Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Scope
  The events recorded in Genesis stretch historically from Creation to Joseph's death, a period of at least 2500 years. The first part of the book (ch. 1-11) is not as easy to date precisely as the second part (ch. 12-50). The ...
• Purpose
  Genesis provides the historical basis for the rest of the Bible and the Pentateuch, particularly the Abrahamic Covenant. Chapters 1-11 give historical background essential to understanding that covenant, and chapters 12-50 re...
• Outline
  The structure of Genesis is very clear. The phrase "the generations of"(toledotin Hebrew, from yaladmeaning "to bear, to generate") occurs ten times (really eleven times since 36:9 repeats 36:1), and in each case it introduce...
• D. What became of Noah 6:9-9:29
  The Lord destroyed the corrupt, violent human race and deluged its world, but He used righteous Noah to preserve life and establish a new world after the Flood."Noah's experience presents decisively the author's assertion tha...
• 1. The table of nations ch. 10
  This table shows that Yahweh created all peoples (cf. Deut. 32:8; Amos 9:7; Acts 17:26). As the genealogy in chapter 5, this one traces 10 main individuals, and the last one named had three sons."The table of nations is a hor...
• F. What became of Shem 11:10-26
  "The Babel account (11:1-9) is not the end of early Genesis. If it were, the story would conclude on the sad note of human failure. But as with earlier events in Genesis 1-11, God's grace once again supersedes human sin, insu...
• II. PATRIARCHAL NARRATIVES 11:27--50:26
  One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. H...
• A. What became of Terah 11:27-25:11
  A major theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfillment of the promises to the patriarchs. The promises in Genesis 12:1-3 and 7 are the fountainhead from which the rest of the Pentateuch flows.397Walter Kaiser labeled the ...
• The divine promises 12:1-9
  "These verses are of fundamental importance for the theology of Genesis, for they serve to bind together the primeval history and the later patriarchal history and look beyond it to the subsequent history of the nation."414"W...
• God's word 12:1-3
  12:1 This section begins with a wawdisjunctive in the Hebrew text translated "Now"in the NASB. It introduces an independent circumstantial clause (cf. 1:2). Probably the revelation in view happened in Ur. The NIV captures thi...
• 2. Abram in Egypt 12:10-20
  The second crisis Abram faced arose because of a famine in Canaan. Abram chose to sojourn in the Nile Valley until it was past. In this incident Abram tried to pass Sarai off as his sister because he feared for his life. By d...
• 5. The Abrahamic Covenant ch. 15
  Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
• 16. The purchase of Sarah's tomb ch. 23
  Abraham's purchase of a burial site in the Promised Land demonstrated his intention to remain in Canaan rather than going back to his native homeland. Since he was a sojourner in Canaan his friends probably expected him to bu...
• C. What became of Isaac 25:19-35:29
  A new toledotbegins with 25:19. Its theme is "the acquisition of the blessing and its development and protection by the Lord."625Moses set up the whole Jacob narrative in a chiastic structure that emphasizes the fulfillment o...
• 8. Jacob's mishandling of God's blessing 29:31-30:24
  God formed Jacob's family, the ancestors of the tribes of Israel, as He had promised Jacob at Bethel. Unfortunately Jacob and his wives lived in envy and friction over how God chose to bless them."Jacob had planned to take Ra...
• God's encouragement to move 46:1-7
  The structure of chapters 46 and 47 is also chiastic.887AGod appears to Jacob (46:1-4)BJacob journeys to Egypt (46:5-27)CJoseph meets Jacob (46:28-34)DJoseph's brothers meet Pharaoh (47:1-6)C'Jacob meets Pharaoh (47:7-10)B'Jo...
• Israel's household's move to Egypt 46:8-27
  This section contains a list of the individuals in Jacob's family about the time he moved to Egypt. As in chapter 31, where he left Paddan-aram, this move was also difficult for Jacob. Moses recorded a total of 70 persons (v....
• Israel's reunion with Joseph 46:28-30
  This reunion recalls Jacob's former meeting with Esau (32:3). In both situations after a long period of separation Jacob sent a party ahead to meet the relative."The land of Goshen, where the Hebrews lived, adjoined Avaris--n...
• God's provision of land and food for Israel 46:31-47:12
  The major purpose of this section is probably to show how God sustained and blessed Jacob's family in Egypt during the remaining five years of the famine (cf. vv. 12-13). It is also to demonstrate how He partially fulfilled H...
• God's provision of land and food for Pharaoh 47:13-27
  This section demonstrates the fulfillment of Jacob's blessing on Pharaoh (46:31-47:6 and 47:7-10). Joseph was able to save Egypt and its neighbors from a very severe famine and to alleviate the desperate plight of the Egyptia...
• Jacob's announcement of Joseph's birthright 48:21-22
  Jacob (Israel, the prince with God because of his faith) firmly believed God's promise to bring his descendants back into the Promised Land (cf. 46:4). Jacob's prophetic promise to Joseph (v. 22) is a play on words. The word ...
• 14. Jacob's blessing of his sons 49:1-28
  Jacob blessed all 12 of his sons and foretold what would become of each of them and their descendants. He disqualified Reuben, Simeon, and Levi from leadership and gave that blessing to Judah. He granted the double portion to...
• Bibliography
  Aalders, Gerhard Charles. Genesis. The Bible Student's Commentary series. 2 vols. Translated by William Heynen. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas...
• 1. The growth of Jacob's family 1:1-7
  The purposes of this section are three at least.1. These verses introduce the Israelites who are the focus of attention in Exodus.2. They also tie the Israelites back to Jacob and explain their presence in Egypt.3. They accou...
• 3. The exodus of Israel out of Egypt 12:37-42
  12:37-39 The record of Israel's sojourn in the wilderness really begins here.Rameses is probably the same city as Raamses, also called Avaris (v. 37; cf. 1:11). It was the city from which the Israelites left Egypt, and it lay...
• Tola's judgeship 10:1-2
  Tola (meaning "worm"in Hebrew) "arose to save Israel"from the tribe of Issachar sometime after Abimelech died. One of Issachar's sons was also named Tola (Gen. 46:13; Num. 26:23; 1 Chron. 7:1-2). The writer did not record how...
• D. The genealogical appendix 4:18-22
  Far from being an unimportant postscript this genealogy helps us see one of the main purposes for which God gave us this book.Why does the genealogy start with Perez? Perez was the illegitimate son of Judah (1 Chron. 2:5) who...
• Scope
  The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
• 2. The record of God's faithfulness to Israel 105:7-41
  105:7-11 God remembered His people (v. 7, cf. v. 42) so His people should remember Him (v. 5). God had been faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:18-21; 22:15-18; 28:13-15). He made this covenant with Abraham...
• The parable of the two claims 6:46 (cf. Matt. 7:21-23)
  This is a very brief condensation of a parable that Matthew recorded more fully. Matthew's interest in it connects with the mention of false teachers that occurs in the context of his account of the sermon. Luke simply lifted...
• God's faithfulness to His people 7:9-16
  Stephen next proceeded to show what God had done with Joseph and his family. He selected this segment of the patriarchal narrative primarily for two reasons. First, it shows how God miraculously preserved His people in faithf...
• Paul's departure from Miletus 20:36-38
  20:36 Prayer for God's grace and protection undoubtedly bonded these men together in Christian love. The kneeling posture here, as elsewhere in Scripture, reflects an attitude of submission to the sovereign God. The normal po...
• The continuance of faith after the giving of the Law 3:15-18
  3:15-16 Paul now turned to the objection that when God gave the Law He terminated justification by faith alone. He reminded his readers, with a human analogy, that even wills and contracts made between human beings remained i...
• 1. The sealing of 144,000 Israelites 7:1-8
  The scene continues to be on earth.7:1 The phrase "after this"(Gr. meta touto) indicates that what follows is a new vision (cf. 4:1). The general chronological progression of the visions suggests that the events John saw now ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• I. The Long Days Of Unclouded Prosperity.
  These extended over centuries, the whole history of which is summed up in two words: death and growth. The calm years glided on, and the shepherds in Goshen had the happiness of having no annals. All that needed to be recorde...