Changes

=== Primeval history ===

=== Primeval history ===

[[Image:Tizian - The fall of man.jpg|thumb|left||250px|[[Adam and Eve]] by [[Titian]]]]

[[Image:Tizian - The fall of man.jpg|thumb|left||250px|[[Adam and Eve]] by [[Titian]]]]

"In the beginning [[Names of God in Judaism|God]]<ref>Genesis uses the words YHWH and Elohim (and El) for God; the combined form in Gen.2 and 3,''YHWH Elohim'', usually translated as "{{LORD}} God", is unique to these two chapters.</ref> created the heavens and the earth.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN1.HTM Genesis 1.] This is the reading found in most English translations; however, the Hebrew is less clear-cut, and [[Rashi]] translated this passage as: "In the beginning of God's creation of heaven and earth, the earth was without form and empty...", while the [[Genesis Rabba]] has: "In the beginning of God's creation....when the earth was without form and empty....God said, 'Let there be light."See the translation of Genesis at World ORT, [http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp#C1], footnote to verse 1.</ref> The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of [[the Deeps|the deep]]; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters." God makes the first day and night; the "[[firmament]]" separating "the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament;" dry land and seas and plants and trees which grew fruit with seed; the sun, moon and stars in the firmament give light upon the earth; creates air-breathing [[Marine biology|sea creatures]] and birds; and on the sixth day, makes "the beasts of the earth according to their kinds." "Then God said, Let us make man in our image ... in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."<ref>The Hebrew for "man" can have the generalized meaning of "mankind", but creates problems with rendering pronouns in English translation.</ref> On the seventh day God rests from the task of completing the heavens and the earth: "So God blessed the [[Sabbath|seventh day]] and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation."  

"In the beginning [[Names of God in Judaism|God]]<ref>Genesis uses the words YHWH and Elohim (and El) for God; the combined form in Gen.2 and 3,''YHWH Elohim'', usually translated as "{{LORD}} God", is unique to these two chapters.</ref> created the heavens and the earth.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN1.HTM Genesis 1.] This is the reading found in most English translations; however, the Hebrew is less clear-cut, and [[Rashi]] translated this passage as: "In the beginning of God's creation of heaven and earth, the earth was without form and empty...", while the [[Genesis Rabba]] has: "In the beginning of God's creation....when the earth was without form and empty....God said, 'Let there be light."See the translation of Genesis at World ORT, [http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp#C1], footnote to verse 1. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of [[the Deeps|the deep]]; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters." God makes the first day and night; the "[[firmament]]" separating "the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament;" dry land and seas and plants and trees which grew fruit with seed; the sun, moon and stars in the firmament give light upon the earth; creates air-breathing [[Marine biology|sea creatures]] and birds; and on the sixth day, makes "the beasts of the earth according to their kinds." "Then God said, Let us make man in our image ... in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." The Hebrew for "man" can have the generalized meaning of "mankind", but creates problems with rendering pronouns in English translation. On the seventh day God rests from the task of completing the heavens and the earth: "So God blessed the [[Sabbath|seventh day]] and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation."  

''The Generations of the heavens and the earth'': God forms a man "of dust from the ground,"<ref>Hebrew ''Adamah'', earth, and ''Adam'', man. Both are related to ''adom'', red, and ''dam'' blood.</ref> and breathes into the man's nostrils, "and man became a [[Organism|living being]]."<ref>"The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person. The phrase נֶפֶשׁ חַיַּה (nefesh khayyah, “living being”) is used of both animals and human beings." [http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Gen&chapter=2&verse=7 Netbible (see fn. 4)]</ref> God sets the man in the [[Garden of Eden]] and permits him to eat of all the fruit within it, except that of the [[Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil]], "for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." God makes "every beast of the field and every bird of the air, ... and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name ... but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him." God causes the man to sleep, and makes a woman from one of the man's ribs, and the man awakes and names his companion Woman, "because she was taken out of Man."<ref>''Ishah'', woman, and ''ish'', man</ref> "And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed."<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN2.HTM Genesis 2.]</ref>

''The Generations of the heavens and the earth'': God forms a man "of dust from the ground," Hebrew ''Adamah'', earth, and ''Adam'', man. Both are related to ''adom'', red, and ''dam'' blood. and breathes into the man's nostrils, "and man became a [[Organism|living being]]." "The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person. The phrase נֶפֶשׁ חַיַּה (nefesh khayyah, “living being”) is used of both animals and human beings." [http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Gen&chapter=2&verse=7 Netbible (see fn. 4)] God sets the man in the [[Garden of Eden]] and permits him to eat of all the fruit within it, except that of the [[Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil]], "for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." God makes "every beast of the field and every bird of the air, ... and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name ... but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him." God causes the man to sleep, and makes a woman from one of the man's ribs, and the man awakes and names his companion Woman, "because she was taken out of Man."<ref>''Ishah'', woman, and ''ish'', man "And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed." [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN2.HTM Genesis 2.]  

The [[Serpent (symbolism)#Torah and Biblical Old Testament|serpent]] tells the woman that she will not die if she eats the fruit of the tree: "When you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,<ref>Sometimes translated as a plural: "You shall be as gods."</ref> knowing [[Goodness and evil|good and evil]]." So the woman eats, and gives to the man who also eats. "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons." God curses the serpent: "upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life;" the woman he punishes with pain in childbirth, and with subordination to man: "your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you;" and the man he punishes with a life of toil: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground." The man names his wife Eve,<ref>Hebrew ''Havva'', "life".</ref> "because she was the mother of all living." "Behold," says God, "the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil," and expels the couple from Eden, "lest he put forth his hand and take also of the [[tree of life]], and eat, and live for ever," and the gate of Eden is sealed by a [[cherub]] and a [[flaming sword]] "to guard the way to the tree of life."<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN3.HTM Genesis 3.]</ref>

The [[Serpent (symbolism)#Torah and Biblical Old Testament|serpent]] tells the woman that she will not die if she eats the fruit of the tree: "When you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, Sometimes translated as a plural: "You shall be as gods." knowing [[Goodness and evil|good and evil]]." So the woman eats, and gives to the man who also eats. "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons." God curses the serpent: "upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life;" the woman he punishes with pain in childbirth, and with subordination to man: "your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you;" and the man he punishes with a life of toil: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground." The man names his wife Eve, Hebrew ''Havva'', "life". "because she was the mother of all living." "Behold," says God, "the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil," and expels the couple from Eden, "lest he put forth his hand and take also of the [[tree of life]], and eat, and live for ever," and the gate of Eden is sealed by a [[cherub]] and a [[flaming sword]] "to guard the way to the tree of life." [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN3.HTM Genesis 3.]  

[[Adam and Eve]] have two sons, [[Cain and Abel]], the first a farmer, the second a shepherd. Cain murders his brother, and, asked by God what has become of Abel, replies, "Am I my brother's keeper?"  God then curses Cain: "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Cain fears that whoever meets him will kill him, but God places a [[Mark of Cain|mark]] on Cain, with the promise that "if any slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." Cain settles in the [[land of Nod]],<ref>Literally, "in the land of Wandering".</ref> "away from the presence of the {{LORD}}.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN4.HTM Genesis 4.]</ref>

[[Adam and Eve]] have two sons, [[Cain and Abel]], the first a farmer, the second a shepherd. Cain murders his brother, and, asked by God what has become of Abel, replies, "Am I my brother's keeper?"  God then curses Cain: "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Cain fears that whoever meets him will kill him, but God places a [[Mark of Cain|mark]] on Cain, with the promise that "if any slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." Cain settles in the [[land of Nod]],<ref>Literally, "in the land of Wandering". "away from the presence of the {{LORD}}. [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN4.HTM Genesis 4.]  

The descendents of Cain: [[Enoch]], [[Irad]], [[Mehujael]], [[Methushael]], and [[Lamech]]. [[Seth]] is born to replace Abel.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN4.HTM Genesis 4.]</ref>

The descendents of Cain: [[Enoch]], [[Irad]], [[Mehujael]], [[Methushael]], and [[Lamech]]. [[Seth]] is born to replace Abel. [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN4.HTM Genesis 4.]  

''The Generations of Adam'', ten names including [[Enoch (ancestor of Noah)|Enoch]], who "walked with God...[and] was no more, for God took him",<ref>The meaning of this phrase at Genesis 5:24 was the subject of much discussion in later Jewish literature, being taken by the rabbinic commentators to mean that Enoch did not die.</ref> [[Methuselah]], and [[Noah]]. The ante-diluvian Patriarchs are notable for their extreme longevity, with Methuselah living 969 years. The list ends with the birth of Noah's sons, from whom all humanity would be descended.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN5.HTM Genesis 5.]</ref>

''The Generations of Adam'', ten names including [[Enoch (ancestor of Noah)|Enoch]], who "walked with God...[and] was no more, for God took him", The meaning of this phrase at Genesis 5:24 was the subject of much discussion in later Jewish literature, being taken by the rabbinic commentators to mean that Enoch did not die. [[Methuselah]], and [[Noah]]. The ante-diluvian Patriarchs are notable for their extreme longevity, with Methuselah living 969 years. The list ends with the birth of Noah's sons, from whom all humanity would be descended. [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN5.HTM Genesis 5.]

The "sons of God" take wives from among the daughters of men. God sets the days of man at 120 years.<ref>The text implies that God is limiting the human lifespan to 120 years, as reached by Moses; but many individuals after this point are recorded as living longer, and later Jewish commentators interpreted the passage to mean that God was giving mankind 120 years to repent before sending the Flood.</ref> "The [[Nephilim]] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the [[sons of God]] came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the [[Gibborim (biblical)|men of renown]]."<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN6.HTM Genesis 6.] The term ''Nephilim'' is mentioned in Genesis, Enoch and Jubilees as applying to a pre-Flood race; but in Numbers 13:33 the Hebrew scouts sent to spy out the Promised Land report them as living there. References to "post-Flood Nephilim" gave rise to Talmudic traditions that their forebear, [[Og]] of Bashan, had survived the Deluge by clinging to the outside of the Ark.</ref>

The "sons of God" take wives from among the daughters of men. God sets the days of man at 120 years. The text implies that God is limiting the human lifespan to 120 years, as reached by Moses; but many individuals after this point are recorded as living longer, and later Jewish commentators interpreted the passage to mean that God was giving mankind 120 years to repent before sending the Flood. "The [[Nephilim]] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the [[sons of God]] came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the [[Gibborim (biblical)|men of renown]]." [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN6.HTM Genesis 6.] The term ''Nephilim'' is mentioned in Genesis, Enoch and Jubilees as applying to a pre-Flood race; but in Numbers 13:33 the Hebrew scouts sent to spy out the Promised Land report them as living there. References to "post-Flood Nephilim" gave rise to Talmudic traditions that their forebear, [[Og]] of Bashan, had survived the Deluge by clinging to the outside of the Ark.

''The Generations of Noah'': Angered by the wickedness of mankind, God selects [[Noah]],<ref>Hebrew "Rest": Noah's father Lamech gives this name to his son saying, "Out of the ground which the {{LORD}} has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands." (Gen.5:29)</ref>  "a righteous man, blameless in his generation," and commands him to build an [[Noah's Ark|Ark]], and to take on it his family and representatives of the animals.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN6.HTM Genesis 6.]</ref> God destroys the world with  a [[Flood]],<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN7.HTM Genesis 7.] and [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN8.HTM Genesis 8.]</ref> and enters into a [[covenant (biblical)|covenant]] with Noah and his descendants, the entire human race, promising never again to destroy mankind in this way.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN9.HTM Genesis 9.] The details of the covenant are: God forbids the eating of flesh with blood, "that is, its life," still in it, forbids murder, and institutes the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] for murderers; in return, God promises never again to visit a deluge upon all the world, and places the first rainbow in the clouds as a sign of the covenant.</ref>

''The Generations of Noah'': Angered by the wickedness of mankind, God selects [[Noah]],<ref>Hebrew "Rest": Noah's father Lamech gives this name to his son saying, "Out of the ground which the {{LORD}} has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands." (Gen.5:29) "a righteous man, blameless in his generation," and commands him to build an [[Noah's Ark|Ark]], and to take on it his family and representatives of the animals. [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN6.HTM Genesis 6.] God destroys the world with  a [[Flood]], [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN7.HTM Genesis 7.] and [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN8.HTM Genesis 8.] and enters into a [[covenant (biblical)|covenant]] with Noah and his descendants, the entire human race, promising never again to destroy mankind in this way. [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN9.HTM Genesis 9.] The details of the covenant are: God forbids the eating of flesh with blood, "that is, its life," still in it, forbids murder, and institutes the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] for murderers; in return, God promises never again to visit a deluge upon all the world, and places the first rainbow in the clouds as a sign of the covenant.

Noah plants a vineyard, drinks wine, and falls into a drunken sleep. [[Ham, son of Noah|Ham]] "uncovers his fathers nakedness," and Noah places a [[curse of Ham|curse]] on Ham's son [[Canaan]], saying that he and all his descendants shall henceforth be slaves to Ham's brothers [[Shem]] and [[Japheth]]<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN9.HTM Genesis 9.]</ref>

Noah plants a vineyard, drinks wine, and falls into a drunken sleep. [[Ham, son of Noah|Ham]] "uncovers his fathers nakedness," and Noah places a [[curse of Ham|curse]] on Ham's son [[Canaan]], saying that he and all his descendants shall henceforth be slaves to Ham's brothers [[Shem]] and [[Japheth]] [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN9.HTM Genesis 9.]

''The [[Table of Nations|Generations of Shem, Ham and Japheth]]'', a total of seventy names, "and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood."<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN10.HTM Genesis 10.]</ref> They decide to build "a [[Tower of Babel|tower]] with its top in the heavens" in the land of [[Shinar]], "lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." God fears the ambition of mankind: "This is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us<ref>The use of the pronoun "us" has been the cause of much debate: it has been seen       as the remnant of an original polytheistic myth on which the Babel story is based, while the more traditional reading is that God is speaking to the angels, or using a [[Pluralis majestatis|royal plural]].</ref> go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." And so mankind is scattered over the face of the earth, and the city "was called Babel, because there the {{LORD}} confused the language of all the earth."<ref>Hebrew ''Babal'', "confusion"; but if the story is based on the ziggurat of Babylon the etymology is incorrect, as the Akkadian "Babilu", the English Babylon, means "Gate of God"</ref><ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN11.HTM Genesis 11.]</ref>

''The [[Table of Nations|Generations of Shem, Ham and Japheth]]'', a total of seventy names, "and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood." [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN10.HTM Genesis 10.] They decide to build "a [[Tower of Babel|tower]] with its top in the heavens" in the land of [[Shinar]], "lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." God fears the ambition of mankind: "This is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us The use of the pronoun "us" has been the cause of much debate: it has been seen as the remnant of an original polytheistic myth on which the Babel story is based, while the more traditional reading is that God is speaking to the angels, or using a [[Pluralis majestatis|royal plural]]. go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." And so mankind is scattered over the face of the earth, and the city "was called Babel, because there the {{LORD}} confused the language of all the earth."Hebrew ''Babal'', "confusion"; but if the story is based on the ziggurat of Babylon the etymology is incorrect, as the Akkadian "Babilu", the English Babylon, means "Gate of God" [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN11.HTM Genesis 11.]

''The Generations of Shem'' brings the biblical genealogy down to the generation of Abraham.<ref>[http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN12.HTM Genesis 12.]</ref>

''The Generations of Shem'' brings the biblical genealogy down to the generation of Abraham. [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/GEN/GEN12.HTM Genesis 12.]

 

=== Abraham ===

=== Abraham ===