Victor P. Hamilton - Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17

The Book of

GENESIS

Chapters 117

Victor P. Hamilton

W ILLIAM B . E ERDMANS P UBLISHING C OMPANY

G RAND R APIDS, M ICHIGAN

Publishers Note

This commentary was planned and written as a single volume, but its length dictated the need to publish it in two volumes. The reader should note that the Introduction in the present volume covers the entire book of Genesis; thus the second volume comprises only commentary on Genesis 1850.

For the readers convenience, each volume has its own table of contents, abbreviation list, and indexes.

1990 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hamilton, Victor P.

The book of Genesis: chapters 117 / by Victor P. Hamilton.

p. cm.-(New international commentary on the Old Testament)

Includes .

eISBN 978-1-4674-2265-9

ISBN 0-8028-2308-4

1. Bible. O. T. Genesis I-XVII-Commentaries. I. Title. II. Series.

BS1235.3.H32 1990

222.1107-dc20 9036511

CIP

www.eerdmans.com

To

Heather

Paul

Dawn

David

CONTENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to Professor Emeritus R. K. Harrison of Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, for his invitation to write the Genesis commentary for the series and for his counsel in preparing the manuscript. Although apprehensive at first about starting such a monumental project, I accepted the challenge after nudging and encouragement from my seminary mentor and now the President of Asbury College, Dr. Dennis Kinlaw. One reason for my hesitancy was the numerous commentaries on Genesis already available that deserve the label opus magnum. I had in mind, from an earlier period, the work of Gunkel and Skinner, and from a more recent time, the work of von Rad and Westermann. As one colleague put it to me, rather laconically, How much more juice can be squeezed from the lemon? I would like to acknowledge my deep sense of gratitude to this vast array of Genesis commentators. But once I launched into the project, it occurred to me very quickly that the last and definitive word on Genesis has not yet been said, and probably never will be said.

It is a privilege for me to acknowledge and thank the Faculty Research and Development Committee of the College for granting me two work leaves, thus freeing me from teaching commitments and committee responsibilities, and allowing uninterrupted time for focused research and writing on this commentary.

I am also indebted to Mr. Gary Lee, my editor at Eerdmans. He has read my manuscript most carefully and patiently, and I thank him for suggestions on ways to improve its quality.

Mrs. Cheryl Smith, now of Rochester, New York, typed the opening chapters of my commentary into the computer, and for that I thank her. But the bulk of the commentary has been put on the word processor by my wife Shirley. In addition to her responsibilities as mother, wife, and homemaker, she accepted this major task and did it in a professional way. I also thank her for the encouragement and stimulation she has provided throughout the years of producing this commentary.

Lastly, I offer my thanks to God for his sustaining grace, grace for research, grace for reflection, and grace for writing.

V ICTOR P . H AMILTON

Publishers Note:

This commentary was planned and written as a single volume, but its length dictated the need to publish it in two volumes. The reader should note that the Introduction in the present volume covers the entire book of Genesis; thus the second volume comprises only commentary on Genesis 1850.

For the readers convenience, each volume has its own table of contents, abbreviation list, and indexes.

AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research

AB Anchor Bible

AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures

Akk. Akkadian

AnBib Analecta Biblica

ANEP J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East in Pictures. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University, 1969

ANET J. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton University, 1969

AnOr Analecta Orientalia

ANQ Andover Newton Quarterly

AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament

AOS American Oriental Series

Arab. Arabic

Aram. Aramaic

ARM Archives royales de Mari

ASTI Annual of the Swedish Theological Institute

ATR Anglican Theological Review

AusBR Australian Biblical Review

AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies

AV Authorized (King James) Version

BA Biblical Archaeologist

BAR Biblical Archaeology Review

BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research

BDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver, C. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Repr. Oxford: Clarendon, 1959

BeO Bibbia e Oriente

BETS Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society

BHK R. Kittel, ed., Biblia Hebraica. 3rd ed. Stuttgart: Wrttembergische Bibelanstalt, 1937

BHS K. Elliger and W. Rudolph, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 19671977

Bib Biblica

BibOr Biblica et Orientalia

BiTod Bible Today

BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester

BKAT Biblischer Kommentar: Altes Testament

BN Biblische Notizen

BR Biblical Research

BRev Bible Review

BSac Bibliotheca Sacra

BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

BT The Bible Translator

BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin

BWANT Beitrge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament

BZ Biblische Zeitschrift

BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fr die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

CAD I. J. Gelb, et al., eds., The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1956

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CBQMS Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series

CHAL W. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971

CNFI Christian News From Israel

ConBOT Coniectanea biblica, Old Testament

CT Christianity Today

CTA A. Herdner, Corpus des tablettes en cuniformes alphabtiques. 2 vols. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1963

CTJ Calvin Theological Journal

CTM Concordia Theological Monthly

CTQ Concordia Theological Quarterly

CurTM Currents in Theology and Mission

DD Dor le Dor

Egyp. Egyptian

EncJud C. Roth and G. Wigoder, eds., Encyclopaedia Judaica. 16 vols. Jerusalem: Keter, 19711972

ETL Ephemerides Theologicae Lovaniensis

EvQ Evangelical Quarterly

ExpTim Expository Times

fem. feminine

Fest. Festschrift

FOTL Forms of the Old Testament Literature

GKC Gesenius Hebrew Grammar. Ed. E. Kautzsch. Tr. A. E. Cowley. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1910

GTJ Grace Theological Journal

HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology

HeyJ Heythrop Journal

HKAT Handkommentar zum Alten Testament

HS Hebrew Studies

HSS Harvard Semitic Studies

HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs

HTR Harvard Theological Review