10.6 Survey on Genesis

Gen 5:1-11:10

Obs 1:

Another Imago Dei, and “when God created humankind,” another creation story

Not only lineage record but record of ages, years of life

First born sons named, others not

There was a prophesy said of Noah, he was also oldest to have first borns, and 3 of his sons are names, not just first born

God shortens average human life span to 120 years, after sons of God bare children to human daughters; is this part of the wickedness of humankind? Are the sons of God descendants of Adam or spiritual beings?

What is significance of the raven vs the dove?

Promise: I will never again destroy all living things

Covenant: eat all things, no blood, human blood for human blood, rainbow as reminder of promise

Interesting that Ham is youngest, but named second

Was Ham’s sin seeing Noah naked or having his brothers cover him up?

What does it mean that the earth was divided in the days of Peleg?

Obs 2:

Multiple uses of “flesh” and “all flesh” for humanity

Clean animals vs not clean? (v.7:2)

Confused about timeline (40 days/nights, 150 days, 10 months)

Were Adam’s descendants before Noah forbidden from eating animals?

In tower of Bable story, use of “us” by the LORD, his heavenly host

SQ’s

Gen 5:1—11:10

1. Gen 5:1a is a toledoth formula “This is a list of . . .” (NRSV) OR “these are the generations

of,” and is used throughout Genesis, usually to introduce a genealogy. Compare 5:1-2 to Gen

1:26-27; comment.

Both use Imago Dei, both use “male and female” distinctly, and “humankind”

Compare Gen 5:1, 10:5, 20, 31-32, and 11:10, 27.

Use of “by their families, languages, lands, and nations”, genealogies, descendants, etc.

2. Why do you think the writer was concerned with genealogies? Do the genealogies fit in

naturally with the rest of narrative or do they seem to interrupt it? What do they do?

They connect all peoples and nations in the region to Noah, and thus Adam/Eve, and thus God. It traces God’s peoples back to him, and back to their ancestors to which these stories were given and experienced. I think they do fit, they say “these are the stories of our people, of our God,” to the original audiences.

3. Why did the LORD bring the flood?

His heart was grieved by the wickedness, violence, and continual evil thoughts of humankind. He was sorry he had created them.

4. The term "covenant" is first used in 6:18. Compare 6:19 with 7:2-3. Comment.

It changes from 2 of every kind of all flesh to seven pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean.

5. Compare/contrast 10:1-32 about descendants, lands, and spreading to the Babel story about

scattering.

Gen 10 implies that the descendants of Noah began different nations and particularly, to speak in different languages, while Gen 11 states that the whole world had one language and was one people/nation. Perhaps these events are out of chronological order. Or perhaps the Babel story is allegory while the record of Noah’s descendents are genealogy (2 different genres).

5. What do we learn about people and God in Gen 3-11? How does God react to disobedience.

People are given choice between good and evil, obedience and disobedience to God. People are becoming judges of actions and givers of consequences like God (Lamech to man who struck him, Noah to Ham); people are wrestling with will and justice. People have ambition and seek power (Babel). God carries out consequences but with much grace. God finds favor with obedience and righteousness (Noah). God makes and keeps promises.

6. On what note does 11.9 end (positive, negative, punishment or mercy)? Compare to 3:21, 4:15 and 9:1. Is there any mark or sign of mercy or grace offered at the end of the Babel story?

Negative from the point of the one nation/people, but the scattering seems like more of a universal good than a punishment. Like 3:21, it is an act of grace where a punishment was deserved. Interestingly the act of filling the earth is a blessing in 9:1, which points even more to an act of grace, saving humans from their ambition for power and allowing them to fill the earth.