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This page intentionally left blank
 the theology of the book of genesis

The book of Genesis contains foundational material for Jewish and Chris-
tian theology, both historic and contemporary, and is almost certainly
the most consulted book in the Old Testament in contemporary culture.
R. W. L. Moberly’s The Theology of the Book of Genesis examines the actual
use made of Genesis in current debates, not only in academic but also
in popular contexts. Traditional issues such as creation and Fall stand
alongside more recent issues such as religious violence and Christian
Zionism. Moberly’s concern – elucidated through a combination of close
readings and discussions of hermeneutical principles – is to uncover what
constitutes intelligent understanding and use of Genesis, through a con-
sideration of its intrinsic meaning as an ancient text (in both Hebrew and
Greek versions) in dialogue with its reception and appropriation both
past and present. Moberly seeks to enable responsible theological aware-
ness and use of the ancient text today, highlighting Genesis’s enduring
significance.

R. W. L. Moberly is Professor of Theology and Biblical Interpretation at

Durham University. He is also the author of Prophecy and Discernment
and The Bible, Theology, and Faith. His writings have appeared in schol-
arly journals such as Vetus Testamentum, Journal of Theological Studies,
Harvard Theological Review, and Journal of Theological Interpretation.
 old testament theology

general editors
Brent A. Strawn,
Associate Professor of Old Testament,
Candler School of Theology, Emory University
Patrick D. Miller,
Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology, Emeritus,
Princeton Theological Seminary

This series aims to remedy the deficiency of available published material

on the theological concerns of the Old Testament books. Here, specialists
explore the theological richness of a given book at greater length than
is usually possible in the introductions to commentaries or as part of
other Old Testament theologies. They are also able to investigate the
theological themes and issues of their chosen books without being tied to
a commentary format or to a thematic structure provided from elsewhere.
When complete, the series will cover all the Old Testament writings and
will thus provide an attractive, and timely, range of short texts around
which courses can be developed.

published volumes
The Theology of the Book of Jeremiah, Walter Brueggemann

forthcoming volumes
The Theology of the Book of Exodus, Dennis T. Olson
The Theology of the Book of Leviticus, Brent A. Strawn
The Theology of the Book of Judges, Joel S. Kaminsky
The Theology of the Book of Psalms, Patrick D. Miller
The Theology of the Book of Ecclesiastes, J. Gerald Janzen
The Theology of the Book of Daniel, Anathea Portier-Young
The Theology of the Book of Hosea, Christine Roy Yoder
The Theology of the Book of Amos, John Barton
THE THEOLOGY OF THE
BOOK OF GENESIS

r. w. l. moberly
University of Durham
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo

Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521866316
© R. W. L. Moberly 2009

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the

provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part
may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2009

ISBN-13 978-0-511-54027-1 eBook (EBL)

ISBN-13 978-0-521-86631-6 hardback

ISBN-13 978-0-521-68538-2 paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy

of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Information regarding prices, travel timetables, and other factual information
given in this work are correct at the time of first printing, but Cambridge
University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter.
 For Jenny,
celebrating ten years


 Contents

General Editors’ Preface page xv

Preface xix
List of Abbreviations xxiii

1 what is a “theology of genesis”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Toward a “Theology of Genesis” 3
The Contested Nature of “Theology” 3
Historical Criticism and Socially Valued Knowledge 5
Ideological Criticism of the Biblical Text 8
A Proposal for a “Theology of Genesis” 12
Biblical Text and Canonical Contexts 12
Text and Contexts: An Example 17
Conclusion 20

2 on reading genesis 1–11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Building on the History of Interpretation 22
Noah and the Flood 28
The Perspective and Convention Embodied in the
Use of Hebrew Language 34
Literary Conventions and Theological Interpretation 36

ix
x contents

3 genesis 1: picturing the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

A First Reading of Genesis 1 43
Genesis 1 in Relation to Its Possible Compositional
Context 48
Genesis 1 in Relation to Alternative Ancient Pictures 50
Jon D. Levenson’s Reading of Genesis 1 54
Genesis 1 and Evolutionary Biology 57
Genesis 1 and Alternative Pictures of the World:
A Proposal 65

4 genesis 2–3: adam and eve and “the fall” . . . . . . . 70

James Barr on Genesis 2–3 71
A Reformulated Version of the “Traditional”
Interpretation 75
Is a Gnostic Precedent a Good Precedent? 76
Identifying the Key Issue 78
Rereading the Narrative 83
Conclusion 87

5 genesis 4: cain and abel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Exposition of Regina M. Schwartz’s Interpretation 89
A Theological Reading of Cain and Abel 92
Conclusion: Doing Well in Demanding
Circumstances 98

6 genesis 6–9: cataclysm and grace . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Reflections on Some Characteristic Modern
Approaches 103
Pentateuchal Criticism and Reading Strategy 103
The Flood in Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh 105
 contents xi

A Characteristic Postmodern Anxiety 106

Toward a Theological Interpretation of the Flood
Narrative 110
The Collocation of Genesis 6:5 with 8:21 111
The Evil-Thought Clause in Genesis 8:21 112
Reading the Story without the Evil-Thought Clause 114
Reading the Story with the Evil-Thought Clause 115
Israel and the World, Sinai and the Flood 118

7 on reading genesis 12–50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

The Patriarchs as a Problem for Jewish Observance
of Torah 121
Genesis as a Compositional and Religio-Historical
Problem 126
A Third Way: A Canonical Approach 130
Genesis as “The Old Testament of the Old
Testament” 131
On Interpreting the Revelation of the Divine Name 132
The Distinctive Patterns of Patriarchal Religion 135
Theological Issues in a Canonical Approach to the
Patriarchal Narratives 137
8 genesis 12:1–3: a key to interpreting the old
testament? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
A Contemporary Christian Approach to Genesis
12:1–3 142
An Alternative Reading of Genesis 12:1–3 148
The Idiomatic Meaning of “Blessing” 150
The Significance of the Proposed Reading 155
Theological Interpretation as a Continuing Task 156
Exegesis and Theology 156
xii contents

On Evaluating Gerhard von Rad’s Interpretation 158

A Jewish–Christian Dimension 159

9 genesis 12:3a: a biblical basis for christian

zionism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Why Christians Should Support Israel 163
Some Factors in the Use of Scripture 167
An Appeal to the “Plain Sense” of the Text 168
Merely Human Words? 169
Some Observations on Unconditional Divine
Promises 170
The Bearing of the New Testament on Christian
Appropriation of the Old Testament 173
Conditionality and Christian Attitudes toward Jews 173
Who Are the Children of Abraham? 174
Politics and Self-Interest 176
Conclusion 178

10 genesis 22: abraham – model or monster? . . . . . . 179

Interpretive Clues within the Biblical Text 184
Model or Monster? Some Factors for Making Progress 189
De-instrumentalizing Isaac 193
The Nightmare Scenario 196
A Christian Epilogue 198

11 abraham and the “abrahamic faiths” . . . . . . . . 200

Exposition of Karl-Josef Kuschel’s Account of
Abraham 202
Preliminary Critique of Kuschel 208
Jon D. Levenson’s Critique of Kuschel 210
 contents xiii

Should We Continue to Speak of “Abrahamic

Faiths/Religions”? 216
Conclusion 220

12 genesis 37–50: is joseph wise? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

The Joseph Narrative in Gerhard von Rad’s Analysis 226
Analysis of von Rad’s Account 229
Reenvisioning Key Elements in the “Solomonic
Enlightenment” Hypothesis 230
Reenvisioning the Joseph Narrative in Relation to
Proverbs 231
Joseph’s Treatment of His Brothers 237
Divine Sovereignty and Human Activity 241
Conclusion 244

Further Reading 247

Author Index 253
Scripture Index 256
Subject Index 263
 General Editors’ Preface

Some years ago, Cambridge University Press, under the editorship

of James D. G. Dunn, initiated a series entitled New Testament The-
ology. The first volumes appeared in 1991 and the series was brought
to completion in 2003. For whatever reason, a companion series
that would focus on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible was never
planned or executed. The present series, Old Testament Theology,
is intended to rectify this need.
The reasons for publishing Old Testament Theology are not, how-
ever, confined solely to a desire to match New Testament Theology.
Instead, the reasons delineated by Dunn that justified the publi-
cation of New Testament Theology continue to hold true for Old
Testament Theology. These include, among other things, the facts
that, (1) given faculty and curricular structures in many schools,
the theological study of individual Old Testament writings is often
spotty at best; (2) most exegetical approaches (and commentaries)
proceed verse by verse such that theological interests are in compe-
tition with, if not completely eclipsed by, other important issues,
whether historical, grammatical, or literary; and (3) commentaries
often confine their discussion of a book’s theology to just a few
pages in the introduction. The dearth of materials focused exclu-
sively on a particular book’s theology may be seen as a result of fac-
tors like these; or, perhaps, it is the cause of such factors. Regardless,
xv
xvi general editors’ preface

as Dunn concluded, without adequate theological resources, there

is little incentive for teachers or students to engage the theology
of specific books; they must be content with what are mostly gen-
eral overviews. Perhaps the most serious problem resulting from
all this is that students are at a disadvantage, even incapacitated,
when it comes to the matter of integrating their study of the Bible
with other courses in religion and theology. There is, therefore, an
urgent need for a series to bridge the gap between the too-slim
theological précis and the too-full commentary where theological
concerns are lost among many others.
All of these factors commend the publication of Old Testament
Theology now, just as they did for New Testament Theology more
than a decade ago. Like its sister series, Old Testament Theology is a
place where Old Testament scholars can write at greater length on
the theology of individual biblical books and may do so without
being tied to the linear, verse-by-verse format of the commentary
genre or a thematic structure of some sort imposed on the text
from outside. Each volume in the series seeks to describe the bib-
lical book’s theology as well as to engage the book theologically –
that is, each volume intends to do theology through and with the
biblical book under discussion, as well as delineate the theology
contained within it. Among other things, theological engagement
with the composition includes paying attention to its contribution
to the canon and appraising its influence on and reception by later
communities of faith. In these ways, Old Testament Theology seeks
to emulate its New Testament counterpart.
In the intervening years since New Testament Theology was first
conceived, however, developments have taken place in the field
that provide still further reasons for the existence of Old Testament
Theology; these have impact on how the series is envisioned and
implemented and also serve to distinguish it, however slightly,
 general editors’ preface xvii

from its companion series. Three developments in particular are

noteworthy:

1. The present hermeneutical climate, often identified (rightly

or wrongly) as “postmodern,” is rife with possibility and
potential for new ways of theologizing about scripture and
its constituent parts. Theologizing in this new climate will of
necessity look (and be) different from how it has ever looked
(or been) before.
2. The ethos change in the study of religion, broadly, and in bib-
lical studies in particular. No longer are the leading scholars
in the field only Christian clergy, whether Catholic priests
or mainline Protestant ministers. Jewish scholars and schol-
ars of other Christian traditions are every bit as prominent,
as are scholars of non- or even anti-confessional stripe. In
short, now is a time when “Old Testament Theology” must
be conducted without the benefits of many of the old con-
sensuses and certainties, even the most basic ones relating to
epistemological framework and agreed-upon interpretative
communities along with their respective traditions.
3. Finally, recent years have witnessed a long-overdue rapproche-
ment among biblical scholars, ethicists, and systematic theolo-
gians. Interdisciplinary studies between these groups are now
regularly published, thus furthering and facilitating the need
for books that make the theology of scripture widely available
for diverse publics.

In brief, the time is ripe for a series of books that will engage the
theology of specific books of the Old Testament in a new climate
for a new day. The result will not be programmatic, settled, or
altogether certain. Despite that – or, in some ways, because of that –
it is hoped that Old Testament Theology will contain highly useful
xviii general editors’ preface

volumes that are ideally poised to make significant contributions

on a number of fronts including (a) the ongoing discussion of
biblical theology in confessional and nonconfessional mode as
well as in postmodern and canonical contexts, (b) the theological
exchange between Old Testament scholars and those working in
cognate and disparate disciplines, and (c) the always-pressing task
of introducing students to the theology of the discrete canonical
unit: the biblical books themselves.

Brent A. Strawn
Candler School of Theology, Emory University

Patrick D. Miller
Princeton Theological Seminary, Emeritus
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