Genesis 1–11 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament, Volume I)
Contents
Retrieval of Neglected Christian Texts Digital Research Tools and Results The Surfeit of Materials Brought to Light For Whom Is This Compendium Designed? The Premature Discrediting of the Catena Traditions The Ecumenical Range and Intent Honoring Theological Reasoning Why Evangelicals are Increasingly Drawn Toward Patristic Exegesis Steps Toward Selections The Method of Making Selections Is the ACCS a Commentary? A Gentle Caveat for Those Who Expect Ancient Writers to Conform to Modern Assumptions On Misogyny and Anti-Semitism A Note on Pelagius What to Expect from the Introductions, Overviews and Design of the Commentary The Complementarity of Interdisciplinary Research Methods in This Investigation What Have We Achieved? Pericopes of Scripture Overviews Topical Headings Identifying the Patristic Texts The Footnotes Critical Problems of the Text Critical Problems of Composition and Authorship Theological Issues 1:1 THE BEGINNING OF CREATION 1:1 In the Beginning God Created the Heavens and Earth 1:2 THE FORMLESS EARTH 1:2a The Earth Was Without Form and Void 1:2b Darkness Was on the Face of the Deep 1:2c The Spirit Was Moving over the Face of the Waters 1:3–5 CREATION OF THE LIGHT 1:3 Let There Be Light 1:4 The Light Was Good 1:5a Day and Night 1:5b The First Day 1:6–8 CREATION OF THE FIRMAMENT 1:6 A Firmament in the Waters 1:7 Separating the Waters 1:8 The Firmament Is Heaven 1:9–20 THE DRY LAND AND THE SEAS APPEAR 1:9–10 Creation of Earth and Seas 1:11–13 THE CREATION OF PLANTS 1:11 Creation of Plants and Trees 1:12 Bringing Forth Vegetation 1:14–19 CREATION OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES 1:14–15 Lights in the Firmament 1:16–18 Greater and Lesser Lights 1:20–23 GOD CREATES THE BIRDS AND THE AQUATIC CREATURES 1:20 Living Creatures in Waters and Sky 1:21 Creation of Sea Monsters 1:22 And God Blessed Them 1:24–25 CREATION OF THE ANIMALS OF THE EARTH 1:24–25 Creation of Beasts of the Earth 1:26–27 GOD CREATES MAN AND WOMAN 1:26a Let Us Make Man 1:26b Made in God’s Image and Likeness 1:27 Male and Female Created in God’s Image 1:28 HUMAN PROCREATION AND LORDSHIP OVER CREATION 1:29–30 PLANTS AND FRUITS ARE FOOD FOR HUMANS AND BEASTS 1:29–30 God Gives Plants for Food 1:29–30 PLANTS AND FRUITS ARE FOOD FOR HUMANS AND BEASTS 1:29–30 God Gives Plants for Food 1:31 GOD SEES THAT CREATION IS VERY GOOD 1:31 God Saw Everything That He Had Made 2:1–3 GOD RESTS ON THE SEVENTH DAY 2:1–2 God Rested on the Seventh Day 2:3 The Seventh Day Hallowed 2:4–7 GOD FORMS MAN OUT OF DUST 2:4–6 The Generations of the Heavens and the Earth 2:7 God Forms Man from the Ground 2:8–9 THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND THE TREE OF LIFE 2:8 God Planted a Garden in Eden 2:9 The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil 2:10–14 THE RIVER OF EDEN 2:10–14 A River Flowed from Eden 2:15–17 GOD COMMANDS THE MAN NOT TO EAT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL 2:15 The Man Put in the Garden to Till It 2:16–17 Man Forbidden to Eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil The Tree of Knowledge a Boundary Mark. Ephrem the Syrian: 2:21–25 GOD CREATES WOMAN 2:21–23 She Shall Be Called Woman 2:24 Becoming One Flesh 2:25 Both Were Nuked and Were Not Ashamed 3:1–6 THE DECEIT OF THE SERPENT 3:1–3 The Serpent Talks to the Woman 3:4–5 Knowing Good and Evil 3:6 The Man and Woman Eat the Fruit 3:7–8 THE FALL 3:7 The Eyes of Both Were Opened 3:8 Hiding from the Lords Presence 3:9–13 GOD QUESTIONS ADAM AND EVE 3:9 God Calls to the Man 3:10–12 Fearing and Hiding from God 3:13 God Questions the Woman 3:14–15 THE PUNISHMENT OF THE SERPENT 3:15 Enmity Between the Serpent and the Woman 3:16–19 THE PUNISHMENT OF ADAM AND EVE 3:16 The Woman’s Punishment 3:17–18 The Man’s Punishment 3:19 “To Dust You Shall Return” 3:20–21 GOD CLOTHES ADAM AND EVE WITH GARMENTS OF SKIN 3:20 The Mother of All Living 3:21 God Clothes Adam and Eve 3:22–24 ADAM AND EVE ARE EXILED FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN 3:22 Knowing Good and Evil 3:23 God Sends Adam and Eve from the Garden 3:24 The Cherubim and a Flaming Sword 4:1–7 CAIN AND ABEL BRING OFFERINGS TO THE LORD 4:1–2 The Births of Cain and Abel 4:3–5 The Offerings of Cain and Abel 4:6–7 Sin Is Couching at the Door 4:8–15 CAIN KILLS HIS BROTHER ABEL 4:8 Cain Kills Abel 4:9–10 Abel’s Blood Cries from the Ground 4:11–15 A Fugitive and a Wanderer 4:16–22 CAIN AND HIS DESCENDANTS 4:16 Cain Leaves the Presence of the Lord 4:17 Cain Built a City 4:18–22 The Descendants of Cain 4:23–24 LAMECH COMMITS MURDER 4:23–24 Lamech's Vengeance 4:25–26 ADAM AND EVE BEGET SETH 4:25 The Birth of Seth 4:26 Sethites Call upon God 5:1–8 SETH AND HIS SON ENOSH 5:1–2 The Generations of Adam 5:3–5 Adam’s Son Seth in His Likeness 5:6–8 Seth and His Descendants 5:9–14 ENOSH AND HIS SON KENAN 5:9–11 Enosh and His Descendants 5:15–20 JARED BECOMES THE FATHER OF ENOCH 5:18–20 Jared the Father of Enoch 5:21–27 ENOCH IS TAKEN BY GOD AND BROUGHT TO HEAVEN 5:21–24 Enoch Walked with God 5:25–27 Methuselah’s Age 6:17–22 GOD INSTRUCTS NOAH TO BRING HIS FAMILY AND TWO OF EVERY SORT OF ANIMAL INTO THE ARK 6:17 “Everything That Is on the Earth Shall Die” 6:18 The Covenant with Noah 6:19–21 Two of Every Living Thing 6:1–4 THE SONS OF GOD UNITE WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN 6:1–2 The Sons of God, the Daughters of Men 6:3 Humans’ Lifespan Limited 6:4 The Men of Renown 6:5–7 THE LORD DECIDES TO PUNISH HUMAN WICKEDNESS 6:5 The Wickedness of Humanity Was 6:6–7 The Lord Grieved by Humanity 6:8–10 NOAH IS A RIGHTEOUS MAN IN A CORRUPTED WORLD 6:8–9 Noah Found Favor with the Lord 6:11–16 GOD ORDERS NOAH TO MAKE AN ARK 6:11–13 The Earth Corrupt in God’s Sight 6:14 Instructions for Making the Ark 6:17–22 GOD INSTRUCTS NOAH TO BRING HIS FAMILY AND TWO OF EVERY SORT OF ANIMAL INTO THE ARK 6:17 “Everything That Is on the Earth Shall Die” 6:18 The Covenant with Noah 6:19–21 Two of Every Living Thing 7:1–5 SEVEN PAIRS OF ALL CLEAN ANIMALS AND ONE PAIR OF ALL UNCLEAN ANIMALS 7:1–3 God Tells Noah to Go into the Ark 7:4–5 Noah Did As the Lord Commanded 7:6–9 NOAH GETS READY FOR THE COMING DELUGE 7:7–9 Noah, His Family and the Animals Enter the Ark 7:10–16 GOD CAUSES RAIN TO FALL FOR FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS 7:10–12 The Flood Comes upon the Earth 7:13–16 The Lord Shut Noah in the Ark 7:17–24 THE DELUGE COVERS THE EARTH 7:17–20 The Flood Continues for Forty Days 7:21–22 All Flesh Died 7:23–24 Living Things Blotted Out 8:1–5 THE OCCUPANTS OF THE ARK STAY ABOARD FOR A YEAR 8:1–3 God Remembered Noah 8:3–5 The Waters Abated 8:6–12 END OF THE DELUGE 8:6–7 Noah Sends a Raven 8:8–11 Noah Sends a Dove 8:11–12 The Dove Does Not Return 8:13–19 NOAH, HIS FAMILY AND THE ANIMALS GO OUT OF THE ARK 8:15–19 Everything Went Out of the Ark 8:20–22 NOAH OFFERS A SACRIFICE TO GOD 8:20 Noah Builds an Altar 8:21 A Pleasing Sacrifice 8:22 “Seedtime end Harvest Shall Not Cease” 9:1–7 GOD GIVES FOOD AND DECLARES HIS CONDEMNATION OF MURDER 9:3 God Gives Noah Plants and Animals for Food 9:4 Not Eating the Blood of Animals 9:5–6 Requiring a Reckoning 9:8–17 GOD MAKES A COVENANT WITH NOAH 9:8–11 Establishing a Covenant 9:12–15 The Rainbow a Sign of the Covenant 9:16–17 An Everlasting Covenant 9:18–29 THE DRUNKENNESS OF NOAH 9:22–25 Noah Curses Canaan 9:26–29 Noah Blesses Two Sons 10:1–32 THE DESCENDANTS OF JAPHETH, HAM AND SHEM 10:1 The Generations of Noah’s Sons 10:6–14 The Descendants of Ham 10:24–25 Eber and His Sons 11:1–9 THE TOWER OF BABEL 11:1–4 The Tower of Babel 11:4–8 God Confuses Their Language 11:9 God Scatters the People Throughout the Earth 11:10–28 THE NARRATIVE RETURNS TO SHEM AND HIS DESCENDANTS 11:10–23 The Descendants of Shem 11:24–28 The Ancestors of Abram 11:29–32 ABRAHAM AND HIS FATHER, TERAH, MOVE TO MESOPOTAMIA 11:29–30 Abram and Nahor Take Wives 11:31 Terah Leaves Ur and Settles in Haran 11:32 Terah Dies in Haran Appendix Early Christian Writers and the Documents Cited Chronological List of Persons
General Introduction
The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (hereafter ACCS) is a twenty-eight volume patristic commentary on Scripture. The patristic period, the time of the fathers of the church, spans the era from Clement of Rome (fl. c. 95) to John of Damascus (c. 645-c. 749). The commentary thus covers seven centuries of biblical interpretation, from the end of the New Testament to the mid-eighth century, including the Venerable Bede.
Since the method of inquiry for the ACCS has been developed in close coordination with computer technology, it serves as a potential model of an evolving, promising, technologically pragmatic, theologically integrated method for doing research in the history of exegesis. The purpose of this general introduction to the series is to present this approach and account for its methodological premises.
This is a long-delayed assignment in biblical and historical scholarship: reintroducing in a convenient form key texts of early Christian commentary on the whole of Scripture. To that end. historians, translators, digital technicians, and biblical and patristic scholars have collaborated in the task of presenting for the first time in many centuries these texts from the early history of Christian exegesis. Here the interpretive glosses, penetrating reflections, debates, contemplations and deliberations of early Christians are ordered verse by verse from Genesis to Revelation. Also included are patristic comments on the dcuterocanonical writings (sometimes called the Apocrypha) that were considered Scripture by the Fathers. This is a full-scale classic commentary on Scripture consisting of selections in modem translation from the ancient Christian writers.
The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture has three goals: the renewal of Christian preaching based on classical Christian exegesis, the intensified study of Scripture by lay persons who wish to think with the early church about the canonical text, and the stimulation of Christian historical. biblical, theological and pastoral scholarship toward further inquiry into the scriptural interpretations of the ancient writers.
On each page the Scripture text is accompanied by the most noteworthy remarks of key consensual exegetes of the early Christian centuries. This formal arrangement follows approximately the traditional pattern of the published texts of the Talmud after the invention of printing and of the glossa ordinaria that preceded printing. 1