Genesis

The story so far. Genesis is the first book of the Bible and the first of the five books of Moses. Jewish and Christian tradition holds that Moses wrote it, and Jesus spoke of Moses' writings. Its name means origin. Its fifty chapters run from the making of the world to Joseph's death in Egypt. Chapters 1 to 11 cover all mankind. From chapter 12 it follows one family, through whom God promises to bless the whole earth.

What happens

1. Let there be light Genesis 1:1–5

   God creates the heaven and the earth. The earth is without form and empty, darkness lies over the deep, and the Spirit of God moves on the waters. God speaks light, divides it from darkness, and names them Day and Night.

   “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1:3

2. A firmament Genesis 1:6–8

   On the second day God sets a firmament, an expanse spread out between the waters below and the waters above. He calls the firmament Heaven.

   “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters” Genesis 1:6

3. Let the dry land appear Genesis 1:9–13

   The waters below gather into seas, and dry land appears. The land puts out grass, plants with seed and trees with fruit, each after his kind. That is the third day.

   “let the dry land appear: and it was so” Genesis 1:9

4. Lights in the firmament Genesis 1:14–19

   On the fourth day God sets lights in the sky: the sun to rule the day, the moon to rule the night, and the stars. They mark out signs and seasons, days and years.

   “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” Genesis 1:16

5. Great whales and fowl Genesis 1:20–23

   On the fifth day the seas swarm with living creatures, the great sea creatures among them, and birds fly across the sky. God blesses them, the first blessing in the Bible: be fruitful and multiply.

   “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas” Genesis 1:22

6. In the image of God Genesis 1:24–31

   On the sixth day come cattle, creeping things and wild beasts. Then God makes man in his own image, male and female, blesses them and sets them over the earth. He looks at everything, and it is very good.

   “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27

By the numbers

• 10 times Ten times this chapter says God said. He makes the world by speaking. A psalm puts it in one line: “For he spake, and it was done”.
• 7 times Seven times God looks at what he has made and sees that it is good. The seventh time he looks at everything together, and it is “very good”.
• 5 words The stars get five words: “he made the stars also”. Our own galaxy holds hundreds of billions of them, and it is one of billions of galaxies.
• Green for meat God gives man and beast plants and fruit to eat. In the KJV, meat simply means food. Permission to eat animals comes after the Flood, in Genesis 9:3.

Questions this chapter raises

89 treasures in Genesis 1

• Hidden treasure · Genesis 1:1 Nachmanides saw ten dimensions in Genesis 1. Nachmanides, a Jewish scholar, concluded from Genesis 1 that the universe has ten dimensions: four knowable and six not knowable. His Genesis commentary was published in 1263. Modern physics, after costly work with atomic accelerators, now speaks of ten dimensions too: length, width, height and time, plus six curled too small to measure directly. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 1:26 Let us: God addressing His heavenly host. In Isaiah 6, God sits on His throne in the midst of His council and asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" One reading hears the us of Genesis 1:26 the same way: God speaking to members of His heavenly host, the audience gathered before Him. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 1:26 Imaging God: a status, not a quality. On one reading of the Hebrew grammar in Genesis 1:26, the image is best thought of as a verb: imaging. It is not a quality humans possess but a status, a representation of God. There are grammatical, ethical and theological reasons for not making it a quality. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 1:26 Let us make man: a plural God. God says, "Let us make man in our image," and the same plurals return in Genesis 3:22 and 11:7. Elohim, the Hebrew word for God, is itself a plural noun, yet always treated as singular. Though the LORD is one, unity and plurality need not be opposites, and this reading hears an echo of the Trinity. Scholars have differing views on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. In six days God made the heavens and the earth by his word: light, sky and sea, land and plants, sun, moon and stars, fish and birds, beasts, and last of all man, male and female, in his own image. He blessed them and set them over the earth. Then he looked at everything he had made, and it was very good.

What happens

1. The seventh day Genesis 2:1–3

   The heavens and the earth are finished. On the seventh day God ends his work and rests. He blesses the seventh day and sets it apart, because in it he rested from all his work.

   “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it” Genesis 2:3

2. A living soul Genesis 2:4–7

   The account turns to the making of man. No rain has fallen and no one tills the ground; a mist waters it. The LORD God forms man from the dust and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life.

   “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7

3. A garden eastward in Eden Genesis 2:8–14

   The LORD God plants a garden in Eden, full of trees good to look at and good for food. In the middle stand the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flows out and parts into four.

   “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” Genesis 2:9

4. Thou shalt not eat of it Genesis 2:15–17

   God puts the man in the garden to dress it and keep it. Every tree is his to eat from but one. Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he must not eat, for that day he would die.

   “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17

5. An help meet for him Genesis 2:18–25

   It is not good for the man to be alone. God brings him the animals and Adam names them, but none is fit for him. God makes a woman from his rib. The two become one flesh, naked and not ashamed.

   “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” Genesis 2:23

By the numbers

• 7th day God blesses the seventh day and sets it apart. The law of Moses grounds Israel's sabbath in this very day: “wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it”.
• 11 times From verse 4 God is called the LORD God, eleven times in this chapter. LORD in capitals stands for God's own name, written YHWH in Hebrew, the name he explains to Moses at the burning bush.
• Dust of the ground In Hebrew, man is adam and the ground is adamah. The two words tie man to the earth he was made from, and he lives because God breathes into him.
• Help meet for him Meet is old English for fitting. The Hebrew word for help is used most often of God himself: “My help cometh from the LORD”. It is a word of strength and honor.

Questions this chapter raises

46 treasures in Genesis 2

• Points to Christ · Genesis 2:2 Tetelestai: paid in full. When a prisoner finished his sentence, the jailer marked his certificate of debt paid in full, and the Greek word for that was tetelestai. It is Jesus' word on the cross, translated "It is finished." The debt was paid in full there, as Paul says the handwriting of ordinances against us was nailed to the cross.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 2:7 Breathed into Adam, breathed on the disciples. The verb for breathed in John 20:22 is rare: it is used only six times in the Greek Old Testament and nowhere else in the New. Its uses include Genesis 2:7, Ezekiel 37:9 and Elijah reviving the widow's son. So when Jesus breathes on his disciples, he does what God did for Adam.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 2:8-10 Eden on the mountain of God. One reading places Eden on the holy mountain of God, a lush, well-watered place where God presided over his divine council of loyal heavenly beings. The first humans were members of that council too. The long war with the rebel sons of God is also about whether people will be restored to their place there. Scholars disagree on this.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 2:15 Jesus the Gardener and the king's garden. In the ancient Near East kings were often pictured as gardeners, and Adam and Eve were the first kings in God's garden. John places Jesus' tomb in a garden, like the tombs of David's royal line, and has Mary take the risen Jesus for the gardener. The implied message: Jesus is the rightful heir of David and Messiah of Israel.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 2:21 A bride paid for by a wounded side. Romans 5:14 calls Adam "the figure of him that was to come," and the last Adam is Jesus Christ. Adam's bride was paid for by a wound in his side. Does that call to mind the spear in the Lord's side on the cross?

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. The LORD God formed Adam from the dust and set him in a garden in Eden to dress it and keep it. He could eat from every tree but one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: in the day he ate of it, he would surely die. God made the woman from Adam's rib, and the two were one flesh, naked and not ashamed.

What happens

1. Yea, hath God said Genesis 3:1–5

   The serpent asks the woman whether God really forbade every tree. She answers that one tree is off limits on pain of death. The serpent contradicts God: you will not die. Your eyes will open, and you will be as gods.

   “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:” Genesis 3:4

2. She took of the fruit Genesis 3:6–7

   She sees the tree is good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise. She eats and gives to her husband, and he eats. Their eyes open, they know they are naked, and they sew fig leaves.

   “she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” Genesis 3:6

3. Where art thou? Genesis 3:8–13

   In the cool of the day they hear the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hide among the trees. God calls to Adam. Adam blames the woman God gave him. The woman blames the serpent.

   “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Genesis 3:9

4. Cursed is the ground Genesis 3:14–19

   God curses the serpent and puts enmity between its seed and the woman's. The woman will bear children in sorrow. The ground is cursed for Adam's sake, with thorns and sweat, until he returns to the dust.

   “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

5. A flaming sword Genesis 3:20–24

   Adam names his wife Eve. God clothes them both in coats of skins. So that the man will not eat of the tree of life and live for ever, God sends him out, and cherubims and a flaming sword guard the way.

   “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” Genesis 3:24

By the numbers

• 4 questions Before he passes sentence, God asks: “Where art thou”, “Who told thee that thou wast naked”, “Hast thou eaten of the tree”, “What is this that thou hast done”. The answers that come back are fear and blame.
• 2 curses God curses the serpent and the ground. He never curses the man or the woman, though both will feel the weight of what they have done, in childbirth and in toil.
• Eve life Just after hearing he will return to dust, Adam names his wife Eve, “because she was the mother of all living”. Her name sounds like the Hebrew word for life.
• Dust to dust Man was made from the dust, and now he will go back to it: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”. The first human death comes in the very next chapter.

Questions this chapter raises

56 treasures in Genesis 3

• Hidden layer · Genesis 3:1 The serpent was no mere animal. This reading takes the snake of Genesis 3 as no mere animal but a supernatural being in that guise. It is cursed, and its seed will be at war with the seed of the woman. Leviathan is different: a symbol of chaos, not a real creature and not the same being. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 3:1 Nachash: the shining one. The Hebrew word here, nachash, can be heard as the shining one. It shares a root with words for hiss, whisper and enchanter, a similar Chaldean root means bright like brass or copper, and it is tied to seraphim, the burning or bright ones. Just how Satan approached the woman is only conjecture. Scholars disagree on this.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 3:8 The Memra walking in the garden. Where Genesis 3:8 has the LORD God walking in the garden, the Aramaic Targums heard in the synagogues of Jesus' day have the Memra, the Word, of the Lord God. The Word stands in for Yahweh: a figure who is Yahweh yet distinct. That is a Jewish antecedent to the New Testament picture of Jesus as both God and man. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 3:14 Eating dust and the realm of the dead. Snakes do not really eat dust. God may have been speaking figuratively, or alluding to the old Mesopotamian belief that the dead wander the underworld eating dust and clay. Read that way, Genesis 3:14 points ahead to Isaiah 14:9-11, where the fallen one is brought down to become lord of the dead. Scholars disagree on this.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 3:15 The seed of the woman. Genesis 3:15 introduces a strange title of the Messiah: the seed of the woman. It is an odd phrase in biology and in grammar, because the seed belongs to the man, not the woman. It reads as a hint of the virgin birth, which Isaiah 7:14 then confirms. Scholars disagree on this.
• Big theme · Genesis 3:15 Three reasons the world is broken. Ask most Christians why the world is so broken and they point to the fall in Genesis 3. An Israelite or first-century Jew would give three answers: Genesis 3, Genesis 6, and the Babel event. So the Messiah was expected to reverse all three, not just one.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 3:17 Thorns, sweat and dust point to the cross. Thorns became the symbol of the cursed ground, so the crown of thorns pictured the curse Jesus was bearing, made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). The echoes run on: eating in sorrow and the Man of Sorrows, the sweat of the face and his sweat as blood, dust and the dust of death in Psalm 22.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 3:21 Coats of skins: covered by shed blood. God set aside their fig-leaf aprons and made coats of skins, which means animals died. This was more than clothing: God was teaching that they would be covered by the shedding of innocent blood (Leviticus 17:11), laying the roots of the Levitical system, Israel's later law of sacrifice. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 3:24 Cherubim guard the way so it stays open. Why post cherubim, the super-angels, just to keep Adam out? One reading says the guard was not to bar man for good but to keep the way of the tree of life available for when he is redeemed. You send like against like, and Satan was once the anointed cherub. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Adam and Eve believed the serpent and ate from the one tree God had forbidden. Shame, fear and blame came in at once. God cursed the serpent and the ground, and promised that the woman's seed would bruise the serpent's head. He clothed the man and woman in coats of skins and sent them out of the garden. Cherubims and a flaming sword now guard the way to the tree of life.

What happens

1. Sin lieth at the door Genesis 4:1–7

   Eve bears Cain, then Abel. Cain farms and Abel keeps sheep. Each brings an offering, and the LORD accepts Abel's but not Cain's. Cain is furious. God warns him that sin is crouching at the door, and he must master it.

   “if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door” Genesis 4:7

2. My brother's keeper Genesis 4:8–15

   Cain kills Abel in the field. When God asks where Abel is, Cain lies. Abel's blood cries out from the ground. Cain is driven out as a wanderer, yet God sets a mark on him so that no one will kill him.

   “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9

3. He builded a city Genesis 4:16–24

   Cain settles in Nod, east of Eden, and builds a city named for his son Enoch. Down his line, Lamech takes two wives, his sons begin herding, music and metalwork, and Lamech boasts of killing a man.

   “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.” Genesis 4:16

4. Call upon the name Genesis 4:25–26

   Adam and Eve have another son, Seth, in Abel's place. Seth has a son, Enos. In those days men begin to call upon the name of the LORD.

   “then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” Genesis 4:26

By the numbers

• Breath Abel's name In Hebrew, Abel's name is the word for a breath or a vapor. It is the word Ecclesiastes uses again and again, where the KJV says vanity.
• 130 years Genesis 5 says Adam was 130 when Seth was born, and Seth came after Abel's death. So the whole story of Cain and Abel happens within Adam's first 130 years.
• Nod wandering Nod means wandering. It comes from the same root as the word God used when he said Cain would be a vagabond. Cain builds a city in the land named for wandering.
• 77 fold God promised to avenge Cain sevenfold. Lamech, five generations later, turns that mercy into a boast: “truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold”.

Questions this chapter raises

30 treasures in Genesis 4

• Points to Christ · Genesis 4:4 Abel's lamb and the Lamb on the throne. Abel's lamb was prophetic: like all the offerings in Leviticus, it points to the Lamb slain on the cross. In Revelation 5 John is told of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, yet he sees a Lamb as it had been slain. One reading pictures him seeing nail prints and a wounded side.
• Hidden treasure · Genesis 4:16-18 Enoch's city and Eridu. Some scholars read the city builder in Genesis 4:17 as Cain's son Enoch, since the pronoun points to the last person named. If so, the city was named for Enoch's son Irad, hence Eridu, which the Sumerians remembered as their first city. Its ziggurat, a stepped temple tower, belonged to the god Enki. Scholars disagree on this.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 4:23-24 Jesus answers Lamech's seventy-seven. Lamech boasts that he will be avenged seventy and sevenfold. The Hebrew there is clearly 77, and the old Greek translation of Genesis uses the very words found in Matthew 18, so Jesus is pointing back to Lamech. Some rabbis advised forgiving three times and Peter offered seven, but Jesus raises it to 77, answering vengeance with forgiveness. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Cain killed his brother Abel and went out from the presence of the LORD. His line built a city, began herding, music and metalwork, and ended with Lamech boasting of a killing. Then Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, in Abel's place. In the days of Seth's son Enos, men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

What happens

1. The generations of Adam Genesis 5:1–5

   The chapter opens by recalling creation: God made man in his likeness, male and female, and called them Adam. At 130 Adam fathers Seth in his own likeness. Adam lives 930 years in all, and he dies.

   “begat a son in his own likeness, after his image” Genesis 5:3

2. And he died Genesis 5:6–20

   Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel and Jared each live, father a son, have other sons and daughters, and die. The same words come round again and again, like a refrain.

   “And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.” Genesis 5:8

3. Enoch walked with God Genesis 5:21–24

   At 65 Enoch fathers Methuselah, and for the next 300 years he walks with God. Then the pattern breaks. No death is recorded. Enoch is simply gone, because God took him.

   “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Genesis 5:24

4. Methuselah Genesis 5:25–27

   Methuselah fathers Lamech at 187 and lives another 782 years. He dies at 969, the longest life recorded in the Bible.

   “And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.” Genesis 5:27

5. This same shall comfort us Genesis 5:28–32

   Lamech fathers a son at 182 and names him Noah, hoping he will bring relief from the toil of the cursed ground. Lamech dies at 777. At 500, Noah fathers Shem, Ham and Japheth.

   “And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” Genesis 5:29

By the numbers

• 8 times Eight times a life closes with the words “and he died”. The warning given in the garden is coming true. Paul sums it up: “death reigned from Adam to Moses”.
• 365 years The one life in this chapter that closes without a death. Enoch walked with God for 300 years after his son was born, raising sons and daughters along the way, and then God took him.
• 308 years Add up the ages and Adam was alive for the first 308 years of Enoch's life. Enoch was taken 57 years after Adam died, while Seth was still living.
• 1st book This is the first time the Bible mentions a book: “This is the book of the generations of Adam”. The New Testament opens the same way: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ”.

Questions this chapter raises

22 treasures in Genesis 5

• Points to Christ · Genesis 5:1 The gospel hidden in Genesis 5's names. Translated, the names from Adam to Noah form a sentence: Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the Blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest. On this reading it is a summary of the gospel tucked into the Torah, hardly something rabbis would have contrived. Some scholars disagree with Dr. Missler, but the concept is fascinating.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 5:24 Jesus is the second Enoch for Peter. In 1 Enoch, the Watchers imprisoned for the sin of Genesis 6 ask Enoch to plead for them, and he carries back God's answer: their appeal is denied. One reading sees 1 Peter 3 following this pattern. As Jesus is the second Adam for Paul, he is the second Enoch for Peter, announcing their defeat to those spirits in prison. Scholars disagree on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 5:24 Three groups: lost, kept through, taken out before. Three groups were involved with the ark: the many who perished, the eight preserved through the flood, and a third group often overlooked, Enoch, removed before it. G. H. Pember suggested the man child caught up to God in Revelation 12 may be the body of Christ, and so may picture the rapture. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 5:24 Enoch taken: a picture of the rapture. One reading calls Enoch's being taken a rapture. He was taken before the flood, at a low point of turning from God, midway between Adam and Abraham, as Elijah was taken midway between Abraham and Christ. Three groups faced the flood: those who perished, those preserved through it, and those removed before it. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden treasure · Genesis 5:25 Methuselah: his death shall bring. Methuselah's name comes from two roots, death and bring forth: his death shall bring. One reading holds that Enoch was told the flood would be held back while his son lived. Methuselah lived 969 years, the longest life in the Bible, and died the year the flood came, so his long life was a prophecy of mercy. Some scholars disagree with Dr. Missler, but the concept is fascinating.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Noah is the tenth generation from Adam. Cain's line has built a city and learned to work brass and iron; in Seth's line men began to call upon the name of the LORD. Enoch walked with God and was taken. Now Noah is five hundred years old, with three sons.

What happens

1. The sons of God Genesis 6:1–4

   People multiply on the earth. The sons of God see the daughters of men and take them as wives, and their children become the mighty men of old. There are giants in the earth.

   “There were giants in the earth in those days” Genesis 6:4

2. It grieved him Genesis 6:5–8

   God sees that every thought of man's heart is only evil, all the time. It grieves him to his heart, and he says he will wipe man from the earth. But one man finds grace.

   “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:8

3. Noah walked with God Genesis 6:9–13

   Noah is a just man in a world filled with violence. God tells him plainly: the end of all flesh has come.

   “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” Genesis 6:9

4. Make thee an ark Genesis 6:14–22

   God gives Noah the plans: gopher wood, pitch inside and out, three decks, a window and a door in the side. Two of every kind will come to him. Noah does all of it.

   “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” Genesis 6:22

By the numbers

• 120 years God sets a limit of “an hundred and twenty years”. It may be the time left before the Flood, or a new limit on a lifespan. Scholars have differing views on this.
• 10th from Adam Genesis 5 runs Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. Ten generations to the Flood.
• 500 years old Noah was five hundred when his sons were born, and six hundred when the Flood came. So the ark was most likely built in that last century.
• 8 souls Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. Peter counts them: “eight souls were saved by water”.

Questions this chapter raises

62 treasures in Genesis 6

• Points to Christ · Genesis 6:1-4 Christ preached to the spirits from Noah's day. One reading takes the spirits in prison of 1 Peter 3 as the Watchers of Genesis 6, since Peter ties them to the days of Noah. On this view the Greek word for spirit there almost certainly means supernatural beings, not humans. So between His death and Resurrection, Jesus proclaimed His victory to the rebel Watchers. Scholars disagree on this.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 6:1-4 Born of a woman, reversing the Watchers. One reading, from Tyler Stewart's study of Galatians, sets God sending His Son, born of a woman, against the Watchers of 1 Enoch who came down to human women. Their unions produced illegitimate offspring that ruined the earth. Jesus' mission produces legitimate sons of God, who share His Spirit and will replace the Watchers in God's council. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 6:1-4 Early readers saw angels, not Seth's line. Ancient Jewish writings such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees read the sons of God as angels who came down and took human wives. As far as the evidence goes, everyone read it this way until the mid-second century AD. The idea that they were Seth's descendants came later; Jude and 2 Peter assume the heavenly reading. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden treasure · Genesis 6:1-4 The apkallu, Babylon's sages from before the flood. In Mesopotamian tradition, seven wise apkallu, divine sages sometimes pictured as fish-like because born in the great deep, mated with human women before the flood and preserved knowledge that later made Babylon great. After the flood they are described as of human descent and as giants, like Gilgamesh. Their figurines, buried in foundations, were called Watchers. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden treasure · Genesis 6:1-2 Two hundred Watchers came down on Mount Hermon. The book of 1 Enoch, which Jude draws on directly, tells how in the days of Jared two hundred angels, led by Shemihazah and Asael, lusted after the daughters of men, came down on Mount Hermon and took human wives. Their children, the giants, ravaged the earth, and the angels taught forbidden knowledge. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Big theme · Genesis 6:1-4 The days of Noah and His coming. Jesus said His coming would be like the days of Noah, so Genesis 6 is no side story. On this view, understanding the chapter is foundational to understanding most of the Old Testament, as well as prophecy. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim spirits return at Armageddon. One reading of Ezekiel sees the Nephilim return at Armageddon: the Travelers are the spirits of the Rephaim, demon warriors in Gog's army at the final battle for Zion. On this view the church is gone by then, and the attackers are possessed by the spirits of the mighty men which were of old. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden treasure · Genesis 6:4 Mount Hermon, the mountain of oath. A Greek inscription from a temple on Hermon's summit speaks of those who take an oath, and the scholars Nickelsburg and Clermont-Ganneau tied it to the Watchers' oath in 1 Enoch. Clermont-Ganneau noted an ancient tradition that Hermon was the mountain of oath. A newer reading by Douglas Hamp finds a bull-god named in the inscription. Scholars disagree on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 6:14 Pitch, the covering word behind atonement. Noah was told to "pitch it within and without with pitch." The Hebrew word for pitch is translated atonement in 70 other places in the Bible, and it means to cover. This may be a play on words, one of the many ways the ark and Noah foreshadow Jesus Christ and His completed work on the cross. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. God saw the earth filled with violence and told Noah the end of all flesh had come. Noah, a just man who walked with God, built the ark to God's plans: three decks, a door in the side, pitch inside and out. He did all that God commanded him.

What happens

1. Come thou into the ark Genesis 7:1–5

   The LORD calls Noah and all his house into the ark. Clean beasts and the birds of the air are to come by sevens, the other beasts by two. In seven days the rain begins. Noah does all he is told.

   “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” Genesis 7:1

2. The windows of heaven Genesis 7:6–12

   Noah is six hundred. His family and the animals go in, two and two, as God commanded. After seven days the fountains of the great deep break open, the windows of heaven open, and rain falls forty days and nights.

   “the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” Genesis 7:11

3. The LORD shut him in Genesis 7:13–16

   On that same day all eight are inside: Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their four wives. Every kind of creature goes in with them, male and female. Then the LORD shuts him in.

   “and the LORD shut him in” Genesis 7:16

4. The waters prevailed Genesis 7:17–24

   The waters rise and lift the ark. They cover the high hills under the whole heaven, and every living thing on the dry land dies. Only Noah and those with him remain. The waters prevail 150 days.

   “and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark” Genesis 7:23

By the numbers

• 600 years old “And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth” He had been five hundred when his sons began to be born.
• 7 of each Clean beasts and the birds go in “by sevens”, the others by two. It may mean seven animals or seven pairs. Scholars have differing views on this.
• 40 days “And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights” The waters go on prevailing long after the rain, 150 days in all.
• 15 cubits “Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered” With an 18-inch cubit that is about 22 feet. It is usually read as the depth over the highest hills.

Questions this chapter raises

14 treasures in Genesis 7

• Type & shadow · Genesis 7:1 Come: Noah, rest and the rapture call. The first word the LORD speaks in Genesis 7 is Come: "Come thou and all thy house into the ark." It is the same invitation Jesus gives the weary, promising rest, and Noah's name means rest. Revelation 4:1 has a similar call, "Come up hither," which many take as the rapture; if so, the parallel is striking.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 7:11 A shared birthday: Jesus, the ultimate Noah. Jewish tradition read the flood dates as making Noah's birthday Tishri 1, the Jewish new year. One reading, taking Revelation 12 as signs in the sky, dates Jesus' birth to that same day in 3 BC. A Jewish reader would then see the ultimate Noah, come to undo the corruption the Watchers of Genesis 6 brought on humanity. Scholars disagree on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 7:16 One ark, one narrow door. There was only one ark, and it had only one door: you got into God's ark or you did not. That door fits Jesus' teaching that narrow is the way, and Jesus himself claimed to be the door. All in the ark were saved; no one was born or died aboard.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Noah went into the ark with his family and the animals, and the LORD shut him in. The fountains of the deep broke open and rain fell forty days and nights. The waters covered the mountains, and every living thing on the dry land died. For 150 days the waters prevailed.

What happens

1. God remembered Noah Genesis 8:1–5

   God remembers Noah and every creature with him. He sends a wind, shuts the deep and the rain, and the waters go down. The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat, and months later the peaks appear.

   “And God remembered Noah” Genesis 8:1

2. The raven and the dove Genesis 8:6–12

   After forty days Noah opens the window and sends out a raven, which flies to and fro. A dove finds no rest and comes back. A week later she brings an olive leaf. A week after that she does not return.

   “and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off” Genesis 8:11

3. Go forth of the ark Genesis 8:13–19

   On the first day of the new year Noah lifts the covering and sees dry ground. Still he waits. When the earth is fully dry, God tells him to go out, and the family and every creature leave the ark.

   “Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee” Genesis 8:16

4. Noah builded an altar Genesis 8:20–22

   Noah builds an altar to the LORD and offers burnt offerings of every clean beast and bird. “And the LORD smelled a sweet savour”, and he makes a promise: while the earth remains, its seasons will not cease.

   “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22

By the numbers

• 40 days The mountain tops appear on the first day of the tenth month. Forty days later, by the usual reading, Noah opens “the window of the ark which he had made”.
• 3 flights The first time she finds no rest and comes back. The second time she brings an olive leaf. The third time she stays away. Noah waits seven days between each.
• 1st day of the year On the first day of the first month Noah looks out: “behold, the face of the ground was dry”. He still waits almost two months more, until God tells him to go.
• 2 promises In his heart the LORD promises never again to curse the ground for man's sake, and never again to strike down every living thing as he has done.

Questions this chapter raises

7 treasures in Genesis 8

• Big theme · Genesis 8:1 God remembered. Three times Genesis says God remembered: Noah in the ark, Abraham when Lot was pulled out of Sodom, and barren Rachel. God never forgot them. In Genesis the word means he is about to act.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 8:4 The ark rested on the day of resurrection. The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day. On the older Genesis calendar the seventh month is Nisan, the month of Passover. Christ rose at the feast of firstfruits, on Nisan 17, so Noah's new beginning fell on the anniversary, in advance, of our new beginning in Christ. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. The waters have gone down. Noah's family and the animals have left the ark after more than a year inside. Noah built an altar, and the LORD promised in his heart never again to curse the ground or strike down every living thing. Seedtime and harvest will not cease.

What happens

1. Be fruitful, and multiply Genesis 9:1–7

   God repeats the blessing of creation to Noah and his sons: fill the earth. Animals will now fear man, and meat is given for food, but not with its blood. Whoever sheds man's blood must answer for it.

   “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” Genesis 9:6

2. My bow in the cloud Genesis 9:8–17

   God makes a covenant with Noah, his descendants and every living creature: never again a flood to destroy the earth. The sign is the bow in the cloud. When God sees it, he will remember.

   “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:13

3. They went backward Genesis 9:18–23

   From Noah's three sons the whole earth will be filled. Noah plants a vineyard, drinks the wine and lies uncovered in his tent. Ham sees him and tells his brothers. Shem and Japheth cover him without looking.

   “Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward” Genesis 9:23

4. Cursed be Canaan Genesis 9:24–29

   Noah wakes and learns what Ham has done. He curses Canaan, Ham's son, to serve his brothers, and blesses the God of Shem and the enlarging of Japheth. Noah lives 350 years after the Flood and dies at 950.

   “Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant” Genesis 9:26

By the numbers

• 7 times In verses 8 to 17 God says covenant seven times. He first promised it in 6:18. Here he makes it, and every promise in it is his.
• 1st mention Verse 21 is the first time wine appears in the Bible, and it leads straight to shame. Scripture tells it plainly and does not excuse it.
• Shem and his God Noah blesses “the LORD God of Shem”. It is the first time the Bible calls God the God of a person. Later he will be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
• 950 years Noah lives 350 years after the Flood. Only Methuselah, at 969, and Jared, at 962, lived longer.

Questions this chapter raises

15 treasures in Genesis 9

• Big theme · Genesis 9:13 The rainbow returns at God's throne. In Revelation 4:3 John sees a rainbow round about the throne, echoing Ezekiel's throne vision and Noah's bow, the token of God's covenant. The link to Genesis 9 is a shared theme more than a quotation. Amid the judgments to come, the rainbow reminds readers that God will not destroy all flesh; a remnant will survive.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Noah's family came out of the ark into a washed world. God blessed them, told them to fill the earth, and set his bow in the cloud as the sign of his covenant. Noah planted a vineyard; Ham shamed him, and Noah spoke a curse on Canaan and a blessing on Shem and Japheth.

What happens

1. The isles of the Gentiles Genesis 10:1–5

   Sons are born to Shem, Ham and Japheth after the Flood. Japheth's seven sons and their sons spread to the coastlands, each people with its own land, its own language and its own families.

   “By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue” Genesis 10:5

2. A mighty hunter Genesis 10:6–20

   Ham's sons are Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. Cush fathers Nimrod, whose kingdom begins at Babel in Shinar. Mizraim's line includes the Philistines, and Canaan's peoples spread from Sidon down to Gaza and the cities of the plain.

   “He was a mighty hunter before the LORD” Genesis 10:9

3. The children of Eber Genesis 10:21–32

   Shem's sons are Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. Through Arphaxad comes Eber, and to Eber two sons: Peleg, in whose days the earth was divided, and Joktan. So the nations are divided after the Flood.

   “and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood” Genesis 10:32

By the numbers

• 70 names Count the names that come from Noah's sons and there are seventy: fourteen from Japheth, thirty from Ham and twenty-six from Shem. The Philistim, named in passing in verse 14, are not in the count.
• 1st kingdom The word kingdom first appears in the Bible here: “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar”
• Isles of the Gentiles Verse 5 is the first place the Bible uses the word Gentiles. It means the nations. The isles are the coastlands and islands of the sea, reached by ship.
• Last of the three The chapter lists Japheth first, then Ham, and saves Shem for last. Genesis often does this: the other lines are told first, then the story follows the chosen line, as with Cain and Seth, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob.

Questions this chapter raises

22 treasures in Genesis 10

• Hidden layer · Genesis 10:8 Nimrod: the first world dictator. The name Nimrod means rebel, rebelling against God. He was a mighty hunter, meaning a hunter of men, the first world dictator, and he founded Babel and Nineveh. One view calls the coming world leader, usually called the Antichrist, a Nimrod II: not reincarnated or related, but playing the same role. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 10:32 The sons of God in Deuteronomy 32:8. Deuteronomy 32:8 says God set the bounds of the nations by a number. The oldest evidence, in the Dead Sea Scrolls and behind the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation), reads sons of God, which gives a real number: the seventy nations of Genesis 10. In Canaanite texts from Ugarit, the sons of the god El also number seventy. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 10:32 The seventy bulls of Tabernacles. Numbers 29 calls for seventy bulls over the Feast of Tabernacles, matching the seventy nations of Genesis 10. One reading takes them as joyful thanks to God for delivering Israel from all the gods hostile to her in the wilderness, not a gift to placate those gods. Zechariah 14:16 foresees the nations keeping this feast. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden treasure · Genesis 10:32 Seventy nations, seventy of Israel. The Table of Nations lists 26 names under Shem, 30 under Ham and 14 under Japheth: seventy in all, and not by accident. Seventy members of Jacob's family went down into Egypt. Both groups have boundaries set not by their policies or weapons but by God, as Deuteronomy 32:8 says. Scholars have differing views on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. After the Flood, Noah's sons became nations, each with its own land and its own tongue. Nimrod, a mighty hunter, founded a kingdom that began at Babel in the land of Shinar. In Shem's line Eber had a son, Peleg, and in his days the earth was divided.

What happens

1. Let us build us a city Genesis 11:1–4

   The whole earth speaks one language. Journeying from the east, people settle on a plain in Shinar. They fire bricks and plan a city with a tower reaching to heaven, to make a name and stay together.

   “let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name” Genesis 11:4

2. The LORD came down Genesis 11:5–9

   The LORD comes down to see the city. He confounds their language so they cannot understand one another, and scatters them over all the earth. They stop building. The place is called Babel.

   “Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth” Genesis 11:9

3. The generations of Shem Genesis 11:10–26

   Ten generations run from Shem to Abram, with each father's age when his son is born and how long he lived. The lives grow shorter as the line goes on, from Shem's six hundred years to Nahor's 148.

   “These are the generations of Shem” Genesis 11:10

4. Terah took Abram Genesis 11:27–32

   Terah's son Haran dies in Ur. Abram marries Sarai, who has no child. Terah takes Abram, Sarai and Lot and sets out for Canaan, but they stop at Haran and settle, and Terah dies there.

   “they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there” Genesis 11:31

By the numbers

• 1 language “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech” Genesis does not name it. Chapter 10 has already shown the result: nations “every one after his tongue”.
• Brick for stone The river plain of today's Iraq has little building stone. So they fire bricks hard and use slime, a natural tar called bitumen, as mortar. Builders in Mesopotamia worked with brick and bitumen for thousands of years.
• 10 generations Genesis 5 ran ten generations from Adam to Noah. Genesis 11 runs ten from Shem to Abram: Shem, Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah and Abram.
• 205 years Shem lived 600 years, Eber 464, Peleg 239 and Nahor 148. After the Flood lives shrink fast, and Genesis does not say why. Terah lives 205 years and dies in Haran.

Questions this chapter raises

27 treasures in Genesis 11

• Type & shadow · Genesis 11:1-9 Pentecost undoes Babel. At Babel the LORD confounded the language of all the earth and the nations were divided. At Pentecost the Spirit enables believers to speak other languages, and Greek terms in Acts 2 deliberately echo Genesis 11 and Deuteronomy 32. Here God begins to reclaim the nations and bring them back to Himself.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 11:2 The woman in the ephah goes to Shinar. In Zechariah 5 a woman called wickedness is sealed in an ephah, a large measuring container. Two women with wings like a stork's carry it to the land of Shinar, to build it an house. One tentative reading takes her as the Babylon of Revelation, which began at Babel and became the fountain of all false worship. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 11:4 Babel aimed downward, not upward. One reading places Babel at Eridu, not Babylon, and takes the tower as the temple of Enki, god of the abyss. It was an artificial mountain built over the abzu, a word linked to a pit for contacting the dead. That suggests they sought the gods below, opening a god-gate to the sons of God banished to the abyss. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Big theme · Genesis 11:8 Babel and the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. When the LORD scattered the nations at Babel, one reading of Deuteronomy 32:8 says He placed them under the sons of God, members of His heavenly host, as caretakers. The next verse says the LORD's portion is his people. Israel did not yet exist, which is why the call of Abram comes right after Babel. Scholars have differing views on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. After Babel the nations are scattered. Genesis 11 follows Shem's line down to Terah, who sets out from Ur of the Chaldees for Canaan with his son Abram, Abram's wife Sarai and his grandson Lot. They stop at Haran and settle there. Sarai is barren. Terah dies in Haran, aged 205.

What happens

1. Get thee out Genesis 12:1–3

   God tells Abram to leave his country, his kindred and his father's house for a land he will be shown. God promises to make him a great nation, to bless him, and to bless all families of the earth in him.

   “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” Genesis 12:3

2. So Abram departed Genesis 12:4–9

   Abram, seventy-five, leaves Haran with Sarai, Lot and all they own. At Shechem the LORD appears and promises the land to his seed. Abram builds an altar there and another near Bethel, then keeps moving south.

   “Unto thy seed will I give this land” Genesis 12:7

3. Down into Egypt Genesis 12:10–16

   Famine drives Abram to Egypt. Afraid the Egyptians will kill him to take his beautiful wife, he asks Sarai to say she is his sister. Pharaoh takes her into his house and gives Abram flocks, herds, servants and camels.

   “Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister” Genesis 12:13

4. What is this Genesis 12:17–20

   The LORD strikes Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai. Pharaoh rebukes Abram for the lie, gives Sarai back, and has his men send them away with everything they have.

   “What is this that thou hast done unto me” Genesis 12:18

By the numbers

• 75 years old “Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran”. He will be a hundred when the promised son is born, twenty-five years later.
• 3 strands Land, nation and blessing. A land “that I will shew thee”, “a great nation”, and blessing for “all families of the earth”. These three strands run through the rest of the Bible.
• 65 years old Genesis 17:17 makes Sarai ten years younger than Abram, so she is about sixty-five here. Even so, the Egyptians saw “that she was very fair”.
• 2 times Abram tells the same half-truth again in Gerar, in Genesis 20. Years later his son Isaac says it of Rebekah in Genesis 26. Each time, a king uncovers it.

Questions this chapter raises

17 treasures in Genesis 12

• Points to Christ · Genesis 12:7 The Word of the LORD in human form. In some Old Testament passages the Word of the LORD is God himself in human form, as in Genesis 12, 1 Samuel 3 and Jeremiah 1, where the Word touches the prophet's mouth. Not every use of the phrase means this. The Targums, Aramaic translations read in the synagogue, often put the Word where the Hebrew has God. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. God called Abram to leave Haran for a land he would be shown, promising a great nation and blessing for all the families of the earth. At Shechem God promised the land to his seed. In a famine Abram went down to Egypt and passed Sarai off as his sister. God plagued Pharaoh, who sent them away with all they had.

What happens

1. Back to the altar Genesis 13:1–4

   Abram comes up out of Egypt very rich in cattle, silver and gold, with Sarai and Lot. He goes back to the place between Bethel and Hai where he had built an altar before, and calls on the LORD.

   “there Abram called on the name of the LORD” Genesis 13:4

2. Let there be no strife Genesis 13:5–9

   Lot has flocks, herds and tents too, and the land cannot carry them both. Their herdmen quarrel, while the Canaanite and Perizzite still live in the land. Abram gives Lot first pick: left or right.

   “Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee” Genesis 13:8

3. Toward Sodom Genesis 13:10–13

   Lot looks out over the plain of Jordan, watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD. He chooses it and moves east to the cities of the plain, his tent toward Sodom. Sodom's men are exceedingly wicked.

   “Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom” Genesis 13:12

4. Lift up now thine eyes Genesis 13:14–18

   Once Lot has gone, God tells Abram to look north, south, east and west. All he sees is his and his seed's for ever, and his seed will be as the dust. Abram moves to Mamre in Hebron and builds an altar.

   “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” Genesis 13:15

By the numbers

• 4 directions God tells Abram to look “northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward”, then to walk the land “in the length of it and in the breadth of it”.
• Dust of the earth Here Abram's seed will be as the dust. In Genesis 15 it is the stars of heaven, and in Genesis 22 the sand on the sea shore. Each picture means more than anyone can count.
• 3rd altar Shechem, then the hill between Bethel and Hai, and now Mamre in Hebron. Wherever Abram settles in the land, he builds an altar to the LORD.
• Nephew and brother Lot is the son of Abram's brother Haran, yet Abram says “for we be brethren”. In Hebrew, brother can mean any close kinsman, and Genesis 14:14 calls Lot Abram's brother too.

Questions this chapter raises

5 treasures in Genesis 13

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Abram came up out of Egypt rich, and the land could not hold his herds and Lot's together. Abram let Lot choose. Lot took the well-watered plain of Jordan and pitched his tent toward Sodom, a city of wicked men. God promised Abram all the land he could see, and Abram settled by Mamre in Hebron.

What happens

1. Twelve years they served Genesis 14:1–7

   For twelve years five cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah among them, have served Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. In the thirteenth they rebel. In the fourteenth he and three allied kings march, striking people after people from Ashteroth Karnaim to Kadesh.

   “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.” Genesis 14:4

2. The vale of Siddim Genesis 14:8–12

   The five kings meet them in the vale of Siddim, which is full of tar pits. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah flee and fall there. The victors seize the goods of both cities, and they take Lot.

   “And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.” Genesis 14:12

3. Abram the Hebrew Genesis 14:13–16

   A survivor brings word to Abram at Mamre. With 318 trained men of his household, and his allies Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, he pursues to Dan, strikes by night, chases them past Damascus, and brings everyone back.

   “he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen” Genesis 14:14

4. Bread and wine Genesis 14:17–20

   The king of Sodom comes out to meet Abram in the king's dale. Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the most high God, brings bread and wine and blesses him. Abram gives him a tenth of everything.

   “Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth” Genesis 14:19

5. Not a thread Genesis 14:21–24

   The king of Sodom offers Abram the goods if he may have the people. Abram has sworn to the LORD to take nothing, not a thread or a sandal strap, so no one can say Sodom made him rich.

   “I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet” Genesis 14:23

By the numbers

• 318 men All “trained servants, born in his own house”. A household that could arm that many men, with their families besides, was large. With their allies they struck four kings by night.
• 1st Hebrew Verse 13 is the first time the Bible calls anyone a Hebrew. The name may come from Eber, Abram's forefather in Genesis 11, or from a root meaning to cross over. Scholars have differing views on this.
• 4 v 5 kings “four kings with five”. The four came from far to the east. Shinar is the land of Babylon, and Elam lay east of the Tigris, in what is now south-west Iran.
• 10% of all The first tithe in the Bible, given centuries before the law of Moses. Abram “gave him tithes of all”, which Hebrews calls “the tenth of the spoils”.

Questions this chapter raises

26 treasures in Genesis 14

• Type & shadow · Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek was made to resemble the Son. Hebrews says Melchizedek was "made like unto the Son of God," not the other way round. On this reading the writer starts with Jesus and looks back to Melchizedek as a type, a foreshadowing, of the eternal priest to come. Melchizedek need not be divine for that, any more than Adam was divine to be a type of Christ. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 14:18-20 Melchizedek, king of righteousness and peace. Melchizedek means king of righteousness, and he was king of Salem. Hebrews 7 stresses him as a type of Christ, who is also King of righteousness and peace. One view holds he was not Shem, Christ or a heavenly being, but a man whose missing genealogy Hebrews uses to make a point, the way the rabbis reasoned. Scholars have differing views on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Four kings from the east carried Lot away from Sodom. Abram armed 318 men of his household, chased them beyond Dan, and brought Lot back. Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the most high God, blessed Abram with bread and wine, and Abram gave him a tenth. Abram refused to take so much as a thread from the king of Sodom.

What happens

1. Fear not, Abram Genesis 15:1–3

   After these things the word of the LORD comes to Abram in a vision. God is his shield and his great reward. Abram answers plainly: he has no child, and a servant born in his house will be his heir.

   “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” Genesis 15:1

2. So shall thy seed be Genesis 15:4–6

   God says the heir will come from Abram's own body. He brings him outside: count the stars, if you can. So shall your seed be. Abram believes the LORD, and God counts it to him for righteousness.

   “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

3. Whereby shall I know Genesis 15:7–11

   God renews the land promise, and Abram asks how he can know. God has him bring a heifer, a she goat and a ram, each three years old, and two birds. Abram halves the animals and drives off the birds of prey.

   “And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” Genesis 15:8

4. Great darkness Genesis 15:12–16

   At sunset a deep sleep and a horror of great darkness fall on Abram. God foretells it: his seed will be strangers, serving and afflicted for 400 years. God will judge that nation, and in the fourth generation they will come back.

   “thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them” Genesis 15:13

5. A burning lamp Genesis 15:17–21

   In the dark, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp pass between the pieces. That day the LORD makes a covenant with Abram, giving his seed the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, the land of ten peoples.

   “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” Genesis 15:18

By the numbers

• 400 years “they shall afflict them four hundred years”. Stephen repeats the number in Acts 7:6. Exodus 12:40 counts 430 years of sojourning. Scholars have differing views on how the two numbers fit.
• 5 animals A heifer, a she goat and a ram, each three years old, with a turtledove and a young pigeon. Every one is a kind Israel would later offer under the law of Moses.
• 4th generation “in the fourth generation they shall come hither again”. One way to count: Levi went down into Egypt, then came Kohath, Amram, and Moses, who led Israel out (Exodus 6:16-20).
• 10 peoples From the Kenites to the Jebusites, verses 19 to 21 name ten peoples living in the land God gave to Abram's seed. Turn the cards below to meet them.

Questions this chapter raises

11 treasures in Genesis 15

• Hidden treasure · Genesis 15:2 Son of the cup. Abram's worry about Eliezer may be about more than his estate. Ben mesheq, a Hebrew phrase whose sense was lost until texts from ancient Ugarit were found, means son of the cup, pointing to the eldest son's duties in his father's funeral rites. On this reading Abram feared a servant would pour the monthly offering for him after death. Scholars disagree on this.
• Big theme · Genesis 15:9-18 God walks the covenant alone. In a serious ancient covenant, both partners walked between the halves of the sacrifice. Here Abram lies in a deep sleep, and only "a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp" pass between the pieces. On this reading God goes it alone, so the covenant is unconditional and eternal, and Hebrews 6 calls it immutable, unable to change. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 15:13-16 The Amorites' iniquity is not yet full. God told Abram his seed would return in the fourth generation, for "the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." One reading ties that iniquity to the gods the Amorites served. The Greek Titans probably took their name from an Amorite tribe, the Tidanu, and the Titans are linked to the Watchers, the sinful angels of Genesis 6. Scholars have differing views on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. In a vision God told Abram his heir would come from his own body, and his seed would be as many as the stars. Abram believed, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Then, between the pieces of a covenant offering, God gave the land to Abram's seed and foretold four hundred years of affliction before they would come home.

What happens

1. Go in unto my maid Genesis 16:1–6

   Sarai has no children, so she gives her Egyptian maid Hagar to Abram as a wife. Hagar conceives and looks down on Sarai. Sarai blames Abram, then treats Hagar so harshly that she runs away.

   “it may be that I may obtain children by her” Genesis 16:2

2. By a fountain of water Genesis 16:7–12

   The angel of the LORD finds Hagar by a spring on the road to Shur. He sends her back to Sarai with a promise: her seed will be past counting, and her son will be called Ishmael, for the LORD has heard.

   “because the LORD hath heard thy affliction” Genesis 16:11

3. Thou God seest me Genesis 16:13–16

   Hagar names the LORD who spoke to her as the God who sees, and the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. She bears Abram a son, and Abram names him Ishmael, as the angel said. Abram is eighty-six.

   “Thou God seest me” Genesis 16:13

By the numbers

• 10 years Sarai gives Hagar to Abram “after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan”. He came at seventy-five, so he is now about eighty-five, and Sarai about seventy-five.
• 86 years old “Abram was fourscore and six years old”. A score is twenty, so fourscore and six is 86. The son of promise is still fourteen years away.
• 1st time This is the first time the Bible speaks of the angel of the LORD. Hagar hears from heaven again in Genesis 21, and the angel of the LORD calls to Abraham on Mount Moriah.
• God hears Ishmael means God hears. The angel explains that the LORD has heard Hagar's affliction. Years later, in another desert, “God hath heard the voice of the lad”.

Questions this chapter raises

9 treasures in Genesis 16

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Still barren after ten years in Canaan, Sarai gave her Egyptian maid Hagar to Abram. Hagar conceived, despised her mistress, and fled from Sarai's harsh hand. By a spring in the wilderness the angel of the LORD sent her back with a promise, and she called the LORD the God who sees. Ishmael was born when Abram was eighty-six.

What happens

1. I am the Almighty God Genesis 17:1–8

   Abram is ninety-nine when the LORD appears: walk before me and be perfect. Abram falls on his face. God renames him Abraham, father of many nations, and promises kings, an everlasting covenant, and all Canaan for his seed for ever.

   “thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee” Genesis 17:5

2. A token of the covenant Genesis 17:9–14

   Abraham's part is to keep the covenant. Every male in his house, sons and servants alike, is to be circumcised, each baby boy at eight days old. It is the covenant's mark in the flesh. Any male left uncircumcised is cut off.

   “it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” Genesis 17:11

3. Sarah shall her name be Genesis 17:15–22

   Sarai becomes Sarah, and God promises Abraham a son by her. Abraham falls on his face and laughs at a son at a hundred, with Sarah ninety. He pleads for Ishmael. God names the son Isaac, due this time next year.

   “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac” Genesis 17:19

4. In the selfsame day Genesis 17:23–27

   That same day Abraham obeys. He circumcises Ishmael, every male born in his house or bought with his money, and himself. Abraham is ninety-nine and Ishmael thirteen.

   “In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.” Genesis 17:26

By the numbers

• 99 years old “when Abram was ninety years old and nine”. Twenty-four years after leaving Haran and thirteen after Ishmael. One more year, and Isaac will be born.
• 8th day Every baby boy was to be circumcised at eight days old. Abraham does it for Isaac in Genesis 21:4, and Luke 2:21 tells us it was done for Jesus on his eighth day.
• 13 years old “Ishmael his son was thirteen years old” when he was circumcised, the same day as his father. He bears the covenant sign, though the covenant line will run through Isaac.
• 12 princes God promises “twelve princes shall he beget”. Genesis 25:13-16 names them, from Nebajoth to Kedemah, “twelve princes according to their nations”.

Questions this chapter raises

13 treasures in Genesis 17

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. God has renamed Abram as Abraham, father of many nations, and Sarai as Sarah. Abraham is ninety-nine. God has told him that Sarah will bear him a son at this time next year, to be called Isaac, and Abraham fell on his face and laughed. Every male in his house now bears the covenant sign of circumcision. Abraham's nephew Lot is living in Sodom.

What happens

1. Three men stood by him Genesis 18:1–8

   In the heat of the day Abraham sees three men near his tent. He runs to meet them, bows low and begs them to stay. He has Sarah bake cakes and a young man dress a calf, and he stands by while they eat.

   “he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him” Genesis 18:2

2. Is any thing too hard? Genesis 18:9–15

   The visitors ask for Sarah by name. The LORD promises she will have a son by this time next year. Sarah, listening behind the tent door, laughs to herself. The LORD asks why she laughed, and she denies it out of fear.

   “Is any thing too hard for the LORD” Genesis 18:14

3. Shall I hide from Abraham Genesis 18:16–21

   The men rise and look toward Sodom, and Abraham walks with them to see them off. The LORD will not hide his plans from the man through whom all nations will be blessed. The cry against Sodom and Gomorrah has reached him.

   “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do” Genesis 18:17

4. The Judge of all the earth Genesis 18:22–33

   The men go on toward Sodom, but Abraham stays standing before the LORD. He draws near and asks if God will destroy the righteous with the wicked. Six times he asks, from fifty righteous down to ten, and six times the LORD agrees.

   “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right” Genesis 18:25

By the numbers

• 99 years old Abraham was ninety-nine in Genesis 17 and a hundred when Isaac was born, so this visit falls in that last year of waiting. Both he and Sarah were “old and well stricken in age”.
• Mamre by Hebron Mamre lies by Hebron, about 20 miles south of Jerusalem. Where the KJV says plains, the Hebrew word is usually read as oaks or great trees. That fits the tree the guests rest under in verse 4.
• 1 year The LORD sets a date: “At the time appointed I will return unto thee”. In chapter 17 he had said the same, “at this set time in the next year”.
• Cry of Sodom The Hebrew word for cry here means an outcry, the kind raised by people who are being wronged. Verse 21 uses the very word used of Israel under slavery in Egypt: “have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters”.

Questions this chapter raises

15 treasures in Genesis 18

• Points to Christ · Genesis 18:1-33 The visible Yahweh at Abraham's table. One reading finds two Yahwehs in the Hebrew Bible: the invisible, transcendent God and a visible, human one, sometimes in the same scene. Genesis 18 is an example, where God comes as a man, shares a meal and talks with Abraham. Judaism called this the Two Powers in Heaven and held it until the second century AD. Scholars disagree on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 18:1-8 The LORD eats with Abraham. At Mamre the LORD comes in human form with two angels, and they share a meal with Abraham. The Hebrew verb for appeared here is the same one used when the angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in the bush, and when God appeared to Isaac and Jacob. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Lot, Abraham's nephew, chose the well-watered plain of the Jordan and pitched his tent toward Sodom, a city whose men were wicked. Abraham once rescued him from raiding kings. Now the LORD has visited Abraham at Mamre, promised Sarah a son, and said that the cry of Sodom is very great. Abraham pleaded, and God agreed to spare the city for ten righteous.

What happens

1. Lot sat in the gate Genesis 19:1–11

   Two angels reach Sodom at evening. Lot presses them to stay in his house and bakes them bread. Before bedtime the men of the city, young and old, surround the house and demand the guests. The angels pull Lot inside and strike the crowd blind.

   “Lot sat in the gate of Sodom” Genesis 19:1

2. Escape for thy life Genesis 19:12–22

   The angels say the LORD has sent them to destroy the city. Lot's sons-in-law think he is joking. At dawn he lingers, so the angels lead him, his wife and daughters out by the hand. Lot begs to flee to little Zoar.

   “the LORD being merciful unto him” Genesis 19:16

3. Brimstone and fire Genesis 19:23–26

   The sun is up as Lot reaches Zoar. Then the LORD rains burning sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, overthrowing the cities, the whole plain, its people and its crops. Behind Lot, his wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt.

   “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;” Genesis 19:24

4. Smoke of a furnace Genesis 19:27–29

   Early that morning Abraham returns to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looks toward the plain and sees smoke rising like the smoke of a furnace. God had remembered Abraham and brought Lot out.

   “God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow” Genesis 19:29

5. He dwelt in a cave Genesis 19:30–38

   Afraid to stay in Zoar, Lot moves up into the mountains and lives in a cave with his two daughters. Thinking no man is left for them, they get their father drunk and each conceives by him. Their sons are Moab and Ben-ammi.

   “the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day” Genesis 19:37

By the numbers

• 4 led out Abraham asked about ten righteous. The angels lead out four by the hand: Lot, his wife and their two daughters. Only three live to reach the mountains.
• Gate of Sodom A city gate was where elders met, business was done and cases were judged. Lot sits there at evening. The crowd sneers that this newcomer “will needs be a judge”.
• Salt pillar The plain lay by “the salt sea”, the Dead Sea, whose shores are crusted with salt. Jesus sums up her story in three words: “Remember Lot’s wife”.
• 2 nations The two boys born in the cave become the Moabites and the Ammonites. Moab lay east of the Dead Sea, and Ammon to its north-east, around today's Amman in Jordan.

Questions this chapter raises

8 treasures in Genesis 19

• Type & shadow · Genesis 19:22 The angel cannot act until Lot is out. The angel tells Lot, "I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither," so getting Lot out is not just a kindness but a requirement of the judgment. Jesus says it will be the same in the day when the Son of man is revealed, and warns, "Remember Lot's wife."

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. At Mamre the LORD promised that Sarah, nearly ninety, would bear a son within the year. Abraham pleaded for Sodom, and the next morning saw its smoke rising from the plain. Lot escaped with his daughters. Years before, in Egypt, Abraham had passed Sarah off as his sister, and Pharaoh took her until the LORD struck his house with plagues.

What happens

1. In a dream by night Genesis 20:1–7

   Abraham moves south and lives in Gerar. He says Sarah is his sister, and King Abimelech takes her. God warns the king in a dream that he is a dead man. Abimelech pleads innocence, and God says he kept him from touching her.

   “I also withheld thee from sinning against me” Genesis 20:6

2. What hast thou done? Genesis 20:8–13

   Early in the morning Abimelech tells his servants, and they are terrified. He calls Abraham to account. Abraham says he thought there was no fear of God in Gerar. Sarah is his half-sister, and they agreed long ago to say so wherever they went.

   “Surely the fear of God is not in this place” Genesis 20:11

3. So Abraham prayed Genesis 20:14–18

   Abimelech gives Abraham flocks, herds and servants, returns Sarah, and offers him any land he likes. He gives a thousand pieces of silver to put right the wrong done to Sarah. Abraham prays, and God heals the king's household, whose wombs had been closed.

   “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.” Genesis 20:17

By the numbers

• 1,000 pieces of silver Along with flocks and servants, Abimelech gives “a thousand pieces of silver”. He speaks of a covering of the eyes for Sarah, a rare phrase. Most read it as a public payment that clears her name, though its exact sense is debated.
• Gerar in the south Gerar lay in the south of Canaan, on the road toward Gaza: “as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza”. Isaac will live there too, and meet a king with the same name, Abimelech.
• Half sister Sarah was “the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother”. Marriage between a half-brother and half-sister was later forbidden in the law of Moses (Leviticus 18:9).

Questions this chapter raises

2 treasures in Genesis 20

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. God promised Abram a great nation when he left Haran at seventy-five. When no child came, Sarai gave him her Egyptian maid Hagar, and Ishmael was born when Abram was eighty-six. At ninety-nine God promised that Sarah herself would bear a son, Isaac, within the year. Since then God has guarded Sarah in the house of Abimelech, king of Gerar.

What happens

1. God hath made me to laugh Genesis 21:1–7

   The LORD does just what he said. Sarah bears Abraham a son at the set time. Abraham, now a hundred, names him Isaac and circumcises him on the eighth day. Sarah says God has made her laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with her.

   “God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me” Genesis 21:6

2. Cast out this bondwoman Genesis 21:8–13

   At the feast for Isaac's weaning, Sarah sees Ishmael mocking. She tells Abraham to send Hagar and her son away. Abraham is deeply grieved, but God tells him to listen to Sarah: the promised line runs through Isaac, and Ishmael will also become a nation.

   “for in Isaac shall thy seed be called” Genesis 21:12

3. God heard the lad Genesis 21:14–21

   Abraham sends them off at dawn with bread and a skin of water. In the wilderness of Beersheba the water runs out. Hagar sets the boy under a bush and weeps. God hears the lad and shows her a well. Ishmael grows up an archer.

   “God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is” Genesis 21:17

4. Beer-sheba Genesis 21:22–34

   Abimelech and his army captain Phichol see that God is with Abraham in all he does, and ask him to swear loyalty. Abraham complains about a well the king's servants seized. He gives seven ewe lambs as witness, and they make a covenant at Beersheba.

   “called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God” Genesis 21:33

By the numbers

• 100 years old Abraham was a hundred and Sarah ninety. It had been twenty-five years since God called him out of Haran at seventy-five, with a promise and no child.
• 8 days old Abraham circumcised Isaac at eight days old, as God commanded in Genesis 17:12. It is the first eighth-day circumcision the Bible records. Jesus too was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2:21).
• Paran wilderness Ishmael settles in the wilderness of Paran, the desert south of Canaan. Israel will camp there after leaving Mount Sinai: “the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran”.

Questions this chapter raises

5 treasures in Genesis 21

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Isaac, the son God promised, was born when Abraham was a hundred and Sarah ninety. At Isaac's weaning Hagar and Ishmael were sent away, and God told Abraham that his line of promise would come through Isaac. Abraham made a treaty with Abimelech at Beersheba, planted a tree there and called on the LORD, the everlasting God. Years have passed, and Isaac is growing up.

What happens

1. Take now thy son Genesis 22:1–2

   Some time later God tests Abraham. He calls him by name, and Abraham answers, here I am. God tells him to take Isaac, his only son whom he loves, to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering.

   “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest” Genesis 22:2

2. On the third day Genesis 22:3–5

   Early in the morning Abraham saddles his donkey, splits the wood and sets out with Isaac and two young servants. On the third day he sees the place far off. He tells the servants to wait: he and the lad will worship and come back.

   “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” Genesis 22:5

3. Where is the lamb? Genesis 22:6–8

   Abraham lays the wood on Isaac and carries the fire and the knife himself. As they walk, Isaac asks where the lamb is. Abraham answers that God will provide the lamb, and the two go on together.

   “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” Genesis 22:8

4. A ram in a thicket Genesis 22:9–14

   At the place Abraham builds an altar, binds Isaac and lifts the knife. The angel of the LORD calls from heaven to stop him. Abraham sees a ram caught by its horns, offers it in Isaac's place, and names the place Jehovah-jireh.

   “offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son” Genesis 22:13

5. By myself have I sworn Genesis 22:15–19

   The angel calls a second time. Because Abraham has not held back his son, the LORD swears by himself to multiply his seed like the stars and the sand, and to bless all nations in his seed. Abraham returns to Beersheba.

   “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” Genesis 22:18

6. Bethuel begat Rebekah Genesis 22:20–24

   News comes from far away. Abraham's brother Nahor now has twelve children, eight by his wife Milcah and four by Reumah. One of them, Bethuel, has a daughter named Rebekah.

   “And Bethuel begat Rebekah” Genesis 22:23

By the numbers

• 3rd day Abraham saw the place “on the third day”. From Beersheba, his home, to Jerusalem, where 2 Chronicles places mount Moriah, is about 45 miles in a straight line, a steady three days on foot.
• Whole burnt offering A burnt offering was burned whole on the altar, with nothing kept back. Leviticus says the priest “shall burn all on the altar”. The Hebrew name means an offering that goes up.
• Oath by himself In verse 16 the LORD binds himself with an oath. Hebrews explains why he swore by himself: “because he could swear by no greater”. The blessing rests on God's own name.
• 12 sons Milcah bore Abraham's brother Nahor eight children, and Reumah four. Ishmael will father twelve princes and Jacob twelve sons. Milcah's list ends with the name that matters next: Rebekah.

Questions this chapter raises

21 treasures in Genesis 22

• Type & shadow · Genesis 22:2 Moriah's peak, Golgotha and the pivot of creation. One view places Abraham's altar not at the later Temple site but on the highest point of the Moriah ridge, above the town of Salem, where Golgotha later stands. The Son's offering there would be the pivot of the whole creation. Jewish tradition holds that it was the Temple site. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 22:5 Abraham believed in resurrection. God had promised Isaac children, and Isaac had none yet, so if Abraham offered him, God would have to raise him. His saving faith was trust in resurrection, which is also the heart of the gospel Paul defines in 1 Corinthians 15.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 22:6 Isaac carries the wood, and goes willingly. Isaac is no small child: he may have been in his thirties, and he carries the wood up the hill himself. He yields to being bound, so the son goes as a willing partner, not an overpowered boy. Scholars disagree on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 22:6 The wood on his back. Abraham lays the wood on Isaac, and the son carries it up the hill himself. John tells it the same way at the end: Jesus goes out carrying his own cross.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 22:8 God will provide himself a lamb. It can sound as if Abraham is stalling the boy. Read the sentence carefully, though: God will provide himself. One reading takes that as God himself being the offering, and on that same spot, two thousand years later, another Father offered his Son for sin. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 22:19 Isaac vanishes until he meets his bride. Genesis 22:19 says Abraham returned to his young men and never mentions Isaac. He surely went home too, but Isaac himself is kept out of the record from the offering until he meets Rebekah by the well Lahai-roi, much as Christ is unseen, though active, from the crucifixion until the rapture.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Abraham and Sarah left Haran when he was seventy-five and she sixty-five. God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed, yet they lived in it as wanderers, in tents, for more than sixty years. Isaac was born when Sarah was ninety. On Mount Moriah God spared him and swore to bless all nations in Abraham's seed.

What happens

1. Sarah died in Kirjath-arba Genesis 23:1–2

   Sarah lives to 127. She dies at Kirjath-arba, the old name of Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham comes to mourn for her and weep.

   “Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her” Genesis 23:2

2. Four hundred shekels Genesis 23:3–16

   Abraham rises and asks the Hittites for a burial place, calling himself a stranger among them. They offer any tomb he likes. He asks for Ephron's cave of Machpelah. Ephron offers it free, then names four hundred shekels. Abraham weighs out the silver.

   “four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant” Genesis 23:16

3. Made sure unto Abraham Genesis 23:17–20

   The field, the cave and every tree in it are made over to Abraham before witnesses at the city gate. Abraham buries Sarah in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre. His first ground of his own in the promised land is a grave.

   “And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.” Genesis 23:20

By the numbers

• 127 years Sarah was ten years younger than Abraham (Genesis 17:17), so he was 137 when she died, and Isaac was 37. Abraham lived another 38 years.
• 400 shekels of silver There were no coins yet. Abraham weighed the silver on scales, by the weight traders accepted. A shekel was roughly two-fifths of an ounce, so this was about ten pounds of silver.
• Today in Hebron The traditional site is the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Massive stone walls from the time of Herod the Great stand over it, and it is still a place of prayer.

Questions this chapter raises

3 treasures in Genesis 23

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. On Mount Moriah Abraham was ready to give Isaac back to God, and God provided a ram in his place. Word then came that Abraham's brother Nahor had a large family, among them a granddaughter named Rebekah. Sarah died at 127, and Abraham bought a field with a cave at Machpelah to bury her.

What happens

1. Under my thigh Genesis 24:1–9

   Abraham, old and greatly blessed, makes his chief servant swear an oath. He must not take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites. He must go to Abraham's own kindred, and he must never take Isaac back there.

   “he shall send his angel before thee” Genesis 24:7

2. By a well of water Genesis 24:10–27

   The servant travels to the city of Nahor with ten camels. At the well at evening he asks God for a sign. Before he finishes, Rebekah comes, gives him a drink, and draws water for every camel. He bows and worships.

   “before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out” Genesis 24:15

3. I am Abraham's servant Genesis 24:28–49

   Rebekah's brother Laban sees the gold and runs to bring the man in. Food is set before him, and he will not eat until he has told his errand. He tells the whole story, from the oath to the well.

   “I will not eat, until I have told mine errand” Genesis 24:33

4. I will go Genesis 24:50–61

   Laban and Bethuel agree the thing is from the LORD. The family wants Rebekah to stay at least ten days. The servant asks to leave at once, so they ask Rebekah herself. She will go, and they bless her as she leaves.

   “And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.” Genesis 24:58

5. At the eventide Genesis 24:62–67

   Isaac is out in the field at evening when he sees camels coming. Rebekah gets down and covers herself with a veil. The servant tells Isaac everything. Isaac brings her into his mother's tent, and he loves her.

   “and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death” Genesis 24:67

By the numbers

• 10 camels The servant brought “ten camels”. A thirsty camel can drink many gallons. Rebekah offered, unasked, to water all ten, and kept running to the well “until they have done drinking”.
• 400+ miles The city of Nahor was Haran or a town near it, where Laban lived (27:43). Haran lies more than 400 miles north of Hebron as the crow flies, and the road was longer.
• 10½ shekels of gold At the well the servant gives Rebekah “a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold”. A shekel was about 11 grams, so that is about four ounces of gold.
• 40 years old “Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife”. Sarah had died at 127, when Isaac was 37. So the comfort of verse 67 comes about three years after her death.

Questions this chapter raises

7 treasures in Genesis 24

• Type & shadow · Genesis 24:2 The unnamed servant, a picture of the Spirit. Abraham sends his eldest servant, who ruled over all that he had, to find a bride for Isaac. Genesis 15:2 names him Eliezer, a name taken here to mean comforter, yet in this chapter he goes unnamed. On this reading he is a type of the Holy Spirit, who shall not speak of himself. Scholars disagree on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 24:67 The Jewish wedding as a rapture pattern. A Jewish betrothal set the bride apart with a covenant and a purchase price. The groom left to add a room at his father's house, while she stayed ready, not knowing the day, until he came by surprise to gather her for the wedding and a seven-day supper. This pattern has changed some minds about when the rapture comes. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Abraham's servant went north to Nahor's family and came back with Rebekah. Isaac, forty years old and still grieving for Sarah, married her and loved her. Isaac is the son of promise. God said his covenant would pass through Isaac and his seed, and Abraham has given Isaac all that he has.

What happens

1. The sons of Keturah Genesis 25:1–6

   Abraham takes another wife, Keturah, and has six more sons, among them Midian. He leaves everything he owns to Isaac. To his other sons he gives gifts, and while he is still alive he sends them away to the east.

   “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.” Genesis 25:5

2. Full of years Genesis 25:7–11

   Abraham dies at 175, an old man and full of years. Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah beside Sarah. After his death God blesses Isaac, who settles by the well Lahai-roi.

   “Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.” Genesis 25:8

3. Twelve princes Genesis 25:12–18

   Ishmael's twelve sons become twelve princes, as God had promised Abraham. Ishmael lives 137 years. His people settle from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt.

   “twelve princes according to their nations” Genesis 25:16

4. Two nations Genesis 25:19–26

   Rebekah is barren until Isaac prays for her. The twins struggle inside her, and the LORD tells her two nations are in her womb, and the elder will serve the younger. Esau is born red and hairy, Jacob holding his heel.

   “the elder shall serve the younger” Genesis 25:23

5. Sell me this day Genesis 25:27–34

   Esau grows into a hunter, Jacob into a quiet man of the tents. Isaac loves Esau, Rebekah loves Jacob. One day Esau comes in from the field faint with hunger, and Jacob sells him red stew for his birthright.

   “thus Esau despised his birthright” Genesis 25:34

By the numbers

• 175 years Abraham lived “an hundred threescore and fifteen years”, a full century after he left Haran at 75. He was 160 when the twins were born, so Jacob and Esau were 15 when he died.
• 20 years Isaac married at forty and was “threescore years old when she bare them”. Like Sarah before her, Rebekah was barren. She conceived when the LORD answered Isaac's prayer.
• 6 sons Keturah bears Abraham six sons. One of them is Midian. Midianite traders help carry Joseph to Egypt (37:28), and Moses later marries the daughter of a priest of Midian (Exodus 2:16-21).

Questions this chapter raises

10 treasures in Genesis 25

• Points to Christ · Genesis 25:23 Firstborn is a title, not a birth order. That the elder shall serve the younger breaks the normal rule, since the firstborn was the family's priest and heir of a double portion. Firstborn is more than birth order: it is a title of leadership and eminence. So when Colossians calls Christ the firstborn of every creature, it names his rank.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. After twenty years of waiting, Rebekah bore twins. Abraham died at 175 and left everything to Isaac. Esau grew into a hunter and his father's favorite. Jacob, a quiet man, was his mother's. Before they were born, God said the elder would serve the younger. Then Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.

What happens

1. Go not down into Egypt Genesis 26:1–6

   A famine strikes, like the one in Abraham's day, and Isaac goes to Gerar. The LORD appears and tells him not to go down to Egypt. Stay in this land, God says, and I will keep the oath I swore to Abraham.

   “I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father” Genesis 26:3

2. She is my sister Genesis 26:7–11

   Isaac tells the men of Gerar that Rebekah is his sister, afraid they will kill him for her. Abimelech sees him caressing her from a window and knows the truth. He rebukes Isaac and orders that no one touch either of them.

   “Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister” Genesis 26:9

3. Room for us Genesis 26:12–22

   Isaac sows and reaps a hundredfold, and grows so great that the Philistines envy him. Sent away, he reopens the wells Abraham dug. Herdsmen quarrel over two new wells. Over the third no one strives, and he calls it Rehoboth.

   “For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land” Genesis 26:22

4. The blessed of the LORD Genesis 26:23–33

   At Beersheba the LORD appears by night: fear not, I am with you. Isaac builds an altar. Abimelech comes to make peace, for he can see the LORD is with Isaac. That same day Isaac's servants find water.

   “We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee” Genesis 26:28

5. A grief of mind Genesis 26:34–35

   At forty Esau marries two Hittite women, Judith and Bashemath. They bring bitter grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

   “Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.” Genesis 26:35

By the numbers

• 2nd famine Abraham went down to Egypt in the first famine and got into trouble there (12:10-20). In this second famine God tells Isaac to stay in the land, and he stays.
• 100 fold In the land God told him to stay in, Isaac sowed and “received in the same year an hundredfold”. Jesus uses the same measure for the good ground in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:8).
• Shebah an oath Beer means well. Sheba can mean oath or seven. Abraham named the place after an oath with an Abimelech (21:31). Now Isaac swears with an Abimelech, his servants find water that day, and he calls the well Shebah.
• 40 years old Esau marries at forty, the age his father was when he married Rebekah. Isaac waited for a wife from his own kin. Esau takes two Hittite women from the people of the land.

Questions this chapter raises

6 treasures in Genesis 26

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Isaac and Rebekah had twins. Before they were born, God said the elder would serve the younger. Esau, the firstborn, sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Isaac loves Esau, and Rebekah loves Jacob. At forty Esau married two Hittite women, and they grieved both his parents.

What happens

1. Take me some venison Genesis 27:1–4

   Isaac is old and his eyes are dim. He sends Esau out with his bow to hunt and cook his favorite meal, so that he can bless him before he dies.

   “that my soul may bless thee before I die” Genesis 27:4

2. Obey my voice Genesis 27:5–17

   Rebekah overhears and calls Jacob. She cooks two young goats the way Isaac likes his meat, dresses Jacob in Esau's best clothes, and covers his hands and neck with the goatskins.

   “Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice” Genesis 27:13

3. The hands of Esau Genesis 27:18–29

   Jacob says he is Esau. Isaac is uneasy, for the voice is Jacob's. He feels the hairy hands, smells the field on the clothes, and blesses him with plenty, rule over his brothers, and a curse on all who curse him.

   “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau” Genesis 27:22

4. Bless me, even me also Genesis 27:30–40

   Esau comes in with his meal moments too late. Isaac trembles. Esau cries out bitterly and begs for a blessing. Isaac tells him he will live by his sword and serve his brother, until one day he breaks the yoke.

   “he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry” Genesis 27:34

5. Flee thou to Laban Genesis 27:41–46

   Esau plans to kill Jacob once Isaac is dead. Rebekah hears of it and tells Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Haran for a few days. To Isaac she speaks only of her fear that Jacob will marry a Hittite.

   “why should I be deprived also of you both in one day” Genesis 27:45

By the numbers

• 77 years old Genesis does not say here, but later ages let us count back. Jacob was 130 before Pharaoh, when Joseph was 39. Joseph was born as Jacob's fourteen years for his wives ended. That puts Jacob near 77 and Isaac near 137.
• 180 years Isaac said “I know not the day of my death”. He lived to 180 (35:28), about 43 years more, and was still alive when Jacob came home more than twenty years later (35:27).
• 20 years Rebekah tells Jacob to stay with Laban “a few days”. He is gone twenty years (31:41). Genesis never tells of her seeing him again. We learn only that she was buried at Machpelah (49:31).

Questions this chapter raises

6 treasures in Genesis 27

• Type & shadow · Genesis 27:19 Blessed in the identity of the firstborn. Jacob received his father's blessing by taking on the identity of the firstborn son. Here is one parallel among many in Scripture: believers also receive the Father's blessing in the identity of his firstborn Son.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob, the younger twin, bought Esau's birthright for a bowl of stew. Then, dressed in his brother's clothes, he tricked blind Isaac into blessing him in Esau's place. Esau planned to kill him once Isaac died. Rebekah told Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Haran until Esau's anger cooled.

What happens

1. The blessing of Abraham Genesis 28:1–5

   Isaac calls Jacob, blesses him again, and charges him not to marry a Canaanite. He sends him to Padan-aram to find a wife among Laban's daughters, and passes on to him the blessing of Abraham.

   “that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham” Genesis 28:4

2. Esau's third wife Genesis 28:6–9

   Esau sees that his father dislikes Canaanite wives. So he goes to Ishmael's family and adds another wife, Mahalath, Ishmael's daughter.

   “And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;” Genesis 28:8

3. A ladder to heaven Genesis 28:10–15

   Jacob sets out from Beersheba toward Haran. At sunset he sleeps in the open with a stone for his pillow. He dreams of a ladder reaching heaven, angels going up and down, and the LORD above, renewing to him the promises made to Abraham.

   “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” Genesis 28:12

4. The house of God Genesis 28:16–22

   Jacob wakes afraid: the LORD was here and he did not know it. At dawn he sets up his stone as a pillar, pours oil on it, and renames the place Bethel. Then he vows that the LORD will be his God.

   “Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not” Genesis 28:16

By the numbers

• 4 directions God tells Jacob his seed will spread “to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south”. He had told Abraham to look over the land the same four ways (13:14).
• Aram the land Padan-aram is the plain of Aram, the country around Haran in upper Mesopotamia. The KJV often calls Aram Syria. So Bethuel and Laban are Syrians (25:20), and Hosea says “Jacob fled into the country of Syria”.
• Oil on a stone Jacob sets his stone pillow up as a pillar and pours oil on top. Oil marked a thing as set apart for God. Twenty years later God reminds him of it: “where thou anointedst the pillar”.

Questions this chapter raises

6 treasures in Genesis 28

• Hidden layer · Genesis 28:10-17 Jacob's stone and the gate of heaven. In the ancient world stones were worshiped as homes of gods and doorways to other realms, so Jacob dreaming on a stone and seeing the gate of heaven fits that setting. But Jacob performed no ritual to open it. The LORD opened the way and let his servant see beyond.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 28:12-14 Jacob's ladder and a Messianic promise. At Bethel God confirms the covenant to Jacob, the next in line after Abraham and Isaac. He promises that all the families of the earth will be blessed in Jacob's seed, a promise plainly Messianic: about the coming Messiah, not just Jacob's descendants.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 28:12-13 Jacob's ladder: tiered steps like a ziggurat. The Hebrew word behind ladder is sulam, pictured as tiered steps like a ziggurat, a stepped tower. At the top of the structure, or beside Jacob, stands the LORD, and the angels of God go up and down on it. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob deceived his blind father and took the blessing meant for Esau. Fleeing Esau's anger, he set out alone for his mother's family in Haran. On the way, at Bethel, he dreamed of a ladder to heaven. God promised to be with him, keep him, and bring him home again.

What happens

1. A well in the field Genesis 29:1–14

   Jacob reaches the east and finds shepherds at a well near Haran. When Rachel comes with her father's sheep, he rolls the stone from the well's mouth, waters her flock, kisses her, and weeps. Laban runs to welcome him.

   “And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.” Genesis 29:11

2. Seven years Genesis 29:15–20

   Laban asks what wages Jacob wants. Jacob loves Rachel, the younger daughter, and offers seven years of work for her. Laban agrees. The years seem to Jacob only a few days.

   “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” Genesis 29:20

3. Behold, it was Leah Genesis 29:21–30

   Laban holds a wedding feast, and that evening brings Leah to Jacob. In the morning Jacob finds he has been tricked. Laban says the younger may not marry first. Jacob fulfills her week and marries Rachel too, for seven more years of work.

   “in the morning, behold, it was Leah” Genesis 29:25

4. The LORD saw Leah Genesis 29:31–35

   The LORD sees that Leah is loved less and gives her children, while Rachel stays barren. Leah bears four sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, and gives each a name that tells her heart.

   “when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb” Genesis 29:31

By the numbers

• 7+7 years Jacob serves seven years for Rachel, then is told to “Fulfil her week”. That may be Leah's bridal week, seven days of feasting as at Samson's wedding (Judges 14:12). Or it may be seven more years of work. Scholars have differing views on this.
• 2 maids Laban gives each daughter a maid: Zilpah to Leah, Bilhah to Rachel. It looks like a small detail. In the next chapter these two women bear four of Jacob's twelve sons.
• Leah the mother of The wife Jacob loved less became the mother of Levi, the tribe of Israel's priests, and Judah, the tribe of David and of Jesus. Rachel was buried by the road to Bethlehem. Leah lies with Jacob at Machpelah (49:31).

Questions this chapter raises

6 treasures in Genesis 29

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob fled to his uncle Laban in Haran and fell in love with Laban's younger daughter, Rachel. He served seven years for her, but Laban gave him Leah first, then Rachel for seven more years of work. The LORD saw that Leah was loved less and gave her four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Rachel had none.

What happens

1. Give me children Genesis 30:1–13

   Rachel envies her sister and gives Jacob her maid Bilhah, who bears Dan and Naphtali. Leah, no longer bearing, gives him her maid Zilpah, who bears Gad and Asher. Rachel and Leah name the boys as their own.

   “she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her” Genesis 30:3

2. God remembered Rachel Genesis 30:14–24

   Reuben finds mandrakes, and Rachel gives Leah a night with Jacob in exchange for them. Leah bears Issachar, Zebulun and a daughter, Dinah. Then God remembers Rachel. She bears Joseph, and asks the LORD for one more son.

   “And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.” Genesis 30:22

3. Speckled and spotted Genesis 30:25–43

   Jacob asks to go home. Laban begs him to stay, for the LORD has blessed him through Jacob. Jacob asks only for the speckled and spotted animals as his wages. With peeled rods and careful breeding, he grows very rich.

   “And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.” Genesis 30:43

By the numbers

• 11 sons By the end of this chapter Jacob has eleven sons and a daughter, all born in Haran. Only the twelfth son, Benjamin, will be born in the land of Canaan (35:16-18).
• 6 years Jacob later sums up his time with Laban: “fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle”. The bargain in this chapter begins those last six years.
• Laban is blessed Laban admits “the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake”. It is God's promise to Abraham at work: through his family others are blessed (12:3). It happens again in Egypt, when Potiphar's house is blessed for Joseph's sake (39:5).

Questions this chapter raises

1 treasure in Genesis 30

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob fled from Esau to his mother's brother Laban in Haran. He served seven years for Rachel, was given Leah instead, and served seven more for Rachel. Eleven sons and a daughter were born to him, Joseph last of all. Then Jacob bargained for the speckled and spotted animals as his wages, and his flocks grew great.

What happens

1. Return unto the land Genesis 31:1–16

   Laban's sons grumble, and Laban's face has turned against Jacob. The LORD tells him to go home. In the field Jacob tells Rachel and Leah how God has kept him, and they agree to leave.

   “Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee” Genesis 31:3

2. He fled with all he had Genesis 31:17–24

   While Laban is away shearing, Jacob sets his family on camels and slips away. Rachel steals her father's images. Jacob crosses the river toward Gilead. Laban chases him for seven days, but God warns him in a dream.

   “Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad” Genesis 31:24

3. What is my trespass? Genesis 31:25–42

   Laban accuses Jacob of stealing his gods and searches every tent. Rachel has hidden them in the camel's saddle and sits on them, excusing herself from rising. Jacob, angry, lays out twenty years of hard service.

   “God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands” Genesis 31:42

4. This heap be witness Genesis 31:43–55

   Laban proposes a covenant. Jacob sets up a stone pillar, and the men pile a heap of stones as a witness and a boundary. They eat together, and at dawn Laban kisses his daughters and their children and goes home.

   “The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another” Genesis 31:49

By the numbers

• 20 years Fourteen years for Leah and Rachel, then six for the flocks. Jacob says it to Laban's face: “Thus have I been twenty years in thy house”.
• 10 times Jacob tells his wives, and then Laban, that his wages were changed ten times. It may be an exact count or a way of saying over and over. Either way God “suffered him not to hurt me”.
• 7 days Laban hears on the third day that Jacob has gone, and pursues him seven days' journey. He catches him in the hill country of Gilead, east of the Jordan.
• 2 names Laban names the heap Jegar-sahadutha, in his own Aramaic tongue. Jacob calls it Galeed, in Hebrew. Both mean the heap of witness.

Questions this chapter raises

5 treasures in Genesis 31

• Hidden layer · Genesis 31:19 Laban's gods: ancestor statues. The images Rachel stole, the teraphim, were probably statues representing the family's dead ancestors, honored at a monthly meal called the kispum. Inheriting the family estate was tied to keeping that rite, and being cut off from the family gods was traumatic. That explains Laban's desperate chase. Scholars have differing views on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob has left Laban after twenty years, with two wives, two maids, eleven sons and great flocks. At mount Gilead the two men made a covenant and parted in peace. Ahead lies Canaan, and Esau, who once planned to kill him for taking their father's blessing.

What happens

1. God's host Genesis 32:1–2

   As Jacob travels on from Gilead, angels of God meet him on the road. He names the place Mahanaim, two camps.

   “This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim” Genesis 32:2

2. Deliver me Genesis 32:3–12

   Jacob sends messengers to Esau in Seir. They return with news: Esau is coming with four hundred men. Terrified, Jacob splits his household into two camps and prays, reminding God of his promise.

   “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant” Genesis 32:10

3. A present for Esau Genesis 32:13–21

   Jacob sends goats, sheep, camels, cattle and donkeys ahead in separate droves, with a space between each. Every herdsman is to tell Esau the same thing: this is a gift from his servant Jacob, who is coming behind.

   “I will appease him with the present that goeth before me” Genesis 32:20

4. There wrestled a man Genesis 32:22–29

   That night Jacob sends his family across the Jabbok and stays behind alone. A man wrestles with him until daybreak and puts his hip out of joint. Jacob will not let go without a blessing, and receives a new name, Israel.

   “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” Genesis 32:26

5. Peniel Genesis 32:30–32

   Jacob names the place Peniel, the face of God. The sun rises as he crosses over, limping on his hip. Because of it, Genesis says, Israel does not eat the sinew of the thigh.

   “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” Genesis 32:30

By the numbers

• 400 men The messengers come back with news that Esau is on his way with four hundred men. When Abram went to rescue Lot he took 318 trained servants. This is a small army.
• 2 camps Mahanaim means two camps. Jacob meets God's camp of angels, then splits his own people into two camps out of fear. His prayer marvels: “with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands”.
• Jabbok river The Jabbok flows west out of the hills of Gilead into the Jordan, north of the Dead Sea. Today it is called the Zarqa. Jacob sends everyone across it and stays behind alone.

Questions this chapter raises

14 treasures in Genesis 32

• Hidden layer · Genesis 32:24-30 A wrestling match as a living lesson. Hosea calls Jacob's opponent Elohim, God, and Jacob names the place Peniel because he has seen God face to face. This is one of several times God appears in human form in Genesis. The struggle gives bodily form to Jacob's lifelong striving with and against God, a living object lesson. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob is coming home after twenty years with Laban. Esau, who once planned to kill him, is coming to meet him with four hundred men, and Jacob has sent a great present on ahead. In the night by the Jabbok he wrestled until dawn, was renamed Israel, and now walks with a limp.

What happens

1. Esau ran to meet him Genesis 33:1–7

   Jacob sees Esau coming with four hundred men. He lines up his family, the maids first, then Leah, then Rachel and Joseph last, and goes ahead, bowing seven times. Esau runs to him and embraces him, and they weep.

   “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.” Genesis 33:4

2. I have enough Genesis 33:8–16

   Esau asks about the droves and tries to refuse the gift. Jacob presses him until he takes it. Esau offers to travel with him, but Jacob says the children and young animals must go slowly. Esau goes home to Seir.

   “I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself” Genesis 33:9

3. El-elohe-Israel Genesis 33:17–20

   Jacob builds a house at Succoth and booths for his cattle. Then he crosses into Canaan, camps outside the city of Shechem, buys the field where his tent stands for a hundred pieces of money, and builds an altar.

   “And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.” Genesis 33:20

By the numbers

• 7 bows Jacob bows to the ground seven times as he comes near, the bow of a servant before his lord. All through the meeting he calls Esau my lord and himself thy servant.
• Booths Succoth Succoth means booths, simple shelters. Israel's later Feast of Tabernacles has the same Hebrew name, Sukkot.
• El God El-elohe-Israel means God, the God of Israel. Jacob uses his new name for the first time, and claims his fathers' God as his own.

Questions this chapter raises

2 treasures in Genesis 33

• Hidden treasure · Genesis 33:4 He ran and fell on his neck. After twenty years Jacob braces for revenge, and Esau runs to him instead. Jesus uses the same actions for the father of the prodigal son. Read the two lines side by side.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. After making peace with Esau, Jacob crossed into Canaan and settled outside the city of Shechem. He bought a field there from the sons of Hamor and built an altar he called El-elohe-Israel. His daughter Dinah was born to Leah after her six sons.

What happens

1. Dinah went out Genesis 34:1–12

   Dinah goes out to visit the young women of the land. Shechem, son of Hamor, sees her, takes her and defiles her. Then he wants her as his wife, and Hamor comes to Jacob offering marriage, land and trade.

   “which thing ought not to be done” Genesis 34:7

2. Deceitfully Genesis 34:13–24

   Jacob's sons answer deceitfully. They will agree only if every male in the city is circumcised. Hamor and Shechem persuade the men at the city gate, holding out the hope of Jacob's cattle, and every male is circumcised.

   “answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully” Genesis 34:13

3. Simeon and Levi Genesis 34:25–31

   On the third day Simeon and Levi take their swords, kill every male in the city and bring Dinah away. Jacob's sons plunder the city and take its women and children captive. Jacob fears the peoples around him will take revenge.

   “And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?” Genesis 34:31

By the numbers

• 1 daughter Dinah is the only daughter of Jacob that Genesis names. Leah bore her after six sons, so Simeon and Levi were her full brothers.
• Hivite people Hamor and his son are Hivites, one of the peoples descended from Canaan in Genesis 10. The son and the city share one name, Shechem.
• 3rd day Simeon and Levi strike on the third day after the circumcision, while the men are still sore. They kill every male, Hamor and Shechem among them.

Questions this chapter raises

3 treasures in Genesis 34

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. At Shechem, Jacob's daughter Dinah was wronged, and Simeon and Levi killed the men of the city in revenge. Jacob now fears the Canaanites around him. Years before, fleeing Esau, he had dreamed at Bethel of a ladder reaching to heaven, and vowed that if God brought him home in peace, the LORD would be his God.

What happens

1. Arise, go up to Beth-el Genesis 35:1–7

   God tells Jacob to go to Bethel. Jacob has his household give up their foreign gods and earrings, and buries them under the oak by Shechem. A terror from God keeps the cities from pursuing. At Bethel he builds an altar.

   “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments” Genesis 35:2

2. God appeared again Genesis 35:8–15

   Rebekah's old nurse Deborah dies and is buried under an oak. God appears to Jacob again, confirms the name Israel, and repeats the promise of a nation, kings and the land. Jacob sets up a stone pillar and pours oil on it.

   “to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land” Genesis 35:12

3. Rachel died Genesis 35:16–20

   Near Ephrath, Rachel has a hard labor. The midwife tells her she has another son. As she dies she names him Ben-oni, but Jacob names him Benjamin. She is buried by the road to Bethlehem, and Jacob sets a pillar on her grave.

   “And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem.” Genesis 35:19

4. The sons of Jacob Genesis 35:21–29

   Israel moves on beyond the tower of Edar. Reuben lies with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel hears of it. The twelve sons are listed. Jacob reaches his father at Mamre, and Isaac dies at 180.

   “and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him” Genesis 35:29

By the numbers

• 12 sons Six from Leah, two from Rachel, and two each from the maids Bilhah and Zilpah. Benjamin completes the twelve, and the tribes of Israel will be named for them.
• 180 years Isaac lives longer than Abraham, who died at 175, or Jacob, who will die at 147. He was sixty when the twins were born, so Jacob is 120 at his father's death.
• 3 graves Deborah under an oak below Bethel, Rachel by the Bethlehem road, Isaac at Hebron. The chapter that renews God's promise is also full of goodbyes.
• 2nd time The man at the Jabbok first gave the name. At Bethel God says it again: “Israel shall be thy name”.

Questions this chapter raises

8 treasures in Genesis 35

• Points to Christ · Genesis 35:18 Son of sorrow, son of the right hand. Dying Rachel names her baby Ben-oni, son of my sorrow. His father renames him Benjamin, son of the right hand. One son with two names, sorrow first and the right hand after.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Esau sold his birthright for a meal and lost his father's blessing to Jacob's deceit. More than twenty years later the brothers met in peace, and Esau went home to Seir. Together they buried their father Isaac at Hebron.

What happens

1. Esau is Edom Genesis 36:1–8

   Esau has three wives and five sons, all born in Canaan. He and Jacob own too many herds for the land to carry, so Esau takes his whole household and moves to the hill country of Seir.

   “Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.” Genesis 36:8

2. The dukes of Edom Genesis 36:9–30

   Esau's sons and grandsons become dukes, meaning clan chiefs. The Horites, sons of Seir who held the land before them, are listed with their own dukes. Esau's wife Aholibamah came from their family.

   “These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.” Genesis 36:19

3. Kings in Edom Genesis 36:31–43

   Eight kings reign in Edom one after another, before any king reigns over Israel. None is said to be the son of the king before him. The chapter closes with Esau's chiefs, listed by their places.

   “And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.” Genesis 36:31

By the numbers

• Edom red Edom means red. Esau was born red, and he sold his birthright for red pottage: “therefore was his name called Edom”.
• Duke chief The KJV's duke means the chief of a clan, the head of a family group. In 1611 English the word could still mean any leader, from the Latin dux.
• 3 wives Adah, Aholibamah and Bashemath. The names differ from chapters 26 and 28, though the fathers partly match, so some of the women seem to have had two names. Scholars have differing views on this.

Questions this chapter raises

3 treasures in Genesis 36

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob is back in Canaan with his twelve sons, living near his father Isaac at Hebron. Rachel, the wife he loved, died giving birth to Benjamin; her elder son Joseph is now a young man. Reuben has shamed his father, and Simeon and Levi have shed blood at Shechem. Esau's family has settled in Seir, and Genesis now turns to Jacob's own line.

What happens

1. The son of his old age Genesis 37:1–4

   Jacob settles in Canaan. Joseph, seventeen, tends the flock with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah and brings his father a bad report of them. Israel loves Joseph most and makes him a special coat. His brothers hate him for it.

   “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age” Genesis 37:3

2. Behold, I have dreamed Genesis 37:5–11

   Joseph dreams that his brothers' sheaves bow down to his sheaf, then that the sun, moon and eleven stars bow to him. He tells them both. His brothers hate him more, and his father rebukes him.

   “Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us” Genesis 37:8

3. Here am I Genesis 37:12–17

   Israel sends Joseph from the vale of Hebron to see how his brothers and the flocks are doing at Shechem. A man finds him wandering in the fields and tells him they have gone on to Dothan.

   “Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren” Genesis 37:14

4. This dreamer cometh Genesis 37:18–30

   The brothers see him coming and plot to kill him. Reuben talks them into a dry pit instead. They strip off his coat and throw him in. At Judah's urging he is sold to passing traders. Reuben returns to an empty pit.

   “sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt” Genesis 37:28

5. It is my son's coat Genesis 37:31–36

   The brothers dip the coat in a goat's blood and send it to their father. Jacob is sure a wild beast has torn Joseph apart, and he will not be comforted. In Egypt, Joseph is sold to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard.

   “he refused to be comforted” Genesis 37:35

By the numbers

• 17 years old Joseph is seventeen when the chapter opens. He will be thirty when he stands before Pharaoh (41:46), so about thirteen years of slavery and prison lie ahead.
• 2 dreams First the sheaves bow, then the sun, moon and stars. Later Joseph tells Pharaoh why a dream comes twice: “it is because the thing is established by God”.
• 20 pieces Joseph is sold for twenty pieces of silver. When the law later sets values for vows, a boy from five to twenty years old is valued at “twenty shekels”.
• 50 miles Jacob sends Joseph about 50 miles north, from the vale of Hebron to Shechem. His brothers have moved on to Dothan, about 15 miles further. He goes alone, wearing the coat.

Questions this chapter raises

19 treasures in Genesis 37

• Points to Christ · Genesis 37:4 Joseph's life as a portrait of the Messiah. As you read Joseph's story, keep a notebook of the ways his life parallels the Messiah's. He was rejected by his brothers, took a Gentile bride and became virtually ruler of the world. Arthur W. Pink lists over a hundred parallels, though some are perhaps a bit of a stretch.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 37:9-10 Joseph's dream and Revelation 12. In Joseph's second dream the sun, moon and eleven stars bow to him, and Jacob reads them as himself, his wife and his sons. Remember that at Revelation 12, where a woman appears with the sun, the moon and twelve stars. One reading holds that every code in Revelation is explained somewhere else in Scripture.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob's sons hated Joseph, the favored son who dreamed they would bow to him. At Dothan they threw him into a pit. Judah said there was no profit in killing him and proposed selling him. Joseph went to Egypt as a slave for twenty pieces of silver, and Jacob mourned him as dead. Now the story turns to Judah.

What happens

1. Judah went down Genesis 38:1–5

   Judah leaves his brothers and turns in to Hirah, a man of Adullam. He marries the daughter of a Canaanite named Shuah, and she bears three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah.

   “And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.” Genesis 38:1

2. Remain a widow Genesis 38:6–11

   Judah takes Tamar as a wife for Er. Er is wicked, and the LORD slays him. Onan is told to raise up a child for his dead brother. He takes the marriage but refuses the duty, and the LORD slays him too.

   “Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown” Genesis 38:11

3. By the way to Timnath Genesis 38:12–23

   Judah's wife dies, and Tamar sees that Shelah is grown and still not given to her. She veils herself by the road to Timnath. Judah takes her for a harlot and leaves his signet, bracelets and staff as a pledge.

   “for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife” Genesis 38:14

4. More righteous than I Genesis 38:24–26

   About three months later Judah hears that Tamar is with child and orders her burnt. She sends him his own signet, bracelets and staff. Judah knows them, and he confesses that the wrong was his.

   “She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son” Genesis 38:26

5. The scarlet thread Genesis 38:27–30

   Tamar bears twins. One puts out a hand, and the midwife ties a scarlet thread on it, but his brother comes out first. He is named Pharez, breach. The one with the thread is Zarah.

   “How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez” Genesis 38:29

By the numbers

• Kid of the goats Judah promises “a kid from the flock”. Earlier the brothers “killed a kid of the goats” to stain Joseph's coat and fool their father. Now Judah is the one deceived.
• Signet bracelets and staff A signet was a seal pressed or rolled into clay, as good as a signature. The Hebrew behind bracelets is often read as the cord it hung on. Tamar kept all three, and Judah knew them.
• 3 months About three months later, word reaches Judah that Tamar is with child. The man who left her waiting is quick to judge: “Bring her forth, and let her be burnt”.
• 2 twins Genesis tells of only two twin births: Esau and Jacob, and now Pharez and Zarah. Both begin with a struggle over who comes first.

Questions this chapter raises

10 treasures in Genesis 38

• Hidden treasure · Genesis 38:1-30 David's family tree hidden in Genesis 38. In the Hebrew of Genesis 38, letters spaced 49 apart are reported to spell Boaz, Ruth, Obed, Jesse and David, in chronological order. Such patterns are not for predicting the future or fortune-telling. They are there so that, looking back, we see God's plan and give Him the glory. Scholars disagree on this.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 38:8 The kinsman redeemer. Judah's order to raise up seed to a dead brother is levirate marriage, the duty of a dead man's brother to marry his widow. It opens the way to the book of Ruth, where Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, wins back Naomi's land and takes a Gentile bride. Boaz is a type of Jesus Christ, Naomi of Israel.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Joseph, Jacob's favored son, was seventeen when his brothers sold him to traders bound for Egypt. They let their father believe a wild beast had killed him. Meanwhile Judah left his brothers, lost two sons, and confessed that his daughter-in-law Tamar was more righteous than he. Now the story returns to Joseph in Egypt.

What happens

1. The LORD was with Joseph Genesis 39:1–6

   Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard, buys Joseph from the Ishmeelites. The LORD makes everything Joseph does prosper, so Potiphar puts his whole house in Joseph's hand, and the LORD blesses the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake.

   “And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man” Genesis 39:2

2. How then can I do this Genesis 39:7–12

   His master's wife tells him to lie with her. Joseph refuses: his master trusts him with everything, and this would be sin against God. She keeps on day after day. One day, alone in the house, she seizes his garment, and he flees without it.

   “how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God” Genesis 39:9

3. He left his garment Genesis 39:13–20

   She keeps the garment and tells her household that the Hebrew tried to force himself on her. She tells her husband the same story. Potiphar's wrath is kindled, and Joseph is put in the prison where the king's prisoners are kept.

   “put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound” Genesis 39:20

4. The keeper of the prison Genesis 39:21–23

   Even in prison the LORD is with Joseph and shows him mercy. The keeper puts every prisoner in Joseph's charge and stops checking his work, because whatever Joseph does, the LORD makes it prosper.

   “But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21

By the numbers

• 17 years old Joseph was “seventeen years old” when he was sold, and he will be thirty when he stands before Pharaoh. Genesis does not say how those years divided between Potiphar's house and the prison.
• Hebrew a foreigner She calls Joseph “an Hebrew” to turn her household against him. The word is first used of “Abram the Hebrew”. In Egypt it marks Joseph as an outsider.
• Daily temptation This was no single moment. She “spake to Joseph day by day”, and he kept refusing, to the point of not even being with her. The test came again and again.
• King's prisoners Joseph is put where “the king’s prisoners were bound”, Pharaoh's own prison. That detail matters in the next chapter, when two of Pharaoh's own officers arrive.

Questions this chapter raises

4 treasures in Genesis 39

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard. The LORD made all he did prosper, and Potiphar put his whole house in Joseph's hand. When Joseph refused his master's wife, she accused him falsely, and he was put in the king's prison. There too the keeper put everything in Joseph's hand.

What happens

1. Two officers in ward Genesis 40:1–8

   Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker offend him and are put in the prison where Joseph is. Joseph is set to serve them. One morning both look sad. Each has dreamed a dream, and no one can tell them what it means.

   “Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you” Genesis 40:8

2. The vine and the cup Genesis 40:9–15

   The butler dreams of a vine with three branches that buds and ripens, and he presses the grapes into Pharaoh's cup. Joseph says the branches are three days: Pharaoh will restore him. Then Joseph asks the butler to remember him.

   “But think on me when it shall be well with thee” Genesis 40:14

3. Three white baskets Genesis 40:16–19

   Hoping for good news, the baker tells his dream: three baskets on his head, and birds eating Pharaoh's baked food from the top one. Joseph tells him the truth. In three days Pharaoh will hang him, and the birds will eat his flesh.

   “The three baskets are three days” Genesis 40:18

4. But forgat him Genesis 40:20–23

   On the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, the king holds a feast. He restores the butler to his cup and hangs the baker, just as Joseph said. And the butler forgets Joseph.

   “Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.” Genesis 40:23

By the numbers

• 3 days Three branches and three baskets both mean three days. Pharaoh's birthday falls on the third day, and both men learn their fate at the same feast.
• 2 full years The butler goes back to Pharaoh's side and forgets Joseph for “two full years”. He remembers only when Pharaoh has a dream that no one else can explain.
• Feast on his birthday The KJV speaks of a birthday for only two men: Pharaoh here, and Herod at the feast where John the Baptist was beheaded (Matthew 14:6-10). Each birthday ends with a man put to death.
• Cup bearer The butler's job was to serve the king his wine, a post of close trust. Nehemiah later held the same post in Persia: “For I was the king’s cupbearer”.

Questions this chapter raises

4 treasures in Genesis 40

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Joseph, sold as a slave and falsely accused, has spent years in Pharaoh's prison. There he told the king's butler and baker the meaning of their dreams. Within three days the butler was restored and the baker hanged, just as Joseph said. But the butler forgot him.

What happens

1. Pharaoh dreamed Genesis 41:1–8

   Two full years later Pharaoh dreams twice. Seven fat cows come up from the river and seven lean ones eat them. Seven full ears of grain are swallowed by seven thin ones. None of Egypt's magicians or wise men can explain it.

   “but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh” Genesis 41:8

2. It is not in me Genesis 41:9–16

   Now the butler remembers. Joseph is rushed from the dungeon, shaves, changes his clothes and stands before Pharaoh. Told that he can interpret dreams, Joseph answers that the answer will come from God.

   “And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Genesis 41:16

3. The dream is one Genesis 41:17–36

   Pharaoh tells both dreams. Joseph says they are one message from God: seven years of great plenty, then seven of famine so severe the plenty will be forgotten. He urges Pharaoh to choose a wise man and store a fifth of each good harvest.

   “The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do” Genesis 41:25

4. Over all the land Genesis 41:37–46

   Pharaoh sees the Spirit of God in Joseph and sets him over Egypt. He gives him his ring, fine linen, a gold chain, his second chariot, a new name and a wife, Asenath. Joseph is thirty years old.

   “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.” Genesis 41:41

5. Corn as the sand Genesis 41:47–52

   For seven years the land bears by handfuls. Joseph stores grain in every city until it can no longer be counted. Two sons are born to him: Manasseh and Ephraim.

   “And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.” Genesis 41:49

6. Go unto Joseph Genesis 41:53–57

   The plenty ends and the famine comes, as Joseph said. It reaches every land, but Egypt has bread. When the people cry to Pharaoh, he sends them to Joseph, and all countries come to Egypt to buy grain.

   “the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread” Genesis 41:54

By the numbers

• 30 years old Joseph was “thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh”. He was seventeen when his brothers sold him, so thirteen years lay between the pit and the palace.
• 7 + 7 years Seven years of great plenty, then seven of famine. Joseph is about thirty-seven when the famine begins, and the good years are soon forgotten, “for it shall be very grievous”.
• 1/5 of the harvest Joseph advises Pharaoh to “take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years”. The fifth later becomes a lasting law in Egypt (47:26).
• Ring and chain Pharaoh's ring carried his seal, so Joseph can now act in the king's name. A Persian king does the same for Mordecai: “the king took off his ring”.

Questions this chapter raises

15 treasures in Genesis 41

• Type & shadow · Genesis 41:45 A Gentile bride. Pharaoh gives Joseph a wife, Asenath, daughter of the priest of On, a Gentile bride. It is one entry in a long list of ways Joseph's life foreshadows Christ's: Jesus too is given a bride from among the Gentiles.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 41:50 Before the years of famine came. Joseph has his Gentile bride and their two sons before the famine starts. Only then does the whole world suffer, and only then do his brothers arrive. The order fits the church gathered first, then the tribulation, then Israel recognizing its Messiah. Scholars disagree on this.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 41:55 What he saith to you, do. Starving Egypt cries to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh points past himself to Joseph. Mary says nearly the same words about Jesus at Cana.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Joseph, sold by his brothers at seventeen, rose from an Egyptian prison to rule over Egypt at thirty. Through seven years of plenty he stored grain in every city. Now the famine has come, as he said it would, and it has spread to every land. People from all countries come to Egypt to buy grain.

What happens

1. Corn in Egypt Genesis 42:1–5

   The famine reaches Canaan. Jacob hears there is grain in Egypt and sends ten of his sons to buy it, so the family can live. He keeps Benjamin, Rachel's other son, at home.

   “get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die” Genesis 42:2

2. Ye are spies Genesis 42:6–17

   The brothers bow to the governor with their faces to the ground. Joseph knows them, remembers his dreams and speaks roughly: they are spies. To prove their story they must bring their youngest brother. He holds them three days.

   “And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.” Genesis 42:8

3. We are verily guilty Genesis 42:18–24

   On the third day Joseph keeps one brother and sends the rest home with grain. Thinking he cannot understand them, they confess their guilt over Joseph. He turns away and weeps, then binds Simeon before their eyes.

   “We are verily guilty concerning our brother” Genesis 42:21

4. My money is restored Genesis 42:25–28

   Joseph has their sacks filled and each man's money quietly put back. At a lodging place on the way, one brother opens his sack and finds his silver. Their hearts fail them.

   “What is this that God hath done unto us” Genesis 42:28

5. My son shall not go down Genesis 42:29–38

   Home in Canaan, they tell Jacob everything and find every man's money in his sack. Jacob despairs: Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and now they want Benjamin. Reuben offers his own two sons as a pledge. Jacob refuses.

   “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone” Genesis 42:38

By the numbers

• 10 brothers Ten went to Egypt. Benjamin, the youngest and Rachel's only other son, stayed home, “Lest peradventure mischief befall him”. Jacob had already lost one son of Rachel.
• 20 years or so Joseph was seventeen when he was sold and thirty before Pharaoh, and seven years of plenty followed. So the brothers bow before him about twenty years after they sold him.
• 2 languages Joseph speaks to them through an interpreter (verse 23), so they talk freely among themselves in their own tongue. He understands every word of their confession.
• Silver in the sacks Money here means silver weighed on scales; coins came many centuries later. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver. Now his brothers find their silver back in their sacks, and it terrifies them.

Questions this chapter raises

4 treasures in Genesis 42

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Famine drove Jacob's sons to Egypt for grain. The governor, Joseph unrecognized, called them spies, kept Simeon bound, and said they would not see his face again without their youngest brother, Benjamin. On the way home they found their silver back in their sacks. Jacob refused to let Benjamin go.

What happens

1. I will be surety for him Genesis 43:1–10

   The grain runs out. Jacob says go again, but Judah insists: the man swore they would not see his face without Benjamin. Judah offers himself as surety. If he does not bring the lad back, let him bear the blame forever.

   “I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him” Genesis 43:9

2. If I be bereaved Genesis 43:11–14

   Israel gives way. He sends a present of the best the land can offer, double silver, and Benjamin. He prays that God Almighty will give them mercy before the man.

   “And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” Genesis 43:14

3. Peace be to you Genesis 43:15–25

   Joseph sees Benjamin and orders a feast at his house. The brothers fear it is a trap over the silver and explain themselves to the steward. He tells them not to fear, and he brings Simeon out to them.

   “Peace be to you, fear not” Genesis 43:23

4. God be gracious unto thee Genesis 43:26–34

   They bow again. Joseph asks after their father, then sees Benjamin, his mother's son, and blesses him. Overcome, he hurries out to weep. He returns and the meal is served: Egyptians apart, the brothers seated by age, Benjamin served five times over.

   “And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.” Genesis 43:30

By the numbers

• 6 gifts Balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts and almonds. Balm, myrrh and spices are the very goods the traders were carrying when they took Joseph down to Egypt (37:25).
• Double money Jacob tells them to take “double money” and to carry back the silver found in their sacks. Double may mean that silver plus as much again for new grain, or twice the grain price on top of it. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Apart at table Joseph eats alone, the Egyptians by themselves, the brothers by themselves, “because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews”. Egypt kept shepherds at a distance too (46:34).
• 130 years old Soon after this Jacob tells Pharaoh he is 130 (47:9). Joseph is about 39, so Jacob was 91 when Joseph was born. Benjamin, born later still, is truly the child of his old age.

Questions this chapter raises

3 treasures in Genesis 43

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. The brothers returned to Egypt with Benjamin, a present and double silver. Instead of the trap they feared, they found Simeon set free and a feast at the governor's house. They were seated in birth order, and Benjamin was served five times as much. They still did not know the governor was Joseph.

What happens

1. The cup is found Genesis 44:1–13

   Joseph has the sacks filled, the silver put back, and his own silver cup hidden in Benjamin's sack. At dawn the brothers leave. The steward overtakes them, searches from eldest to youngest, and finds the cup with Benjamin. They tear their clothes and turn back.

   “And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.” Genesis 44:12

2. God hath found out Genesis 44:14–17

   They fall before Joseph. Judah does not argue: God has found out their guilt, and they will all be his slaves. Joseph refuses. Only the man with the cup will stay. The rest may go home in peace.

   “God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants” Genesis 44:16

3. Instead of the lad Genesis 44:18–34

   Judah comes near and pleads. He tells the whole story, of an old father whose life is bound up in the lad's life. He became surety for Benjamin. So he asks to stay as Joseph's slave and let the lad go home.

   “Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.” Genesis 44:33

By the numbers

• 11 sacks The steward starts with the eldest and works down to the youngest. Ten sacks are clean. The cup is in the last one, Benjamin's (verse 12).
• Rent their clothes Tearing your clothes was a sign of grief. Reuben and Jacob tore theirs over Joseph (37:29, 37:34). Now all the brothers tear theirs over Benjamin, and they go back with him.
• 17 verses Judah speaks from verse 18 to the end of the chapter. The man who once said “let us sell him” now asks to stay as a slave in his brother's place.

Questions this chapter raises

2 treasures in Genesis 44

• Big theme · Genesis 44:33 Judah offers himself. Judah pleads for Benjamin and offers to stay as a bondman in his place. Sir Walter Scott judged this speech the most complete pattern of natural eloquence in any language. Such self-sacrifice is far from the Judah of thirteen years before, and the test shows whether these are the brothers God will build the nation from.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Joseph's brothers have come back to Egypt for food, this time with Benjamin. Joseph, whom they do not recognize, has hidden his silver cup in Benjamin's sack and claimed him as his slave. Judah has just begged to stay as a slave in Benjamin's place, because losing him would kill their father.

What happens

1. I am Joseph Genesis 45:1–4

   Joseph can hold back no longer. He sends every Egyptian out of the room and weeps so loudly that Pharaoh's household hears. He tells his brothers who he is, and they are too afraid to answer.

   “I am Joseph; doth my father yet live” Genesis 45:3

2. God did send me Genesis 45:5–8

   Joseph tells them not to be grieved or angry with themselves. Two years of famine are past and five remain. God sent him ahead to save their lives and keep their family alive on the earth.

   “So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God” Genesis 45:8

3. Come down unto me Genesis 45:9–15

   Joseph sends word to his father to come quickly. The family will live in Goshen, near him, and he will feed them through the hard years ahead. He weeps on Benjamin's neck, kisses them all, and at last they talk.

   “God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not” Genesis 45:9

4. The good of the land Genesis 45:16–24

   Pharaoh is pleased and sends wagons for the wives, the children and the old man. Joseph gives each brother new clothes, loads twenty donkeys with Egypt's best and with food, and sends them off.

   “the good of all the land of Egypt is yours” Genesis 45:20

5. Joseph is yet alive Genesis 45:25–28

   In Canaan the brothers tell Jacob everything. His heart faints; he cannot believe them. Then he sees the wagons Joseph has sent, and his spirit revives. He will go and see his son before he dies.

   “And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.” Genesis 45:28

By the numbers

• 22 years Joseph was seventeen when he was sold (Genesis 37:2) and thirty when he stood before Pharaoh (41:46). Add seven years of plenty and two of famine, and he is about 39.
• 5 years to go Two years of famine are past. Five more are coming, with “neither be earing nor harvest”. Earing is an old English word for plowing.
• 300 pieces of silver Each brother gets new clothes. Benjamin gets five sets and three hundred pieces of silver. Joseph himself had been sold for “twenty pieces of silver”.
• 1st mention Verse 10 is the first time the Bible names Goshen. Israel will live there, in Egypt's eastern Nile Delta, until the Exodus.

Questions this chapter raises

3 treasures in Genesis 45

• Type & shadow · Genesis 45:1 Made known the second time. The brothers meet Joseph once and do not know him. At the second meeting he clears the room and reveals himself. Stephen points out it was the second time, and that is how Israel will know its Messiah too.
• Big theme · Genesis 45:5-8 God sent me before you. Making himself known, Joseph tells his brothers not to be grieved or angry with themselves, "for God did send me before you to preserve life." He bears them no ill will. To Joseph, God's providential act matters far more than any act of mortal men.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Joseph has made himself known to his brothers in Egypt and forgiven them. Five years of famine remain, so he has sent wagons and gifts to bring his father down to live in Goshen, near him. Jacob, told that his lost son is alive and ruling Egypt, has said he will go and see him before he dies.

What happens

1. Fear not to go down Genesis 46:1–4

   At Beersheba, where Abraham and Isaac had worshiped, Jacob offers sacrifices. In the night God calls him by name. Do not fear Egypt, he says. There I will make you a great nation, and I will bring you up again.

   “I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again” Genesis 46:4

2. These are the names Genesis 46:5–27

   Jacob's sons carry him, their wives and their little ones in Pharaoh's wagons, with all their cattle and goods. Genesis stops to list the family by name, mother by mother: seventy souls in the house of Jacob.

   “all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten” Genesis 46:27

3. Now let me die Genesis 46:28–30

   Judah goes ahead to find the way to Goshen. Joseph makes ready his chariot and rides out to meet his father. He falls on Jacob's neck and weeps a long while. Jacob says he can die in peace now.

   “And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.” Genesis 46:30

4. What is your occupation? Genesis 46:31–34

   Joseph plans the audience with Pharaoh. He will tell the king his family keep flocks and herds, and they must say the same. Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians, so Pharaoh will settle them apart, in Goshen.

   “every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians” Genesis 46:34

By the numbers

• 70 souls Exodus repeats the count (Exodus 1:5). Moses later reminds Israel: “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons”, and now God has made them like the stars.
• Last words Verses 2 to 4 are the last time Genesis records God speaking. His last words in the book include a promise: “I will also surely bring thee up again”.
• 430 years Exodus 12:40 gives Israel's sojourning as four hundred and thirty years. Many count all of them in Egypt. Others count from Abraham's time in Canaan, leaving about 215 in Egypt. Scholars have differing views on this.

Questions this chapter raises

5 treasures in Genesis 46

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob has brought his whole family, seventy souls, down to Egypt, after God promised at Beersheba to go with him and bring him up again. Joseph met his father in Goshen and wept on his neck. Now Joseph has told his brothers what to say when Pharaoh asks their trade.

What happens

1. Thy servants are shepherds Genesis 47:1–6

   Joseph brings five of his brothers before Pharaoh. They say plainly they are shepherds, come to live there a while because Canaan has no pasture left. Pharaoh gives them Goshen, and offers the able men charge of his own cattle.

   “in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell” Genesis 47:6

2. My pilgrimage Genesis 47:7–12

   Joseph sets his father before Pharaoh, and Jacob blesses the king. Asked his age, he answers: a hundred and thirty years of pilgrimage, few and hard, short of his fathers' years. He blesses Pharaoh again and goes out.

   “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years” Genesis 47:9

3. Buy us and our land Genesis 47:13–26

   The famine grows so severe that Egypt and Canaan faint. Joseph takes in all the money for grain, then the livestock, then the land itself. The people farm for Pharaoh and give him a fifth of each harvest. Only the priests keep their land.

   “Thou hast saved our lives” Genesis 47:25

4. Bury me not in Egypt Genesis 47:27–31

   Israel grows and multiplies in Goshen, and Jacob lives seventeen more years. As death nears, he has Joseph put his hand under his thigh and swear to bury him with his fathers in Canaan.

   “I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt” Genesis 47:30

By the numbers

• 17 years Jacob had Joseph for seventeen years before the boy was sold (Genesis 37:2). Now Joseph has his father for seventeen years in Egypt. Jacob dies at 147.
• 1/5 of every harvest After the famine the people farm Pharaoh's land and keep four parts of each crop. The fifth part goes to Pharaoh, a law that still stood “unto this day” when Genesis was written.
• 2 blessings Jacob blesses Pharaoh coming in and going out (verses 7 and 10). God had told Abraham “thou shalt be a blessing”. Here a shepherd who has come only to sojourn blesses the king of Egypt.

Questions this chapter raises

4 treasures in Genesis 47

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob has lived seventeen years in Egypt, in the land of Goshen, where his family has grown and multiplied. Old and near death, he has made Joseph swear to carry his body back to Canaan and bury him with his fathers, Abraham and Isaac.

What happens

1. They shall be mine Genesis 48:1–7

   Told his father is sick, Joseph brings his two sons. Jacob sits up and recalls God's promise at Luz. He claims Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons, equal with Reuben and Simeon, and remembers burying Rachel near Bethlehem.

   “as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine” Genesis 48:5

2. Who are these? Genesis 48:8–12

   Jacob's eyes are dim. He asks who the young men are, then kisses and embraces them. He never expected to see Joseph's face again, and God has shown him Joseph's sons as well. Joseph bows to the ground.

   “And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.” Genesis 48:11

3. Guiding his hands Genesis 48:13–20

   Joseph places Manasseh at Jacob's right hand. Jacob crosses his arms and lays his right hand on Ephraim. He blesses them in the name of his fathers' God. Joseph objects. Jacob refuses: the younger will be greater.

   “truly his younger brother shall be greater than he” Genesis 48:19

4. God shall be with you Genesis 48:21–22

   Jacob tells Joseph he is dying, but God will bring the family back to the land of their fathers. He gives Joseph one portion more than his brothers.

   “God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers” Genesis 48:21

By the numbers

• 2 sons adopted Jacob counts Joseph's sons as his own: “as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine”. Each will father a tribe of Israel. Any later sons of Joseph are counted under these two (verse 6).
• Luz is Bethel Luz was the old name of Bethel (Genesis 28:19). Jacob saw the ladder there, and God met him there again on his way home. The promise he quotes in verse 4 matches that second meeting, when God named himself God Almighty (35:11-12).
• Right hand Joseph set the firstborn at Jacob's right hand, the hand of honor. Jacob crossed his arms, “guiding his hands wittingly”. Wittingly means knowingly. He did it on purpose.
• 1st redeemer This is the first time the Bible uses the word redeem. The Hebrew is goel, the kinsman who buys back what a family has lost, as Boaz does for Ruth.

Questions this chapter raises

6 treasures in Genesis 48

• Big theme · Genesis 48:13-19 Crossed hands. Jacob deliberately crosses his hands, laying his right hand on Ephraim, the younger, and his left on Manasseh. Joseph thinks his father has made a mistake and tries to move it, but Jacob knows what he is doing. It is astonishing how often God changes the order of the firstborn.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 48:15-16 The Angel and God share one verb. Jacob asks the God who fed him and the Angel who redeemed him to bless the lads, and the single verb fuses the two: the blessing comes from both at once. On this reading, Jesus is God's messenger precisely the way the Angel of the LORD was in the Old Testament. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob has lived seventeen years in Egypt. Near death, he made Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan. He has taken Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own, crossing his hands to set the younger first. Now he calls all his sons to his bed.

What happens

1. Gather yourselves together Genesis 49:1–2

   Jacob calls his sons to his bed to tell them what will happen to them in the last days. They are the sons of Jacob, and he speaks to them as Israel.

   “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” Genesis 49:1

2. Instruments of cruelty Genesis 49:3–7

   Reuben, the firstborn, loses his place for defiling his father's bed. Simeon and Levi, who slaughtered the men of Shechem in anger, will be divided and scattered among the tribes.

   “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel” Genesis 49:7

3. Until Shiloh come Genesis 49:8–12

   Judah's brothers will praise him and bow to him. He is a young lion. The scepter will not leave Judah until Shiloh comes, and the peoples will gather to him. His land will run with wine and milk.

   “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Genesis 49:10

4. I have waited Genesis 49:13–21

   Zebulun by the sea, Issachar the strong donkey, Dan the judge and the serpent, Gad raided and raiding back, Asher with rich bread, Naphtali the deer let loose. In the middle, Jacob stops to pray.

   “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.” Genesis 49:18

5. A fruitful bough Genesis 49:22–27

   Joseph is a fruitful bough spilling over a wall. Archers attacked him, but the Mighty God of Jacob made his arms strong. Blessings of heaven and earth rest on his head. Benjamin is a wolf, devouring by morning and sharing the spoil by night.

   “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall” Genesis 49:22

6. Gathered unto his people Genesis 49:28–33

   These are the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob charges his sons to bury him at Machpelah with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah. Then he draws his feet into the bed and breathes his last.

   “And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.” Genesis 49:33

By the numbers

• 12 tribes This chapter is the first place the Bible speaks of the tribes of Israel: “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel”. Twelve sons are becoming a nation.
• 6 in the cave Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Leah, and now Jacob. Genesis never tells of Rebekah's or Leah's death; we learn of their burial only here. Rachel lies near Bethlehem.
• 1st salvation “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD” is the first time the word salvation appears in the Bible. It comes in the middle of the blessings, right after the word about Dan.

Questions this chapter raises

27 treasures in Genesis 49

• Points to Christ · Genesis 49:8-10 Lion of Judah and the nations. Jacob promises Judah a ruler with a sceptre, and the peoples gathering to him, that is, the nations. That sounds like the servant in Isaiah, yet it is already here in Genesis. The Messiah's profile is built from pictures like this, not from the one word messiah.
• Points to Christ · Genesis 49:10 The sceptre and Shiloh. The sceptre will not depart from Judah until Shiloh come. The sceptre stands for the tribe's right to apply the law of Moses, including the right to carry out a death sentence. That right was the test of whether a people truly governed themselves. Scholars have differing views on this.
• Hidden layer · Genesis 49:22-24 The Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Jacob lavishes more on Joseph than on any other son. Around the line "from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel" runs a promise of prosperity and victory: fruitfulness echoes Ephraim's name, and victories came through Joshua, Gideon, Jephthah and others of Joseph's tribes.
• Type & shadow · Genesis 49:28 Israel's camp as a cross. Numbers 2 places the tribes on the four sides of the tabernacle. Lay each camp out to scale by its numbers, keeping strictly to the four directions, and from the air the camp forms a cross. The east arm, Judah's, is the longest and the west the shortest. Scholars disagree on this.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.

The story so far. Jacob has blessed his twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, and charged them to bury him in the cave of Machpelah with Abraham, Isaac and Leah. Then he drew his feet up into the bed and died in Egypt, aged 147, with Joseph beside him.

What happens

1. Forty days Genesis 50:1–3

   Joseph falls on his father's face, weeps over him and kisses him. He orders his physicians to embalm Jacob. The embalming takes forty days, and Egypt mourns him for seventy.

   “And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.” Genesis 50:1

2. A very great company Genesis 50:4–14

   With Pharaoh's leave, Joseph goes up with Pharaoh's servants, Egypt's elders, chariots and horsemen. At the threshing floor of Atad they mourn seven days, and the Canaanites name the place for it. Jacob's sons bury him at Machpelah.

   “his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah” Genesis 50:13

3. God meant it unto good Genesis 50:15–21

   With Jacob dead, the brothers fear Joseph's revenge. They send word that their father asked him to forgive them, and Joseph weeps. They fall down before him as his servants. He is not God, he says, and God meant it for good.

   “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” Genesis 50:20

4. Carry up my bones Genesis 50:22–26

   Joseph lives to 110 and sees his great-grandchildren. Dying, he tells his brothers God will surely visit them and bring them to the land he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They must carry his bones up with them.

   “And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” Genesis 50:25

By the numbers

• 40 days Joseph's physicians embalm Jacob in the Egyptian way, and it takes forty days. Jacob and Joseph, both in this chapter, are the only people the Bible says were embalmed.
• 70 days “the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days”. The same Egyptians who would not eat with Hebrews (Genesis 43:32) grieve ten weeks for a Hebrew shepherd.
• 7 days Beyond the Jordan, at the threshing floor of Atad, Joseph holds seven days of mourning. The Canaanites call the place Abel-mizraim, which sounds like the mourning of Egypt.
• 110 years Joseph outlives his father by about fifty-four years. Joshua, who led Israel into the land where Joseph's bones were laid to rest, also died at 110 (Joshua 24:29).

Questions this chapter raises

8 treasures in Genesis 50

• Big theme · Genesis 50:19-20 Meant for good. Joseph asks his brothers, "am I in the place of God?" They thought evil against him, but God meant it unto good, to save much people alive. The most dangerous hurts are the justified ones we hang on to, and Joseph's answer rests on years of trusting God without knowing the plan.

Every treasure in this chapter, with its verses and sources, is in the guide above.