Notes and Questions on the Bible, Genesis, and Psalms

Table of Contents

Section 1: The Composition and Content of the Book - or Books

Section 2: The Geopolitical Background

Section 3: Chronological List of Modern Translations of the Bible into English

Section 4: Best One-Volume Modern English Translation Study Bibles

Section 5: The Bible in Later Literature, Art, and Music

Section 6: Art and Music in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish Culture (Including a Scholarly Reconstruction of the Music of Psalm 23)

Section 7: Prinsky's Short Bible-Study Annotated Bibliography

Section 8: Prinsky's Introduction to Judaism Annotated Bibliography

Section 9: Prinsky's Notes and Questions on Selections from Genesis and Psalms

Online Bibles

These Notes and Questions repeatedly refer to chapter and verse; such reference numbers are not to be found consistently in the selections in the Norton Anthology of World Literature; consequently, reference to your own Bible, or to one of the many Bible translations posted on the Internet, will facilitate study. Simply type "Bible" and "Translation" and "Complete Text" or similar search terms into a search engine to find sites that post such reputable translations as NRSV (the New Revised Standard Version), the NET (the New English Translation or "NET Bible"), or ESV ("English Standard Version"). See sections 3 and 4, below, for further information about modern translations of the Bible into English.

Section 1: The Composition and Content of the Book - or Books

-- the word "Bible" from Greek biblos, "book," and Greek biblia, "books" or "booklets": the etymology helps suggest the character of the Bible as an anthology

-- the word or title Bible means different things to Judaism, Protestantism, Catholicism, and the Greek or Eastern Orthodox Church

-- Old Testament (simply "Bible," "Tanakh," or "Hebrew scriptures" for Jews) composed of 39 books (Protestant Bible); or 24 books (Jewish Bible; in descending order of canonization and authority: Torah / (The) Law [Genesis - Deuteronomy] = 5; Neviim / The Prophets, subdivided into the Former Prophets and the Lat(t)er Prophets; Former Prophets = Joshua, Judges, Samuel [no division], Kings [no division] = 4 books; Lat(t)er Prophets = Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve [Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi] = 4 books; Ketuviim / the Writings = Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra [including Nehemiah], Chronicles [no division], and the five scrolls [Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther]; the term Tanakh or Tanach is an acronym referring to the whole collection of Hebrew scriptures, combining the terms Torah, Neviim, and Ketuviim (pronounced "toh-RAH," "nehv-ee-EEM," and "keh-too-VEEM"); Old Testament is 46 books for Roman Catholics or Greek/Eastern Orthodox Church [including the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical books: 14 books, e.g., Tobit, Judith, The Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclasiasticus or Sirach, Susanna [and the Elders], Bel and the Dragon [Serpent], Maccabbees]; (Old Testament) Apocrypha = 14 books (regularly printed in the KJV up through the seventeenth century, and always part of the Roman Catholic or Greek/Eastern Orthodox Church Bible); New Testament - 27 books. (There is also a New Testament Apocrypha, considered less authentic than the OT Apocrypha, and not included in any of the Bibles of the Judeo-Christian denominations, but available in specialized, separate publications: e.g., a Gospel of Thomas.)

-- Grouping of the King James Version (KJV): (a) Law (Genesis - Deuteronomy), (2) History (Joshua - Esther), (3) Poetry (Job - Song of Songs), (4) Major Prophets (Isaiah - Daniel; classification mainly by length of book), (5) Minor Prophets (Hosea - Malachi; classification mainly by length of book), (6) Apocrypha, (7) Gospels, (8) Acts, (9) Epistles (arranged mainly by length of the book/letter), (10) Revelation.

-- Grouping by literary types: (a) myth, legend, folksong, history, biography, narrative, epic, short story, dramatic literature, lyric poetry, essay, sermon, oration, letter, proverb, parable, prophecy, apocalypse; (b) comedy, tragedy, romance, satire, pastoral, allegory, epic, realism

-- Alternative grouping by literary types: (a) history and biography, (b) prophetic literature, (c) lyric poetry, (d) dramatic literature, (e) short stories and tales, (f) wisdom literature, (g) apocalyptic literature

-- Recording of the Bible: (1) 1400 B.C.E.: oral tradition; (2) 1000 B.C.E.: begins to be written down (continues until C.E. [abbreviation now preferred over A.D.]); (3) Torah canonized: 450-350 B.C.E.; (4) Earliest Hebrew texts found: 450 B.C.E. ; (5) latest Hebrew texts, the major records (Masoretic text, from the Masoretes, the guardians of Masorah, "tradition" (cf. the song in the musical Fiddler on the Roof): 900 C.E.; one reason for the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls: non-Masoretic texts of some parts of the Hebrew scriptures, allowing scholars to compare, for example, the Masoretic Isaiah and the Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah; (6) Earliest versions of the NT: 1st - 2nd century C.E.; (7) Earliest preserved texts of the NT: 2nd - 5th century C.E.; (8) Latest Greek texts of the NT: 15th century C.E.

-- OT/Tanakh recorded in 5 different languages (mainly--actually, a few others): (1) Hebrew; (2) Greek; (3) Latin, (4) Syriac; (5) Aramaic. (1a) Ancient Herbrew: no vowels, word division, or upper/lower case; (1b) Masoretic text: with vowels, word division, editorial notes (900 C.E.); (1c) Samaritan Pentateuch (written 4th B.C.E., manuscripts [MSS] 12th century C.E.); (2) Septuagint: (a) done by "the seventy" and hence the name, (b) written 250-100 B.C.E., earliest MSS 150 B.C.E., (c) included Apocrypha and quoted in NT and also used by early Church (and hence depreciated by Jews), (d) many other Greek MSS, from 300-500 C.E.; (3a) Old Latin versions: written 250 C.E., MSS 13th century C.E.; (3b) Vulgate: from Latin word vulgus, "common people"; translated by St. Jerome from Septuagint, checked against available Hebrew texts, 390 C.E.; earliest MSS 13th century C.E.; (4) Syriac (called Peshitta, "plain, simple"), written 3rd century C.E., earliest MSS 5th - 7th century C.E.; (5) Aramaic (should be carefully distinguished from Arabic), called Targums "interpretations," written 1st - 5th century C.E., MSS 5th century C.E.

-- NT recorded in one language, mainly: Greek; (1) may have been some Aramic early versions of parts, but none survive -- some Aramaic expressions occur in the NT, e.g., Jesus's words on the cross in Mt 27:46 and Mk 15:34; (12) Greek texts written 1st - 2nd century C.E., MSS 2nd through 5th century C.E.; (3) translations in Old Latin and Vulgate, 390 C.E.

-- Chapter and verse: first divided into chapters by Cardinal Hugo of Saneto Caro (1200-1263), verses, by various people (1448-1555)

-- OT/Torah Sources/Authors/Editors (4 main ones of the Pentateuch/Hexateuch; Penta, Greek = 5, Hexa, Greek = 6, teuchos, Greek, = "tool" or "book"); called "the documentary theory or hypothesis" (very widely but not universally accepted by Bible scholars): (1) "J" = Jehovah/Judah; calls God YHVH ("the tetragrammaton" or four-letter "name") and is from the south of Israel (the Judah area); 950-850 BCE; (a) stresses the peculiar relationship between God and the chosen people, (b) legends & traditions of the Southern tribes, (c) has more primitive & anthropomorphic conception of God & religion, (d) excellent storyteller -- strong & swift narratives, vivid details; (2) "E" = Elohim (plural noun, construed as singular, meaning "God") / Ephraim (Northern tribes of Israel); 700 BCE; stresses (a) North, (b) has less anthropomorphism, more didacticism, (c) more systematic, logical, refined, elaborate; (3) "D" = Deuteronomist, preserved at length in the book of Deteronomy, which was discovered lying on the altar in the Jerusalem Temple in King Josiah's reign. Foundation of religious reforms then. Stresses rules and the centrality of the Jerusalem Temple; dated 721-621 BCE. (4) "P" = the Priestly writer(s); 500-450 BCE. Scholarly; emphasizes ritual and observance of forms, letter of the law. Precision & accuracy in dates, measurements, catalogs, genealogies. Probably the "redactor" that put the whole work, the first five or six books of the Bible, together, melding JEDP.

-- NT Sources/Authors/Editors for the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke, excluding John -- which is often called "the Fourth Gospel," to differentiate it from the Synoptic Gospels): 5 usually cited. (1) Marcan (i.e., Gospel of Mark) and "ur"-Marcan (what document Mark could draw on that none of the other Gospel writers could); (2) "Q" (from German quelle, "source"): identical Matthew-Luke sayings; (3) M (extreme Judaizing party at Jerusalem), only used by Matthew; (4) L (Palestinian): used only by Luke (40% of the Gospel of Luke from this); (5) Oral tradition and firsthand experience.

-- Main English translations: (1) Old English/ Middle English (partial, incomplete), 670-1380 CE; (2) Wycliffite (from John Wycliff), 1380-82 -- first complete Bible in English; (3) Renaissance translations of 16th and 17th centuries: (a) William Tyndale, 1525-34 -- the main one, (b) series of others, many overseen and done by Miles Coverdale, (c) Geneva Bible (1557/1560) -- scholarly and accurate, done by John Calvin, John Knox, Coverdale, and Theodore Beza, (d) Rheims-Douay, 1582-1609 (from Vulgate, checked against Greek and perhaps the Hebrew; heavily revised in 18th century), (e) King James Version / Authorized version -- some original work, borrowed heavily from the best work of all the others, 1611; (4) modern translations -- see my section "Chronological List of Modern Bible Translations" for most of these.
 
Section 2: Geopolitical Background; Cultural & Intellectual Background

-- Ancient Israelites came into contact with major developed cultures of the area, and were influenced by them, or reacted against them, because of (a) their nomadic background of wandering, and (b) their strategic location when they settled: both commercially and militarily: Israel the bridge to Africa or Asia, which has to be gone through.

-- the 6 great cultures which influenced Biblical writers, and dominated the world, as well: (1) Egypt, (2) Babylonia, (3) Assyria, (4) Persia, (5) Greece, (6) Rome

-- Influences/similarities of these cultures, esp. Near Eastern ones: (1) Notions of Kingship and Patriarchal society; (2) Polytheism and Animism (rocks have feelings, too)

-- Effects of geography, landscape on the developing theology/religion/philosophy of Israel: (1) polytheism-animism favored by geographical extremes of Canaan and Sumeria, mounts vs. deserts in a space of just a few miles & extremes of weather; (2) desert background of the nomads = uniformity, favoring monotheism, ethical sophistication (antagonistic to animism)

-- Effects of society/social structure on developing theology -- nomadic & early agricultural societies more at the mercy of, dependent on the elements of nature for survival

-- Development/making of monotheism: (1) reaction against drastic and inhuman consequences of polytheism, such as human sacrifice, (2) development of Abraham and his tribe (Arameans) in the Arabian desert area, (3) developing & changing civilization from nomads to the builders of Solomon's Temple and David the poet-king, (4) strong ethnic emphasis on ethics and morality, (5) strong personalities of the Patriarchs -- Abraham and Moses, especially

Section 3: Modern Translations of the Bible Including the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (listed in chronological order by ending plus beginning dates of translation) [Several Separate, Independent Translations of the New Testament Have Also Been Made]

[1862] Young's Literal Translation of the Bible. trans. Robert Young. 3rd ed. 1862; 1898, rpt. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, n.d.

[1885] The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments, translated out of the original tongues: Being the version set forth A.D. 1611 compared with the most Ancient Authorities, and revised. trans. and revised by C.J. Ellicot, et al. [65 in all]. Oxford and Cambridge: Oxford UP and Cambridge UP, 1881-1885. [="ERV" for "English Revised Version"; usually designated as just "RV" for "Revised Version." Contrasted with the "ASV" or "American Standard Version," which was the American version of this revision, which appeared in 1901.]

[1901 The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments translated out of the original tongues: Being the version set forth A.D. 1611 compared with the most Ancient Authorities, and Revised 1881-1885, Newly Edited by the American Revision Committee A.D. 1901. [American Standard Version = "ASV"]

[1917] Holy Scriptures: According to the Masoretic Text, The. Trans. Max L. Margolis, Cyrus Adler, and other members of the Jewish Publication Society of America and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1917.

[1935] The Bible: A New Translation. Trans. James Moffatt. New York: Harper and Row, 1913-35. (Also titled A New Translation of the Bible.) [Called "Moffatt" or "The Moffatt Bible"]

[1939] The Complete Bible: An American Translation. Trans. E.J. Goodspeed, J.M.P. Smith, T.J. Meek, trans. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1923-39. [Called "The Chicago Bible"; "The Smith-Goodspeed Translation"]

[1955] The Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate In Light of the Hebrew and Greek Originals. Trans. Ronald A. Knox. London: Burns and Oates, 1944-55. [Usually referred to as "Knox," "The Knox Bible"]

[1957a] Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text. Trans. George Lamsa. Nashville, TN: A.J. Holman, 1933-57; rpt., New York: Harper & Row, 1957.

[1957b] The Revised Standard Version Trans. Luther Weigle, Julius Bewer, Henry Cadbury, et al. [32 in all]. 1946-57; partial revisions in 1971 and 1973.

[1965] The Amplified Bible. Trans. Francis E. Siewert, et al. [13 in all]. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1954-65. [="AmpB."]

[1966] The Jerusalem Bible. Trans. and ed. Alexander Jones, et al. [27 in all]. New York: Doubleday, 1966. [note: paperback ed. has unfortunately reduced annotation] [="JB."]

[1969] The Holy Bible: The Berkeley Version in Modern English; also The Modern Language Bible: The New Berkeley Version. Trans. Gerrit Verkuyl, et al. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1945-69. [="MLB"; sometimes called "the Berkeley Bible"]

[1970a] New American Bible. Trans. David Noel Freedman, et al. [55 in all]. New York: A.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1952-70. [="NAB"]

[1970b] New English Bible with the Apocrypha. Trans. C.H. Dodd, T.H. Robinson, G.R. Driver, et al. [46 in all]. Cambridge and Oxford, Eng.: Oxford & Cambridge UP, 1961-70. [="NEB"]

[1971] New American Standard Bible. Trans. Reuben Olson, et al., [58 in all]. Whittier, CA: Creation House, 1960-71. [="NASB"] [Partial revisions 1973-77, 1995.]

[1973] Living Bible Paraphrased. Trans. Kenneth N. Taylor (and for Apocrypha, Albert J. Nevins). Wheaton, IL and New York: Tyndale House - Doubleday, 1962-73. [="LBP"]

[1976] The Holy Bible: In the Language of Today--An American Translation. Trans. William Beck, et al. Nashville, TN: Holman, 1963-76. [="Beck"]

[1978] The Holy Bible: New International Version. Trans. Lewis Foster, et al. [115 in all], trans., Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1970-78. [Called the "NIV"]

[1979] Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha: The Bible in Today's English Version. Trans. Robert Bratcher, et al. [10 in all]. New York: American Bible Society, 1966-79. [Called "Good News Bible," "GNB," "TEV" (= Today's English Version)]

[1982a] Holy Bible: New King James Version. Trans. William White, James Price, Arthur Farstad, et al. [130 in all]. Nashville, TN: Nelson, 1979-82. [Usually referred to as "NKJV"]

[1982b] Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Hebrew Text. Trans. Harry Orlinsky, H.L. Ginsberg, E.A. Speiser, et al. [14 in all]. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1962-1982; 1-vol. edition, 1985. Revision of the JPS edition of 1917.

[1985] The New Jerusalem Bible. Trans. Alexander Jones, et al. New York: Doubleday, 1985. [="NJB"] [Revision of the Jerusalem Bible of 1966]

[1989a] New Revised Standard Version (with the Apocrypha). Trans. Bruce M. Metzger, et al., appointees of the National Council of Churches, 1989. [Usually abbreviated NRSV.] [Revision of the Revised Standard Version or RSV of 1957.]

[1989b] Revised English Bible (with the Apocrypha). Trans. Donald Coogan, W.D. McHardy, et al., 1989. [REB] [= Revision of the NEB of 1970.]

[1991] Holy Bible, The: New Century Version. Trans. World Bible Translation Center and Word Publishing Company translators. Nashville, TN: Word Bibles, 1987-1991. [NCV; New Century Version]

[1995a] Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. Trans. American Bible Society translators. New York: American Bible Society, 1995; rpt. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996. [Called "CEV" or "Contemporary English Version"] [A Revision of the GNB or TEV of 1979.]

[1995b] God's Word. Gen. Ed. Eugene W. Bunkowske. Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers, 1995. ["God's Word Translation"]

[1996] Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale Publishers translators. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1996. [= "NLT"] [Revision of the LBP of 1973]

[2001a] Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Trans. J.I. Packard et al. [110 in all]. Good News Publishers - Crossway, 2001. [= "ESV"]

[2001b] NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2001. [also available online; = "NET Bible"]

[2002] The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. Trans. and paraphrased, Eugene Peterson. NavPress, 2002. Also published as The Message Remix.

[2003] The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments -- Holman Christian Standard Bible. Trans. Holman Translation Committee (100 in all). Holman Bible Publishers, 2003. [= "HCSB"]

[2005a] Today's New International Version. Trans. Committee for Bible Translation. Zondervan - International Bible Society, 2002-2005. [= "TNIV"]

[2005b] Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Second Edition. Ed. Mark Norton. Zondervan, 2005. [ = NLT2]

[In progress] Albright, William F., & D.N. Freedman, et al., eds. and trans. The Anchor Bible, 65 vols. projected. New York: Doubleday, 1964-19??. Combination translation and commentary by the translator of each volume. Still incomplete. [="AncB"]

[In progress] Hubbard, David, and Glen W. Barker, gen. eds. Word Biblical Commentary. 52 vols. projected. Waco: Word, 1982-19??; and Thomas Nelson Publishers. Combination translation and commentary by the translator of each volume. Still incomplete.

Section 4: Best One-Volume Modern-Translation Study Bibles [See Also My Short Bible-Study Bibliography] (listed alphabetically by title)

THE BEST

[The] ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Gen. Eds. Lane Dennis, Wayne Grudem, J.I. Packer, C. John Collins, Thomas Schreiner. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008. [2751 pp.; includes color atlas and concordance; separate introductions to overall parts and to each book; annotation by first-rate scholars; doesn't include the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books.]

The HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. Gen. Ed. Wayne Meeks. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. [2398 pp.; includes color atlas and index; separate introductions to overall parts and to each book; annotation by first-rate scholars from the Society of Biblical Literature; occasionally flawed by NRSV translation itself; has the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books, always included in the first editions of the King James Bible and in Catholic Bibles, and containing some of the best literature in the Bible, including Susana and the Elders, Judith, Tobit, and 1-2 Maccabbees, the primary source of Chanukkah; not included in the NIV Study Bible or The Nelson Study Bible.]

The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version. Gen. Ed. Earl Radmacher. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997. [ 2222 pp., plus 195-page concordance; introductions to each Biblical book, interspersed color charts and diagrams, boxed word studies, color atlas, and index. Lacks the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books.]

[The] NET Bible: New English Translation. Second Beta Edition. Biblical Studies Press, 2003; available in CD from netbible.com. [2364 pp., plus color topographical photos of the lands referred to in the Bible. Attempts to balance dynamic and literal translation, favoring the latter; has "60,237 notes by the translators and editors." India paper edition with very thin pages, which, with the gilt-edges, make handling the book somewhat difficult.]

The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Gen. Ed. Walter Harrelson. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2003. [2298 + xxxi; introductions to each Biblical book, boxed word or concept studies, color atlas; unfortunately lacks an index to the annotations]

The New Jerusalem Bible. Gen. Ed. Henry Wansbrough. New York: Doubleday, 1985. [Also available in the unannotated Reader's Edition, which is not a true study Bible; the hardcover study edition is excellent; 2108 pp.; a collaboration of English scholars and French scholars, based on a French edition and consultation with the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek originals; has supplements, color maps, and index; lacks separate introductions to some individual books, but rather group introductions to several books; the single-column format makes for more comprehensible typography for the poetic books; has the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books--see comment on these in the preceding entry on the HarperCollins Study Bible.]

The NIV Study Bible. Gen. Ed. Kenneth Barker. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985. [2033 pp.; available in a "personal edition," which is less expensive than the preceding two study Bibles, but lacking, in all editions, the apocrypha/deuterocanonical books, which some other recommended study Bibles have; see entry on HarperCollins Study Bible for explanation of the apocrypha; separate introductions to overall parts and to each book, the introductions often keenly sensitive to the literary elements of the Bible; excellent annotations; drawings, color maps, index; supplements, including brief concordance; NIV translation sometimes superior to NRSV translation]

The NLT Study Bible. Tyndale, 2008. [2542 pp.; claims 25,000 notes; plus book introductions, concordance, maps, and illustrations.]

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version [ESV]. Gen. Ed. R.C. Sproul. Orlando, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005. [1948 pp.; has some spot black-and-white maps, plus good annotations and a concordance. The ESV attempts to favor literal translation as much as possible, though some dynamic-equivalent translation is inevitable .  As the title suggests, a Reformation -- "Reformed [Protestant] church" viewpoint in the notes.]

Zondervan NASB Study Bible. Gen. Ed. Kenneth Barker. Zondervan Publishing House, 1999. [2039 pp., plus color maps and Preface; also includes the excellent NIV Study Bible Bible book introductions and notes, partially but not fully adapted for this more literal translation than the NIV. Also includes a concordance. Unfortunately, prints prose fragmented into individual verses, rather than paragraphs, thus fragmenting the reading and thought.]

GOOD, BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THE ABOVE

Several study Bibles are in the second rank, below the ones  listed above, and are listed in alphabetical order by title. (1) The Jewish Study Bible. Eds. Adele Berlin and Marc Brettler. Oxford UP, 2004. [2181 + xxiii + 14; color atlas; Tanakh (OT) only; has the defects of all the Oxford UP study Bibles, so far: good separate articles, but too little annotation; what passes as annotation is too often footnoted chapter heading or passage summary material.] (2) The New American Bible [Catholic Study Edition]. Catholic Bible Press - Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1987. [1487 pp.; the page count is an indication of the thinness of the apparatus.] (3) The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books [New Revised Standard Version]. 3^rd ed. Ed. Michael Coogan. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. [Improved over the first and second editions; xxv + 1374 + 383 + 572 pp.; commendable introductions by reputable Bible scholars to each Biblical book and to groups of books; plus lengthy separate essays, tables, and bibliography at the back of the book; plus 63-page concordance, and color atlas, and index; has the defects of all the Oxford UP study Bibles, so far: good separate articles, but too little annotation; what passes as annotation is too often footnoted chapter heading or passage summary material.] (4) The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha. Eds. M. Jack Suggs, Katharine Sakenfeld, James Mueller. Oxford UP, 1992. [1597 + xxviii. Same flaw as all the Oxford UP study Bibles so far: good separate articles, but too little annotation; what passes as annotation is too often footnoted chapter heading or passage summary material.] 

Section 5A: Important Literary Retellings of the Hebrew Bible

-- retellings of the Hebrew Bible begin with New Testament versions of material in the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and have continued uninterrupted in great numbers since then. Modern retellings begin in the Middle Ages with what were called the Mystery Plays (because sponsored and presented by workers' guilds, called "mysteries"; sometimes called Miracle Plays) in medieval literature, including Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, etc.

-- for just Genesis, the Adam and Eve narrative has been retold by, among others, John Milton in his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667, 1674) and Mark Twain in his short story "The Diary of Adam and Eve" (also called "Extracts from Adam's Diary" [1893] and "Eve's Diary" [1905]); the Cain and Abel story is both extensively transmuted and discussed in John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden (1952); the Noah narrative is recast in the short story "The Brother" (1969) by American fiction writer Robert Coover; the Jacob and Esau narrative is transfigured into Brazilian fiction writer Machado de Assis' novel Esau and Jacob (1908); and the Joseph narrative is expanded into a tetralogy of novels by Thomas Mann (The Tales of Jacob, 1934; The Young Joseph, 1935; Joseph in Egypt, 1938; Joseph the Provider, 1945)

Section 5B: Important Visual Arts Versions of Material in the Hebrew Bible

-- as with literary retellings, visual arts versions have continued uninterrupted in great numbers since the Middle Ages; (a) Adam and Eve (Jacopo Della Quercia's The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden [c. 1430; relief sculpture]; Titian, The Fall of Man [c. 1505; painting]; Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling; Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece [1432; tempera and oil on wood]; Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights [1505-10]; Albrecht Durer, The Fall of Man [1504; engraving]; (b) Cain and Abel (Cain Slaying Abel, panel from the Grabow Altar, by Master Bertram [c. 1370-1410]); (c) Noah (The Sacrifice of Noah, painting, by Bernardo Cavallino [1622-54]; The Drunkenness of Noah, painting, by Bernardino Luini [1480/85-1532]); (d) Tower of Babel (The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder [1528/30-1569]); (e) Joseph (Joseph Thrown into the Pit, painting by Bartolome Esteban Murillo [1618-82]; Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph by Rembrandt Von Rijn [1606-69])

Section 5C: Important Art-Music Compositions Based on the Hebrew Bible

- many people are aware of pop music versions of the Bible: notable examples have included Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell, and Jesus Christ Superstar; less well known but of great importance are classical or art or concert music compositions (the terms classical, art, or concert to refer to music are all synonyms, the latter two terms becoming increasingly used, to prevent two meanings of classical with reference to what is also called "serious music")

-- musical compositions, mainly vocal, include (arranged chronologically) George Frideric Handel's dramatic oratorios Esther (1732), Deborah (1733), Saul (1739), Israel in Egypt (1739), Samson (1743), Joseph in Egypt (1743), Judas Maccabaeus (1746), Joshua (1747), Solomon (1748), Susanna (1748), Jephtha (1752); Joseph Haydn's The Creation, oratorio, 1798, 1800, 1819; Felix Mendelssohn(-Bartholdy)'s Elijah (1846-47; oratorio); Camille Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah (1867-8, 1873-77; opera); Carl Neilsen's Saul and David (1896-1901; opera); Arnold Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron (1932; opera); Benjamin Britten's Abraham and Isaac (1952; canticle); Darius Milhaud's David (1952; opera)

Section 6: Art and Music in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish Culture

The place of music, and especially of art, in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish culture is complex, requiring consultation of the several appropriate articles on these subjects in the dictionary-encyclopedias of the Bible listed in my Bible biliography, as well as Gabrielle Sed-Rajna's Ancient Jewish Art (1975; rpt. Neuchatel, Switzerland: Paul Attinger, 1985; distributed by Chartwell Books), which has its own extensive notes and bibliography.

Contradictions in Art

Although God prohibits in the Ten Commandments making idols "in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below" and bowing down to or worshiping them (Exodus 20:4), God also gives detailed and explicit commands to Moses about building the tabernacle (a sort of traveling synagogue for the Israelites to use in the desert, anticipating the building of the great Temple in Jerusalem) in Exodus 25-40. The names of the prime artist, Bezalel, and his assistant, Oholiab, are given, as are details of the imagery, the images, to adorn the ark, holding the Ten Commandmends, and the lampstand, in the Tabernacle. Over the ark, itself made of acacia wood overlaid with gold (Ex 25: 10-17), were, at God's command, to be placed two cherubim of beaten gold (Ex 25:18-22), celestial beings, stationed in heaven around God's throne (and who are mentioned as part of the guard placed against Adam and Eve's re-entry into Eden after expulsion, in Gen 3), whose outstreched wings were thought of as protecting the sacred object below. The lampstand was also to be made of pure beaten gold, ornamented in the form of almond blossoms (Ex 25:31-39); the symbolism of the almond is that it was the earliest blooming plant in the Middle East, suggestive of spiritual renewal and rebirth. (A full-sized replica, in brass, may be found in the synagogue of Congregation Children of Israel, in Augusta, Georgia.) What these looked like may be seen below, in one of the numerous reconstructive drawings available in study Bibles and Bible reference books:

Finally, curtains of blue, purple, and scarlet are, at God's direction, to set off the orange-brown acacia wood of the walls of the tabernacle, making it a place of exquisite beauty.
 
More pictorial representations of the wilderness tabernacle, as described in the books of Exodus through Joshua:  (a; click here)   (b; click here)   (c; click here)

Art among the Israelites was relatively scarce until they began to settle down and their society became more complex and less nomadic in the reigns of David and Solomon. Prior to these times there was no patrician class to sponsor and encourage the arts, and only a few clay amulets have been found from that period, which have female images suggesting protection in the birth process. But again God gives directions followed by Solomon in the building of Solomon's Temple (1 Chr 28:11-19). The structure was to be of stone finished with cedarwood, overlaid with gold and garnished with precious stones (2 Chr 3:6). In the inner sanctuary were again two cherubim (as in the Tabernacle in the desert), this time made of carved olivewood overlaid with gold, 15 feet high, with a similar wingspan, together covering the whole wall (1 Kings 6:23-28). The walls of the Temple were carved with cherubim and palm trees and covered with gold. On panels and beams were carved lions and oxen. On the olivewood doors were cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, all overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:29-36). In the vestibule were two pillars made of bronze, with two rows of pomegranates and lily-work at the top. A spectacular furnishing of the temple was a huge bronze basin, with decorative panels of cherubim and animals, containing 12,000 gallons of water for ritual ablutions. Ten mobile lavers or basins were also made for the Temple, with side panels picturing lions, oxen, and cherubim. On some of the supports were carved animals and palm leaves (1 Kings 7:27-37). None of this art or imagery was considered sacrilegious but rather adding to the worship of God.

One black and  white graphic reconstruction of Solomon's Temple (note the art work on the doors as well as capitals of the pillars):

One color graphic reconstruction of Solomon's Temple:

Solomon's throne, built around the same time, was also a splendid work of art (1 Kings 10:18-20), made of ivory overlaid with gold and flanked by lions, symbols of royalty throughout the Near East. Likewise, King Ahab's ivory palace (1 Kings 22:39), located in Samaria, was spectacular, evoking the particular condemnation of the prophet Amos (Amos 3:15). Ivory inlays dating from the 8th and 9th centuries BCE and used to decorate expensive furniture have been recovered by modern archeologists; some items recovered from the area of the royal residence may actually have been part of Ahab's state furniture and contain an image of Harpocrates emerging from a lotus flower, a figure of Egyptian influence. Below is a cherub amid stylized vegetable motifs. A reason for Amos' specific mention of furniture (Amos 3:12, 6:4) may have been that its decoration showed inclination to foreign superstition as well as to luxury (1 Kings 16:29-31).

Conflict between appreciation of beauty and morality and luxury at the expense of the poor evoked the wrath of the prophets, especially Isaiah and Jeremiah. Kings and the rich were reprimanded for extravagantly building luxurious palaces, paneled with cedar and painted with "vermilion" (Jer 22:13-15), especially when God's house was in ruins. However, an amazing reference to art can be found in Ezekiel's vision of the restored Temple (Ez 40-42), with detail even more elaborate than for Solomon's Temple, including cherubim with the face of a man and a young lion (Ez 41:19).

Further architectural and artistic works referred to in the Bible include temples constructed or modified during the reigns of king Herod (Herod's temple) or Zerubbabel (Zerubbabel's temple).  For pictorial reconstructions of Herod's temple click on the following:  (a; click here)    (b; click here)   (c; click here)  (d; click here)  (e; click here)

Jewish tradition also includes, like the tradition of Islam, an emphasis on calligraphy or beautiful writing.  How such beautiful writing could be combined with images is shown below from what is called an illuminated manuscript or book (one decorated with pictures):

As with Islamic art, the calligraphy was often combined with more abstract design, as shown below:

Places to Find Religious Books Offering Substantial Discounts

Besides bookstores in town which may have some of the items listed in the above bibliographies, may occasionally have some of them on sale, and will order most of them, one mail-order or internet distributor, offering substantial discounts, stands out; telephone or write for their catalog:

Christian Book Distributors
telephone: 1-800-247-4784
website: www.christianbook.com; fax: 1-508-977-5010

A major nation-wide bookseller with a website that may be recommended is Books-a-Million (website, with the www. prefix ["www" plus "dot", without the quotation marks]: bamm.com); although many national booksellers (all with the www. prefix: amazon.com, bn.com [Barnes and Noble], borders.com [Borders Books and Music, whose website is now powered by amazon.com]) carry religious books, BAMM has proved superior. Two book internet "shopping bots" (price-comparison services for various booksellers) that are worth trying are (with the www. prefix): addall.com or isbn.nu.
 
Section 9: Prinsky's Notes and Questions on Selections from Genesis and Psalms

Section 9A: Prinsky's Notes and Questions on Genesis

01.01. Genesis is often regarded as having four main sections: (A) the beginnings, in Chs. 1-11; (B) the story of Abraham (and Isaac), in Chs. 12-25; (C) the story of Jacob (and Isaac), in Chs. 25-36; and (D) the story of Joseph (and Jacob--now named Israel), in Chs. 37-50. (a) How does each of these sections have a general or structural bearing on the others? (b) How is the idea of a promise embodied, continuously, from one section to the next? How are the three parts of God's promise to Abraham (12:1-3, 12:7a) either actualized or jeopardized or both in sections (A), (B), (C), and (D)? How might a cyclical pattern of promise, threat or prohibition, fulfillment (of the threat or prohibition)/penalty/punishment, promise/redemptive act be seen in sections (A) through (D) of Genesis, or in sections (a2) through (a5) of just section (A)? (c) How is the contrast between unity or union, and division or separateness, continually shown in sections (A) through (D) of Genesis?  

01.02. Section (a) of Genesis is pretty clearly subdivided into five main subdivisions: (a1): creation (1:1-2:4a); (a2): Adam and Eve, the fall (2:4b-3:24); (a3): Cain and Abel (4:1-26); (a4): Noah and the flood (4:25-10:32); (a5): the Tower of Babel (11:1-9). (a) How are various general categories of crimes or misdeeds progressively and encyclopedically embodied in subsections a2 through a5? (b) How do the crimes and misdeeds become progressively worse in some sense, from a2 through a5? (c) How does the Abraham story thus become a sort of (structural) solution or narrative answer to a2 through a5? (d) Genesis 1-11, like other narrative components in this and other books of the Bible, often contains etiological points (why are certain things the way they are, why do some things happen: e.g., why doesn't a new husband continue, with his wife, to live with his parents; why do people wear clothes; why don't people and snakes get along; why do women have pain or difficulty in childbirth; why do people have to work hard to live; why do people have to die; what is the origin of the rainbow?), ethnological points (what are the origins of certain ethnic and geographical groups of people? an example would be the peoples and places they live deriving from the three sons of Noah), and cultic points (what is the origin and justification of certain religious practices, or the derivation of why certain places are holy -- e.g., circumcision, Bethel?). What etiological, ethnological, or cultic points can be found in Genesis 1-11?  

A1. Questions on 1:1-2:4a (Creation)  

A1.01. (1:1-2:4a) (a) Where are the nine narrative refrains in the passage (not all used for each day or work) -- God's command ("Let there be . . . "; refrain 1); excecution of the command ("And God made . . . "; refrain 2); naming of the work ("And God called . . . "; refrain 3); God's approval of the work ("it was good"; refrain 4); words of fulfillment ("and it was so"; "and there was . . . "; refrain 5); function of the created work (refrain 6); provision for reproduction ("according to its kind," "be fruitful and multiply"; refrain 7); blessing (refrain 8); conclusion of the day ("and there was evening . . . "; refrain 9) -- used? (b) How do these narrative refrains make the tone and language of the passage more elevated? (c) How do the organization and collected structure of these nine refrains help suggest something about the essence and order of both creator and creation? Cf. question b, immediately preceding. (d) How is variation in one or more of the refrains used to convey or express themes or ideas? (e) What might account for the peculiar order of the reckoning of a day in the narrative refrain "and there was evening and there was morning--the [first, second, etc.] day"?

A1.01a. (1:1-2:4a) (a) How do the setting and imagery of the passage help make it more formal or elevated? (b) What does the absence of reasons and background for God's action help suggest about the deity? (c) How might the first through third be classified the days of preparation, while the fourth through sixth be classified the days of accomplishment? What is suggested about the Sabbath (Hebrew shabat) in this structure? (d) How does the first day connect with the fourth, the second day with the fifth, and the third day with the sixth? What symmetrical diagram could be drawn to illustrate this structure? What is suggested here about God and his working? (e) Any series or list in literature usually has a thematically expressive organization or structure; how are the ten created works arranged in what could be termed climactic or ascending order? What ideas are suggested about the creation here? (f) What are the eight separate creative acts and the ten created works or entities in the passage?

A1.01b. (1:1-2:4a) (a) Often deleted or amended in modern translations of the Tanakh/OT are the pervasive parataxis and polysyndeton (and . . . and . . . and) in the Tanakh/OT, which is actually present in the Hebrew, in the letter vav repeatedly prefixed to the beginning of a word. Both in particular passages as well as overall, what tone or ideas do the parataxis and polysyndeton help suggest? (b) What tone and ideas are suggested or expressed by pervasive literary element of parallelism in the passage?

A1.01c. (1:1 - 2:4a)  From the following table of the components of creation day by day, how can the ideas of (a) symmetry and (b) preparation vs. fulfillment be deduced?

 

A1.1a. (1:1-2) (a) What is suggested about the essence or nature of God by the imagery of Spirit or wind (Hebrew ruach) moving over the surface of the waters? What might be suggested by the contrast of kinetic and static? (b) Nowadays, the term face of the deep or waters (Hebrew p'nay(e)) has become a "dead metaphor"; how might it be significant or expressive in 1:2? (Other translations, less literal, give terms like "surface," rather than "face.") What might be implied about creator, creation, and their interrelationship?

A1.1b. (1:3-5) (a) How is the concept or subject of language emphasized in 1:3 and 1:5a, as well as parallels elsewhere in the whole passage? What is suggested about any of God's attributes, thereby? (b) How might God's creation of light before sun, moon, or stars suggest something both about God's power as well as about the Israelite view of astrologically-oriented religion, such as that of the Babylonians? (c) In 1:4 as well as repeatedly elsewhere in the passage, the adjective good (Hebrew tôv) is used; by contrast with such alternatives as "excellent," "unsurpassed," "perfect," etc., what is suggested about creation?

A1.1c. (1:6-13) (a) Most readers of the Bible, and of Genesis, do not understand or picture in mind's eye, what is meant by God separating the waters with a "firmament" (KJV) or "expanse" (NIV) in 1:6-8. The diagram below shows the Hebrew cosmology (concept of the universe).

As indicated in 1:6-13, waters are both below the earth as well as above the firmament, so that when God decides to flood earth in the narrative of Noah (Genesis 4:25-10:32), the water, even more frighteningly, comes from opposite directions simultaneously. The "firmament" was thought to be a hard shell to which the stars, sun, and moon were attached; when the shell rotated, the stars, sun, and moon rotated with it. The shell had "windows" (referred to elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, along with all details of this diagram) that allowed waters from above the firmament to come through in various forms of precipitation (rain, hail, snow). (b) How do the verbs in 1:7 and 1:9,1:10 create a symmetrical and complementary contrast? What might be suggested thereby about creator and creation? (c) How are the ideas of hierarchy and order suggested in 1:11-12?

A1.1d. (1:14-25) (a) How are the ideas of hierarchy and orderliness suggested in this particular passage? (b) Nowadays, fruitful (1:22, 1:28; Hebrew, p'ru 'be-fruitful' < parach, 'to sprout, flourish, blossom') is a "dead metaphor"; how is it thematically expressive in the passage--in contrast to, say, "be plentiful," "pour forth greatly," etc.? (c) While many modern translations of the Bible use the word progeny, children, or offspring, the original text, literally translated by the KJV, uses the word, and metaphor, seed; how is this recurrent metaphor in Genesis suggestive not only with reference to this passage but throughout the book?

A1.1e. (1:26-31) (a) While early Christian commentators (e.g., Matthew Henry in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century) interpreted the first person plural pronoun in 1:26 as an allusion to the Trinity, how else might it be interpreted in a strictly Jewish, non-Christian context? Who else might God be talking to in Heaven? Why would such a conference at this point confer special dignity on humanity? How does the plural pronoun dilute anthropomorphism? (b) How is there a kind of pronoun-antecedent concord or agreement problem in God's statement in 1:26 ("'Let us . . . have dominion'"), which is present in the Hebrew (adam . . . v'yeerdu)? How might it be linked to 1:27? To question 1e-a, above? (c) How do the motifs of hierarchy and order climax in this passage? (d) 1:27, paralleling the Hebrew text, has a near chiasmus or antimetabole in it. Possible thematic implications of the figure about the creator, his creating, and the creation, here? (vayeev'ra eloheem et-ha-adam b'tsal'mô b'tselem eloheem bara' ôtô 'so-he-created God the-man in-image-of-him in-image-of God he-created him') (e) How does 1:29, along with 9:2-3, suggest a distinction or differentiation between a past Golden Age and a later, fallen period?

A1.2a (2:1-4) (a) How does this passage climax the motif of separation and division that pervades 1:1-2:4a? (b) How does this passage climax the motif of hierarchy pervading 1:1-2:4a? (c) How does 2:1-4, in laying the foundation for the Judeo-Christian observance of the Sabbath, suggest how humanity may join with God and the creation, in some sense?  

A2.Questions on 2:4b-3:24 (Adam and Eve; the Fall)  

A2.1a. (2:4b-2:9) (a) How is water a different sort of creative principle or substance in 2:5-6 versus 1:2? (b) How does the opening of this passage shift the visual focus from heaven to earth? How is this shift of focus appropriate for the contrast between the idealized picture of creation and the world as God originally designed them, in 1:1-2:4a, and creation and the world when exposed to corrupting influences in 2:4b-3:24? (c) How many times are words for earth and ground repeated in 2:5-6? Ideas or themes suggested? (d) How does the imagery of "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life"(2:7) both compare and contrast with the imagery associated with God, as well as the conception of God, in 1:2? How might the more anthropomorphic imagery in 2:7, in its suggestion of a more personally-approachable deity, connect with the notions of betrayal, punishment, and alienation in the depiction of humanity's relationship to God in 2:4b-3:24? How is the imagery describing God in the following passages also anthropomorphic, with the same relevance: 2:8, 2:15, 2:19, 2:22, 3:8, 7:16b? (e) How does the description of the trees in 2:9a undercut Eve's later reasoning -- rationalizing -- for eating the forbidden fruit (3:6)?  

A2.1b (2:10-20a) (a) How is water important in 2:10-14, and in relation to 2:4b-7, and 1:1-2 (and 1:6-8)? (b) How do two of the rivers in 2:10-14 give a rough geographical fix on the position of Eden? How is this position a foreshadowing of Genesis 12-25, 37-50, and the books of Exodus through Joshua? See the map below, with the two pairs of rivers indicated by name and in blue.

(c) How are the negativity and apodictic components of God's prohibition in 2:17 counterbalanced by tender concern in 2:18? (d) How does 2:19-20 suggest that God and humanity are in partnership in creation? What does this suggest about humanity's status? How does this passage (cf. question A1.1b-a, on 1:3 and 1:5, above) emphasize the concept and importance of language?  

A2.1c (2:20b-25) (a) How does the whole passage of 2:18-23 show another reason that animal creation is being brought before Adam by God? (b) How does 2:18-21 show that both free will and improvisation are involved in the finding of a "help" or "helper" for man by God? (c) Why using the Bible for argument or controversy is complicated is revealed by the contrast between 2:21-23 and 1:27; how does the account in chapter 2 seem to suggest female as secondary (and has been used for that argument), while 1:27 (conveniently left out of the argument by male-primary arguers) seems to suggest simultaneity of the two genders? (d) The complicated wordplay or punning (elaborate technical name: paronomasia) in the Hebrew Bible (also to be found in the New Testament), as well as some of the difficulty in translation, is shown in 2:7 ("the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground"), 2:20b ("But for Adam no suitable helper was found"), 2:23c ("she shall be called 'woman,'/ for she was taken out of man"). In these passages (noted in most good study Bibles), what wordplays or puns are there in the original Hebrew text? (e) 2:23 in some translations, such as the NIV, is printed as verse: what in the language and content suggests that verse is appropriate here? (f) As indicated in some well-annotated Bibles, the Hebrew does not literally say that Eve was formed from Adam's rib, but rather, literally, says that she was taken from Adam's "side." The NET Bible translates literally "God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man's side and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man" (2:21-22). However, a suggestion of "rib" may be derived from "the man's" or "Adam's" poetic statement about Eve that she is "bone of my bones / and flesh of my flesh" (2:  

A2.2a (3:1) (a) Most Biblical scholars (check the works in my bibliography) are in agreement that for the original Hebrew writer(s) the serpent is just a serpent; only with the New Testament and later Christian writers was the association made with Satan (who does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, except once in Job, as a sort of sharp, skeptical prosecuting attorney). The lack of this figure in the Hebrew Bible and in Judaism places much more responsibility on whom for wrongdoing in the world? (b) How does the serpent's asking a question, as well as the content of the question, help begin an insinuating process of persuasion? Why or how is insinuation through question a potentially more successful technique of persuasion than explicit statement? How does the serpent imply without explicitly stating that God is a dictator or tyrant? How does his asking a question attempt to provide the serpent what today, in less-than-moral governmental and business circles (if that is not being redundant), would be called "plausible deniability"?  

A2.2b (3:2-7) (a) In her reply to the serpent (3:2-3), how does Eve add a prohibition (3:3) that God did not decree (2:17)? What does this addition suggest about Eve's psychological processes (visible also in some children who add prohibitions not originally enjoined by their parents) and about her (developing) attitude toward God? (b) The words of the serpent about not dying (3:4) play on an ambiguity in the phrasing "you will die," having to do with time (immediately vs. longterm); how might the serpent be telling a half truth in what he says? (c) In the assessment of the serpent, who validates his reputation as most "crafty" or "cunning" (etc., depending on the Bible translation used) by being very well informed about the forbidden tree, what does the tree offer, by implication, besides knowledge (3:5)? What might appeal to Eve about this asset? (d) How does 3:6a reveal human rationalizing in action -- that is, how do the first two things that Eve notes as good about the tree in fact apply to all the trees in Eden (2:9a), with only the last item in her list being what really motivates her and almost covered up in the list? (e) How does 3:6b reveal that blaming the whole fall on Eve is chauvinistic or sexist; as suggested by the brevity of 3:6b, in how much consideration or struggle does Adam engage before eating? (f) The Bible never specifically identifies the forbidden fruit as more than the "forbidden fruit"; Bible scholars note that apple trees are not indigenous to the Middle East and the area identified as Eden (see the map above, of where Eden is located), and that a more likely fruit would have been the persimmon. The notion that the forbidden fruit was an apple has a late post-biblical origin in the Middle Ages; how did this particular misrepresentation of the text start, exactly? (g) How is the knowledge that Adam and Eve acquire from eating the forbidden fruit (3:7) rather an ironic let down after what it originally seemed to promise rather grandiosely (3:5)? (h) How do the clothes Adam and Eve make fit in the recurrent floral imagery of Genesis?

A2.2c (3:8-11) (a) How does the anthropomorphic imagery describing God in 3:8 and 3:21 help reveal an opposite aspect about him, as well as counterbalance, the sternness in his sentencing and judging phase (3:14-19; 3:23-24)? (b) How is the action taken by Adam and Eve when hearing God walking in the garden symbolic of alienation -- the alienation of humanity from God? How does the concept of alienation apply in what they have done in 3:6-7? In Ch. 4? In Chs. 5-10? In Ch. 11? (c) God's first interrogation -- of Adam -- has an underlying similarity to the interrogation of the TV detective Columbo (Peter Falk) of wrongdoers. Both God and Columbo already know the answers to their questions and already know the guilty; what they seek from their questioning is not knowledge but something else: what? (d) How is Adam, like modern wrongdoers on TV detective or lawyer shows, trapped by a mistake in interrogation (3:9-11)?  

A2.2d (3:12-20) (a) How does Adam's answer to God (3:12) exemplify chutzpah (the Yiddish term for "audacity"), double blame shifting (it was not only Eve's fault but also . . .), and impenitence? (b) As noted by nineteenth-century scholar E.W. Bullinger (and assiduously diagrammed throughout his Companion Bible edition of the KJV) and others, the pattern of chiasmus occurs throughout the Bible, including in the interrogation pattern (Adam, Eve, serpent) vis-a-vis the pronouncement of sentence (serpent, Eve, Adam). What might be the suggestion of this chiasmic pattern in 3:9-19? (c) How does the blame shifting or rationalizing of first Adam and then Eve have a kind of grim humorous irony to it, and what is suggested about human nature? (d) How does the pattern set up of blame shifting create a comic anticipation and thwarting with regard to the serpent (Adam turns around and blames Eve [and . . . someone else by implication -- whom?]; Eve turns around and blames . . )? (e) The NIV translation and others put portions of 3:14-19 in verse form; with regard to the word choice, sentence structure, content of the passages, and situation, why do some translations opt for verse form? (f) Part of the curse on the serpent (only the serpent and the ground are cursed in 3:14-19; what is suggested by these two entities being cursed but Adam and Eve being exempted from formal cursing?), that it will crawl on its belly and eat dust, suggests that one conception of the serpent family prior to this event was as sort of Komodo dragons. Artistic representations from ancient times have been found, such as that, below, depicted in glazed brick on the Gate of Ishtar dating from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (6th century BCE) in Babylon:

(g) What punning reference to Adam's name does God make in the last two references to dust or earth in 3:19? What ideas about humanity are suggested through this wordplay?

A2.2e (3:20-24) (a) Eve is in fact given a name late in the narrative, 3:20, simply being "the woman" prior to this point; what is suggested by her being given her name at this particular juncture, particularly after the references to death at the end of 3:19? (b) In Hebrew, the wife's name is Khavah ("life, living"), not transliterated into English with too much accuracy as "Eve." Given the symbolic meanings of the names Adam and Eve, as explicitly referred to in the text, what overall symbolism is suggested about this human pair? (c) What might be the significance of the difference in material between the clothes made for Adam and Eve by themselves (3:7) and by God (3:21), respectively? How is one suggestion made about the degree of difficulty of their lives in Eden and outside of it?  

A3. Questions on 4:1-26 (Cain and Abel)  

A3.1 (4:1-7) (a) 4:1a is a point where translations diverge interestingly, with reference to Adam's intimate relations with Eve: "And Adam knew Eve, his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD" (KJV; so also -- "knew" -- the translations of 1862, 1885, 1917, 1957a, 1957b, 1965, 1969, 1982a, 1982b, 1989a, 2001); "Now the man had intercourse with his wife, Eve; so she conceived and bore Cain" (1935; so also -- "had intercourse with" -- the translations of 1939, 1966, 1979, 1985); "And now Adam had knowledge of his wife, Eve, and she conceived" (1955); "The man had relations with his wife, Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying . . . " (1970a; so also -- "had relations with" -- the translations of 1971, 1976); "The man lay with his wife, Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain" (1970b; so also -- "lay with" -- the translations of 1978, 1989b); "Then Adam had sexual intercourse with Eve, his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, Cain" (1973); "Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain" (1991); "Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, 'I'll name him Cain . . . '" (1995); "Now Adam slept with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant" (1996). The actual Hebrew word in the text is ya-DAH, the verb meaning to know or experience something. Most modern readers smile slightly at the "quaintness" of the translations using "knew," but something meaningful is being conveyed by the text about the intimate relationship of sex, within marriage: what is it? (b) Only part of the onomastic symbolism (symbolism of names; the Onomastic Society of America is headquartered in a neighboring Southern state) of the name Cain meaning brought forth or got, derives from Eve having brought him forth and gotten him with the help of God; the other ironic part of this symbolism has to do with the unfortunate impulse of getting that Cain has, which results in Abel's death; what is it that Cain wants so desperately to get, and what does God tell him to do to get it? (c) How does God's metaphor and personification of sin (4:7) equate sin with a predatory animal? How does this predatory animal "lurk" within many people, parallel to the metaphor?  

A3.2 (4:8-16) (a) How does God's metaphor for sin (4:7) imply a going outside, plus sudden ambush? How does this metaphor foreshadow Cain's murder plan (4:8)? (b) What verbal technique or device does Cain use to attempt to evade God's Columbo-like interrogation (4:9-10)? (c) How does Cain, with reference to the immediately preceding question, show himself to be a chip off the old block of Adam and Eve (and much of humanity)? (d) How does part of God's sentence, as much a forecast or assessment, in 4:12b (the restless wandering) point to Cain's alienation preceding the murder he commits, and what would follow as a consequence of such a personality or temperament? (Cf. 4:14.) (e) Is Cain parallel to or contrasting with Adam and Eve, regarding the issue of repentance, to judge from 4:13? (f) Many persons not that familiar with the Bible or with reading the Bible carefully, word by word, aren't aware of the difficulties and possible implications or solutions to Cain referring to others when he says to God "I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me" (4:14) [what others, beyond Adam and Eve, constituting "whoever"?] and the reference to Cain having a wife (4:17) and subsequent child [wife from where, beyond Adam and Eve]? (g) How does Cain exemplify what Sigmund Freud and modern psychology call "projection" when he complains to God that when Cain wanders those who find him will slay him (4:14)? 

A3.3 (4:17-26) (a) One apparent inconsistency seized on by skeptics are the references to others (beyond Adam and Eve) by Cain (4:14) and to Cain's wife in 4:17. If Adam and Eve are the only human beings, along with their two sons (now one deceased), where did Cain's wife come from? Bible scholars have answered this question in a number of ways (see my Bible study bibliography): one answer is that the Bible can be very precise, and it doesn't say specifically that Adam and Eve are the only human beings God creates; another answer is that the lifespans of the early people in Genesis are enormous (8-900 years), allowing time, after some coupling of brothers and sisters (partly sanctioned under extreme circumstances, as with Lot and his daughters, in Gen. 19:30-38) (b) In 4:17-26, cities, music, technology, and crafts, all stem from the line of Cain (an alternative line from Adam and Eve, not tainted by murder, comes from what child of Adam and Eve to replace Abel, in 4:26?). What is symbolically suggested, thereby, about cities, music, technology, and crafts by this ancestry?  

A4. Questions on 4:25-10:32 (Noah and the Flood)  

A4.1 Given how human beings are behaving, how is what the metaphor of "face of the earth" (6:6) ironic about the relationship between humanity and God at this point?

A4.2 How does the anthropomorphic imagery describing God in this section (especially Chs. 6:1-10:32 -- e.g., 6:6, 7:16b) serve the same thematic or symbolic function as it does in the Adam and Eve / Fall narrative in 2:4-3:24?

A4.3 (a) After the flood, how is the world a far different place as implied or suggested by what Adam and Eve originally ate in Eden (2:16), versus what God tells Noah about food (9:2-5)? (b) What covenant or contract does God make with Noah (9:8-17), and what is implied about the deity by entering into a contract, as well as who really promises to give something in the contract? (c) The bow or rainbow has the shape of an archery bow resting on its string; in that instance, which way would the arrows (by implication, lightning bolts) be pointing? As a consequence of the foregoing, what is the implied symbolism of the bow or rainbow as part of God's contract? (d) What other contracts or covenants can be found in the narratives, in Genesis, of Abraham and Jacob?

A4.4 What pattern or progression in family crime or wrongdoing is there from the Adam and Eve narrative (Adam vs. Eve, in God's interrogation), the Cain and Abel narrative (Cain vs. Abel), and finally the Noah narrative (Noah vs. Ham; 9:18-27)?

A4.5 How is the famous early monologue or routine "Noah," by Bill Cosby, which helped establish his reputation as a standup comedian, not only funny but an interesting commentary on the Noah narrative? (The routine is on his LP records and CD reprints of these.)  

A5. Questions on 11:1-8 (Tower of Babel)  

A5.1 How does the subject of the use of language in this narrative compare or contrast with its occurrence in A1?

A5.2 (a) In 11:3-4, do human beings have a purpose first or the technology first? (b) Do human beings choose a wise use or purpose for their technology?

A5.3 What human trait would seem to be symbolized, and how, by the architectural structure being built?

A5.4 How is what human beings want to take for themselves through the tower (11:4) given to them freely by God through his contract with Abraham (12:2-3)?

A5.5 A general pattern that may be seen in (a2): Adam and Eve, the fall (2:4b-3:24); (a3): Cain and Abel (4:1-26); and (a4): Noah and the flood (4:25-10:32) is God's decree, a violation, results or punishment of the violation, and then a redeeming act by God (provision of clothing for Adam and Eve; the mark of Cain to protect Cain; the saving of Noah's family and the rainbow). How is this feature of a redeeming act by God missing in 11:1-8? But how is the redeeming act to be found in the beginning of the material about Abraham, which begins the next section (12:1-3, 12:7a)? How does God freely give to Abraham (12:1-3, 12:7a) what the Tower of Babel builders wanted to take on their own?

Notes and Questions on Psalms 8, 19, 23, 137

The traditional Hebrew title for this book of the Hebrew Bible is tehillim ("praises"), though many of the Psalms are tephillot ("prayers") and the Hebrew word mizmor ("psalm") is also a common term for the poems from this book. The words Psalms and Psalter come from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, where they originally referred to stringed instruments (such as harp, lyre, and lute), and then to songs sung with the accompaniment of these instruments.

Bible scholars have devised many different schemes for categorizing the 150 Psalms (though this number is tricky, since two of the Psalms are actually parts of one Psalm, and the Eastern Orthodox church recognizes a different number). One system has the twelve categories of (1) prayers of the individual, (2) praise from the individual for God's saving help, (3) prayers of the community, (4) praise from the community for God's saving help, (5) confessions of confidence in the Lord, (6) hymns in praise of God's majesty and virtues, (7) hymns celebrating God's universal reign, (8) songs of Zion, the city of God, (9) royal psalms -- by, for, or concerning the king, the Lord's annointed, (10) pilgrimage songs, (11) liturgical songs (used in worship service; often antiphonal), and (12) didactic or instructional songs.

Hebrew poetry usually lacks rhyme (though rhyme can be found in the Hebrew of Psalm 8 and Psalm 23) and regular meter, its most distinctive and pervasive feature being parallelism. Most poetic lines are composed of two or sometimes three balanced segments, though the balance is often loose, with the second segment commonly somewhat shorter than the first. The second segment echoes (synonymous parallelism), contrasts (antithetic parallelism), or syntactically completes (synthetic parallelism) the first segment. Often English translations that set poetry off as lines, which they should, indicate this subordination in the parallelism by different indentings of the lines in a poem.  

Sometimes Hebrew poetry has a stanzaic structure indicated by refrains. Often the poetry has more of a content-structure or thought-structure indicated by verse paragraphs in English translations. The Psalms and other Hebrew poetry (e.g., the overall category of "the poetic books," which includes Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs; likewise, many of the prophetic books) use, as in all poetry, figurative language (metaphor, simile, metonymy, pun, imagery, etc.), acoustic effects (assonance, alliteration, consonance, very occasionally rhyme), and sometimes even alphabetical acrostics (each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet is given one line segment, as in the Hebrew of Psalms 111-112 -- one of the many instances not conveyed in English translation).  

Psalm 8  

1. How does the superscription of this Psalm point to the connection between the Psalms and music?

2. How does this Psalm have a circular structure, and what is conveyed, thereby, about our relation to or thinking about God?

3. How are the contrast of rising/ascending/high vs. falling/descending/lowly imagery used throughout the Psalm to convey relative positions of the components of the universe or cosmos?

4. How is the importance of language suggested in this Psalm through verses (vv.) 1 and 9?

5. How does the anthropomorphic imagery applied to God (v. 3) function thematically, as in Genesis 2-3 and 6-10? (See my study questions on Genesis 2-3 and 6-10.)

6. How is part of this Psalm echoed in Shakespeare's Hamlet?  

Psalm 19  

1. How does the superscription of this Psalm point to the connection between the Psalms and music?

2. (a) How does this Psalm have the two-part structure of vv. 1-7 and 8-14, with the underlying idea of how God is manifested in one way (vv. 1-7) and how in another way (vv. 8-14)? (b) What ideas are suggested about the equation of the two ways in which God is manifested (vv. 1-7, 8-14)?

3. (a) How does this Psalm have an underlying chiasmic structure (see my study questions on Genesis 2-3), with vv. 1-4 paralleling vv. 11-13, and vv. 4b-6 paralleling 7-10? (The underlying connecting idea has to do with our ability to detect or apprehend something.) (b) What might the chiasmus pattern itself suggest about the universe or cosmos created by God? (c) What opposite but connected component parts are represented by the sun and the honeycomb? How does the underlying imagery of color connect these? What else is linked to these via the same color, in the Psalm? What are the suggestions of this other similarly colored item?

4. (a) How do the personifications describing the sun (vv. 4b-6) suggest nature's purpose under God, as well as God's power? (b) How are sun and Torah/Law connected by the imagery in vv. 5 and 7? (c) How does the underlying idea of Law connect vv. 4b-6 and 7 ff.?  

Psalm 23  

1. (a) Almost everyone "knows" this Psalm but hasn't really paid attention to its exact details and their meaning. For example, how does the Psalm divide into the two parts of vv. 1-4 and 5-6 by two extended metaphors (one extended metaphor for vv. 1-4 and one for 5-6)? (b) What parallels are there in the imagery of the two parts, and what ideas are suggested thereby? (c) What contrasts are there in the imagery of the two parts, and what ideas are suggested thereby?

2. (a) How is there a progression from the first part to the second? (b) How does the emergence or threat of danger progress from the first part to the second, with what implications, as regarding the relationship between God and the believer?

3. How is the rod mentioned in v. 4 an instrument of the shepherd's protection of the sheep? Against what? What are the metaphoric or symbolic applications of staff and rod, together?

4. (a) What use do Jesus and many Christian churches make of one of the extended metaphors in this Psalm? (b) What use does Dante make of this Psalm in the opening canto of his Inferno in his [Divine] Comedy?  

Psalm 137

See the footnote in NAWLS2 for the approximate date of the Babylonian captivity. Biblical books related to this period include Obadiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi.

1. How does this Psalm focus on two of the three main components of Humanities 2001? What ideas does this Psalm suggest about the relation between performance of an art and the physical and emotional circumstances of the performance? As suggested in this Psalm, what are some of the functions of the two art forms referred to?

2. (a) How does this Psalm have an ironic circular structure, with the "music" of vv. 1-3 paralleling and contrasting the "music" of vv. 8-9? (b) How are the underlying imagery of soft (v. 1) and hard (v. 9) thematically compared and contrasted?

3. What thematic parallels and contrasts have the liquids referred to in the opening of the Psalm (v. 1)?

4. (a) How does this Psalm compare foreign enemies and indigenous ones? (b) How is the issue or concept of loyalty repeatedly raised or manifested in this Psalm?