Genesis 1:1-2:4 The Whole Story
The Clay Tablet Theory
Structure of Genesis: Colophon Examples
| Tablet | Verses | Content | Owner/Writer plus Notes |
| Section 1 | Prequel to 2 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Genealogy of H&E in Epic Narrative Form |
| Intro | Gen. 1:1 | In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. | NARRATIVE when: the beginning who: God what: created, etc. |
| Body | Gen. 1:2-1:31 | {Creation of the heavens and the earth} | |
| Epilogue | Gen. 2:1-2:3 | Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. | God finished all His work that He had done. God rested from all His work. God blessed the the seventh day. On the seventh day (2x), God (3x): finished (2x) His work (3x); had done(3x) rested (2x) from His work blessed (1x) the Seventh Day, aka His work |
| Colophon 1 | Gen. 2:4a | These are <toledot> of the heavens and the earth | revealed by God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth, (to a Priestly author, possibly Melchizedek or of his order) |
| Postscript | Gen. 2:4b | when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven. | I - Gen. 1:1 possible editorial addition that wraps up contents of creation account and links "LORD God" with "God". Compare to the titles used by Melchizedek and Abraham. Mechizedek: "God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth" Abraham: "the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth" |
| Section 2 | Sequel to 1 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Narrative (with G.) |
| Intro | Gen. 2:5-7 | When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up... then the LORD God formed... | NARRATIVE when: land was barren, uninhabited who: God what: formed, planted, etc. |
| Body 1 | Gen. 2:5-2:25 | {Story of Adam and Eve} | |
| Body 2 | Gen. 3:1-3:24 | {Story of The Fall} | |
| Body 3 | Gen. 4:1-4:16 | {Story of Cain & Able} | |
| Gen. 4:17-24 | Cain knew his wife...and she... bore Enoch... | GENEALOGY of Lamech | |
| Gen. 4:25-26a | Adam knew his wife...and she... bore Seth... to Seth... Enosh | Genealogical Bridge: Adam to Enosh | |
| Epilogue | Gen. 4:26b | At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. | |
| Colophon 2 | Gen. 5:1a | This is the book of the <toledot> of Adam. | as first told by Adam (probably transmitted orally until finally written, at which time the Lamech genealogy may have been embedded) |
| Postscript | Gen. 5:1b-2 | In the day when God created man, (1) He made him in the likeness of God. (2) He created them male and female, (3) and He blessed them (4) and named them Man in the day when they were created. | CREEDAL STATEMENT (Gen. 1:27-38a) So God created man (1) in his own image, (2) in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (3) And God blessed them. (4) |
| Section 3 | Sequel to 2 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Genealogy (with N.) |
| Root | Gen. 5:3-32 | When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ... | GENEALOGY |
| {Adam to Noah, death ages, but not of Noah, Noah's 3 sons} ...Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. | <toledot> of Author/Possessor includes: Death of all except Author/Possessor and Immediate offspring of Author/Possessor | ||
| Intro | Gen. 6:1-7 | When man began to multiply... the sons of God saw... | NARRATIVE When: man began to multiply Who: the sons of God What: took wives, did evil |
| Body | {corruption of mankind} | ||
| Epilogue | Gen. 6:8 | But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. | |
| Colophon 3 | Gen. 6:9a | These are <toledot> of Noah. | by Noah |
| Postscript | Gen. 6:9b | Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. | INCLUSIO - Gen. 6:8 |
| Postscript | Gen. 6:10 | Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. | INCLUSIO - Gen. 5:32 |
| Section 4 | Sequel to 3 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Narrative |
| Gen. 6:11-9:29 | Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw... | NARRATIVE earth was corrupt and filled with violenceparallels earth was formless and void in thematic contrast. When: the earth was corrupt Who: God What: saw | |
| {The flood narrative with some repetition. The death of Noah.} | |||
| Colophon 4 | Gen. 10:1a | These are <toledot> of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah. | by Shem, Ham & Japheth(possibly blended account) |
| Postscript | Gen. 10:1b |
Sons were born to them after the flood.
| |
| Section 5 | Sequel to 4 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Genealogy |
| Root | Gen. 10:2-10:31 | The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.... | COMPILED GENEALOGY |
| {Descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth} | |||
| Colophon 5 | Gen. 10:32a | These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their <toledot>s, by their nations; | by the Clans of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (we don't know who compiled these into a single tablet, but eventually it made its way to Moses) |
| Postscript | Gen. 10:32b | and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood. | |
| Section 6 | Sequel to 5 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Narrative |
| Gen. 11:1-11:9 | Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated... | NARRATIVE When: their was one language Who: people What: migrated, built tower | |
| {Tower of Babel story} | |||
| Colophon 6 | Gen. 11:10a | These are <toledot> of Shem. | by Shem |
| Section 7 | Sequel to 5 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Genealogy |
| Root | Gen. 11:10b-11:26 | When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. | GENEAOLOGY |
| {Simple genealogy from Shem to Terah, including death age of all individuals except Terah} | <toledot> of Author/Possessor includes: Death of all except Author/Possessor Immediate offspring of Author/Possessor | ||
| Colophon 7 | Gen. 11:27a | Now these are <toledot> of Terah. | by Terah |
| Section 8 | Sequel to 7 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Narrative (with G.) |
| Root | Gen. 11:27b-11:32 | Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. ... and Terah died in Haran. | BRIDGE GENEALOGICAL NARRATIVE (connects Tarah to Abraham, notes important relations and migrations, notes Terah's death.) |
| Gen.12:1 | Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. | NARRATIVE When: God called Abram Who: Abram What: set out for Canaan | |
| Gen.12:2-25:11 | {Abraham's call and life, Isaac's life and details about Rebecca, details about Ishmael} After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi. | ||
| Sub-Title | Gen. 25:12 | Now these are <toledot> of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham | by Isaac, content from Ishmael (Isaac lived to 180, Ishmael to 137) |
| Gen. 25:13-18 | {12 sons of Ishmael; Ishmael's death} | GENEALOGY | |
| Colophon 8 | Gen. 25:19a | These are <toledot> of Isaac, Abraham's son: | by Isaac, principally about Abraham |
| Section 9 | Sequel to 8 | Sumerian-style Tablet | Narrative (with G.) |
| Root | Gen. 25:19b-25:28 | Abraham fathered Isaac,...Jacob. | BRIDGE GENEALOGICAL NARRATIVE (connects Abraham to Jacob, through Isaac, notes important relations, Abraham's death previously noted.) |
| Gen. 25:29-35:29 | Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field... | NARRATIVE | |
| {Jacob's life story and the death of Isaac} And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. | |||
| Sub-Title | Gen. 36:1 | These are <toledot> of Esau (that is, Edom). | by Jacob, content from Esau |
| Gen. 36:2-43 | {Esau's descendants and chiefs of Edom, some redundancy} | GENEALOGY | |
| Epilogue | Gen. 37:1 | Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. | Refers back to the narrative about Jacob. |
| Colophon 9 | Gen. 37:2a | These are <toledot> of Jacob. | by Jacob |
| Section 10 | Sequel to 9 | Egyptian-style Document (therefore no colophon) | Narrative |
| Gen. 37:2b-50:21 | Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. | NARRATIVE When: Joseph was 17 Who: Joseph What: pasturing flock | |
| {Joseph's life story, but not his death; story about Judah; Jacob's death} | by Joseph | ||
| Postscript | Gen. 50:22-26 | Structured postscript to Joseph's intimate account of his life: Joseph...Egypt -Joseph lived to 110 --Ephraim's children --Manasseh's children --Joseph's promise --Joseph's command -Joseph died at 110 Joseph's body...Egypt | by Ephraim? |
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