NOTES ON GENESIS 1-11

Genesis 1 See Nehemiah 8:13

Gen. 1:1 Friedman (BAR) notes, “The very fact that the Bible's sources start off with the creation of 

the earth and all of humankind instead of starting with Israel itself is relevant here. If any of us were 

asked to write a history of the United States, would we start by saying, 'Well, first there was the Big 

Bang, and then...'?”

Gen 1:1 Don Curtis: Some rabbis have noted that the first Hebrew word after “In the beginning 

God created…” is ta. This word is rarely translated into English, because it is redundant with the h^ 

prefix of the next word. But this word, ta, is made up of the Hebrew letters aleph and tov, which are 

the first and last letters of the Hebrew alefbet. By extension, the first and the last include all the ones in 

between. So one might mystically read, “In the beginning God created ta.” That is He created the 

capacity for language in the Universe by which it could respond to “God said.” What is behind the 

capacity for language? For John, it is, perhaps, the eternal Word.

Gen. 1:5 Evening and morning = nighttime only, the end of a work period. Psalm 90 by Moses uses the 

two nouns in the same manner.

Gen. 1:9 Indications elsewhere in Scripture that a struggle was involved here. Psalm 104:6-9; Proverbs

 8:29; and Job 38:8-11.

Gen. 1:26-27 

    26. creep = to walk lightly

    27: One of Hillel's interpretation  rules -- "the general and the particular" -- explains why Genesis 

2:7 and Genesis 2:21 are not second creations, but a further explanation of the general creation of 

mankind first given here.

Gen. 1:31 “Very” is added because humanity was now included.

Genesis 2 Alternative theory by Sasson: Eve misidentifies the two trees. They really eat of the Tree of 

Life (which is why they don't die). Then verse 22 means "lest they continue to eat of the tree of life."

Andy Crouch: Genesis I is creatio ex nihilo (creation from nothing) whereas Genesis 2 is creatio ex 

creatis. “A garden is nature plus culture. The first gardener—the first one to plant, to water, to select, 

protect, weed and nurture—is not Adam. It is God.”

Gen. 2:2 Apparent contradiction in that God is still finishing work on seventh day. (the Septuagint and 

Samaritan Pentateuch say "sixth day.") Medieval rabbi Rashi solved problem was postulating that what 

God created on the seventh day was Rest. Another possibility is a textual confusion between sixth 

(hashishi) and seventh (hashebi'i).

Gen. 2:7 See John 9:6.

Gen. 2:9 Good and evil are opposites, indicating complete knowledge (Sasson). [doubtful]

Ryken, Windows to the World, p. 73: “A double concern, you will note – both functional and 

aesthetically beautiful. The conditions for human well-being have not changes since that moment in 

Paradise.”

Gen. 2:12 Andy Crouch-- “Why does the author indulge in this metallurgical excursion—with its 

digression within an excursion? ...Note that these are not particularly useful minerals or substances... 

These are substances whose only real value is in their beauty.”

Gen. 2:15 “Keep” is same Hebrew word as in “The Lord bless you and keep you.”

Gen. 2:18 Freedman argues that "fit" should better be translated "equal." Also that the word translated 

"helper" usually connotes "savior" or "strength." The latter is preferred in this case. Eve is a power 

equal to Adam. This equality is also stressed in the Genesis 1 version of the creation and in Adam's 

phrase "bone of my bone",etc. "Fit helper" -- word for helper is most often used for God himself. So it 

does not connote inferiority by any means.

Gen. 2:21 BAR Sept/Oct 2015: Ziony Zevit proposes that “rib” should be translated as “baculum” 

(penis bone) instead.

Genesis 3:1 Ancient Jewish seals picture snakes with sets of wings (perhaps identical to the winged 

poisonous serpents of Numbers 21:6-9 = serephim, lit. "burning"). The snake is perhaps punished by 

having its wings removed?

Gen. 3:7 Andy Crouch-- “And what is the first thing that happens after the man and woman have 

eaten? Culture... They make something of the world to ward off their sudden exposure to one another 

and to God. Culture is no longer the good, gracious activity of tending a good, gracious world. It is a 

defensive measure...to ward off the world's greatest threat—the threat of being known, of trusting one's 

fellow creatures and one's Creator.”

Gen. 3:14 Fossils from Australia have provided first evidence that snakes had hind legs.

Gen. 3:21 Animal skin is God's way of reminding them of their proximity to the animal world they had 

sought to escape. (Sasson)

Gen. 3:22 comment "Behold, man is become one of us" should be taken as irony. (Kaiser)

Gen. 3:23 The earliest Aramaic inscription found in Syria, dating to the 10th cent. BC may explain the 

root word for Eden as "freshness" or "dewiness."

Genesis 4:1 Her statement is either an expression of faith or one of independence from God --  "I have 

gotten a man like the Lord." (Matt Cassidy)           

Gen. 4:1-2 Play on words: Cain = kaniti, "gained." There is a similar meaning to Abel that is not 

pointed out specifically. Hevel = vanity, breath or vapor. He will soon disappear. (Joseph Klein)

Gen. 4:17 The city considered by archeologists to be one of the oldest in Mesopotamia has as its oldest 

attested name UNUG.

Gen. 4:23-24 The word for man ('ish) appears in Chapter 4 twice, once here and once in verse 1, 

referring to Cain. Verse 15 is ambiguous in referring to either Cain or his future killer who will suffer 

7-fold vengeance. There is the possibility that Lamech has killed Cain.

Genesis 6:6 There is a wordplay between remorse (nhm) and Noah.

Gen. 6:11 This is the reverse of “God saw it was good” in chapter 1

Genesis 8:4 “Mountains of Ararat” is the literal translation, denoting a mountain range. There are three 

peaks in the range: Ararat, Cudi and Nisir (where the ark rested according to the Babylonian flood 

story.

Genesis 9:20 The earliest known site for wine production has just been excavated (ca. 2009) 60 miles 

from Mt. Ararat and dated by ceramic and carbon remains to about 4100 BC. (BAR Sept/Oct 2011)

Genesis 10:32. The division in this verse is contrasted to the unity of mankind in Genesis 11:1. The 

same cognate verb "scatter" appears in Genesis 9:19 and Genesis 11:9. It "clearly reflects a desire to 

join the anticipation of scattering following the Flood with its reality after the Babel judgment." 

(Cassuto).

Genesis 11 Andy Crouch-- “In Genesis 11, culture will reach its apex and its nadir at the same time. 

The exploration and excavation yield not gold, bdellium, and onyx, but brick and bitumen, clay and 

asphalt, the dull and useful stuff of tower building, useful for building ourself... a name for 

ourselves...We will steal back enough of the world from its Maker to be able to eke out life 

ourselves, self-naming, self-contained.”

Gen.11:1-4 “What he (Jesus) disturbs is an artificial peace, one achieved through conformity and 

uniformity – foundational characteristics of the Tower of Babel. Since it depends on establishing and 

maintaining sameness, this peace can't offer a violent and divided world healing or reconciliation, not 

even when it's embraced by people who happen to identify as Christ followers.” (Judy Wu Dominick, 

CT, Nov. 2018, p. 55. comment on Matthew 10:34-36)  

Gen. 11 “The tower limited humanity from encountering the diverse beauty of creation, and so God 

hindered communication to encourage their spread.” (Kendall Vanderslice, CT Nov. 2018, p. 60)

Gen. 11:2 further distancing themselves from Eden