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The brevity of this text belies its theological weight: in just six verses, we have messages about the reliability and timing of God’s promises, lessons about prayer, and a verse so packed with import that it is quoted in two New Testament passages as a lynchpin for understanding the relationship between faith and works. Even … Continue reading “Genesis 15:1-6 Commentary by Sara Koenig”

This text is best interpreted with the entirety of Genesis 15 in view. Both sections (15:1-6; 15:7-21) begin with a divine promise (15:1; 15:7). Each promise is followed by a question that Abram raises about the promise (15:2-3; 15:8; see also his questions to God in 18:23-33). God, in turn, responds to each of Abram’s … Continue reading “Genesis 15:1-6 Commentary by Terence E. Fretheim”

Having made the world and seen it succumb to violence and sin in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, in Genesis 12 God suddenly zeroes in on one couple — Sarah and Abraham. We are no longer looking at the huge canvas of the whole world, but at a tiny corner of it. Calling him … Continue reading “Genesis 12:1-9 Commentary by Jacqueline E. Lapsley”

What could God possibly do to counter the spread of sin that dominated the story in Genesis 3 through 11? Last week we saw how ineffective punishment/curse was. Even after the destruction of the flood, the people responded to their second chance by falling into the same old sinful patterns . . . except, in … Continue reading “Genesis 12:1-9 Commentary by Mark Throntveit”

Something that all the cultures of the world share is ancestor stories. Some within the United States can trace their ancestry back to those who came originally from England. For others, including me, family ties go back to ancestry with roots in parts of the world such as Asia, Africa, or Latin America. Stories of … Continue reading “Genesis 12:1-4a Commentary by Frank M. Yamada”

The promise to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 12:1-4 marks one of the most dramatic transitions in the entire story of the Old Testament. The Transition from Genesis 1-11 to Genesis 12:  Deep Background  In Genesis 1-11, God struggled with a repeatedly rebellious, violent, and corrupt humanity as a whole (Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah … Continue reading “Genesis 12:1-4a Commentary by Dennis Olson”

Genesis 12 is a chapter of new beginnings. Following the introductory chapters of Israel’s Urgeschichte in Genesis 1-11, we meet Abraham in Genesis 12 who will become in subsequent chapters the father of a large nation. But in this chapter, one only sees the uncertain beginnings of a family who find themselves at the threshold … Continue reading “Genesis 12:1-4a Commentary by Juliana Claassens”

What does it mean for God to give an eternal promise to every creature, including the animals, the birds, and the earth? In this text God lays out the dynamics of a renewed relationship to the post-flood world. This passage, commonly assigned to the Priestly writer, must be read in view of other post-flood texts, … Continue reading “Genesis 9:8-17 Commentary by Terence E. Fretheim”

The story of Noah and the flood is one of those biblical narratives that we are so familiar with we think we know the whole story. In fact, what we tend to think of as the story is one of two interpretations that are common in our culture. The most common interpretation is very much … Continue reading “Genesis 9:8-17 Commentary by Elizabeth Webb”

The Old Testament readings for the first three Sundays in Lent give us glimpses of three covenants: God’s covenant with Noah, God’s covenant with Abraham, and God’s covenant with Israel at Sinai. While each covenant is distinct from the others, taken together they testify to God’s ongoing desire to be in relationship with humanity. In … Continue reading “Genesis 9:8-17 Commentary by Cameron B.R. Howard”