Home Quiz
Shadowland: Beginnings: Week 1
Did Moses write Genesis?
There is much scholarly debate about this, based on frequency of words in
different sections. The
Documentary Hypothesis proposes that there were
4 sources, now lost to us, that were combined by an unknown editor around the
time of Ezra - painstakingly blended to create an "illusion of unity".
On a less imaginative front, there is excellent technical evidence that Moses
was the editor at least, and scholars debate whether God revealed the
entire Pentateuch to Moses via Divine Dictation, or acted as author and
editor as well. If you are willing to believe Luke's account of
Jesus, we can skip all that:
Luke 24:27,44
Genesis is the most quoted book in the Bible. Jesus quotes both
creation accounts.
Titles or Colophons?
There are 11 sections divided by the formula, "These are the generations
of ____", called תּוֹלְדֹת ("toledoth") meaning "generations" or "origin".
. These are often interpreted as a heading or attribution for
the following section , with Genesis 1:1-2:3 as an introduction. However,
that formula was also how an author or owner signed clay tablets. An
attribution referring to the preceding text is called "anaphoric".
Egyption documents on papyri, like New Testament epitles, introduce the
author at the beginning. An attribution for the following text is called
"cataphoric". The account of Esau in
Genesis 36 and the
account of Ishmael appear to be cataphoric, following the Egyptian
convention.
Moses as editor would have compiled all the tablets and papyri, including
their signatures. The signature for the story of Joseph would be
Exodus 1:1-5.
Charles V. Taylor takes the latter view in an
excellent article, and here is an
opposing view.
John 5:46 For had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. Look for Jesus in
Genesis.
Alphabet and Simple Grammar
Ignoring the controversy over the paleo-hebrew alphabet, and when it was
used, we will use the Aramaic font that Daniel used, because he is our hero!
א ב ג ד ה
ו ז ח ט י
כך ל מם נן ס ע
פף צץ ק ר ש ת
|
Aleph Bet, Gimmel Dalet Hey,
Vav [and] Zayin, Chet Tet Yod,
Kaf Lamed Mem, Nun Samekh Ayin,
Pey Tsade Qof, Resh Shin Tav,
|
אֵ֥ת
-הַ
-וְ
-בְּ
ים-
עַל־
|
Placed before direct object
Definite article prefix
Conjunctive prefix (and/but)
Preposition prefix: in
Masculine plural suffix
Preposition: upon
|
|
Now I know my Aleph Bet,
You will sing it with me yet.
|
David wrote
Psalm 8
about Genesis.
- 1:1
John 1:1 is the third
genealogy of Christ, who was in the beginning.
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית "In beginning" Notice there is no definite article. The beginning of
our universe is not the beginning of everything. The Bible describes a
multi-verse. Notice that there is nothing about this beginning that can be
dated from the text. When were the Angels created?
Job 38
בָּרָ֣א "created from nothing," as distinct from יַּ֣עַשׂ (made)
in verse 7. The Bible multi-verse is very different from
modern multiverse
cosmology. Our universe is a story. His Story. There was no pre-existent
hyper-universe, only the Author. It is very different from
Greek cosmology, where the Demiurge made an island of order from
pre-existing Chaos, protected by the celestial sphere.
אֱלֹהִ֑ים "Elohim," God. Notice the masculine plural. The
singular would be Alah, from the verb "to fear" or "he sware".