
In v. 22, Jacob refers to a battle with the Amorites and an area of land he took
from them. We have no other reference to this, except perhaps John 4:5.
In v. 12, we see that Jacob had his two grandsons either on his knees, or
between his knees, and Joseph then removed them, lest they burden his father.
This was a legal act. It signified that either the child or children were being
formally adopted, or, in other cases, that they were legitimate.1 There would
therefore be witnesses present.
In v. 7, when Jacob says, “Rachel died by me,” he is saying, in modern idiom,
she died in my arms.
In the next chapter, we have the blessings on the others. Such an act involves
a review of the lives of all concerned, their sins and their virtues, and the
experience was an emotional one for Jacob. It revived memories, good and bad,
and this recollection begins in v. 7, Jacob remembering Rachel’s death.
Deathbed blessings and warnings were once seen as almost a moral necessity,
and it was regarded as a misfortune for anyone to die unexpectedly, or in their
sleep. Such scenes were family milestones. They were possible when the family,
as a moral and a religious entity, saw it as a duty to warn, reprove, direct, and
bless the coming generations. If the family is not a religious and moral entity, but
merely a biological one, then such gatherings are superfluous, and they have
disappeared. Now even funerals are in some cases disappearing, and the dead are
disposed of without ceremony. Meanwhile, political events gain in ceremony,
and awards ceremonies for popular singers and actors are pretentious and
seemingly national events.

1.
E. A. Speiser, Genesis (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1964), 357.
 Chapter Sixty-Seven
Jacob’s Blessing
(Genesis 49:1-33)
1. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together,
that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken
unto Israel your father.
3. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my
strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy
father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
5. Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their
habitations.
6. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine
honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their
selfwill they digged down a wall.
7. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel:
I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
8. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in
the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before
thee.
9. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he
stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse
him up?
10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people
be.
11. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine;
he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven
of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
14. Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15. And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and
bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the
horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
18. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
19. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21. Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose
branches run over the wall:
23. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24. But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made
strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the
shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

289
290 Genesis
25. Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the
Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of
the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my
progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on
the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate
from his brethren.
27. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey,
and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father
spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he
blessed them.
29. And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto
my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of
Ephron the Hittite,
30. In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in
the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the
Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
31. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac
and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
32. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the
children of Heth.
33. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he
gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was
gathered unto his people. (Genesis 49:1-33)
Having adopted Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob summoned all twelve
brothers. He speaks to them as a prophet of God (vv. 1-2).
He begins with Reuben. The firstborn should represent the father’s strength,
dignity, and power. Very early, he should be his father’s right hand man. But,
with bitterness, Jacob recalls Reuben’s incest with Bilhah (v. 3). From our
perspective, this is neither prophecy nor a blessing. However, to prophesy
means to speak for God, whether or not one foretells the future, and it is God’s
judgment Jacob pronounces. The truth, moreover, in its own way is a blessing if
we receive it properly.
Simeon and Levi are then cited as “instruments of cruelty” in their massacre
of the Shechemites. Their anger is cursed, and they are divided and scattered in
Israel (vv. 5-7). Levi’s scattering became a blessing as they became the servants
of God. Simeon’s later faithfulness to God led them to unite themselves to
Judah. Both tribes turned a curse into a blessing.
A long blessing (vv. 8-12) is pronounced on Judah. His shall be the royal and
messianic line. Shiloh, meaning he whose power it is, the Messiah, shall come
through Judah. Judah shall be a conquering people. The royal sceptor shall
remain with Judah until Shiloh comes.
Zebulun is then blessed in v. 13. It shall be a people grown rich on seafaring
men and traders. We have no historical record for or against this.
 Jacob’s Blessing (Genesis 49:1-33) 291
In vv. 14-15, Isaachar becomes a type of a powerful but peaceable trading
people, and this made it important to its enemies and meant at times that alien
powers ruled over it.
Dan (vv. 16-17) became a tribe of judges and also like a serpent “in the path,”
striking at its enemies. As the northern tribe, Dan was in a strategic position for
attacks against invaders. Samson was a Danite.
In v. 18, Jacob exclaims, “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.” He
looks ahead to the fullness of the messianic salvation.
In v. 19, we are told that when the enemy presses Gad, Gad will finally
overcome them.
In v. 20, Asher was settled in the seacoast north of Carmel, a rich area where
Asher prospered and provided delicacies for royal tables.
Naphthali (v. 21) is like a freed deer, as apt at goodly speech as at quick flight
and defensive action.
In vv. 22-27, Joseph is described as a fruitful bough, although some render it
as bull or calf. This is the longest part of the blessing, although Judah’s blessing
is very long and even stronger. He is presented as a man who cannot be kept
down, a God-ordained power that men cannot control or destroy. In this
blessing, God is strongly invoked, and Joseph is declared to be “separate from
his brethren,” singled out by God (v. 26). God’s blessing on Joseph has
confounded all his enemies.
Then comes the strange blessing on Benjamin (v. 27). He is compared to a
beast of prey, a savage wolf. Militarily, Benjamin proved to be a fierce warrior
tribe, active against the evil doers of Gilead (Judges 20); fighting to overthrow
the tyrant Sisera (Judges 4-5); noted for its archers and slingers (Judges 20:16; 1
Chronicles 7:40f. et al.); and active with Saul and Jonathan against the Philistines
(1 Samuel 13:1ff.).
Jacob then charged all his sons with the responsibility for his burial in the
family plot where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Leah were buried
(vv. 30-32). Having done this, Jacob pulled his feet up into the bed and then
died, “gathered unto his people” (v. 33).
The statement concerning Reuben is of interest because Jacob speaks of him
as “unstable as water” (v. 4). James Moffett paraphrased this as “lost by surging
lust,” and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz rendered it as “water-like impetuosity,” and he
described it as an act of anger.1 With Rachel dead, Reuben tried to destroy any
tie between Jacob and Rachel’s maid Bilhah by rendering her unfit for Jacob by
an incestuous act. The bitterness of Jacob remained to the end.
1 Chronicles 5:1-2 tells us that the birthright was given to Joseph, and, in a
sense, also to Judah, through whom the Messiah was to come.

1.
Rabbi Meier Zlotowitz, and Rabbi Nosson Scherman, Bereishis, Genesis, vol. VI (Brook-
lyn, New York: Mesorah Publications, 1981), 2135.
292 Genesis
Sailhamer rendered “unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (v. 10) as
“and the obedience of the nations is his.” This would indicate a rule far beyond
Israel.2 The word obedience is a better translation than “gathering.”3 The
prosperity of Judah’s descendants is described by the expression, “his eyes shall
be red with wine, and his teeth white as milk” (v. 12).
For the sons to listen to this from their father could not have been easy, but
it was a more than an ordinary religious rite. Jacob’s hard life had its moments
of revelation from God. He was, in fact, a prophet. Joseph had been greatly used
by God and was the more powerful person, but Jacob had experiences unknown
for some generations beyond his day, not until Moses, in fact.

2. John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in Frank E. Gaebelein, general editor, The Expositor’s Bi-
ble Commentary, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Regency, 1990), 274, 276.
3.
R. Payne Smith, “Genesis,” in Charles John Ellicott, editor, Commentary on the Whole Bi-
ble, vol. I (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, reprint, n.d.), 170.
 Chapter Sixty-Eight
The Death of Joseph
(Genesis 50:1-26)
1. And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed
him.
2. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his
father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
3. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those
which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and
ten days.
4. And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the
house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I
pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
5. My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have
digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now
therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come
again.
6. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made
thee swear.
7. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the
servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land
of Egypt,
8. And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house:
only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land
of Goshen.
9. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a
very great company.
10. And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan,
and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he
made a mourning for his father seven days.
11. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the
mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to
the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is
beyond Jordan.
12. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
13. For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the
cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for
a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
14. And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went
up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
15. And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said,
Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil
which we did unto him.
16. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did
command before he died, saying,
17. So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of
thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray
thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And
Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

293
294 Genesis
18. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said,
Behold, we be thy servants.
19. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20. But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good,
to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
21. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And
he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
22. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived
an hundred and ten years.
23. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the
children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon
Joseph’s knees.
24. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you,
and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob.
25. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will
surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
26. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they
embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. (Genesis 50:1-26)
When Jacob died, Joseph was 56 years of age.1 Since Joseph died at 110,
almost half his life still remained at the time of Jacob’s death. His longevity was
a fact highly respected in Egypt.
At Jacob’s death, the ceremonies were very great. The father of Pharaoh’s
great prime minister had to be honored. Jacob was embalmed or mummified.
This took 40 days, then 70 days of mourning in Egypt. The mourning for a
pharaoh was 72 days, so that we can see thereby the honor given to Joseph’s
father.2
Pharaoh then granted permission for the burial to take place in Canaan, and
he had the body accompanied by chariots and horsemen, “a very great
company” (v. 9). Because of Joseph’s importance and his very great work for
Pharaoh, his father’s death required signal observances, both in Egypt and in
Canaan.
Joseph requested permission to bury his father in Canaan, “in the cave of the
field of Machpelah” (v. 13), through intermediaries. This was proper Near
Eastern form; in case Pharaoh felt it necessary to refuse or to alter the proposal,
he would thereby embarrass neither himself nor Joseph. Moreover, mourners
were not allowed to approach Pharaoh until their dead were buried. In v. 7, we
have reference to the elders of Pharaoh’s house, men of high court rank, and
elders of the land of Egypt, “the high councilors representing all districts of
Egypt who had seats in the supreme council of the King.”3 These all went with
Joseph to bury his father. This tells us of Joseph’s importance and also of
Pharaoh’s high regard for him.

1.
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 336.
2.
Derek Kidner, Genesis (Chicago: Inter-Varsity, 1967), 223.
3.
A. S. Yahuda, The Accuracy of the Bible (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1935), 33.
 The Death of Joseph (Genesis 50:1-26) 295
All this made a very great impression on the Canaanites (vv. 9-13). Their
memory of Jacob was still fresh, and it was now apparent that Jacob was
respected and honored as few men were by Pharaoh.
The burial place still survives and is held in respect by Jews, Moslems, and
Christians.
After Joseph returned, his brothers, i.e., the 10, approached him fearfully.
Perhaps Joseph out of love for his father had refrained from reprisals against
them. Now, with Jacob gone, perhaps he would get his revenge (vv. 14-17).
Joseph wept when they asked for mercy. He at once answered, “Fear not: for
am I in the place of God?” (v. 19). Vengeance was not his prerogative but God’s,
and he had no intention of playing God. But Joseph does not gloss over their
sin: “ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” and used it to save
the lives of many peoples (v. 20). Joseph refused to question God’s
predestination, but he also did not understate their sin. He then comforted them,
knowing their consciences troubled them, and he spoke to their hearts. He
promised, “I will nourish you, and your little ones” (v. 21).
Joseph lived to see “Ephraim’s children of the third generation,” and also his
great grandson by Manasseh (v. 23).
Before his death, Joseph called in “his brethren,” which can mean his
surviving brothers plus their children and grandchildren. He told them, first, that
somehow God would surely take them back to the Promised Land. They had a
position of power as the “rulers” over all of Pharaoh’s cattle, but the problem
with this was that it was not a responsibility they could walk away from. What
Pharaoh gave, only Pharaoh could take away. This meant that their “permission”
to leave could only come from God.
Second, Joseph made them promise to keep his embalmed body for the time
of their exodus from Egypt (vv. 24-26). In Exodus 13:19, we read that Moses
took Joseph’s body in a coffin with him when they left Egypt.
Joseph’s body remained for some generations a silent witness to Israel of
God’s promise and purpose. In Exodus 1:8, we are told that, in time, a king came
to power in Egypt “which knew not Joseph.” Joseph was ancient history, and
the new pharaoh saw no need to honor something in Egypt’s now remote past.
His measures led, step by step, to his expulsion of Israel in terms of God’s plan.
Dr. Albertus Pieters cited in a few sentences something on the importance of
Genesis, saying in part,
Whoever has well learned the Genesis stories has learned all the chief
things that can be known about God, apart form the incarnation of God
in Christ. Genesis contains also a very definite anthropology. Man is
represented as having been originally created in a state of innocence—as
having fallen through deliberate transgression—as henceforth totally
depraved—as capable of salvation through divine help—and as certain in
the end to triumph over evil.
296 Genesis
Of permanent institutions for the well-being of mankind, we have here the
institution of the Sabbath—marriage—government—and worship. Sex
relations are presented under various aspects, as divinely instituted and
therefore right and normal, as providing for a monogamous and
indissoluble relation, as desecrated by polygamy, and as falling into the
lowest depths of indecency through sin.4
There is no separation of history and theology in Genesis, nor in all the Bible.
Those who attempt such a separation must rewrite all of the Bible to meet their
requirements. To do so, they must bring a radically alien faith to reinterpret all
things. They have then ceased to be Christians.

4.
Albertus Pieters, Notes on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1943), 177f.
 AFTERWORD
There is no separation of history and theology in Genesis, nor in all the
Bible. Our choice is between God and chance, between total meaning and
total meaninglessness.
Many years ago, I recall a doctor telling us that in his medical school days
it was grounds for expulsion if one believed that stress could cause stomach
ulcers. Now it is well known that there is a connection between mental
stress and physical problems. Because history is not meaningless but God-
ordained, all of history is purposeful and has a theological meaning. Any
attempt to understand history apart from God is an exercise in futility.
History cannot be separated from theology, and any attempt to study the
Bible from a non-theological perspective is not only misguided but
perverse.
But too many scholars who profess to be evangelical or reformed insist
on studying the Bible non-theologically. Their premises are Hegelian and
Darwinian rather than Biblical and Christian. Quite logically, these
scholars via the seminaries are undermining the church and the faith. They
are gravediggers of the church, not scholars for Christ our King.
Genesis is not a collection of primitive tales but a highly literate
theological work. Supposedly, redactors collected and put together the
entire Pentateuch. Anyone who believes that will be a ready believer of any
kind of nonsense, and he begins by exalting his mind to the role of a
discerning judge over God’s word and an elite possessor of intelligence.
Genesis is the starting point of sound theology because it declares God to
be the Creator and therefore the determiner of all things. Without this
premise, Christianity begins to disintegrate, as it has in this century. The
restoration of a strong faith begins with the recognition of the centrality of
Genesis to theology.

297
 Scripture Index
Genesis 3:4— 35
1— 23, 74 3:5— 13, 19, 33, 35, 41, 75, 93,
1-11— 1 100, 110, 114
1:1— 11 3:6— 35
1:1-13— 3–4 3:7— 37
1:1-2:4— 21 3:7-17— 104
1:1-3— 11 3:7-21— 37
1:5— 9 3:8— 38
1:8— 9 3:9— 38
1:9— 21 3:11— 38–39
1:13— 9 3:12— 39
1:19— 9 3:13— 39
1:22— 9 3:15— 39, 44
1:23— 9 3:16— 39
1:26-28— 6, 21–22, 31, 81, 110 3:17— 39, 75
1:26-29— 14 3:18— 39
1:27— 6 3:19— 13, 21, 39
1:28— 6, 9, 52 3:20— 40
1:28-29— 77 3:21— 37–38
1:31— 7, 9–10 3:22— 41–42
2— 22 3:22-24— 41
2:1-3— 11, 17 3:23— 42
2:2— 11 3:24— 42
2:4— 21, 51 4:1— 43–44
2:4-7— 21 4:1-15— 43
2:5-7— 21 4:2— 44
2:6— 26 4:3-4— 38, 44
2:7— 14, 21–23 4:5— 44
2:8-25— 25 4:8— 44
2:10-14— 42 4:9— 44
2:11— 27 4:10-12— 44
2:17— 26 4:11— 47
2:18-25— 27 4:13-14— 45
2:20— 30 4:14— 45
2:21-25— 29 4:15— 48
2:23— 29–30 4:16— 47
2:24— 29 4:16-26— 47
2:25— 30–31 4:22— 27
3:1— 34–35 4:23— 48
3:1-5— 7, 13–14, 34 4:23, 24— 48
3:1-6— 33 4:24— 48

299
300 Genesis

4:25— 22, 52 8:1— 74

4:25-26— 49 8:1-22— 73–74
4:26— 49 8:2-5— 74
5:1— 21, 51 8:6-7— 74
5:1-8— 51 8:8-9— 74
5:2— 52 8:10-12— 74
5:3-5— 49 8:13— 74
5:4— 44 8:14— 74
5:5— 27, 52 8:15-20— 75
5:8— 52 8:21— 76
5:9-32— 55 8:22— 76
5:11— 52 9:1— 52, 77, 95
5:14— 52 9:1, 7— 81
5:17— 52 9:1-7— 77, 83
5:20— 52 9:2-3— 77
5:22— 58 9:4— 77
5:24— 58 9:5— 77, 82–83
5:27— 52 9:6— 78
5:29— 56, 59 9:7— 78
5:31— 52 9:7-17— 81
6:1-4— 61 9:8-12— 82
6:2— 61 9:8-17— 82
6:3— 61 9:12— 83
6:4— 62 9:13— 83
6:5— 65 9:14— 83
6:5-22— 65 9:15-16— 83
6:8— 66 9:18-19— 85
6:9— 21, 51, 66 9:18-29— 85
6:10— 59 9:20— 85
6:13— 66 9:21— 86
6:15— 67 9:22— 86
6:18— 61, 66 9:25— 86
6:19-20— 67 9:25-27— 86
7:1— 71 9:26-27— 52
7:1-24— 69–70 9:27— 86
7:2— 70 9:28— 87
7:5— 71 10:1— 51
7:11— 70 10:1-14— 89
7:12, 17— 70 10:1-7— 92
7:17— 70 10:2— 89
7:21-23— 71 10:3— 90
7:23— 71 10:4— 91
7:24— 71 10:5— 93
 Scripture Index 301

10:6— 91 12:10— 125

10:6-14— 96 12:10-20— 125
10:7— 92 12:10-30— 160
10:8-12— 93 12:11-13— 125
10:13— 93 12:16— 126, 142
10:15-20— 95 12:17— 126
10:19— 95–96 12:18-20— 126
10:21— 99 13:1-18— 129
10:21-32— 99 13:4— 131
10:22— 99 13:5-7— 130
10:23— 99 13:8-9— 130
10:24— 99 13:10— 131
10:25— 99 13:13— 130
10:26-30— 99 13:14-15— 130
10:32— 100 13:14-17— 130
11:1, 4— 109 13:14-18— 130
11:1-9— 100, 103, 109, 113, 123 13:16— 130
11:2-10a— 119 13:17— 130
11:4— 109–110, 114 13:18— 131
11:5— 110 14— 134
11:5-9— 110 14:1-24— 133–134
11:6— 110 14:2— 96, 134
11:7— 109–110 14:3— 134
11:8— 110 14:5-104— 135
11:9— 110 14:8— 96
11:10— 21, 51, 117 14:11-12— 135
11:10b-27a— 119 14:13— 135
11:10-32— 117 14:14— 135, 226
11:14— 118 14:15-16— 135
11:16-29— 99 14:17— 135
11:27— 21, 51 14:18, 22— 134
11:27 - 25:11— 118 14:20— 135
11:27, 29— 169 14:21-24— 135
11:28— 118 14:22— 134
11:29— 119 15:1— 138
12:1— 121 15:1-21— 137
12:1-3— 130 15:2— 122
12:1-9— 121, 123 15:2-3— 138
12:2— 121, 123 15:4— 138
12:3— 52, 121 15:6— 138
12:4— 121–122 15:7— 139
12:7— 121, 130 15:7-8— 138
12:8— 123 15:9-21— 138–139
302 Genesis

15:10— 139 18:20— 152

15:11— 139 18:20-21— 151
15:12— 139 18:23— 151
15:13-16— 140 18:23-26— 151
15:16— 91 18:33— 152
15:18— 140 19— 151
15:19— 139 19:1— 151, 155
15:19-21— 140 19:1, 9— 155
16:1-16— 141 19:1-38— 153–155
16:3— 142 19:2— 155
16:4— 142 19:3— 155
16:4-5— 142 19:5— 130, 151
16:5— 142 19:7-8— 155
16:8— 143 19:9— 155
16:9— 143 19:10— 155
16:10— 143 19:11— 155
16:12— 143 19:12-13— 155
16:14— 143 19:15— 155
16:15— 143 19:16-17— 156
17:1— 146 19:19— 156
17:1-27— 145–146 19:20-23— 156
17:2— 146 19:22— 156
17:4— 146 19:23— 156
17:5-6— 146 19:24-25— 156
17:7— 146 19:26— 156
17:8— 146 19:27-28— 156
17:9-14— 147 19:29— 156
17:14— 122 19:30— 156
17:15-19— 146 19:32— 156
17:16— 147 19:33-35— 156
17:17— 151 19:36— 156
17:18— 146, 183 19:37-38— 157
17:19— 147 20‚ 21— 164
17:20— 147 20:1-18— 159, 166, 187
17:23— 147 20:2— 160
17:24— 147 20:3— 161
17:25— 147 20:4— 160
18:1-33— 149–150 20:6— 160
18:8— 151 20:7— 160
18:9-15— 151 20:8— 161
18:10— 151 20:11— 160
18:15— 151 20:12— 160
18:17-19— 151 20:14, 16— 160
 Scripture Index 303

20:15— 160 23:1-3— 173

20:16— 161 23:3— 173
20:17-18— 161 23:5-6— 173
21:1-34— 163–164 23:10— 173
21:1-5— 165 23:15— 173
21:4— 165 23:16-17— 173
21:6-7— 165 23:18— 173
21:8— 165 24:1— 178, 182
21:9— 165 24:1-67— 175, 178
21:9-10— 165 24:3-4— 178
21:11-13— 165 24:3-8— 178
21:14— 165, 278 24:9— 178
21:15— 165 24:10— 178
21:16— 165 24:10-28— 179
21:17— 165 24:29-30— 179
21:18— 165 24:31-33— 179
21:19— 165 24:32— 178
21:20-21— 165 24:35— 179
21:22— 164, 188 24:36-49— 179
21:22-23— 165 24:50-52— 179
21:23— 165 24:53— 179, 202
21:24— 165 24:54— 179
21:25— 165 24:55-58— 179
21:26— 165 24:59-61— 179
21:28-30— 166 24:62-67— 179
21:30— 166 25:1— 182
21:31-33— 278 25:1-34— 181–182
21:33— 166 25:1-6— 182
21:34— 166 25:3— 92
22:1— 168 25:6— 182–183
22:1-24— 167–168 25:8-10— 183
22:3-6— 168 25:9— 172
22:7— 168 25:12— 21, 51
22:8— 168 25:12-16— 147
22:9-10— 168 25:12-28— 183
22:12— 168 25:18— 183
22:13— 168 25:19— 21, 51
22:14— 168 25:19ff.— 183
22:15-18— 168–169 25:20— 179
22:17— 169 25:21— 183
22:19— 278 25:22-23— 183
22:20-24— 169 25:23— 193, 235
23:1-20— 171 25:25-26— 183
304 Genesis

25:26— 183 27:42— 194

25:27— 183 27:43— 178
25:28— 183 28:1— 194
25:29-30— 183 28:1-2— 198
25:31— 183 28:1-22— 197–198
25:32— 183 28:1-4— 194
25:33— 183 28:3-4— 198
25:34— 142, 184 28:5— 198
26:1-35— 185–186 28:6-9— 198
26:1-4— 186 28:10— 178, 278
26:6-11— 160 28:11— 198
26:8-9— 187 28:12— 198
26:10-11— 187 28:12-15— 199
26:12— 187 28:13— 198
26:13— 187 28:13-14— 199
26:14— 187 28:15— 199
26:17-19— 187 28:16-17— 199
26:22— 187 28:18— 199
26:23— 187, 278 28:19-22— 199
26:24— 187 28:20— 200
26:26— 188 28:20-21— 199
26:27— 188 28:22— 199
26:28— 188 29— 213
26:29— 188 29:1-35— 201–202
26:30— 188 29:4— 178
26:31— 188 29:6— 202
26:32— 188 29:10-11— 203
26:33— 188, 278 29:13— 203
26:34— 188 29:14— 203
26:35— 188 29:15— 203
27:1-4— 193 29:16-18— 203
27:1-46— 191, 193 29:19-20— 203
27:5-10— 193 29:21-22— 203
27:11— 193 29:23-27— 203
27:12— 193 29:27-30— 203
27:13— 193 29:31— 207
27:15-17— 193 29:31, 33— 203
27:22— 194 29:31-35— 204
27:27— 52 30:1-2— 207
27:29— 194 30:1-43— 205–206
27:29-33— 194 30:3— 207
27:34-40— 194 30:27— 208
27:41— 194 30:128— 208
 Scripture Index 305

30:30-33— 208 32:24-30— 199, 217

30:34-36— 208 32:27-28— 218
30:37-43— 208 32:28— 218
31:1— 213 32:30— 218
31:1-55— 209, 211 32:31— 218
31:2— 213 32:32— 218
31:3— 199 33:1-20— 221–222
31:4— 203 33:1-3— 222–223
31:5— 213 33:7— 222
31:7-13— 211 33:8— 222
31:12f.— 208 33:9— 222
31:13— 211 33:11— 222
31:14-16— 212 33:12— 223
31:16— 213 33:12-15— 222
31:17-24— 212 33:16— 222
31:23— 213 33:17— 223
31:24— 212 33:20— 223
31:26— 212 34:1-31— 225–226
31:27— 212 34:2— 227
31:28— 212 34:3— 227
31:30— 212 34:4— 227
31:32— 212 34:7— 227
31:32-36— 212 34:8— 227
31:33-34— 212 34:8-12— 227
31:35— 212 34:19— 227
31:36-42— 212 34:24— 227
31:39— 213 34:25-27— 228
31:46f.— 213 34:28-29— 228
31:48-49— 213 34:31— 228
31:50-53— 213 35:1— 199, 230
32:1— 216 35:1-29— 229–230
32:1, 2— 199 35:2— 230
32:1-32— 215–216 35:5— 230
32:2— 216 35:6-7— 230
32:3— 216 35:8— 230
32:4, 5— 216 35:9-13— 199, 231
32:5— 218 35:16-18— 231
32:6— 216 35:19-20— 231
32:7-8— 216 35:22— 231
32:9-12— 217 35:23-26— 231
32:10— 217 35:27-29— 231
32:13-20— 217 35:29— 235
32:24-26— 218 36:1— 51
306 Genesis

36:1-43— 233–234 38:14-15— 243

36:4-7— 222 38:15-18— 239
36:6-8— 217, 222, 235 38:16-19— 243
36:7— 235 38:20— 243
36:9— 21, 51 38:21— 243
36:9-14— 235 38:22— 243
36:12— 235 38:24— 243
36:15— 223 38:25— 243
36:15-19— 235 38:26— 243
36:20— 235 38:30— 243
36:20-30— 235 39:1— 246
36:24— 235 39:1-23— 245–246
36:29— 235 39:2— 247
36:31— 235 39:2-6— 246
36:31-39— 235–236 39:7— 246
36:31-43— 235 39:8-10— 246
36:35— 235 39:9— 247
36:40-43— 235 39:11-12— 246
37:1-36— 237–238 39:13-19— 246
37:2— 21, 51, 239, 256 39:19— 246
37:3— 239 39:20-23— 246
37:6-8— 239 40:1-23— 249–250
37:10— 239 40:2— 250
37:11— 239 40:3— 251
37:12-14— 239 40:8— 251
37:14-16— 239 40:9-11— 250
37:21-27— 240 40:11— 251
37:26-28— 242 40:12-15— 250
37:28— 240 40:16— 250
37:30-31— 240 40:16-19— 251
37:32— 240 40:23— 251
37:33-35— 240 41:1— 255
37:36— 240 41:1-4— 255
38— 267 41:1-57— 253, 255
38:1— 242 41:5-7— 255
38:1-30— 241–242 41:8— 256
38:6— 242 41:9-13— 256
38:7— 242 41:14— 256
38:9— 242 41:15— 256
38:10— 242 41:16— 257
38:11— 243 41:18-24— 256
38:12— 243 41:25-36— 256
38:12-13— 243 41:37-42— 256
 Scripture Index 307

41:41f.— 256 44:33— 271

41:44— 256 44:34— 271
41:45— 256 45:1f.— 274
41:46— 256 45:1-28— 273–274
41:47-49— 257 45:3— 274
41:51— 257 45:4— 275
41:51f.— 256–257 45:5— 275
41:53-55— 257 45:5-8— 275
42:1-2— 261 45:6— 275
42:1-38— 259–260 45:7— 275
42:3— 261 45:8— 260, 275
42:5-6— 261 45:9— 275
42:6— 267 45:10f.— 275
42:6-9— 261 45:12— 275
42:7-9— 261 45:13— 275
42:13— 261 45:14f.— 275
42:14-17— 261 45:16-20— 275
42:18— 261 45:21-23— 275
42:22— 262 45:24— 276
42:23— 261 45:25-26— 276
42:24— 261 45:27-28— 276
42:28— 262 45:28— 276
42:35— 262 46:1-34— 277–278
42:36— 262 46:1-4— 199
42:37— 262 46:4— 279
42:38— 261–262 46:8-27— 278–279
43:1-34— 265–266 46:12— 279
43:10— 266 46:21— 278
43:11— 266, 268 46:27— 278
43:11-14— 267 46:28— 279
43:20-22— 267 46:29— 279
43:23— 267 46:30— 279
43:24— 267 46:31-34— 279
43:25f.— 267 46:34— 279
43:27f.— 267 47:1-31— 281–282
43:29-31— 267 47:4— 283
43:32— 267 47:5— 283
43:34— 267 47:14-19— 282
44:1-34— 269–270 47:22— 284
44:9— 271 47:23-26— 283
44:10— 272 47:25— 283
44:14— 272 47:26— 283
44:16— 270 47:27— 284
308 Genesis

47:28-31— 284, 286 50:13— 172, 294

48:1— 286 50:14-17— 295
48:1-22— 285–286 50:19— 295
48:2— 286 50:20— 295
48:3-4— 286 50:21— 295
48:5— 287 50:23— 295
48:5-6— 286 50:24-26— 295
48:7— 286–287 Exodus
48:8-12— 286 1:8— 295
48:12— 287 3:6— 139
48:13-14— 286 3:14— 218
48:15-20— 286 13:1— 295
48:16— 286 19:10— 230
48:21— 286 19:18— 139
48:22— 287 21:28— 77
49:1-2— 290 21:28-3— 83
49:1-28— 52 21:28-32— 82
49:1-33— 289–290 32:14— 66
49:4— 231, 291 Leviticus
49:4-7— 228 17:10, 11— 82
49:5-7— 290 17:10-14— 77
49:8-12— 290 17:14— 82
49:10— 292 17:19— 82
49:12— 292 19:26— 82
49:13— 290 22:13— 244
49:14-15— 291 Numbers
49:16-17— 291 11:5— 284
49:18— 291 13:33— 62
49:19— 291 23:19— 66
49:20— 291 24:18— 234
49:21— 291 24:24— 91
49:22-27— 291 26:38-4— 278
49:26— 291 Deuteronomy
49:27— 291 1:2— 62
49:29— 172 2:4-5— 236
49:30-32— 291 2:12— 234
49:31— 172 3:11— 62
49:33— 291 7:3— 61
50:1-13— 279 12:16, 23— 77
50:1-26— 293–294 12:23— 82
50:7— 294 23:7-8— 236
50:9— 294 25:4— 150
50:9-13— 295 28:26— 172
 Scripture Index 309

29:23— 96 26:23— 172

32:35— 48 Ezra
33:27— 76 9:12— 61
Joshua Nehemiah
24:2— 119 10:30— 61
24:32— 223 Job
Judges 13:15— 138
4- 5— 291 26:12-13— 35
8‚ 9 & 10— 164 34:14— 23
20— 291 Psalms
20:16— 291 8:1-9— 23
21:25— 14
14:1— 16
Ruth 19:1— 9
1:8— 244 25:3— 30
1 Samuel 33:8-9— 10
13:1— 291 34— 164
15:29— 66 37:9-11— 67
2 Samuel 37:18-22— 67
11:21— 164 48:8— 91
13:18-19— 239 51:4— 39, 262
21:16-22— 62 82:8— 130
1 Kings 86:9— 130
7:13— 90 89:10— 35
9:26— 91 103:14— 188
10:22— 91 104:29— 23
11:1— 236 106:28— 231
22:48— 91 110:4— 134
1 Chronicles 119:6— 31
1— 96 119:80— 31
1:5— 90 121:4— 198
1:6— 90 145:10— 9
5:1-2— 291 Proverbs
7:6ff— 278 8:36— 93
7:40— 291 Isaiah
8:1ff— 278 2:16— 91
11:23— 62 9:6— 18
18:16— 164 21:13— 92
20:4-8— 62 23:1— 91
2 Chronicles 23:1, 14— 91
9:21— 91 29:16— 13
20:36— 91 42:17— 30
25:14— 236 44:11— 30
310 Genesis

45:9— 13 Daniel
45:16— 31 8:21— 90
45:21-22— 15 10:20— 90
58:13-14— 19 11:2— 90
60:9— 91 11:3— 91
64:8— 13 Hosea
65:17-23— 118 11:8— 96
65:20— 52 12:3-5— 217
66:19— 90, 93 12:4— 218
Jeremiah Joel
2:26— 30 2:26-27— 31
17:13— 31 Amos
18:7, 8— 66 9:7— 122
Jeremiah 18 Jonah
7-8— 66 3:1— 66
Jeremiah 4:9— 247
22:19— 172 Haggai
26:3— 66 2:11-14— 63
34:18-20— 140 Zechariah
46:9— 91 10:4— 5
51:27— 90 Malachi
Ezekiel 1:11— 169
16:46-56— 130 3:6— 66, 218
20:12-21— 17 Matthew
20:20— 18 1:3— 243
25:8— 234 5:5— 67, 169
27:6— 91 10:29-31— 10, 180
27:7— 91 10:30— 76, 188
27:10— 93 12:11-12— 18
27:13— 90 16:21-23— 139
27:13, 19— 90 22:29-30— 61
27:14— 91 24:39— 70
27:22— 92 26:26— 23
32:17-32— 90 Mark
32:26— 90 2:27— 19
38:2— 90 12:24— 61
38:5— 91 14:22— 23
38:13— 92 16:1— 172
38:14— 90 Luke
39:1— 90 3:33— 243
39:3— 90 10:7— 150
27:25— 91 17:26-30— 67
 Scripture Index 311

17:27— 70 15:26— 52
20:34-36— 61 15:39— 42
22:17— 23 15:45— 9, 15
22:42— 114 15:47— 23
23:56— 172 2 Corinthians
John 6:14— 31
1:3— 11 Galatians
4:5— 287 3:6— 138
8:56— 139 3:6-8— 130
11:25— 41 3:13— 42
14:6— 41 3:16— 130
15:1— 41 3:29— 130
15:1-8— 42 6:10— 92
16:33— 139 6:16— 198
19:40— 172
Ephesians
20:22— 23
1:3— 52
Acts 2:8— 7
7:2— 178 2:19— 92
7:14— 278 4:2— 6
12:21-23— 224
Colossians
15:18— 27
3:4— 41
17:28— 268
3:10— 6
Romans
1 Timothy
1:20-32— 151
2:14— 35
1:21-32— 155
5:18— 150
4:3— 138
6:15— 169
4:9— 138
4:22— 138 Hebrews
5:5— 31 4— 18
5:14-21— 52 7:1-3— 134
5:21— 52 7:2— 135
8:19-23— 83 11:1— 9
8:28— 29 11:3— 9
8:37— 40 11:8-10— 122
9:19-20— 13 11:17-19— 168
9:33— 31 12:4-11— 131
10:11— 31 12:16— 184
12:19— 49 12:16-17— 235
1 Corinthians James
6:19— 14 2:19— 71
7:14— 169 2:23— 138
15:12-23— 14 1 Peter
15:21— 9 1:2-4— 139
312 Genesis

3:20— 89 Revelation
2 Peter 1:6— 135
2:4-8— 155 3:15-16— 151
2:5— 70 4:11— 9
2:7-8— 155 12:9— 35
3:6— 70 14:8— 111
1 John 15:3— 9
4:18— 38 17:5— 111
5:20— 41 20:2— 35
Jude 21:2, 9— 113
14-15— 58 22:3— 75
 Index
Aalders, G. Ch., 63, 251 Aram, 99
Abimelech, 160, 164, 166, 188 Ararat, 71, 74, 89, 90
Abraham, 99, 113, 118–119, 130, 146, ark, 67, 71, 74
160, 166, 168, 178, 182 Arminianism, 33
call of, 121–123 Arminius, Jacob, 33
death of, 183 Arphaxad, 99
name change, 146 Asenath, 257
negotiates with God, 151 Asher, 291
testing of, 168 Ashkenaz, 90
abstractions, 180 Asshur, 99
accountability, 41 Assyria, 89
Accuracy of the Bible (Yahuda), 246, Atkinson, Basil F.C., 100
250, 256, 261, 267, 276, 283, 295 atonement, 17, 20, 37–38, 44, 104,
Adam, 29, 35, 38–39, 47, 52, 95, 104 169, 271
as federal head, 38 authority, 87
as representative of humanity, 22 automatic succession, 286
fallen image of, 53
adoption, 22, 286–287 Babel, 110–111, 113–114
adultery, 125, 160, 243 Babylon, 90
Albert Schweitzer, The Enigma (Bently), Baker, David W., 90, 91
38 Bavinck, Herman, 22
altars, 75, 131, 188, 223, 231 Beatitudes, 68, 106
Amarna tablets, 222 Beersheba, 188, 279
Ames, E. G., 31 believe
An Introduction to Christian Apologetics first mention of, 138
(Carnell), 35 Benjamin, 231, 267, 274, 291
Anchor Bible Dictionary (Freedman), 89 Bennett, W. H., 222
Ancient Records and the Structure of Bereishis (Zlotowitz & Scherman), 41,
Genesis (Wiseman), 51 61, 66
Angel of God, 287 Bereishis, Genesis (Zlotowitz), 198, 240,
Angel of the Lord, 219 291
angels, 198, 230 Bethel, 198–199, 216, 230
animals, 77 Bible translations, 11
clean and unclean, 70, 81 birthright, 184
held responsible for actions, 83 blood
anthropology, 296 eating of forbidden, 77, 82
anthropomorphism, 66 shedding of, 82
antinomianism, 125 blood line, 147
Antiquities (Josephus), 70, 118 Bone Peddlers, Selling Evolution (Fix), 1
Apocrypha, 172 Book of Genesis (Atkinson), 100
Apocrypha (Goodspeed), 172 Book of Genesis (Ryle), 161

313
314 Genesis

Book of the Dead, 256 circumcision, 146, 148

Brantome, 157 as covenantal act, 165, 178
Breasted, J. H., 284 demanded of Shechem, 228
Buckler, Francis William, 90 citizenship, 104
burial, 291 city, 45
as religious fact, 172 place of safety, 48
family rite, 231 City of God, 103, 105
burial place, 284 class society, 118
burnt offerings, 75 cleanliness, 230
Cochrane, C. N., 34
Cain, 43–45, 48 coming generations, 287
calling, 32, 105, 121 Commentaries on the Book of Genesis
Calvin, John, 10, 22, 44, 83, 134, 148, (Calvin), 22, 134, 148, 152
152, 183 Commentary on Genesis (Stigers), 44, 90,
Canaan, 92, 130, 178, 223, 238, 279, 131, 142, 173, 187, 194, 207, 239,
294 247, 294
capital offense, 125 Commentary on the Whole Bible
capital punishment, 78 (Ellicott), 292
captivity, 140 Commentary on the Whole Bible (Smith),
Carnell, Edward John, 35 30
celibacy, 59 Common Faith (Dewey), 105
Chalcedon, 34 communal property, 6
Chalcedon, Formula of, 34 communion elements, 135
chance, 270, 297 community, 17, 30
chaos, 6, 11 competition
charity, 66 between Rachel & Leah, 207
chastening, 131 conception, 39
childbearing, 39 confession, 105
Childe, V.G., 4 conflict, 29
Christ confounded speech, 110
Abraham’s seed, 130 confusion of tongues, 100
as Creator and Redeemer, 139 conscience, 45, 271, 295
as destroyer of Satan’s works, 39 continuity of being, 13–14, 17
as last Adam, 9, 81 cosmos, determination of, 4
as the tree of life, 41–42 covenant, 18–19, 66, 77, 81–83, 122,
Lordship of, 18 138–139, 164, 188, 195, 199, 213,
pre-incarnation appearance, 143 217, 223, 231, 244
Christianity, 105 as treaty of law, 82
Christianity and Classical Culture faithfulness, 236
(Cochrane), 34 with Abraham, 122, 146
church, 33–34 covenant-breakers, 228, 230
Churchill, 6 coverings, 37
Cimmerians, 89 creation, 4, 11, 17, 270
 Index 315

act, not process, 5, 7, 21 drunkenness, 85

literal days, 9 Durkheim, Emile, 6
mandate, 49, 62, 77
purpose, 9 Earley, Pete, 36
purpose of, 9–12 earrings, meaning of, 230
creationism, 6, 14–15, 78 Eden, 25–27, 41, 130
crime, 14 as pilot project, 28
criminals, and "rights", 6 Edomites, 236
cross, 72 Egypt, 91
crucifixion, 140 election, 280
curse, 39, 53, 56, 59, 75, 95 election, of kings, 236
of Canaan, 85–87 Eliezer, 178, 202
curse, the, 37–40 Elohim, 61
Cush, 91 embalming, 295
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics
Dan, 291 (Hastings), 31, 82
Darwinism, 297 Encyclopedia Judaica, 173
consequences of, 14 Enlightenment, the, 34
Davila, James R., 89 Enoch, 58
de Sade, Marquis, 114 Enos, 51, 53
Dead Sea, 130, 135 environmentalism, 38
death, 9, 10, 14, 26, 35, 38, 52 Ephraim, 257, 286, 290
Death of God school, 109 Esau, 93, 183, 188, 193, 198, 216,
death penalty, 45 222–224, 231–232, 234–236
for murder, 82 eschatology, 65–68
deathbed scenes, 287 Eve, 40
Defense of the Faith (Van Til), 15 evil, 66
deification, 33, 36 evolution, 13, 75
Delitzsch, Franz, 113–114, 251 and tyranny, 12
deliverance, 83 closed universe, 11
and judgment, 72 goal of, 10
depravity, 155–156 non-scientific basis of, 4, 16
total, 76 of cultures, 7
Dewey, John, 6, 105 time and process vs. act, 5
Dinah, 228 view of criminals, 6
rape of, 225–228 ex nihilo, 23
discontinuity of being, 13, 17 Exposition of Genesis (Leupold), 22, 47,
disobedience, 10, 35 61, 71, 93
dominion, 18, 22, 25–26, 32, 35, 41, Expositor’s Bible Commentary
44, 49, 52, 123 (Gaebelein), 131, 214, 292
dowry system, 63, 122, 213
dreams, 239, 250–252, 255 faith, 168
interpretation of, 256 denial of, 9
316 Genesis

Fall, the, 14, 29, 31, 36–40, 42, 56, 107 Gethsemane, 114
familism, 127 giants, 62
family, 100, 118 God
God’s basic institution, 86 as Creator, 297
government, 122 blessing of, 9
imagery of, 93 image of, 6, 107, 110
used to typify the church, 92 Kingdom of, 94
famine, 186, 256, 261, 275 priorities of, 286
fertility, 231 Providence of, 78
finitude, 14 purpose of, 275
firstborn, 271 rejection of as suicide, 94
Fix, Wm. R., 1 sovereign plan of, 274
Flood, the, 21, 52, 56, 66, 67, 73–76, sovereignty of, 33
82–83, 89, 118 Godhead, 110
source of waters, 70 Gomer, 89
world-wide, 71 good and evil, determination of, 33
foreign aid, 105 Goths, 90
forgiveness, 271 government, 82, 118
fossil record, 75 Government Habit (Hughes), 283
freedom, 118 grace, 42, 66, 82
Freeman (July, 1957), 119 priority of, 93
Freemasonry, 110 grace and law, 138–139
Freud, 6 Greece, 90
Fritsch, Charles T., 95 Gref, David F., 92
fugitives, 45 guilt, 31, 38, 104
funerals, 232
Hagar, 141–144, 165
Gaebelein, Frank E., 214 Ham, 59, 86, 91
genealogy, 56 contempt of, 87
Genesis Hammurabi, 142
literal interpretation of, 4 Code of, 173
Genesis (Aalders), 63, 161, 251 Haran, 179
Genesis (Bennett), 222 harmony, 29
Genesis (Kidner), 275, 278, 294 Hatochepset, 256
Genesis (Lange), 72, 75, 113 hatred, 114
Genesis (Ryle), 30, 39 headship, 39
Genesis (Speiser), 214, 287 heaven, 182
Genesis (Vos), 96, 172 Hebrew, 99, 135
Genesis Record (Morris), 57, 70, 75 Hebrews, 278–279
Genesis, A Commentary (von Rad), 23 Heer, Friedrich, 34
Genesis, book of, 274, 296 Hegel, 34
genetic engineering, 5 Hegelianism, 297
genetics, 47 helpmeet, 27, 30, 32
 Index 317

herbs, 81 called Israel, 218

Herod, 224 death of, 291, 294
Herodotus, 90, 284 twelve sons of, 290
Hess, Richard S., 90 Janson, Peter, 71
Hillers, Delbert Roy, 173 Japheth, 59, 86, 89, 93
history, 114, 274, 296–297 Javan, 90
History of Egypt (Breasted), 284 Jehovah, 134
Hitler, 6, 78 Jehovah-jirah, 168
Hittites, 173 Jesus, birthday of, 251
holiness, 58 Joseph, 93, 239–240, 246–247, 257,
homosexuality, 130, 151, 230 274, 287, 291, 295
hospitality, 150 as governor in Egypt, 267
Hughes, Jonathan R. T., 283 death of, 294, 295
humanism, 74, 100, 110 not a socialist, 283
humility, 236 reunion with Jacob, 279
Hurrian law, 207, 214 swears by Messiah, 284
husband, 30 Josephus, 70, 90, 118
Hyksos, 261 Judah, 93, 242, 267, 287
as firstborn, 271
idolatry, 31, 212, 236 descendants, 292
illumination, 35 judge, 297
immigrants, 280 judgment, 63, 66–68, 72, 74, 76, 83,
incarnation, 33, 36, 296 92
incest, 47, 157, 290 as cleansing, 67
inheritance, 27, 169 of Old World, 69–72
Institutes of Biblical Law (Rushdoony), justice, 66, 150–152
47
institutions, 296 Karma, 17, 20
integration downward, 6 Keil, C. F., 114, 251
interpretation of dreams, 250 Keturah, 182
Isaac, 93, 147, 165, 168, 183, 187, 188, Kidner, Derek, 275, 278, 294
198, 231 Kierkegaard, 14
saved from curse, 194 Kingdom of God, 53, 68, 169
type of Christ, 169 kingdom, of man, 93
Isaachar, 291 knowledge, 15, 52
Ishmael, 93, 143, 146, 165, 183
Israel, 147, 231 Laban, 179, 203, 208, 211
Prince of God, 218 labor, 41
Laetsch, Theodore, 218
Jacob, 93, 183, 199–200, 208, 216, Lamech, 47–48
222–223, 267, 279, 283, 286, 290 Lange, J. P., 72, 75, 113
"ladder" to heaven, 198 last Adam, 9, 15, 23, 42, 81
as prophet, 292 law, 14, 48, 161
318 Genesis

as act of grace, 82–83 mankind, 101

comes from source, 4 Mao Tse-tung, 6, 78
of nature, 15 Marquis de Sade (Thomas), 114
lawlessness, 92 marriage, 29–32, 119, 296
law-word, 136 doctrine of, 29
Layman’s Bible Commentary (Fritsch), mixed, 61–63
96 one flesh union, 30
Leah, 204, 207 prior to conversion, 32
Lenin, 78 Marx, 6
Leupold, H. C., 22, 47, 61, 71, 93 Massoretic text, 58, 227
Levi, 226, 228, 290 Mauro, Philip, 57
life, 94 Mazdakite revolution, 6
lifespans, 52, 55, 58, 59, 62 meaning, 274, 297
limitations, 14 negation of, 270
Literal Translation (Young), 62 Medes, 90
Lord’s Day, eschatological meaning medicine, 14
of, 18 Medieval World, Europe (Heer), 34
Lot, 130, 135, 151, 155 Melchizedek, 134–135, 164
Lot’s wife, 156 Meshech, 90
Lud, 99 Messiah, 93, 134, 204, 218, 284
Messianic line, 56, 96, 244, 290, 292
Machpelah, 173, 294 Miller, Henry, 105
magic, 5 Minor Prophets (Laetsch), 218
Magog, 90 Minor Prophets (Pusey), 218
man Mizpah, 213
as creature, 13–16 Mizraim (Egypt), 91
as definer of good and evil, 42 modernism, 10
as God’s image bearer, 21, 23 Moffatt, James, 48, 49
as head of family, 39 monogamy, 296
as image of God, 40 Mormonism, 36
creation of, 21–23 Morris, Henry M., 57, 70, 75
definition of, 7 Moses, 76
fall of, 7 Muller, W. W., 92
in God’s image, 78 multiverse, 12
limitations on, 35 murder, 44, 78, 82, 125
orginal task of, 22 Mussolini, 6
relationship to animals, 81
religious nature of, 103 Naphthali, 291
self definition of, 110 neutrality, 12, 82
testing of, 25 new humanity, 107
Man Makes Himself (Childe), 4 Nietzsche, 6, 114
Manasseh, 257, 287, 290 Nimrod, 91–93
mandrakes, 207 Noah, 55, 66–67, 70–72, 74–75, 77,
 Index 319

85, 95 priesthood, of all believers, 136

and the creation mandate, 81 process
non-agression pact, 213 and revolution, 7
Notes on Genesis (Pieters), 284, 296 as god, 1
Nuzu law, 142, 188–189, 214 theology, 7
progress, 87
Ochler, Gustav, 276 Promised Land, 96, 119, 295
omnipotence, 106 Promised Seed, 166, 169
one and many, 15 property, 283
one-world, 100, 110, 113, 115 prophet, 160
original sin, 35, 104 Prophet of Death (Earley), 36
Our Reasonable Faith (Bavinck), 22 prostitution, sacred and profane, 243
over-population, 78–79 protection, 48
ownership Protestant Credo (Ferm), 90
claims by state, 283 providence, 208, 252, 257, 276
general and particular, 76
Padan-aram, 198 Pulpit Commentary (Spence & Exell),
pagans, 161 71
Parker, Joseph, 22 purpose, of God, 275
Parrot, Andre, 115 Pusey, E. B., 218
Peleg, 100, 114
Pentateuch, 297 Rachel, 203, 207, 214, 231, 286
source theory, 263 racism, 86, 101, 105
Pentateuch (Keil & Delitzsch), 115, 251 rainbow, 82–83
Penuel, 218 rape, 227
peoples and origins, 97 reason, 16, 34
Peoples Bible (Parker), 23 Rebekah, 179, 183, 194, 236
Pharaoh, 256, 283, 294 rebellion, 35, 41
Pharisaism, 200 Redeemer, 44
Philistines, 93 redemption, 17, 26, 63
Phrygia, 90 regeneration, 23, 107
Pieters, Albertus, 284, 295 reincarnation, 20
plagues, 126 rejection, 44
politics, 42, 104, 106 remnant, 151
polygamy, 207, 296 Renaissance
population control, 78 and humanism, 5
pornography, 44 repentance, 66
post-modernism, 45 responsibility, 14, 41, 118
Potiphar, 240, 246, 250 restoration, 26, 118
power, 5, 6, 7 resurrection, 42
prayer, 11 Reuben, 93, 204, 231, 262, 287
predestination, 34, 78, 103, 218, 240, revelation, oral, 70
252, 270, 276, 295 "reverence for life", 38
320 Genesis

revolution self-deification, 36
and process, 7 self-indulgence, 52
religion of, 6 self-justification, 39, 44
use of chaos, 6 self-pity, 45
righteousness, 66, 138 self-punishment, 271
Rimmer, Harry, 67 seminaries, 297
Robinson, H. Wheeler, 82 Seth, 47–49, 52
Romantic movement, 43 sex, 43
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 6 sexual relations, 296
Rousas I, 89 shame, 30
rulers, 268 Shechem, 223, 226–227
rulership, 61 sheepherders, 279
Rules of Sociological Method (Durkheim), Shem, 59, 99, 113–114, 118–119
6 messianic line, 86
Rushdoony, R. J., 47, 119 Shiloh, 290
Ryle, Herbert E., 30, 39, 161 Shinar, 109
ships, 67
sabbath, 17–20 Sidon, 96
as sign of covenant, 18 Simeon, 226, 228, 262, 287, 290
works permitted, 18 sin, 13, 14, 19, 26–28, 42, 44–45, 53,
sacrifice, 38, 75, 81, 131, 169 76, 100, 110, 114, 262
as ratificaiton of covenants, 139 consequence of, 38
of Abel, 44 situational ethics, 5
pledge of faithfulness, 139 six day Creation, 5
Sailhamer, John H., 131, 292 slavery, 86–87, 230
salvation, 36, 53, 72, 103 Smith, R. Payne, 30, 292
Samson, 291 Social Control in the Colonial Economy
sanctification, 107 (Hughes), 283
Sarah, 119, 151 social planning, 106
death of, 174 socialism, 78
name change, 147 Sodom, 130, 135, 155
Satan, 33–34, 39, 41, 44, 100 Sodom and Gomorrah, 95
society of, 103–107 sodomy, 155
Scherman, Rabbi Nosson, 61, 66, 291 Solomon, 140
Schweitzer, Albert, 38 Song of Lamech, 48
Scofield, C. R., 125 soul, 23
Scythians, 90 sound thinking, 8
seasons, 76 sovereign grace, 122
seed, 199 sovereignty, 103, 114
Seed, of Abraham, 169 speech, 29
Seir, 235 Speiser, E. A., 214, 287
self-consciousness, 37 Spence, H. D., 71
self-defense, 82 spousal abuse, 212
 Index 321

Stalin, 6, 78 tyranny, 14
State, the, 103
statism, 44, 127 United Nations, 104
stewardship, 77 unity, 113
Stigers, Harold G., 44, 90–91, 93, 131, universal language, 109
151, 173, 187–188, 194, 207, 239, Ur of the Chaldees, 118, 138
247, 257, 294
strange gods, 230 Van Til, Cornelius, 6, 15
struggle, 218 vegetarianism, 77
syncretism, 230, 232 vengeance, 48, 257, 262
victimhood, 40
Table of Nations, 96 von Rad, Geerhardus, 23
Tamar, 242, 244 Vos, Howard F., 96, 172
Tarshish, 91
taxation, 27, 283 warfare, 89–94
temptation, 28, 33–36 wealth, 26
Ten Commandments, 78 short-cuts to, 27
Terah, 119 welfare state, 106
The Wonders of Bible (Mauro), 57 Westminster Shorter Catechism, 6
theft, 27 Whitelaw, Thomas, 71
theology, 274, 296, 297 wife, 30, 189
Theology of the Old Testament (Ochler), Williams, David Salter, 92
276 wine, 85
theophany, 123, 143 Wineland, John D., 90
Thomas, Donald, 114 Wiseman, P. J., 51
tithe, 135, 136, 199, 268 work, 27
Tobit, Book of, 172 works, 18
Tome of Leo, 34 world views, 113
total depravity, 35 worship, 17–18
Tower of Babel, 100, 104, 111, 113, universal, 169
115, 123
Tower of Babel (Parrot), 115 Yahuda, A. S., 246, 250, 256, 261,
transference, 104 267, 276, 283, 295
treason, 126 Young, Robert, 62
Tree of Life, 41–42
Trotsky, 6 Zebulun, 291
trust, 138 ziggurat, 109
truth, 12, 127 Zlotowitz, Rabbi Meier, 41, 61, 62,
Tubal, 90 66, 198, 240, 291
 The Author
Rousas John Rushdoony (1916-2001) was a well-known American
scholar, writer, and author of over thirty books. He held B.A. and M.A.
degrees from the University of California and received his theological
training at the Pacific School of Religion. An ordained minister, he worked
as a missionary among Paiute and Shoshone Indians as well as a pastor to
two California churches. He founded the Chalcedon Foundation, an
educational organization devoted to research, publishing, and cogent
communication of a distinctively Christian scholarship to the world at
large. His writing in the Chalcedon Report and his numerous books
spawned a generation of believers active in reconstructing the world to the
glory of Jesus Christ. He resided in Vallecito, California until his death,
where he engaged in research, lecturing, and assisting others in developing
programs to put the Christian Faith into action.
 The Ministry of Chalcedon
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once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly
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any human institution: state, church, cult, school, or human assembly.
Christ alone is both God and man, the unique link between heaven and
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Historically, the Chalcedonian creed is therefore the foundation of
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