In an earlier post I explored the bizarre introduction to Abram, and concluded that, if the account of Abram selling Sarai to the Pharaoh for a bunch of livestock is true, then Abram was not a very good dude. This … Continue reading
God appears to Abimelek in a dream and threatens him with death because he has taken Sarah, a married woman. Abimelek protests that he is innocent because he hadn’t gone near her and was unaware of her marital status because … Continue reading
Let’s do some math. Sarah is 10 years younger than Abraham (Gen. 17:17). To keep things simple, let’s just assume it’s 10 years to the day. Abram was called by God at the age of 75 (Gen. 12:10), meaning Sarai … Continue reading
As Greg recently pointed out, Abram/Abraham is not the great moral leader you would expect from the founder of God’s great nation. He gives up his wife to Pharaoh in Gen. 12, is treated well as a result, but eventually … Continue reading
Abram—one of the most significant figures in Judaism, Christianity and Islam—is curiously introduced in Genesis. After a brief description of his lineage in Gen. 11, Abram’s primary importance is summed up in Gen. 12 that “the LORD spoke to Abram” … Continue reading
After a few of the details of the covenant are carried out, God and two other travelers pay Abraham a visit, remind him that God will make him a nation, and warn him that Sodom is about to be smitten. Abraham questions … Continue reading
The first few books of Genesis, being, as we have already examined on this blog, a bit of a hodgepodge of different accounts, present a very striking picture of God. The different facets of God, however, are actually somewhat subtle, … Continue reading
A lot happens to Abram before we get to chapter 17, but most of it seems to fit together without making false cosmological claims or implying ridiculous divine behavior. In this chapter God makes his covenant with Abram/Abraham, which requires … Continue reading
In between the stories of Noah’s Ark and Abram is the somewhat seemingly out-of-place tale regarding the City/Tower of Babel. I say the story is somewhat out of place, in that—unlike creation, Noah, Abraham and Job—it doesn’t involve a singular, … Continue reading
The story of Babel and its famous tower, to this reader, seems awkwardly placed between two genealogies. It also, if read directly, contradicts the preceding chapter. Gen. 10:5, 10, 31 indicate that many nations form and establish their own languages … Continue reading
