We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from Part IV - Subcollections and genres
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2016
THE LITERATURE OF THE PENTATEUCH
The Pentateuch includes the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The books separate into two unequal parts: Genesis and Exodus-Deuteronomy. Genesis traces the ancestral origins of Israel. It is composed in narrative, with no single character dominating the story. Exodus through Deuteronomy recounts the Israelite salvation from Egypt, the wilderness journey, and the revelation of law at the divine mountain. These books are a mixture of narrative and law, with Moses emerging as the central character. The literary structure and the central themes of the pentateuchal books can be summarized as follows.
Genesis: creation of the world and origin of the ancestors
Genesis narrates the creation of the world (Genesis 1–11) and the ancestral origins of Israel (12–50). It traces the evolution of the world through a series of genealogies that narrow from all humanity (2:4a, heaven and earth; 5:1, Adam; 6:9, Noah; 10:1, Noah's sons; 11:10, Shem) to the Israelite ancestors (11:27, Terah; 25:12, Ishmael; 25:19, Isaac, 36:1, Esau; 37:2, Jacob). Genesis 1–11 narrates a broad sweep of time, which includes nearly two millennia (1,876 years) between the creation of the first human (Gen 1:26–7) and the birth of Terah, the father of Abraham (Gen 11:24). Genesis 12–50 narrows in scope to chronicle the family history of Israel, which takes place over a period of an additional 360 years (i.e., year 1876 to year 2236). The main subject matter concerns the first three generations of Israelites, represented by Abraham (Gen 11:27–25:18), Isaac (Gen 25:19–35:29), and Jacob (36:1–50:26). Genesis ends with the fourth generation of Israelites (i.e., Joseph and his brothers) settling in Egypt (Gen 47:9). Two themes dominate the narrative of the ancestors: the divine promises of many descendants and a homeland (Gen 12:1–4).
A central feature of the literature in Genesis is the repetition of stories. Representative examples in Gen 1–11 include two accounts of creation (Genesis 1 and 2), two genealogies of humanity (Gen 4:17–26 and 5), and two versions of the flood (Genesis 6–9).
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
