A stab at discerning a pattern in the Genesis toledoth sections: Creation, 1:1-2:3 1. Generations of heaven and earth, 2:4-4:26 (beginnings, along with fall in Eden and Cain’s fratricide) 2. Generations of Adam, 5:1-6:8 (genealogy with ages) 3. Generations of Noah, 6:9-9:29 (lengthy narrative) (New Creation, 8:1-9:29; see below) (more…) Read more
Genesis 10 is a fascinating passage, full of tantalizing tidbits of ancient history and of intersections between the biblical record and ancient mythology and history. Japhet is the Hebrew equivalent of Iapetus, one of the Titans in Homer and Hesiod, son of Ouranos and Gaia. One of Japhet’s sons is “Javan,” a clear link to “Ion,” as in “Ionian” Greeks, and Javan begets Dodanim, another Greek term. Later in the passage, we read about Nimrod and the founding of Babel... Read more
Cain’s descendants build cities, develop metallurgy and music, tame flocks. Seth’s descendants have nothing but dates and numbers. That is to say: Cain has all the stuff, but time belongs to Seth. Read more
Here’s a sketchy, general structural analysis of Genesis 4. A. Adam knows Eve, vv 1-2 (Cain born/Abel born//Abel flocks/Cain ground) B. Cain and Abel, vv 3-16 C. Cain knows wife, v 17-18 B’. Lamech, vv 19-24 A’. Adam knows Eve, vv 25-26 B breaks down as follows: (more…) Read more
In a long and penetrating review of Martin Amis’s The Pregnant Widow in a recent issue of TNR (July 22). It’s more a review of Amis’s entire career and corpus, and along the way William Deresiewicz borrows a distinction from Michael Wood between “style” and “signature” to isolate what is wrong with much of Amis’s fiction. “Signature announces the author’s presence. Style, Wood says, ‘is something more secretive . . . a reflection of luck or grace, or of a... Read more
INTRODUCTION Is the Reformation dead? Leading Protestants have asked the question in recent years, and other leading Protestants have answered the question by converting to Rome or Orthodoxy. We believe the answer is No. On the other hand: Living things grow and change. THE TEXT “When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they... Read more
Exodus 12:25-27: It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, What do you mean by this service? that you shall say, It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households. Many in the... Read more
In response to my earlier post about Walsh’s analysis of Abram’s exodus in Genesis 12, a friend, Kelly Kerr, sent along the following outline of Gen. 12:4-13:18: A. a1. Abram departs Haran (12:4) a2. Abram, Lot, and all their possessions and people acquired while in Haran (12:5a) a3. Abram passes through Canaan (12:5b-6a) a4. Abram came to Shechem, to the oak of Moreh (12:6b) a5. Yahweh speaks to Abram concerning the land (12:7a) a6. Abram builds an altar at Shechem (12:7b)... Read more
In response to my earlier post about Walsh’s analysis of Abram’s exodus in Genesis 12, a friend, Kelly Kerr, sent along the following outline of Gen. 12:4-13:18: A. a1. Abram departs Haran (12:4) a2. Abram, Lot, and all their possessions and people acquired while in Haran (12:5a) a3. Abram passes through Canaan (12:5b-6a) a4. Abram came to Shechem, to the oak of Moreh (12:6b) a5. Yahweh speaks to Abram concerning the land (12:7a) a6. Abram builds an altar at Shechem (12:7b)... Read more
In one of his entries in Diary of a Writer , Dostoevsky makes this observation about talent: “almost all talented people have a bit of the poet in them, after all – even carpenters, if they are talented. Poetry is, so to say, the inner fire of every talent.” Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In