I have had the wonderful opportunity to be reading the book of Genesis with two friends. I also have the wonderful opportunity to read John Sailhamer's The Pentateuch as Narrative. Here are some of the excerpts that have impacted me.
Referring to Genesis 1:2-5, "Having described the land as uninhabitable, the author uses the remainder of the account to portray God's preparing the land as the place of human dwelling. The description of the land as 'formless and empty' in verse 2a, then, plays a central role in the Creation account because it shows the condition of the land before God's gracious work has prepared it for humanity's well-being. Deuteronomy 32 draws on the same imagery (v10) to depict Israel's time of waiting in the wilderness before their entry into the good land. The prophets also drew from the same source to depict God's judgment of Exile...the land after the Exile was depicted in the same state as the land before God's gracious preparation of it in Creation. The description of Genesis 1:2, then, fits well into the prophet's vision of the future. The land lies empty, dark, and barren, awaiting God's call to light and life. Just as the light of the sun broke in upon the primeval darkness heralding the dawn of God's first blessing (1:3), so also the prophets and the apostles mark the beginning of the new age of salvation with the light that shatters the darkness (Isa. 8:22-9:2 [Mt 3]; Mt 4:13-17; Jn 1:5, 8-9). Similar ideas are already at work in the composition of Genesis 1. Just as the future messianic salvation would be marked by a flowering of the desert (Isa. 35:1-2), so also God's final acts of salvation are foreshadowed in Creation. The wilderness waits for its restoration. Henceforth the call to prepare for the coming day of salvation while yet waiting in the wilderness would be the hallmark of the prophet's vision of the future (Isa. 40:3, Mk. 1:4-5, Rev. 12:6, 14-15)." (p86).
Commenting on Genesis 2:15, (The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it), he writes, "A second observation from verse 15 concerns the specific purpose for God's putting the man in the Garden. In most English translations of the verse the man is 'put' in the Garden 'to work it and take care of it.' Although this interpretation is found in translations as early as the LXX (2nd century BC), there are serious objections to it. For one, the suffixed pronoun in the Hebrew text rendered 'it' in English is feminine, whereas the noun 'garden', which the pronoun refers to in English, is masculine. Only by changing the pronoun to a masculine singular, as the LXX has done, can it have the sense of the English translations, namely, 'to work' and 'to keep'. Moreover, later in the same narrative (3:23), 'working the ground' is said to be a result of the Fall, and the narrative suggests that the author has intended such a punishment to be seen as an ironic reversal of humanity's original purpose. If such is the case, then 'working' and 'keeping' the Garden would not provide a contrast to 'working the ground'. In view of these objections, which cannot be easily overlooked, a more suitable translation of the Hebrew text would be 'to worship and obey'. The man is put in the garden to worship God and obey him. The man's life was to be characterized by worship and obedience; he was to be a priest, not merely a worker of the garden. Such a reading not only answers the objections raised against the traditional English translation but also suits the ideas of the narrative. Throughout chapter 2, the author has consistently and consciously developed the idea of the human 'likeness' to God along the same lines as the major themes of the Pentateuch as a whole-- worship and Sabbath rest." (pp100-101)
On the temptation (Genesis 3:2-7):
"The story of the temptation is told with subtle simplicity. The snake speaks only twice, but that is enough to offset the balance of trust and obedience between the man and the woman and their Creator. The centerpiece of the story is the question of the knowledge of the 'good'. The snake implied by his questions that God was keeping this knowledge from the man and the woman (3:5), while the sense of the narratives in the first two chapters has been that God was keeping this knowledge for the man and the woman (e.g., 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31, 2:18). In other words, the snakes statements were a direct challenge to the central theme of the narrative of chapters 1 and 2: God will provide the 'good' for human beings if they will only trust him and obey him.... thus, the temptation is not presented as a general rebellion from God's authority. Rather, it is presented as a quest for wisdom and 'the good' apart from God's provision.... the thrust of the story, with all its simplicity, lies in its tragic and ironic depiction of the search for wisdom. That which the snake promised did, in fact, come about: the man and woman became 'like God' as soon as they ate of the fruit. The irony lies in the fact that they were already like God because they had been created in his image (1:26). ... It is clear that the man and woman had believed that when they obtained the knowledge of 'good and evil' they would, on their own, enjoy the 'good'. ...Yet when they ate of the fruit and their eyes were opened, it was not the 'good' that they saw and enjoyed. Their new knowledge was that of their own nakedness. Their knowledge of 'good and evil' which was to make them 'like God' resulted in the knowledge that they were no longer even like each other-- they were ashamed of their nakedness, and they sewed leaves together to hide their differences from each other." (p103-104)
On Genesis 3:8...
"It is significant that the author calls attention to the hiding place: they fled to the trees. Throughout this chapter and the previous ones, the trees play a central role in depicting humanity's changing relationship with God. First, in chapters 1 and 2, the fruit trees were a sign of God's bountiful provision. Then, at the beginning of chapter 3, the trees became the ground for inciting the man and the woman to rebellion and the place where the rebellious man and woman sought to hide from God. Finally, when the man and the woman are cast out of the Garden, their way is barred from the Tree of Life (3:24). The full sense of this focus on the trees should perhaps be understood in light of the tree as the place of the punishment of death (Dt. 21:22-23) and also in light of the later role of the tree as the place of the gift of life (Gal 3:13)." (pp105-106)
On the Curse (3:14-20)
"Although much can be said about the curse of the snake, the woman, and the man, it is important to note that the text says very little. In this passage we most clearly see the artful composition to the Pentateuch. There are no long discourses on the appearance of the snake before and after the curse. Did he have feet? Did he have wings? The thoughts of the snake, if there were such, or the thoughts of the man and woman are left completely out of view. The narrative gives us nothing to help us understand their plight as individuals. The snake, the woman, and the man are not depicted as individuals involved in a personal crisis; rather, they are representatives. We are left with the impression that this is not their story so much as it is our story, the story of humankind. With great skill the author has presented these three participants as the heads of their race. The snake on the one hand the woman on the other are as two great nations embarking on a great struggle, a struggle that will find its conclusion only by an act of some distant and as yet unidentified 'seed'." (p106)
Concerning the woman's curse...
"We should not overlook the relationship between the promise of verse 15 and these words to the woman. In that promise, the final victory was to be through the 'seed' of the woman. In the beginning, when the man and the woman were created, childbirth was at the center of the blessing which their creator had bestowed upon them ('Be fruitful, multiply, fill the land.' 1:28) Now, after the fall, childbirth is again to be the means through which the snake would be defeated and the blessing restored. The pain of the birth of every child was to be a reminder of the hope that lay in God's promise. Birth pangs are not merely a reminder of the futility of the Fall; they are as well a sign of impending joy (Romans 8:22-24, cf. Mt. 24:8)." (p108).
Trevor and I have learned so much about God's Word through Sailhamer's works, and through people who have been influenced by him (Ray Lubeck and John MacMurray, as well as discussion with friends who were also impacted by his work). His method of interpreting Scripture based on the Tanak shape of the Hebrew canon pretty much blew our minds when we first heard it and we have never been the same since. Our friend Jeff Lacine is giving away, along with three other excellent books, a copy of Sailhamer's The Meaning of the Pentateuch at 2mites.com .
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