The Book of Genesis - Literary Analysis Essay

Introduction

The Book of Genesis has significantly progressed due to plenty of documents that give archeological evidence about it. The evidence has provided insight on a number of phenomena that relate to the cultural life of the East and in Canaan that occurred in the early and second millennia. Several studies have been done that commemorate that there were many problems that pertained to literary sources of the Book of Genesis and how they were attracted to neighboring cultures. The author of the Book of Genesis was motivated by how political, social, legal, and religious background relating to the origin of the Israelites.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Also, there are some other schools of thoughts that suggest that the Book of Genesis was compiled from the sources of J, E, and P, which means that there was a complicated process of editing the book. Also, there are attempts to develop stories on theories that can be merged with the characters, sources and the mode of composition within the framework of the Old Testament. Umberto saw the Book of Genesis as a single book that is made from a compilation of different components of the outset and was created from a pre-determined plan sourced from traditions that differed from one another in terms of the original character and event.

Brief Biographical Information of Major Figures

During the two thousand years of the Book of Genesis, it has been the keystone and significantly claimed about the dignities provided about reality, God, humankind, Judaism and Christianity. Reality from Genesis shapes ideas of science and politics. Humankind, on the other hand, provides details of the issues of sexuality, religion, and reality about the life of human beings. God is the Supreme Being that controls over humankind and reality. The book provides the readers with detailed information about God, how humanity came to be, the doctrines of Judaism and Christians, as well as the reality about life. It also plays a central role in debates about science, politics, as well as human rights. Gottlieb provides a history of this iconic book and how it impacted the Western religion, science, politics, and philosophy.

Gottlieb traced how the Book of Genesis shaped the views about reality and how changing the views of people about reality have an impact on the interpretation of Genesis. Gottlieb explains how Luther criticized the traditions that figurative gave accounts of Genesis that undermined the church of Catholic. He also made arguments that were made by Galileo about the cosmology of the Book of Genesis that did not have the scientific evidence. Gottlieb gives detailed information on how the Book of Genesis demonstrates how Western thought about religion and arts that have taken encounters from Genesis. The biographical illustration of Genesis looks at how slavery, gender, and sexuality struggled to take over creation and evolution. It is from the Book of Genesis that the world is shaped in issues that concerns reality, humankind, and God.

Major Events

The first chapter of the book discusses how God created the heaven and the earth. The next chapter is about how God prepared a habitat for humans. Chapter three is about Adam and Eve, how they sinned against God, and God cursed them. The next chapter is about Cain and Abel and Cain's descendants. The next chapter is on genealogy from Seth to Noah. Chapter six, seven, and eight is about Noah. How God chose him to build the ark and how God saved his family from floods. Chapter nine is about the rainbow covenant between God and Noah. The next chapter is on the genealogy of Noah. Also, the following chapters give details about Abram and his family. How God tempted Abram, his faith in God and how God rescued his family. It looks at the birth of Ishmael and Isaac and the death of Abraham and his wife, Sarah. The book talks about famine in Canaan and how Isaac and his wife, Rebekah moved from his home to a land that God had promised Abraham. Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau.

The twenty-seventh chapter of the books looks at how Jacob stole Esau's blessings and fled from home to his uncle's place. God appears to Jacob in chapter twenty-eight and promises to bless him. In his uncle's place, Jacob fell in love with Rachel, and he is forced to work for seven years to marry him, but after the years he is given Leah for marriage. He is added seven years so that he can take Rachel. In chapter thirty-one, Jacob flees from Laban's home to meet his brother. On the way, God battles with him. The genealogy of Esau is given where Joseph is introduced. Joseph, a dreamer, is sold by his brothers to Egypt where he employed in Potiphar home. In Potiphar's house, Joseph interprets dreams and becomes a Prime minister of Egypt. His brothers came to Egypt due to drought in their place and meet Joseph as the Prime minister. In chapter forty-six, Jacob moves to Egypt and blesses his son, and he is later pronounced dead and buried in Abraham's cave.

Major Themes

The Book of Genesis has main characters that the author used to draw the themes. These characters include; Abraham, Noah, Jacob, and Joseph. The first theme is about the attributes that we should have in our lives. These attributes include; faith, honesty, love, kindness, gentleness, peace, trusts among others. Noah and Abraham were used by God to test their faith and trust in God. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac while Noah was asked to build the ark and God saved his family from the flood. Jacob stealing Esau's blessing and Joseph's brother selling him to Egypt because he can interpret dream to portray that brothers should live in harmony without feeling jealousy over the other. Secondly, the covenant between God and man is a theme in the Book of Genesis. God and Abraham, God and Jacob as well as God and Noah have a covenant between them. Also, the fall of man is a theme in Genesis. Adam and Eve sinning against God were the beginning of the fall of man whereby the relationship between God and man drifted.

Bibliography

Gottlieb, Fred. "The Creation Theme in Genesis 1, Psalm 104 and Job 38-42." Jewish Bible Quarterly 44, no. 1 (2016): 29.

Klingbeil, Gerald A. The Genesis Creation Account and Its Reverberations in the Old Testament. Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University Press, 2015.

Version, King James. Holy Bible. Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2017.