Notes on the Book of Genesis, Part II

(Chapters 8-22)

This section follows Part I and precedes Part III (from Chapters 22 to the end of Genesis; will be added later). Refer to the Introduction in Part I for detailed information as to the purpose of this text. From approximately Chapter Eight onwards many parts of Genesis deal with historical circumstances which fall outside the province of lectio divina, that is, as presented in the Introduction. For this reason some sections will be treated insofar as they have relevance with regard to the practice of lectio.

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Chapter Eight

Vs. 1: But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided;

A significant use of the verb zakar (to remember); as noted in 1.28, zakar is the verbal root for “male.” It implies the propagation...the remembering...of one generation into another. In the verse at hand, zakar takes on special significance in that God is “remembering” Noah and the animals with him after the flood. Such recollection extends backwards and into future generations which will populate the earth after the flood. Actually, this is the first use of the verb and therefore assumes special importance. God uses zakar later in 9.15 with respect to the covenant and is a kind of propagation, if you will, of this covenant leading to the one given at Mount Sinai.

Wind (ruach): the same term for “spirit.” Noah, along with his extended family and animals, represents a new creation now floating over the destructive waters which may be paralleled with 1.2: “and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” Thus the ark is a kind of moving...rachaph...not unlike this one. The motion of ruach is across (havar, verb) the earth or ‘eretz. Note that earth is used in the context of a completely submerged world, so the ruach must be very strong to remove the waters of chaos back under the firmament and above the firmament (cf. 1.7).

Subsided (shakak): in addition to this verse, the English verb is used in vss. 8 & 11 whereas the Hebrew has qalal. Shakak denotes more an inclining or stooping. Its reference with regard to anger is revealing as in the following: “After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated” [Est 2.1].

Vs. 2: the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,

A continuation of the next verse which follows through into vs. 4.

“Fountains of the deep” (tehom): a creation of sorts paralleling that of Genesis’ opening verses. In the verse at hand as well as 3 and four, note the verbs of constraint outlined as follows:

-closed (sakar), that is, the fountains and windows (of heaven) or water which issues forth from below and from above: “for the mouths of liars will be stopped” [Ps 63.11].

-restrained (kala’), that is, the rain or geshem noted in 7.12: “Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce” [Hag 1.10].

-receded (shuv, vs. 3): that is, the waters, in the sense of returning to their original place, most likely to places such as oceans and lakes. The adverb “continually” reads in the Hebrew text as a verb, halak (to go).

-abated (chasar): in the sense of lacking something or to be wanting. “Let your garments be always white; let not oil be lacking on your head” [Eccl 9.8]. Chasar is used with reference to a period of time, one hundred and fifty days. Better, the noun qatsah is used (end); it can be used in the context of space: “Make one cherub on the one end and one cherub on the other end” [Ex 25.19].

Vss. 4 and 5 give specific times as in 7.11 (beginning of the flood) with regard to the flood’s cessation ranging upwards or from a specific day->month->year. Compare with 7.11 with regard to the beginning of the flood which ranges downwards or from a specific year (Noah’s life)->month->day. The beginning of the flood coincides with time in this one person’s life.

-end (qatsah): as in vs. 3 with respect to 150 days when the flood itself ceased. In the verse at hand (4) it is in the context of the ark (tevah) coming to rest (nuach) on the (plural) mountains of Ararat. Note the play on words: tevah and tanach, the latter being the form of nuach. Cf. 2.15 where this verb is used with another sense: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”

-“continued to abate:” literally, “the waters were and to go (kal, infinite absolute) and to abate” (kal, infinite absolute); cf. vs. 3 above with similar constructions of the verbs halak and chasar.

-“tenth month->first day of the month.” The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat on the seventh month->on the seventeenth day. Thus the time span between the ark hitting solid ground until the mountain tops became visible is approximately three and a half months. A continuity of sorts may be posited from “but God remembered Noah” of vs. 1 to “tops of the mountains were seen” of vs. 5. I.e., such divine remembering had extended throughout this duration.

Vs. 6: At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made,

This verse introduces another time span, this one of forty days as used in 7.17, the duration of the flood waters upon the earth. Also, vs. 6 has another use of qatsah (end). It is the time when Noah opened the ark’s (single) window or chalon; compare with 6.16: “Make a roof for the ark” where the word tsohar or light is used. Also, chalon may be found in 2 Kg 7.2: “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” It derives from a verbal root meaning “to be perforated.”

Vs. 7: and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.

This and the previous verse form a unity; the act of Noah opening...of “perforating” (chalon)...the ark’s window is significant in and by itself and sets the stage through vs. 12.

The bird which Noah sent forth is a raven or horev; from a verbal root with the basic meaning “to set” (also “evening” is derived from it) and thus suggesting the onset of darkness. “There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has reached its eventide” [Is 24.11]. As for the noun, cf. Ps 147.9: “He gives to the beasts their food and to the young ravens which cry.”

Went to and fro (yetse’ yatsu’): the verb yatsa’ being used (to go forth). Compare this departure from the ark with the dove in vs. 12; the raven departs “until the waters were dried up.” The Hebrew text has the verb shuv (to return) implying that the raven did return to the ark. Compare shuv with the similar sounding verb yavash, to dry up; it is as though the raven’s act of returning was instrumental in effecting the water not simply to recede but to dry up which is emphasized by the Hebrew “from on the earth.”

Vs. 8: Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground;

A second example of sending (shalach), this time a dove or yonah. A parallel can be made between the dove’s departure and the Spirit “moving over the face of the waters” [1.2] which uses the verb rachaph (to brood over) and can be associated with a bird cherishing its young. The RSV follows a literal translation of the Hebrew–“from him”–as opposed to raven of the previous verse; it is though the dove had a closer connection with Noah. The Song of Songs has several references to yonah, one of which is 1.15: “Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.”

Yonah is closely associated with the proper name Jonah who was cast into the sea, not unlike the waters of the flood: “So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.”

In the verse at hand, the dove has a mission, namely to determine whether or not the primordial flood waters have abated. In the previous verse, the raven is simply sent forth; it apparently flies back and forth effecting, as it were, the drying-up process.

Ground (‘adamah): compare with vs. 7, ‘eretz (earth).

Vs. 9: but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.

To set (nuach): as in vs. 4: “the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.” In the verse at hand, nuach concerns the dove unable to locate dry land even though the ark had hit upon Ararat. Compare the expression which reads in the Hebrew text, “soul of her foot” with Jos 3.13: “And when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord...shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be stopped from flowing.”

Returned (shuv): as with the raven in vs. 7. Here is a two-fold shuv, to the ark and to Noah, because water still covered the earth (‘eretz) as opposed to ‘adamah in vs. 8.

Noah put forth (shalach) his hand to receive the dove; cf. vs. 8 for this verb. Two further actions are indicated: a taking in and bringing in of the dove. Both Noah and the dove enter the ark.

Vs. 10: He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

Waited (yachal): also connotes a sense of expectation, of hope as in Ps 130.7: “O Israel, hope in the Lord!” The period of seven days is not mentioned with regard to the earlier mission of the raven nor dove; it may be taken as in light of that special duration of time signified by “seven” when God rested from his creative work. The adverb hod (another) also means “again,” “yet again.”

Sent forth (shalach): the third use of this verb with respect to this episode, here with respect to the dove. The Hebrew text literally reads, “he continued to send.”

Vs. 11: and the dove came back to him in the evening and lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.

“To him:” yet another indication of the dove’s close affinity with Noah. The time of her return is evening or herev. “Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city” [Ps 59.6]. In the verse at hand, herev may be paralleled with the “cool of the day” [3.8].

Lo (hineh): signifies astonishment as in 1.31, the completion of creation.

Leaf (haleh, of an olive): despite the devastating nature of the flood, this particular fruit either survived or was the first to grow. The olive is an important source for oil for food as well as fuel and symbolic of prosperity. “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table” [Ps 128.3].

The dove plucked the olive leaf or taraph, a verb which can have violent connotations: “Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces” [Gen 37.33]. For an example parallel to the use at hand yet which encompasses the verbal root, cf. Ps 111.5: “He provides food for those who fear him.”

Subsided (qalal): a verb used in reference to earth (‘eretz) whose fundamental meaning is “to be light;” it also means “to curse” in the sense of reckoning someone or something as light or insignificant. Compare with shakak in vs. 1: “and the waters subsided.”

Vs. 12: Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove; and she did not return to him anymore.

A further use of the adverb hod (another) in the sense of “again” (cf. vs. 10) with reference to the time frame of seven days, a type of kairos or special event. Noah had yachal...”hope”...in his waiting after which he sent forth (shalach) the dove.

Note the use of yasaph (to add) used in the literal translation of vs. 10, “he continued to send” which suggests that a prior action had been taken and which may or may not be taken in the future.

Anymore: (the negative particle lo’ coupled with hod), the latter being used at the beginning of this same verse. Action concerns the dove’s return or shuv; cf. vss. 7 & 9.

Vs. 13: In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked and behold, the face of the ground was dry.

The time frame presented here proceeds downwards from year to month to month’s first day which parallels the same method introducing the flood (cf. 7.11). There it was clearly in the context of “Noah’s life” which is lacking in the verse at hand but implied.

Were dried (charav): often used in the context of a drought and desolation but here in a positive context as returning the primeval waters to the positions above and below the firmament. The preposition m-(min, from) emphasizes this definitive retreat with respect to ‘eretz. “I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their herbage; I will turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools” [Is 42.15]. The word “sword” is derived from charav suggesting that this weapon dries up...lays waste.

Covering (mikseh): from the verbal root kasah which suggests a putting on as noted in 7.19 with respect to waters covering the earth. For another maritime use, cf. Ezk 27.7: “Blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was your awning.” Thus the mikseh of Noah’s ark may be taken as an awning which was a shield against both rain and sun.

“Looked” followed by behold or hineh which as noted in vs. 11 can convey a sense astonishment or wonder. The object of Noah’s wonder was the ‘adamah being dry or charav; compare ‘eretz used in the first part of this same verse.

Vs. 14 presents another time frame: second month and twenty-seventh day of the month. Here it pertains to ‘eretz being dry or yavash which may be compared with charav of vs. 13. This verse suggests complete dryness throughout. “That the people of Israel may go on dry ground through the (Red) sea” [Ex 14.16].

Vss. 14 through 19 sets in motion a description of the departure from the ark which may be outlined as follows:

-“and God said:” the simple words which comprise vs. 16 and stand alone to accentuate the divine commission described in these verses.

-Go forth (yatsa’): as in vs. 7 when Noah sent out a raven; here it pertains to Noah, his wife, his sons and sons’ wives. Note the phrase “with you;” the importance of Noah is stressed in his relationship with his extended family as they exit the ark. The text says nothing about the ark or its fate.

-bring forth (yatsa’): another use of this verb with a different meaning and affiliated with the phrase “with you” or with Noah; again, it shows Noah’s role with respect to the new earth. Here “all flesh” are associated with Noah for a three-fold purpose: 1) breed abundantly (sharats) as in 1.20: “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures.” 2 & 3) be fruitful (parah) and multiply (ravah) as in 1.28: “Be fruitful and multiply.”

-Noah went forth or yatsa’ with his extended family.

-went forth (yatsa’): “every beast, creeping thing, bird and everything that moves upon the earth.” Note that this yatsa’ is according to an order or families (mishpachah) as opposed to coming from the ark individually. This term can apply to a tribe as well. “And all the families of the nations shall worship before you” [Ps 22.27].

Vs. 20: Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

The type of altar–wood or stone–is not mentioned but perhaps the ark may have been used along the lines described in 1 Sam 6.14: “And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.” This is the first mention of an altar or mizbeach which figures significantly in Exodus: “And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, ‘The Lord is my banner’” [17.15].

The offerings upon this altar consist of clean animals (tahor) first given in 7.2 along with those which are unclean; this anticipates the Book of Leviticus which details the difference between the two types. “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common and between the unclean and the clean” [Lev 10.10]. Chapter Eleven goes into great detail as to the distinction between the two distinctions.

Burnt offerings (holah): coupled with the verb halah (to offer) which applies to anything lifted on high. “He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” [Lev 1.4].

“On (b-) the altar:” note the use of this preposition which fundamentally means “in.” I.e., a full union between the altar and offerings and the act of making this offering.

Vs. 21: And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.

Smelled (ruach)/odor (reyach): from the same verbal root meaning “to breathe” and from which “spirit” is derived. The picture presented here is the Lord inhaling...breathing in...Noah’s sacrifice of clean animals. For another sense of the same word, cf. Is 11.3: “And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.”

The odor is specified as pleasing or nychoach, a noun whose verbal root is nuach which is similar in sound to ruach/reyach. The literal text in Hebrew reads “odor of rest;” the usual application is with respect to sweetness as in the verse at hand.

The reyach or odor of vs. 21 passes through the Lord’s nostrils into his heart (lev); parallel with 6.5: “and it grieved him to his heart.” “It is an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord” [Lev 3.5]. Note that lev has the preposition ‘el-, to, in the sense of “towards which” indicating that Noah’s sacrifice reached the Lord directly.

Curse (qalal): cf. vs. 11 for another use of the same verb, “so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.” Qalal implies making light in the sense of regarding something as superficial. “Because he knew that his sons had brought a curse upon themselves” [1 Sam 3.13]. Consider the verse at hand in conjunction with 3.17: “cursed is the ground because of you.” Here the verb ‘arar is used which intimates the casting of a spell; both this verse and the one at hand deal with ‘adamah or earth. The former pertains to ‘adamah outside the Garden of Eden and the latter to ‘adamah after the purging effect of the flood.

Vs. 21 has ‘adam for man with respect to the curse which the Lord muses “in his heart;” it is as though he recalls having formed man from the ‘adamah in 2.7 and promises to himself that he will never apply the curse.

Imagination (yetser): as in 6.5: “that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In the verse at hand yetser is from man’s youth as opposed to “continually.”

Destroy (nakah): in the sense of striking and often with the intent of effecting correction. “And afterward the heart of David smote him” [1 Sam 24.6]. The verb ‘asaph is used with nakah which connotes continuous action and re-enforces the Lord’s intent not to “strike” humankind in the future. For the “as I have done,” cf. 6.7: “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground.”

Vs. 22: While the earth remains, seedtime and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

The conclusion of God’s dialogue or “in his heart” of vs. 21.

“Remains” literally reads in the Hebrew text, “so long as (hod) all the days of the earth (‘eretz).” Note the use of ‘eretz after ‘adamah/‘adam of the previous verse; this earth implies land distinct from the man’s origins as in 2.7. “Days” can be seen as awareness of temporal succession in contrast to the Garden of Eden.

The two pairs (“seedtime and winter,” “day and night”) are different aspects of “days” and indicate clear awareness of time’s passage but as sustaining human existence in the time after the flood. The Lord promises to himself that they will not cease or shavath. From this verb is derived “sabbath;” consider in light of 2.2: “And on the seventh day (i.e., ‘day seven’) God finished his work, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.”

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Chapter Nine

Vs. 1: And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

The beginning of God speaking with Noah which goes through vs. 17 and deals with the covenant he is about to establish.

Blessed (barak): the object being Noah along with his sons or male heirs as opposed to the women on board the ark (“them”).

Compare this second (post-flood) event which has elements both parallel and different from the first one of 1.28: “And God blessed them (the man and the woman), and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’” Both verses use the words parah (be fruitful), ravah (multiply) and fill (mala’), all similar in sound especially when used in the imperative. The object: ‘eretz as distinct from ‘adamah.

Vs. 2: The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered.

Fear (mora’): connotes reverence as in Mal 1.6: “And if I am a master, where is my fear?”

Dread (chat): from a verbal root meaning “to break, “to be confounded.” “They are dismayed and have turned backward” [Jer 46.5]. Both are used with respect to Noah and his sons (“you”) and apply to three different types of beings: birds, creeping things and fish. Such fear and dread find their full effect by a three-fold imposition, that is, upon (hal) these three categories of living beings.

Delivered (natan): alternately, “to give,” “to cause to receive.” Note the niphal, “are delivered:” although God is the one effecting this, it is presented in the passive mode as though the delivery which God imparts to Noah and his sons was one step removed. “Hand” can signify that Noah and his descendants can do with the animals whatever they wished.

Compare the struggle with created beings implied in this verse with Is 11.9: “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Reference to water/sea is interesting in light of the flood which had just receded.

Vs. 3: Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

Moving thing (remes): first used in 1.26 which speaks of the “first dominion” and applied to “every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” Remes concerns reptiles; it also means sea creatures and can be extended to all land animals as in the verse at hand. “Yonder is the sea, great and wide, which teems with things (teeming things) innumerable, living things both small and great” [Ps 104.25].

There is an association between “moving things” and green plants (hesev) to which this verse alludes (1.30) or the “sixth day.” The words “as I gave you” of the verse at hand can be related to God’s statement in 1.31, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” That is to say, the original goodness of creation is to be extended to the post-flood era.

Note that 1.30 reads “everything that has the breath of life;” God does not give them for human consumption, just the green plants.

Compare the active “I give you” with the passive “they are given” of the previous verse.

Vs. 4: Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

The (“only”) prohibition God gives to Noah and his sons with regard to food is not eating animals “with its life” or “blood.” This verse finds a kind of precedent in 4.11, of Cain’s murder of his brother Abel which is developed shortly afterwards: “And now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” It also finds echo later in Acts 15.20: “to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastitity and from what is strangled and from blood.” Note the connection between idols, sexual misconduct and blood, all having to do with propagation in one way or another.

Vs. 5: For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it and of man; of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

“Your lifeblood” here in the Hebrew literally reads as “your blood to (l-) your souls,” nephesh. Blood’s fluid and vital character is identified with beings having the “breath of life” as noted under Gen 1.20: “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures.” This phrasing is made all the more striking by require a reckoning or darash; an alternate meaning is “to inquire” with this verse’s sense of making a demand. “But his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand” [Ezk 33.6].

God’s reckoning is addressed to Noah but includes both beast and man. Although this reckoning does not apply in the common sense to a beast (chayah; applies to animals of all kinds), it may be seen in light of later ordinances with respect to animal sacrifices as described in Exodus 29. I.e., the sense of darash is bound up with consecration (qadash, verb) in the first verse of this chapter: “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.”

The notion of divine reckoning applies equally to the “life of man” or his nephesh noted in the first part of this verse.

Vs. 6: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.

Man or ‘adam, as used in the previous verse. Note the association between the “redness” implied in this word with the redness of blood.

Shed (shaphak): the first time this verb is used in Genesis, again intimating Cain’s murder of Abel. “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast” [Ezk 14.19]. A parallel may be made between the idea of shedding, of pouring out, with the recent destructive flood.

Here image or tselem is used minus the 1.26 addition of “likeness.” Perhaps mention of image or that which is indelible in human nature can imply that after the banishment from Eden and the flood its essential quality will endure. On the other hand, likeness is subject to dispersal and requires special effort to be in accord with image. After the banishment from Eden human beings find it more difficult to recover their image through their likeness.

Vs. 7 brings to a close God’s words addressed to Noah and his sons begun in vs. 1. It reiterates the four-fold divine command to increase: “be fruitful,” “multiply,” “bring forth abundantly” and “multiply.” This verse echos vs. 1 but adds bring forth abundantly or sharats; the basic meaning is “to creep,” “to crawl” and is used in 7.21: “all swarming creatures that swarm upon the earth.” Here the idea is that Noah’s descendants are to be like reptiles (the noun of this verbal root): not just reproduce but to do so almost with the blind vigor often associated with non-mammalian beings.

Vs. 8 is short, God addressing Noah and his sons; compare with vs. 1 which has God blessing them and then speaking with them through vs. 7.

Vs. 9: “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you,

Vss. 9-17 describes the covenant or beryth first noted in 6.18: “But I will establish my covenant wit you,” that is, before the flood. At that time Noah had no inkling of what this covenant would involve except the divine command to gather two pairs of every animal, etc. The promise to “establish” it occurs after the command to construct an ark, not before.

Behold (hineh): as first noted in 1.29 and often used as a kind of self-reflection on God’s part before taking action. The action in vs. 9 is present as opposed to the future: establish or qum which as noted with respect to 6.18 fundamentally means “to arise,” arise as though the covenant were in a process of continual growth.

Descendants (zereh): alternately, “seed” as in 3.15: “between your seed and her seed.” With the present use of qum as just noted, the divine covenant may be said to “rise” to these generations which lie in the future. I.e., vs. 9 has no distinction between present and future which can be reminiscent of the Garden of Eden.

The phrase “after you (Noah)” intimates the limited life span of Noah in the new creation. God’s relationship with humans from this point onwards takes place with a clear awareness of spacial and temporal limitations.

Vs. 10 is a kind of appendix to the previous one, that is, God includes under his covenant those animals which accompanied Noah in the ark. Obviously the covenant is one-way in that these animals are unaware of God’s intent; nevertheless, the notion of covenant embraces creation as a whole.

Vs. 11: I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Establish (qum): as in vs. 9; here it has a different form which better reads “cause to establish,” again, in the present tense followed by two verbs in the future. Here the covenant is two-fold by nature:

1) “all flesh” or basar which can apply to humans as well as other animate beings. They will not be cut off (karath) by flood waters or mabul, the latter first being used in 6.17; the following verse parallels the one at hand, namely, “But I will establish my covenant with you (etc.).” Qum is in the future tense before the flood occurred. A covenant is something which is “cut” and is often used with its establishment such as Ex 24.8: “Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made (‘has cut’) with you in accordance with all these words.” Thus in vs. 11 karath is negative and in the Exodus verse it is positive.

2) Destroy (shachath): as in vs. 11, “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” Both verses deal with the ‘eretz instead of ‘adamah.

Vs. 12: And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and between you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:

Note the close connection between sign (‘oth) and covenant (beryth). The latter forms the essence of a concordance between God and the earth and here is presented as being subordinate to the former. That is, the subject is not so much the covenant per se but tends to speak of it-as-sign. Keep in mind that ‘oth–which is shortly put in terms of a rainbow–often connotes an object to be seen (cf. 1.14: “let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years”). Another use with respect to beryth: “This is a sign (keeping of sabbaths) between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord sanctify you” [Ex 31.13]. In the verse at hand, God makes (natan) this ‘oth/beryth; action occurs in the present. The verb more specifically means “to give” as opposed to fabricating something. Thus action is on imparting the divine sign/covenant.

Between (beyn): used three times or with respect to “me” or God, “you” or Noah and those beings endowed with nephesh as in 1.30: “everything that has the breath of life.” There is a close connection between Noah and “every living creature,” that is, they are “with” him and thereby partake in the covenant.

The present giving (natan) of the sign/covenant is, as noted, in the present tense. However, it extends into the future or “all future (holam) generations.” Although holam has this meaning it can also refer to the distant past: “Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old” [Mic 7.14]. Thus holam starts with Noah and his family or after the flood and works from here into the future.

Vs. 13: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

Bow (qesheth): the action of setting (natan) it is also in the present tense; another use of this verb as in vs. 12, “to give.” More often than not, this sign originates in a cloud and then extends to the earth. Furthermore, a rainbow sometimes has its two bases on the earth. Keep in mind the symbolism of a cloud at Mount Sinai, as the mysterious dwelling place of God. Bow has an essentially military application; one can then ask, if there is a bow, where is the arrow? “And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few” [Is 21.17]. For a verse in line with the one at hand, cf. Ezk 1.28: “Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.” The “like” here pertains to a “human form” [vs. 26], more specifically, “the appearance of his loins” [vs. 27].

The bow is a kind of extension or the already noted sign/covenant of the previous verse. Now the verb is in the future tense, “it shall be.” Vs. 13 specifies the bow/sign/covenant as beyn God and beyn earth (‘eretz). The picture presented here may be viewed in light of the heavenly Jerusalem’s descent in Rev 21. Both are situated within the context of previous creations, the flood and “the first earth (which) had passed away” [vs. 1].

Vs. 14: When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,

“Bring clouds:” two words in Hebrew, one is a noun and the other is a verb: hanan which fundamentally means “to cover.” It also applies to the practice of witchcraft: “You shall not practice augury or witchcraft” [Lev 19.26], that is, something done under cover or in secret.

“Is seen:” as opposed to something similar to “when you see.” In Hebrew, the niphal or passive is used. With the just described covenant in mind, the bow/sign/covenant (in that order) suggests that it came on the scene or manifested itself for all to see. Similarly, the covenant was made between Noah and non-human creatures; it is therefore witnessed by all living beings.

Vs. 15: I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Vs. 14 flows directly into this one and sets the stage for divine remembering or zakar. Cf. 8.1: “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark.” There it was pointed out that zakar is the verbal root for “male,” suggesting propagation as well as the bestowal of names. In the verse at hand, God’s remembering is in the future: apparently he sees the bow which reminds him of the (bow)/sign/covenant just delineated. Thus zakar is a kind of prompting to the all-inclusive “is seen” of vs. 14 or by Noah, his descendants and all living creatures. It also spills over to that beyn or between: “me,” “you,” “every living creature;” the last is specified as consisting of “all flesh” compared with vs. 12.

Three destructive elements: waters, flood, destroy, all mentioned in vs. 11. Since the rainbow heralds rain, the descendants of Noah could be fearful in that it foretold another flood; hence the divine prohibition against a second flood.

Vs. 16: When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”

The bow’s presence in clouds hearkens back to “is seen” of vs. 14. In vs. 13 God sets it there (i.e., in the sense of giving, natan). The verse at hand can imply a more independent working of natural operations as opposed to a direct intervention by God. Still, the divine connection remains and contains a two-fold future action which God will take: “look upon” and “remember.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “will see it to remembrance.” Thus divine vision effects the zakar of vs. 15; it flows directly into zakar by use of the preposition l- (to) prefixed to this word.

Here God’s remembering with respect to the “everlasting covenant” is placed “between God” and “every living creature.” That is, God seems to utter these words independently of himself.

Vs. 17 sums up what transpired since vs. 8; establish or qum is in the past tense compared with the present of vs. 11. In the verse at hand, the sign/covenant is refined a bit: between God and all flesh; Noah and his descendants are not mentioned in this covenant, almost as though the human element were intentionally omitted.

Vs. 19: These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.

The previous verse lists the three sons of Noah as Shem, Ham and Japeth. Ham is singled out as being the father of Canaan whom Noah later (vs. 25) curses for having seen his nakedness. Note that vs. 19 has the three sons departing the ark. This going-out may be coupled with the peopling (naphats) of the ‘eretz in order to re-establish human presence on it. The fundamental meaning of naphats is “to scatter,” “to disperse;” cf. its use in 10.5: From these the coastland peoples spread.” It is used negatively in 11.8: “So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth.” From this verbal root is derived the noun cloudburst: “And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard...with a cloudburst and tempest and hailstones” [Is 30.30]. With this alternate use, the “peopling” of the ‘eretz may be viewed as an inverse flood, that is, one of human beings.

Vs. 20: Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard;

For a background to this verse, cf. 5.29: (Lamach) “called his name Noah, saying, ‘Out of the ground which the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.’” Cain was a “tiller (hoved) of the ground (‘adamah) and was responsible for murdering his brother Abel. Similarly, Noah cultivated the ‘adamah but it is the ‘adamah after the flood. The Hebrew text lacks “tiller;” instead, it reads, “Noah began (chalal) a man the soil.” The notion behind this verb is piercing, opening, as if to signify that Noah perforated the ‘adamah as virgin territory after the flood. Compare with God compelling Adam to work the ‘adamah from which he had been taken (cf. 3.17-9).

The first act of Noah was to plant a vineyard or karem which may be paralleled with 2.8: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden.” Note the same verb (natan, to plant); Noah plants a vineyard for making wine; God plants a garden which may or may not include a vineyard. “My vineyard, my very own, is for myself” [Sg 8.12].

Vs. 21: and he drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

This is the first mention of wine (yayn), the natural product of the vineyard. Nothing is said of Noah’s ability with respect to husbandry, just that the immediate effect or abuse of wine which made him drunk (shakar). “And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine” [Is 51.26].

While in his drunken stupor Noah laid uncovered (galah) in his tent; this verb suggests nakedness, the removal of a cover: “He has taken away the covering of Judah” [is 22.8]. Compare with the nakedness of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden: “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” [2.25]. There the verb harom is used which as noted, suggests craftiness.

Noah laying naked in his tent may be compared with the garments God made for Adam and Eve just prior to their expulsion from Eden in 3.21; the latter, in turn, contrast with those Adam and Eve made for themselves in 3.7 to conceal their nakedness from God’s sight.

Vs. 22: And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.

Even when Ham is singled out as being the “father of Canaan” in vs. 18, it portends his curse as delineated there with respect to vs. 25. Thus Canaan, while associated with sexual perversions (cf. Lev 18.24-30) in the context of Ham’s curse by Noah, is also the future inheritance of Israel after the Exodus: “I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they dwelt as sojourners (reference to Gen 17.8)” [Ex 6.4].

Nakedness (herwah): from the root harah; compare with harom noted in vs. 22, i.e., 2.25. This noun connotes dishonor as in Is 20.4: “So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians captives and the Ethiopians exiles...naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.” For a reference close to the meaning of the verse at hand: “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman...to the shame of your mother’s nakedness” [1 Sam 20.30]?

The father of Canaan told his brothers about Noah’s nakedness/shame. Ham did so “outside;” He could have been in the same tent with his father or passed by and then entered.

Vs. 23: Then Shem and Japeth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

Apparently Ham, the father of Canaan, did not participate in this gesture by his two brothers. Another reference to garment or salmah is Mic 2.8: “but you rise against my people as an enemy; you strip the robe from the peaceful.” Compare with the gesture noted in Rt 3.9: “Spread your skirt over your maidservant, for you are next of kin.”

Both this walking backwards and turning away of face represents shame and respect for Noah’s condition. It is not entirely unlike the human response to God’s presence, fore example, when Moses first encounter God: “And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God” [Ex 3.6].

Vs. 24 posits a unity between Noah awaking (yaqats) and knowing (yadah) from his drunken stupor. With regard to the former verb, compare its use in Gen 28.16: “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’”

Vss. 25-7 contain a curse and a blessing by Noah upon his three sons which may be outlined as follows:

-Canaan or Ham; Noah addresses or curses him as a nation as opposed to his name Ham. Cursed or ‘arar as in 8.21: “I will never again curse the ground because of man.” The form of this curse is that Canaan/Ham will be a “slave (heved) of slaves” to his two brothers, Shem and Japeth, or be at the very bottom of the social status. The context may be summed up by Lev 18.30: “So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs...and never to defile yourselves by them.”

-Blessed (baruk): from the verbal root barak, here with respect to Shem. The Hebrew text reads, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem.”

-Enlarge (patah): in the sense of spreading; also means “to persuade” in the sense of flattery: “But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues” [Ps 78.36]. Note the connection between patah and the proper name Japheth, Yepheth. Noah desires that he live (shakan) “in the tents of Shem” or to maintain a relationship with him. For another reference with this verb: “He will dwell on the heights” [Is 33.16]. Noah also desires that Canaan/Ham be subjected as a slave to his two brothers as noted in vss. 26-7.

Chapter Nine concludes with a statement of Noah’s longevity, 950 years, 350 of which were after the flood. This last mention of “flood” sets the stage for

 Chapter Ten’s detailed description of the descendants of Noah’s three sons, thereby setting the stage for the development of history “after the flood” [10.1].

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Chapter Ten

This chapter follows a genealogical table of peoples grouped more according to their historic and geographic contexts than according to their ethnic affinities. Words typical throughout are “sons,” “lands,” “language,” “father,” “land,” “city,” “territory,” “families” and “nations.” The very last verse (32) sums up this pattern: “These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.” Not the connection between the nine (masculine) terms and spread abroad (parad); this verb is used in 2.10: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.” For another use of parad, cf. Ps 92.9: “For, lo, your enemies, O Lord, for, lo, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.”

As at the beginning of this chapter the end concludes with the words “after the flood” which sets the stage for the tower of Babel and genealogies of Abraham.

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Chapter Eleven

Vs. 1: Now the whole earth had one language and few words.

Despite the detailed genealogies of Chapter Ten, these various groupings were united as far as language goes. To demonstrate this unity, note the similarity between whole earth (kal-‘eretz) and one language (saphah ‘echath). To counter this unity, cf. the following references in the previous chapter (10): “These are the sons of Japheth in their lands, each with his own language” [vs. 5]; These are the sons of Ham, by their families, their languages” [vs. 20]; “These are the sons of Shem, by their families, their languages” [vs. 31]. Here is the first mention of language (lashon) in accord with Noah’s three sons. This term also means “tongue, “speech:” “A people of foreign speech (lashon) and hard tongue” [Ezk 3.5]. Saphah as used in 11.1 can mean “lip:” “But oh, that God would speak, and open his lips to you” [Job 11.5].

“Few words:” the adjective ‘echad which basically means “first,” “one;” the latter is used in 1.5: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day (or ‘day one’).”

The primeval unity of speech is soon to be lost; Christian tradition sees a recovery of this unity of speech in the Holy Spirit’s decent at Pentecost:” And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language” [Acts 2.8]? Also cf. Rev 7.9-10: “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb...crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb!’”

Vs. 2: And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

East (qedem): this direction is first mentioned in 2.8: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east.” Also, it was the side of Eden from which God banished the man: “He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim (etc.).” Perhaps this migration...it took place after the flood when Eden was destroyed...can be taken as a sign of the innate human tendency to reside as close to paradise lost as possible.

Migrated (nasah): fundamentally, “to pull up” in the sense of breaking camp; it thus suggests temporary living as opposed to a permanent residence and here describes that movement from the east. I.e., people after the flood had been “camped” in the east and spread out to the three other cardinal points. “Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor” [35.16].

Plain (biqhah): from a verbal root meaning “to cleave” and hence, something lying in between two mountains or hills; it can also apply to a valley. “I will open rivers on the bare heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys” [Is 41.18]. In the verse at hand, biqhah is associated with the “land of Shinar” or Babylon; cf. 10.10: “The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech and Aaccad, all of them in the land of Shinar.” Reference here is to Nimrod, “the first on earth to be a mighty man” [10.8].

Settled (yashav): the opposite of nasah. Perhaps Shinar/Babylon was an approximation of the Garden of Eden even if dimly perceived. Note that 2.14 has one of the four branches of the river that flowed from Eden as the Euphrates (cf. 2.14), this area which had been chosen and can bridge the connection with Eden.

Vs. 3: And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar.

“To one another” is literally expressed in the Hebrew text as “They said man to his neighbor” which signifies spontaneity or unity at the task about to be accomplished.

The exclamation “Come” signals that the migrants have reached a place to settle down permanently. This permanence is expressed by the elements necessary for constructing a building, bricks and mortar. Vs. 3 may be paralleled with the hard labor imposed upon the Israelites by the Egyptians in order to construct their buildings: “and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick and in all kinds of work in the field; in all their work they made them serve with rigor” [Ex 1.14]. In contrast to this slave labor, the “Come” of vs. 3 represents free service.

Vs. 4: Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

A continuation of the previous verse with another exhortation the newly arrived migrants expressed among each other, “Come.”

Now that these people had bricks and mortar available they set about the task of building a city and tower; the Hebrew reads, “let us build to ourselves” which further expresses the desire for a permanent dwelling place. This is the third mention in Genesis of a city, the first associated with Enoch (cf. 4.17) and the second (10.11): “(Nimrod) built Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is, the great city.”

Tower (migdal): a structure erected along with the city, most likely in its center. This term is often used with regard to fortified cities and castles as well as a watchtower. “He built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed out a wine vat in it” [Is 5.2].

Top (ro’sh): in the fundamental sense of “head” which extends into the heavens; the very first verse of Genesis has God making the heavens and the earth. Thus the heavens to can represent the attempt not so much to reach God by human means but the extreme or highest point of his creation. The plural “heavens” may be contrasted with the singular “heaven,” often used to denote God’s dwelling: “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision” [Ps 2.4]...a verse which easily applies to the one under consideration.

The construction of this city and tower has a two-fold purpose:

1) to obtain renown or “name:” “Children and the building of a city establish a man’s name, but a blameless wife is accounted better than both” [Sir 40.19].

2) to prevent the new migrants from reverting back to their nomadic way of life, that is, to avert being scattered (puts). Compare the use of this verb with 9.19: “These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.”

Vs. 5: And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

Came down (yarad): in the sense of making a descent; cf. Ex 3.8 for a parallel sense and with the same verse: “and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land.” Both verses may be related to 3.8: “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Here there is no divine descent; God is on the same horizontal plane, as it were, with Adam and Eve. Yarad suggests a greater distance from the human race; it is interesting to keep this verb in mind with regard to the upward-reaching tower which militates against the divine yarad.

“To see,” an action by God after his descent; it is as though God were walking through the city on the same level with it and gazing up at the tower which he perceived as an affront to his divinity.

“Sons of men:” as opposed to plain “men” as in vs. 2; “sons” intimates the earthly origins of the human race in comparison with God’s descent.

Vs. 6: And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

The opening words of this verb may be seen as God speaking to himself, a biblical way of expression internal self-reflection in an outward fashion. Behold or hen thus serves to introduce this divine reflection by way of exclamation.

One (‘echad): as in “few words” of vs. 1 and the reference to 1.5 as to a fuller sense of this adjective. In the verse at hand, ‘echad is used with “people one” and “language one;” cf. vs. 1 for lashon or language.

Beginning (chalal): a verb is used here which reads in the Hebrew text, “this they began to do;” past tense in reference to the construction of a city and tower. Cf. 9.20 which uses chalal: “Noah was the first (i.e., ‘began’) tiller of the soil.”

Propose (zamam): connotes murmuring, of proposing in an (often) negative sense: “The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him” [Ps 37.12]. Zamam is bound up with the something difficult or impossible to effect (bastar) as in Job 42.2 which follows the same structure but in a different sense: “I know that you (God) can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Vs. 7: Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

The conclusion of God’s address or self-reflection. Here we have the third and final “come:” 1) vs. 3 where men propose to make bricks; 2) vs. 4 where they propose to construct a city and tower and 3) the verse at hand.

Note that vs. 5 already has the Lord having come down and as present within the city. Vs. 7 continues this theme, as though he had returned to his own dwelling and returns again. “Let us” parallels that creative burst of 1.26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Also cf. 18.21 which is more pertinent to the sentiment of the verse at hand: “I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.”

Confuse (balal): fundamentally, “to swallow down,” “to devour.” “You will not let me alone while I swallow down my spittle” [Job 7.19]. Balal also means to destroy as in Ps 21.10: “You will destroy their offspring from the earth and their children from among the sons of men.”

The object of balal is “their language” or saphah which was one, ‘echad (vs. 1). In a broader sense, this verb is the exact opposite of the harmonizing principle expressed through the adjective; it creates, as it were a flood, of languages after the flood of water from which Noah and his family had recently emerged.

Understand (shamah): literally, “to hear.” Contrast this with the positive sense of hearing as in Dt 3.4, “Hear therefore, O Israel, the Lord our God is one (‘echad) Lord.” The about to be effected confusion is enhanced by the literal Hebrew text which reads, “not hear man the language of his neighbor.” I.e., the confusion is close and personal by this intimate form of human relationship.

Speech: another used of saphah; compare with “language” of vs. 1.

Vs. 8: So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

Scattered (puts): a verb with the same intent as “confuse” and “not understand” of vs. 7. Puts brings to fulfillment of the people’s fear which obliged them to build the city and tower, vs. 4: “lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” For another reference: “Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered” [Zech 13.7].

“From there” or the city and tower–two centers of unity and language–which are contrasted with “face of all the earth.”

The verse at hand says that the people ceased construction of the city; no mention is made of the tower (migdal) but may be implied by the verb left off or chadal since both rhyme. “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-Gilead, or shall I forbear” [1 Kg 22.6]?

The preposition l- (to) prefixed to the verb “to build” heightens the sense of disruption with regard to constructing the city.

Vs. 9: Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Babel: the city’s name, not necessarily applied to the tower. When people migrated to the land of Shinar (vs. 1) they did not give a name to their city. The RSV says that Babel is interpreted as “gate of God” and became synonymous with the confusion of language (vs. 7, balal).

Contrast “(language) of all the earth” with “face of all the earth,” the latter being the place to which the Lord scattered (puts again) the builders of the city and tower. “Through Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strong height, yet destroyers would come from me upon her, says the Lord” [Jer 51.53]. Also, “So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and shall be found no more” [Rev 18.21].

Contrast this scattering with the divine injunction given to Noah and his sons right after the flood: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

Despite the scattering of people with one language, there is not mention that the city and tower are destroyed.

The remaining verses of Chapter Eleven (10-32) present the descendants (toldoth; cf. 6.9 regarding Noah) of Shem. Noah blessed Shem as well as his brother Japheth (cf. 9.26-7); the latter is implied as being submissive to the former: “and let him dwell in the tents of Shem.” People descended from all three Noah’s sons began with tents as the sole means of habitation and had “one language and few words” noted in 11.1. Then upon destruction of the city of Babel, people were scattered and presumably dwelt in tents again. On the other hand, Ham or Canaan was cursed (cf. 9.25) and became a slave to Shem and Japheth; Ham’s descendants were ultimately responsible for founding Babel (cf. 10.10) which may intimate the eventual scattering of people from that city.

On the positive side, the genealogy of vss. 10-32 focuses upon Shem’s descendants which narrows down to Terah’s three sons (vs. 26) and hence to Abram (vs. 27) who is later described as migrating from his homeland and living in tents, again, in contrast to the city of Babel and his sojourn in Egypt (cf. 12.10-20).

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Chapter Twelve

Vs. 1: Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

The call of Abram occurs after the extended genealogy of Shem begun in 11.10, the third genealogy after the flood as well as the dispersion after the confusion of tongues at Babel. God’s address to Abram continues through vs. 3.

Said-go (lek-leka): note the play on words, literally, “go to you,” indicating a specific form of departure.

This verse may be viewed in light of 11.31: “Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan.” The command of God to Abram involves a three-fold departure which starts from a general area to a more specific household:

1) from Abram’s country or ’eretz.

2) from Abram’s kindred or moledeth: from the verbal root yadah (to give birth) and signifies origin as in Est 2.10: “Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had charged her not to make it known.”

3) from the house of Abram’s father who is Terah (cf. 11.27).

The place of migration is an ‘eretz which God will show to Abram, ra’ah, the common verb “to see.” Two pertinent verses concerning the one at hand: 1) “Wisdom also...recognized the righteous man and preserved him blameless before God” [Wisd 10.5]. 2) “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go” [Heb 11.8].

Thus vs. 1 may be outlined as: said->go->show. Abram can get a handle on the first two but the third...of seeing...remains to be demonstrated.

Vs. 2: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

This verse contains three future promises by God with a result; contrast with the forced exile of the man from the Garden of Eden (“He drove out the man,” 3.24). Vs. 2 may be outlined as follows:

1) “great nation (goy):” the common term for any grouping of people; goy is often contrasted with the nation of Israel: “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations” [Is 42.6]: words echoed in Lk 2.32: “A light for revelation to the Gentiles (i.e., the goy) and for glory to your people Israel.”

2) bless (barak): “So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith” [Gal 3.9].

3) name (shem): as inferred by Heb 11.12: “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

The result of all future divine promises is directed for the purpose of making Abram a blessing or berakah. “May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings which God gave to Abraham” [28.4]!

Vs. 3: I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”

Bless (barak) and curse (qalal): two opposite states which show the close identification between God and Abram. Cf. 8.21 for use of the latter: “I will never again curse the ground because of man.” Compare qalal in both cases with the verb ‘arar (which connotes the casting of a spell) as used in 3.14: “Cursed (the serpent) are you above all cattle and above all wild animals.”

The close connection between bless and curse applies to Abram and “him who curses you.” Note that the second half of vs. 3 mentions families or mishpachah as in 10.5: “each with his own language, by their families, in their nations.” This term can mean “tribe” and pertains to a smaller grouping of people (family in the extended sense) as opposed to a nation. Here the fate of being cursed does not seem to apply.

Barak as related to families reads in the Hebrew text, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” which mirrors of God’s (active) blessing of Abram. Note the connection between “families” and earth or ‘adamah, i.e., not ‘eretz.

Vs. 4: So Abram went as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

After God’s address in vss. 1-3, Abram follows up on the words “Go from your country->kindred->father’s house.” I.e., here we have two verses in harmony: 1) between the halak of vs. 1 and the halak of the verse at hand. 2) between that “the Lord said (‘amar)” and the told (davar) of the present one. The former involves “saying” and the latter, “speaking” which is more direct. Thus Abram perceives a unity between going and speaking or halak/davar.

Lot is first mentioned in 11.27: “Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.” Lot is thus singled out along with Abram and remains secondary to the divine call. “And if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the wicked” [2 Pt 2.7].

The advanced age of seventy-five–although considerably less than the post-flood generations–highlights the obedience of Abram to leave his country, kindred and father’s house (cf. vs. 1). His point of departure is Haran, the same name applied to Abram’s father as mentioned in the last paragraph.

The departure of Abram described in vs. 5 may be paralleled with Noah’s preparation for his departure or entrance into the ark (“you, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you,” 6.18). It is outlined as follows:

-Abram took Sarai his wife as well as Lot. Note that vs. 5 says he took Lot; vs. 4 says that “Lot went with him.”

-possessions (rekush, vs. 5): in the sense of “substance,” “wealth.” “Passover offerings for all that were present, lambs and kids from the flock to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s possessions” [2 Chron 35.7].

-gathered (rachash): the verbal root for rekush, possessions. The only other biblical references are 31.18, 36.6 and 46.6. Also people obtained in Haran, most likely slaves, are the object of this verb.

-Canaan: the destination of Abram, Lot and Sarai along with people from Haran, keeping in mind obedience to the divine summons of vs. 1. Canaan is first mentioned as a person in 8.18 (“Ham was the father of Canaan”); 12.5 first states this word as a place in 11.31 (“and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan”). Although Abram complied with God’s summons, these earlier references to Canaan show that the collective journey was not to an unfamiliar place but one rooted in the wanderings of Abram’s family. Thus “the land that I will show you” of vs. 1 is one that had already been shown to Abram, if it may be put this way.

Vs. 6: Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

Passed through (havar): also implies the sense of going beyond a given place or one in which a person is situated. The Hebrew text literally reads, “passed through in (b-) the land,” use of this preposition can signify that Abram accomplished his havar within this broader context.

Although God’s original command to Abram to forsake his native land lacked specific direction yet involved familiar territory as noted in the last section, his destination here is more explicit or two-fold:

-Shechem: cf. 33.18: “And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan.” Note that vs. 20 reads that “There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel” which translates as “God, the God of Israel.” Jacob built this altar after his reconciliation with his brother Esau. Sheckem is also found in Chapter Nine of Judges: “Abimelech, Gideon’s half-Canaanite son, went there in an attempt to usurp kingship over Israel. “God has spoken in his sanctuary: ‘With exultation I will divine up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth” [Ps 69.6]. In the verse at hand, Shechem is specified even further as a place or maqom which alternately means “town,” “village.” “Will you then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it” [18.24]?

-“oak of Moreh (‘elon):” for another reference, cf. Dt 11.30: “Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh?” Reference here is to the blessing and curse of vs. 26.

-at that time (‘az): Used to introduce the second sentence contained in vs. 6, that is, with respect to the Canaanites whom Israel later dispossessed. Refer back to Noah’s curse of Canaan in 9.25. The presence of these people among whom Abram and his extended family migrated suggests danger and impending conflict.

Vs. 7: Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him.

Appeared (ra’ah): use of the common verb “to see.” Compare with vs. 1 which says that the Lord spoke to Abram; i.e., here in the land of Canaan the Lord first appears to him which is followed by a speaking (“said”).

The Lord’s words to Abram do not concern Abram himself but his descendants or zereh which as noted in 3.15 means “seed.” Compare with Moses who did not enter the Promised Land but viewed it from afar: “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants’” [Dt 34.4].

Altar (mizbeach): this is the second mention of the term in Genesis, the first being in 8.20: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord...and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” Nothing is said about sacrifices made here, simply that Abram erected the altar which could be taken as a memorial.

There (sham): a word meaning that which is specific and can refer to the oak of Moreh. Contrast it with ‘az of vs. 6 (at that time), another word of specification or when Canaanites were in the land.

Appeared (ra’ah) the second use of this verb in the same sentence. There is a close connection between Abram’s response to the Lord’s appearance (which re-enforces his willingness to follow divine summons) and his awareness that possession of Canaan lies not with him in the present but in the future. Again, cf. Jacob’s altar at Shechem (33.18) noted under vs. 6.

Vs. 8: Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

Removed (hataq): also connotes a setting free, obtaining freedom. “Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast” [Is 28.9]. As noted in vs. 2, east is associated with the Garden of Eden, of dwelling as closely as possibly to its realization. In the verse at hand, the actual removal suggests the pulling up tents and heading eastward. “Thence” is Shechem and the oak of Moreh of vs. 6.

Bethel translates as “House of God” and by reason of its name shares in some of that symbolism of the east. Bethel is further specified as where Abram pitched his tent, i.e., “with Bethel” or akin to being as close to the Garden of Eden as possible.

Ai figures later in Joshua 7-8 with respect to the sin of Achan. After his victory over this city, Joshua “built an altar in Mount Eval to the Lord, the God of Israel” [8.30]. Construction of this altar may be paralleled with Abram doing the same in the verse at hand, as if he foresaw victory over Ai.

Name (shem): note the Hebrew text which literally reads, “called in (b-) the name of the Lord.”

The length of time Abram remains in this area is not stated. Perhaps his building of the altar is necessary for him to retain the original divine command of vs. 1, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house.”

Vss. 9-20 or to the conclusion of Chapter Twelve tells of an incident in Egypt with Abram’s wife Sarai. Before actually going there (which may be a kind of foretelling of Israel’s descent in chapter 46), Abram journeyed to the Negeb. Then a famine compels Abram to enter; compare with Joseph’s brothers who went to Egypt to purchase bread (cf. 42.1+).

Vs. 17: The Lord afflicts (nagah) Pharaoh, a verb which fundamentally means “to touch,” “to reach.” With this in mind, it is as though God actually reached out and touched Pharaoh or tormented him with plagues. “Saul also went to his home at Gibeah and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched” [1 Sam 10.26]. For a reference closely akin to the verse at hand, cf. Ex 11.1: “Yet one plague (negeph) more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt,” namely, the death of the firstborn.

Chapter Twelve continues with Pharaoh sending Abram and his wife Sarai on their way which may be taken as in line with this chapter’s first verse, God’s summons that Abram leave his native place.

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Chapter Thirteen

Vs 1: The last verse of the last chapter has Pharaoh sending Abram and his family away, most likely to the border area of Egypt, for the verse at hand says that he “went up from Egypt” to the Negeb. According to 12.9, Abram journeyed to the Negeb after he built an altar to the Lord and called upon his name. Compare with the forced departure of Israel later on in Ex 12.31: “And he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, ‘Rise up, go forth from among my people, both you and the people of Israel.’”

Vs. 2: Abram is rich (kaved): the verb kavad is used here from which is derived kavod or glory, a term applied to the presence of God. The fundamental meaning is “to be heavy” in the sense of being weighted down. In the verse at hand, Abram is not simply rich but very much so, me’od, a term which means anything to excess. “The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends” [Prov 14.20].

The wealth consists in cattle, silver and gold. Most likely Abram acquired these possessions in Egypt, in a sense, a foreshadowing of Israel’s despoiling of that country: “For they had asked of the Egyptians jewelry of silver and of gold and clothing” [Ex 12.35].

Vs. 3: As in 12.9, no mention is made of Abram staying for an extended period in the Negeb. He continues to retrace his steps back from Egypt to Bethel or the House of God as though the altar of 12.8 were summoning him through all his journeys down and up from Egypt.

-Beginning (techilah): “I will restore your judges as at the first and your counselors as at the beginning” [Is 1.26]. Note this word’s association with maqom (place) and tent (‘ohel); it is interesting that Abram returns from Egypt, distinguished for its large, stable buildings in preference for the impermanence of dwelling in a tent. After all, Abram was returning to the altar he had constructed before descending into Egypt.

Vs. 4: Mention of the altar or mizbeach (12.7) which Abram erected “at the beginning” (ri’shon). Reference is to just before Abram’s descent, but this phrase is interesting in that it suggests a kind of pre-Exodus descent into Egypt and a desire to recover such a beginning. After all, this beginning is where Abram “called on the name of the Lord” [vs. 4].

Vss. 5-7 speaks of the combined wealth of both Lot (the ancestor of Moab) and Abram, so much that “the land could not support them” which literally reads, “not raise them to dwell together.” The verb yashav (support) suggests that the land or Bethel was too confining for their large herds.

-The strife or ryv is not so much between Abram and Lot but between t