Genesis 2:18 describes God making Eve as a "helper" (
This particular word occurs 19 times in the Old Testament, and it pays to notice carefully what it does and does not mean elsewhere. … Read more about Eve as "helper" for Adam
What was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and why was it a sin to eat its fruit?
Bruce Waltke is very helpful, on page 86 of his Genesis commentary: … Read more about The tree of knowledge of good and evil
One of the values of having a blog, is it gives me somewhere to put notes that will almost certainly not make it into the next sermon, but may interest some people. "If you're interested, for further reading,..."
Here's Bruce Waltke on Genesis 2: … Read more about What kind of account is Genesis 2?
What's the whole of Genesis about?
Jason Hood, over at the SAET blog, has some very sensible things to say about how the whole book speaks a message that needs to be heard by NT Christians, and what's more speaks it with great clarity:
His full post is not long and is well worth a read: http://www.saet-online.org/why-moses-wrote-genesis/09/
Here's a small extract to whet the appetite and send you to the full thing: … Read more about The message of Genesis
Waltke again:
Scientifically, the fire and cataclysmic destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah may be explained by an earthquake. Heat, gases, sulphur, and bitumen would have been spewed into the air through the fissures formed during a violent earthquake (14:10). The lightning that frequently accompanies an earthquake would have ignited the gases and bitumen.
I like this description of the irony of Lot's role in Genesis 19, taken from page 274 of Waltke's commentary: … Read more about Bungling Lot
Reading Bruce Waltke's commentary on Genesis, he has a fine couple of paragraphs on page 264 where he explores how the sign of circumcision relates to baptism today. I agree with nearly everything he says, and it's so helpful that I thought I'd put it here in case it's helpful for some: … Read more about Circumcision and Baptism
Last Sunday, I explained that Sarai and Abram attempted to solve the problem of their childlessness through Sarai offering her maid, Hagar, to Abram as a second wife.
I said that, even though we find this unacceptable today, in that day and age this was a socially acceptable way to raise an heir.
The problem with doing this was not that it was socially unacceptable but that it did not arise out of their trust in God. … Read more about What was wrong with using Hagar?
I'm studying Genesis 15, in preparation for this Sunday's sermon.
Yet again Bruce Waltke is very helpful.
Here is one paragraph (from pages 239-240). The details he highlights probably won't make it into the sermon, unless they're crucial to the flow of thought in the chapter. But it's important that we see how the promises God makes Abraham in chapter 15 are precisely those that he needed after the events of chapter 14, redefining his protection, his reward and his allies. … Read more about Genesis 15 follows on from Genesis 14
Alec Motyer wrote this very helpful paragraph in his commentary on Exodus. … Read more about To understand the ban in Joshua, read Genesis.
