GENESIS

INTRODUCTION

Jewish tradition designates the first book of the Bible under the name beresit, Hebrew expression usually translated in the beginning. The Greek Bible (LXX), however, gives the name of Genesis (= Gn), a term that means origin or beginning. The latter title corresponds to some extent, the content of the book, as its main theme is the origin of the world, the human race and the people of Israel.

The Genesis is divided into two major parts. The first (chapters 1-11 ) is the so-called "primary story" or "primitive", which begins with a solemn account of creation ( 1.1-2.4a ) and then narrates the beginnings of human history in the world created by God. The second part (chapters 12-50 ) is closely related to the first (see 4.17-24 n.), but she no longer speaks of humanity in general, but the focus is primarily on one family : the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as God's chosen seed or seed of a new people.This section, which refers to the earliest origins of the people of Israel, usually designated by the name of "patriarchal history."

To properly interpret the message of Genesis, it is essential to see how they relate to the early history and patriarchal history . This requires present, at least in general terms, the content of one and another section.

's claim that dignity has been formulated once and for all in the first creation story: The man and woman were created in the image of God, and in this special relationship with the Creator builds the mission that has been entrusted to responsibly exercise dominion over the world ( 1.27-28 ).
This statement would be incomplete without the teaching contained in the following chapters. According to Genesis 2-3 , in fact, man - Adam - was formed from the earth - adama -, and so is weak and ephemeral.However, at the moment of forming it, to infuse the breath of life ( 2.7 ), God told him the gift of life to a degree greater than that of animals (cf. 2.19-20 ). Also made ​​woman, and gave as a helpmate ( 2.18 )-that is, as a person of equal status and dignity, as witness the joyous exclamation 2.23: This really is my own flesh and my own bones! 

This first human couple from the beginning was called to live in close friendship with God. But friendship must constantly cultivated by free acceptance. So God intended them to observe a precept ( 2.16-17 ), under which both asserted absolute sovereignty of the Creator as freedom and human responsibility.

Yet the man and the woman did not accept to live under divine sovereignty.They tried to be like God ( 3.5 ), and because of their disobedience entered the world of suffering and death. Thus they closed access to the tree of life ( 24.3 ) and began an uninterrupted series of sins that brought upon mankind the judgment of God, represented by the flood ( 6.5-7.24 ). But even so he stopped the advance of sin, which reached its climax in the attempt to build a tower as high as the sky ( 4.11 ).
patriarchal history

But God did not let the confusion and dispersion beings human ( 11.9 ) had a final. So, the second part of Genesis begins to recount what God did to liberate men from the situation that they had created because of sin.

At the beginning of this new phase of history is the word of God to Abraham . That word containing a command and a promise: Abraham had to leave his native country, and God, in turn, promised a land and many descendants ( 12:1-3 ). To confirm his promise, God established a covenant with Abraham or alliance, and sealed it with an oath ( 15.18, 17.02 ). Also made ​​it clear that his promise did not refer exclusively to the seed of Abraham "in the flesh", but to all mankind, as he himself says in 3.12 : Through you I will bless all the families of the world.

This Similarly, the book of Genesis does see clearly that the choice of Abraham was not an arbitrary decision of God, but was oriented from the start toward a precise goal: the realization of the plan of salvation for the world. Changing the name Abram in Abraham, which means father of many nations ( 17.05 ), also shows what the ultimate goal of that divine election.

Upon completion of the cycle of Abraham, the Genesis shows how God's promise was transmitted from generation to generation. His immediate heirs were Isaac and Jacob, who also lived as immigrants in a foreign land, without another foothold that the promise of God.

This constant shifting of the Patriarchs is one of the most outstanding aspects in Genesis. Abraham had to leave his native country ( 1.12 ) and set off without knowing what the end of his journey (cf. Heb 11.8 ). Isaac was moving from one place to another, sometimes forced by the hostility of the local population ( Gen 26.19-22 ). Jacob always led a wandering life (cf. Dt 26.05 ), and had to face the dangers that gave a clear awareness of the precariousness of their situation ( Gen. 34.30 ). Joseph was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt, a foreign land where there is no recognized right, and if by his wisdom failed to reach the highest office, so no longer an alien whose position depended entirely on the goodwill Pharaoh. Finally, also the other sons of Jacob lived as aliens. Harassed by famine, had to go to Egypt, where they were well received because of his brother. However this remained shepherds, and the Egyptians were not allowed to live with sheepherders ( 46.34 ).
Yet Abraham bought in the land of Canaan a plot of land to bury his wife Sarah ( 23.16-20 ). This acquisition is in Genesis a clear symbolic meaning, because it was a preview of the event that would later come to its fulfillment: the inauguration, by the Israelites, the land where Abraham and the patriarchs had lived as foreigners. Thus, the trajectory of the patriarchs listed as a future-oriented story.

's also significant that Genesis ends with the arrival of Jacob and his family to Egypt. So the story is open to narrate the event was forever linked to the name of the God of Israel, the exodus from Egypt.
The following diagram presents in summary form the content of Genesis:

The early history

The first thing I teach the book of Genesis is that God is the sole creator of all that exists. With the power of his almighty word he created heaven and earth, made ​​the world a habitable and populated by living things.Moreover, the human species would be distinguished from other living things for their particular dignity.

I. The origins of the world and history ( 1-11 )

II. The Patriarchs ( 12-50 )

1. Abraham ( 12-25 )

2. Isaac ( 26 )

3. Jacob ( 27-36 )

4. José ( 37-50 )

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