Genesis
PATRIARCHAL CYCLE
This is where the history and traditions of the people begin, recounted many times in assemblies and religious feasts, frequently revised and restructured while maintaining their orientation in changing historical situations. Through legends, adventures, and sagas about ancient characters and human communities—some large and some small—a people have been nurtured whose roots can be traced to one person, Abraham, the father of all. During the critical times that the descendants of the patriarch experienced, they turned to the traditions of their ancestors, recalling their actions and words. Above all, they remembered the specific event that led to Abraham’s departure from his land and his people to establish himself in Canaan: God’s promise and blessing.
However, this particular beginning of Israel’s history lacks something: the history of the world’s origin. As noted in the introduction to the Pentateuch, the historical circumstances of Israel in the sixth century B.C. nearly led to their disappearance. Nevertheless, the tenacity of some religious leaders allowed them to cultivate the mindset and identity of a new people. They no longer clung to what was said about the patriarchs but looked to God’s plan “from the beginning.”
Thus, the Priestly school (P) achieved several objectives. Firstly, it broadened the historical horizon to encompass the very origin of humanity and the world, placing Israel’s history within a universal context where God makes himself present and remains definitively with the people He has specifically chosen and blessed. Additionally, it provides interpretive clues for events and individual experiences, as well as their actions, thereby facilitating an understanding of the past and enhancing the ability to confront the future. This is what the Priestly school accomplished with the first eleven chapters of Genesis: offering an interpretive key to read and reread what is written from this point onward regarding the history of the patriarchs, the history of the chosen people, their slavery in Egypt and subsequent liberation, the journey through the desert (Exodus–Numbers), the conquest and possession of the land (Joshua), and the socio-political evolution that unfolded there (Judges–2 Kings).
In simple terms, this tool provided people with the means to evaluate events and their protagonists: things turned out well when they aligned with the divine plans of justice and life. However, history took a different turn when they allowed themselves to be ensnared by egotism, greed, or a thirst for power and dominance. Still, the adverse outcomes might not have been immediately apparent.
This is why the Bible does not hide negative actions or behaviors that contradict the divine plan, regardless of which character commits them, including the esteemed patriarchs. Everyone, ourselves included, must be evaluated by the standard of justice.
PENTATEUCH
Jewish tradition and the Gospels refer to the first five books of the Bible as the Torah, meaning Law or Instruction. They are also known as “the five books of Moses” or the “Pentateuch,” which describes the five rolls or cases containing the papyri and parchment. The Bible presents an ambitious narrative that begins with the creation of the world and concludes with the death of Moses. Its narrative is interspersed with various legal prescriptions that are fundamentally significant.
The Pentateuch is the narrative that forms the foundation of history and the consciousness of being a people based on a shared heritage. It establishes a law that creates a distinct and organized human community, sustaining and guiding the lives of its members. This law shapes history and is an integral part of it. It is not a mythical representation of a cosmic order outside of time.
Division of the Pentateuch. Dividing it into five scrolls serves a functional purpose, guided by the themes they address and the size of the scrolls. This arrangement facilitates physical manageability and simplifies text citations. However, other divisions more accurately capture the essence of the Pentateuch:
1. The division is divided into units, which we will reference in later introductions and titles.
2. The four literary sources identified by nineteenth-century researchers with the abbreviations J (Yahwist), E (Elohist), D (Deuteronomist), and P (Priestly) are believed to originate from the tenth, ninth, seventh, and fifth centuries B.C., respectively. According to this widely accepted hypothesis, which remains the most tenable, the actual Pentateuch is the result of the fusion of these four sources into a single, unified account. The final author composes by sometimes juxtaposing or inserting blocks of text and, at other times, preserving narrative duplications. Additionally, he occasionally intertwines two or more accounts into a continuous narrative. Separating the parts that constitute the narration or assigning them to a specific source is relatively straightforward now since they consist of blocks of text or repetitions. However, detaching paragraphs, phrases, or words from their contexts is risky.
3. Researchers later discovered that the supposed sources were not original documents but rather compilations of earlier texts. These sources represented various theological and literary schools, including official texts and recordings of oral traditions.
Literary Genre and Author. Regarding the literary genre, these books showcase a diverse array: 1) narratives, such as legends or sagas, which can be idyllic, sad, humorous, heroic, or epic; 2) laws, codes, and lists; 3) blessings, prayers, and odes; 4) texts utilized in worship, catechesis, and preaching.
Such variety creates a corresponding array of styles that can disconcert the reader as they encounter pages of magisterial narration interspersed with lists of names, detailed descriptions of liturgical instruments, unusual norms, repeated appeals, and more. The result is a fascinating work. On the one hand, it is easy to read and entertaining; on the other hand, it feels dull and heavy. It presents a vast landscape with narrative peaks and dusty ravines, traversed by smooth highways and slippery paths.
More than just a single work, the Pentateuch appears to be a collection of diverse pieces: a registry of archives, legal and liturgical codes, poems, and narratives. Nevertheless, the narration is essential; from Abraham’s call to Moses’s death, the continuous account is engaging and well-structured, producing pages that rank among the finest in world literature.
The book does not have an author in the strictest sense of the term. We can view Moses as the distant origin of the literary tradition: a narrative flow that recounts events with religious zeal, legal actions, and exhortations. We can imagine a complex chorus of anonymous contributors who have enriched this remarkable work over the centuries.
Religious Message. The Pentateuch is one of the foundational texts of our faith and the Jewish people. The belief that God is the main character in history profoundly influences the entire work. God initiates history and guides it more through hisactions than hiswords. He also plays a central role in the Law as the legislator, guarantor, and ultimate judge. However, God is a protagonist who empowers true human protagonists, whether they are individuals with remarkable qualities or the chosen people; both serve as agents of a narrative that is both told and experienced.
The entirety of the Pentateuch, from creation to the promise and the Covenant, lays the foundation for the whole Bible: the revelation of God’s love for humanity. Out of love, God created humans in hisimage and likeness. He called people to maintain a personal relationship with him, motivated by love, and God committed himself to human history, making it a history of salvation. If the Lord fell in love with you and chose you…it was out of pure love (Dt 7:7-8).
GENESIS
Introduction
Jewish tradition refers to the Bible’s first book as “Bereshit,” the word that begins the original Hebrew text. Later, a translation into Greek, created in the third century B.C., used the term “Genesis,” which was subsequently adopted in the Latin translation and the English version. The term “Genesis” means origin or principle.
The name reflects the book’s content, as its central themes reveal, on one hand, the world’s origin through creation, the concept of evil through sin, the emergence of a culture of dispersion among people, and the diversity of languages. On the other hand, it emphasizes the origin of salvation by selecting one man who will become the father of a great nation. Additionally, it depicts the era of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—as a form of prehistory for the chosen people.
By beginning with the creation of the world, the author traces the history of salvation back to the very first moment—the beginning of everything—addressing the profound enigmas that trouble humanity: the cosmos, life and death, good and evil, the individual and society, family, culture, and religion. These questions receive neither theoretical nor doctrinal answers, but rather historical events. In this narrative, individuals are held accountable. Nevertheless, this account has been, and continues to be, sovereignly directed by God for the salvation of all humanity.
Division of the Book. The book can be divided into three distinct sections: the origins (1–11), the patriarchs’ cycle (12–36), and the Joseph cycle (37–50). Through these narrative sections, the author weaves a history that also addresses the enigmas faced by humanity:
Good and evil. God created everything good (1); however, evil entered the world through the serpent and the first human couple (2f). This evil grew stronger until it overwhelmed the earth, leaving very few human families untouched (4–11). A new stage begins when good triumphs over evil, ultimately leading to God’s assurance of goodness (50) despite the existence of evil. Fundamentally, this goodness symbolizes life and friendship with God.
Fraternity. The evil present within the human family begins with fratricide (4), disrupting essential fraternity. Consequently, the brothers become estranged (13; 21). Tension arises but is ultimately resolved through reconciliation (27–33). There is a failed attempt at fratricide (37), and gradually, the bond among the twelve siblings is restored (42–50).
Salvation. Sin invites calamity, and God himself has provided the means to save specific individuals: Noah from the flood in the ark (6–9); Abraham from hunger in Egypt (12); Lot from fire (19); Jacob from hatred and persecution in Syria (28–31); Joseph from death in Egypt (37); and, once again, Joseph’s brothers from hunger in Egypt (41–47). This journey of the Semites to Egypt is temporary until its direction is reversed.
In Christian tradition, many stories and characters from the book of Genesis have acquired symbolic meanings that extend far beyond the original intentions of the storytellers.
History and Archaeology. They are interconnected; secular history does not provide the necessary context to frame the accounts found in Genesis. The geological epochs do not align with the timeline of the workweek as presented in Genesis 1. Chapter 4 illustrates the emergence of a culture in which farmers and shepherds coexisted simultaneously, coinciding with the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The patriarchs have a geographical background but lack a distinct history (and the effort in Genesis 14 does not add anything significant). Joseph was located in Egypt during a time that lacked specific characteristics to identify a particular epoch or dynasty.
Archaeology has gathered various types of data, including documents, artefacts, and paintings, that suggest a timeline for a biblical patriarch. This timeline spans several centuries, from the nineteenth to the twenty-sixth centuries B.C. Notably, the archives of Mari (eighth century B.C.) and those of Babylon stand out, along with records that reflect a vibrant religious, literary, and legal culture primarily inherited from the Sumerians. Although this material provides a rich cultural context for interpreting Genesis, it does not offer an exact chronological framework for the events described in the text.
By considering that the Semites succeeded the Sumerians, the Amorites (from the West) ruled in Babylon and later Assyria, and the Hurrians conveyed Babylonian culture to the Indo-European empire, one gains a clearer understanding of the narrative focus of Genesis.
Religious Message. God intervenes in this profoundly human history as a genuine protagonist. In many instances, He acts in the likeness of human beings. Nevertheless, his sovereignty is evident. The ordinary means by which He operates is through the Word, which guides the lives of the patriarchs and creates the universe with its power.
God’s appearance is both mysterious and unpredictable. The Word of God establishes a crucial connection between humanity and the divine. As the Word of God calls and challenges individuals, both men and women rise as true authors of the history of salvation.
The Word of God is a command, a prediction, and a promise. One must respond with obedience, belief, and hope. This triple response reflects the dynamism of history: looking toward the future, dedicated to both the world and God, profoundly human, and sovereignly divine.