Since I have been blogging on the Book of Genesis a lot lately I thought I should mention a book that I had the opportunity to index prior to publication: The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation edited by Craig A. Evans, Joel N. Lohr, and David L. Petersen. It is part of Brill’s Supplements to Vetus Testamentum series [152]. This is the official description from Brill:

Written by leading experts in the field, The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation offers a wide-ranging treatment of the main aspects of Genesis study. Its twenty-nine essays fall under four main sections. The first section contains studies of a more general nature, including the history of Genesis in critical study, Genesis in literary and historical study, as well as the function of Genesis in the Pentateuch. The second section contains commentary on or interpretation of specific passages (or sections) of Genesis, as well as essays on its formation, genres, and themes. The third section contains essays on the textual history and reception of Genesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The final section explores the theologies of the book of Genesis, including essays on Genesis and ecology and Genesis in the context of Jewish thought.

I received a gift copy from Brill for my work on it (special “thank you” to Dr. Evans), so I don’t recommend every individual purchase it, especially because it is listed at $273.00. But if you use this link here there is a form for recommending it to your local librarian. I do recommend that!

The book is broken down into “General Topics,” “Issues of Interpretation,”Textual Transmission and Reception History,” and “Genesis and Theology.” There are studies on how Genesis fits into the Pentateuch (Konrad Schmid), its historical context (Ronald Hendel), and literary analysis (Robert S. Kawashima). The essays on interpretation cover a range of topics like “Abraham Traditions in the Hebrew Bible Outside the Book of Genesis” by Thomas Romer, “The Jacob Tradition” by Erhard Blum, “The World of the Family in Genesis” by Naomi A. Steinberg among others. Some of the essays on textual transmission and reception history (the largest section) include John Byron’s “Cain and Abel in Second Temple Literature and Beyond,” Sidnie White Crawford’s “Genesis in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Robert J.V. Hiebert’s “Textual and Translation Issues in Greek Genesis,” Craig A. Evans’, “Genesis in the New Testament,” Bruce Chilton’s “Genesis in Aramaic: The Example of Chapter 22,” Burton L. Visotzky’s “Genesis in Rabbinic Tradition,” and Carol Bakhos’ “Genesis, the Qur’an and Islamic Interpretation” among others. The theological essays deal with the overall theology of the book (Joel S. Kaminsky), Genesis in Jewish thought (Marvin A. Sweeney), and Genesis and ecology (Terence E. Fretheim). As you can see, the content is broad and diverse.

It is a Brill Publication so it is highly academic, obviously well-researched, and useful for students.

This series proves promising with Exodus next in line. Again, if you can convince your librarian to purchase this volume it will be worth the effort.