From Creation to Babel: Studies in Genesis 1-11

The stories of Genesis 1-11 constitute one of the better known parts of the Old Testament, but their precise meaning and background still provide many debated questions for the modern interpreter. In this stimulating, learned and readable collection of essays, which paves the way for his forthcoming ICC commentary on these chapters, John Day attempts to provide definitive solutions to some ofthese questions. Amongst the topics included are the background and interpretation of the seven-day Priestly Creation narrative, problems in the interpretation of the Garden of Eden story, the relation of Cain and the Kenites, the strange stories of the sons of God and daughters of men and of Noah's drunkenness and the curse of Canaan, the precise ancient Near Eastern background of the Flood story and the preceding genealogies, and the meaning and background of the story of the tower and city of Babel. Throughout this volume John Day constantly seeks to determine the original meaning of these stories in the light of their ancient Near Eastern background, and to determine how far this original meaning has been obscured by later interpretations.

Table Of Contents

• 1. The Background of the Genesis 1 Creation Narrative
• 2. Problems in the Interpretation of the Garden of Eden Story
• 3. Cain and the Kenites
• 4. The Sons of God and Daughters of Men and the Giants: Disputed Questions in the Interpretation of Genesis 6.1-4
• 5. The Flood and the Ten Antediluvian Figures in Berossus and in the Priestly Source in Genesis
• 6. The relation of the Genesis Flood Narrative to other ancient Near Eastern Flood Accounts
• 7. Rooms or Reeds in Noah's Ark (Genesis 6.14)?
• 8. Why does God 'Establish' rather than 'Cut' Covenants in the Priestly Source in Genesis?
• 9. Noah's Drunkenness, the Curse of Canaan, Ham's Crime, and the Blessing of Shem and Japheth (Genesis 9.18-27)
• 10. The Location of Tarshish (Genesis 10.4)
• 11. The Tower and City of Babel Story: Problems of Interpretation and Background