The Old Testament
A Historical, Theological, and Critical Introduction
Chapter
1. Genesis
Bible Reading Guide
- How is creation described?
- What are the man’s first words?
- Who/what is cursed?
- Why is Lamech avenged?
- What blessing is given by Lamech to Noah?
- What caused the flood?
- How deeply did the waters cover the earth?
- What bird(s) did Noah send out of the ark?
- What was the content of God’s promise to Noah?
- Who was Nimrod?
- Why did God confuse the languages?
- How did Abram describe his wife to the pharaoh?
- Why did Abram and Lot part?
- To what did Abram respond by giving a tenth of everything?
- What were the boundaries of God’s gift of land?
- What did the angel promise Hagar?
- What sign of the covenant is instituted in Genesis 17?
- What was the lowest number of righteous that Abraham reached in his bargain with God?
- How does Zoar reckon in the story of Lot’s escape from Sodom?
- What did God say to Abimelech in a dream?
- With what did Sarah associate the name of Isaac?
- How does God provide for the burnt offering?
- How much did Abram pay for Sarah’s burial plot?
- What was the first thing that Abraham’s servant did when arriving at Nahor?
- How did Esau sell his birthright?
- How many new wells did Isaac and his servants dig?
- Where was Esau when Isaac blessed Jacob?
- What did Jacob promise God?
- To which of Laban’s daughters was Jacob first married?
- What did Rachel obtain from Leah as a means to have children?
- What did Rachel take from her father when Jacob fled?
- Why did God call the name of a place Peniel?
- What topic did Jacob and Esau discuss?
- Why did Jacob’s sons slaughter the citizens of Shechem?
- What happened at Benjamin’s birth?
- What was Esau’s other name?
- What was Reuben’s recommendation?
- Why did Judah say, “She is more righteous than I”?
- What happened in Potiphar’s house?
- Whose death did Joseph predict from a dream?
- About what was the pharaoh’s dream?
- What did the brothers need to do to convince Joseph that they were honest?
- What did Joseph’s brothers take for the second visit to Egypt?
- Why did Joseph demand Benjamin’s life as a slave?
- Why did Joseph forgive his brothers?
- What did God promise Jacob at Beersheba?
- What happened to the Egyptians under Joseph’s leadership?
- Which son of Joseph did Jacob give the preference in his blessing?
- Who is described as a fruitful vine?
- Why did Joseph return to Canaan?
Study Questions
- What is the meaning of “Genesis”?
- Where does the second major section of Genesis begin?
- How does Jacob become Israel?
- What sort of a figure is Joseph?
- How many sources to the Pentateuch did Wellhausen hypothesize?
- What is the circular reasoning that occurs in the Documentary Hypothesis?
- Following Alt’s theory, in The God of the Fathers, name some tribal “gods. ”
- The two creation stories parallel what in the early chapters of Genesis?
- What does the name of Noah resemble?
- What does Joseph’s rise to second in command of Egypt exemplify?
- What is the reason for the flood in the Atrahasis Epic?
- What part of Genesis identifies all peoples of the known world as equal before God?
- How does the Sumerian King List describe the long-lived antediluvians?
- From what independent countries are armies threatening in Mari and Genesis 14?
- Which person in Genesis appears most frequently in the rest of the Bible?
- What does the goodness of God affirm in creation?
- What does the garden of Eden anticipate?
- What do Abram’s life in a foreign land and Jacob’s time at Laban’s home teach?
- If Abraham teaches faith and Jacob hope, what does Joseph teach?