Genesis The creation stories in Genesis in

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The creation stories in Genesis indicate that the human being was created by God and provide a specific description of this process. The account as it now stands was written by looking backward from Israel's experience of God's action in creating and saving it as a people, and the account is derived from different traditions which now present God as the utterly transcendent Creator and Lord of the entire cosmos. The story was written by more than one hand over a period of time, and different versions of the stories in Genesis were combined. The Yahwist tradition, as it is called, was the first to combine the national story of Israel with mythic stories about primeval history. The Priestly tradition has been attributed to the priests of Jerusalem and takes a different point of view from the Yahwist tradition. The stories offer explanations on different levels for aspects of the human condition and for the establishment of a relationship.

The composition of the bible took over 1,000 years, with the Old Testament being developed between c. 1200 B.C. to 100 B.C. The process took place in Palestine, Babylonia, and peripheral regions. The Bible includes oral material handed down over several generations, and it was then put into written form by various people. Each book was rewritten by numerous hands (Miller and Miller 71). The primary segment of the Old Testament is a historical and legal work originally in nine volumes and extending from

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he dates of composition, the identity of the writers, and the historical situation prevailing at each step. In the Persian period, Jewish scribes believed that Genesis had been written by Moses, though there is considerable evidence for a much later time of authorship. The J material shows a concern for the Judean point of view, while the E material shows a concern for the interest of the Northern Kingdom. The Priestly material emphasizes the revelations to Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses and the covenants made with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. This segment shows how the Israelites were separated from the Gentiles and formed the chosen nation. Genesis as now constituted is seen as a product of the Fifth Century B.C., and this date helps explain the many parallels between Genesis and Babylonian literature, something the Jews knew from the time of the Exile (Miller and Miller 219). OUTLINE OF THE BOOK Some of the themes have already been noted, such as the development of the state of Israel, the differentiation between the people of Israel and other peoples of the time, and the importance of ritual. Blair notes the outline of the entire Pentateuch: The Pentateuch seeks to explain how Israel became the chosen and covenanted
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Approximate Word count = 4251
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)

Genesis The creation stories in Genesis in

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