A visual Journey into the Bible The Book of Genesis

A Visual Journey into the Bible Page: 4
Introduction
The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible, of the Old Testament. It starts
explaining the creation of the universe, as we know it. Adam and Eve were the first
humans but they were deceived into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. God had
forbidden touching this tree that he had planted in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
The act brought the first humans’ fall, their expulsion from paradise. Hence they
would be mortals and from then on starts the history of the human race as explained
by the tradition of the Hebrew people. Here as stories as told over centuries by
wandering poets and tellers, who recall the old tales over campfire in the evening.
These stories form the tradition of a people that cared about its origins, its history and
that was avid for explanations of why the world was as they perceived. Why were
there humans, why were humans mortal, why were there languages and different
kinds of people Venerated stories were repeated and accepted as universal truths by
generations.
Genesis talks about the brother feud between Cain and Abel and of the birth of Seth,
last son to Adam and Eve. The descendants of Cain and of Seth are enumerated in an
attempt to explain the various people in the known world of the Hebrews. The
enumeration goes until the flood came. The story of the great flood that destroyed the
world is Noah’s story. Noah was the only to survive in the arch with his family and a
small selection of all the animals. These stories have reverberations far into the
memories of the people of the Tigris and Euphrates region.
With Noah the Book of Genesis tells of the first covenant of God with humans.
Yahweh promised to Noah, the just, never to flood the earth again and as a sign of the
covenant he drew the rainbow in the skies. The chapter on Noah contains again an
enumeration of descendants. Now the list includes potentates and kings of the lands.
One of these built the tower of Babel. God destroyed the tower because he saw that
humans could do anything they put their mind to. But God created confusion by
inventing the different languages. The tale of the tower of Babel is a masterpiece of
folklore explanation of the existence of various languages. This was but one
explanation of a puzzling fact of life. How many other tales of observation by the
people on the strangeness and diversity of their world were lost
One feels that the stories of the Book of Genesis try to explain anomalies of the
world. Why was Egypt a land ruled by only one king Joseph’s story explains in
Hebrew terms and in Hebrew origins the united state. There was a famine in Egypt
but Pharaoh through Joseph was prepared for it. Joseph gave food for money. When
the money was gone he gave food for livestock and then land for grain and cattle.
Thus, the whole country came into Pharaoh’s possession and Egypt became the land
of one king, contrary to the political organisation of the Mesopotamian city-states
with its various peoples living in the lands of Euphrates and Tigris where also the
Hebrews originated. Only the lands of the priests did not go to Pharaoh. Was it priests
that wrote the Book of Genesis Other narratives tried to explain the diversity of the
races that lived in the land of the Hebrews. The existence of two major races in
Canaan was explained as the descendants of Isaac. Jacob became Israel and the Arabs
Copyright ©: René Dewil Date: October, 24 2000