A commitment to historical-grammatical hermeneutics often has been confused with a commitment to literal language. Time, in our modern conception, has been construed as a measurement of temporal units, and the numbers assigned to them, as merely counting those units. However, a study is needed to explore whether this is the Genesis author's use of time, and whether numerical values utilized suggest something other than tracking simple measurements. This book attempts to offer an answer to this question by analyzing the ancient Near Eastern and literary context of the Book of Genesis in terms of its use of temporal language in determining its value within the narrative. It is the contention of this book that both of these concepts have been misunderstood to such an extent that these misperceptions often obstruct interpreters from understanding the sociological and theological intent of the author to convey a theology of God, man, creation, and chaos that addresses concerns of both the ancient and the modern reader.

For more than three decades, Thomas L. Thompson has written at the intersection of biblical theology and archaeology. Origin Tradition of Ancient asks important questions about historicity in general and Israel's history in particular-including, perhaps most importantly, at what point Israel's history begins. After surveying the recent literature on the subject, Thompson closely examines the Pentateuchal tradition as a narrative of Israel's history, and offers detailed exegesis of the historical narratives in Genesis and Exodus, including Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and the sojourn in the wilderness. He closes with a discussion of chronology and historiography.

Number 6 includes cumulative main and added entry index for the monographs listed in that year.

Excerpt from The Early Traditions of Genesis The march of history has seen remarkable changes in men's attitude to the early narratives of Genesis. For centuries these were regarded by the whole Christian world as the authentic record of the origin of the world and man, and the beginnings of human history. In the present age, the tendency is to the opposite extreme. The supposed scientific shortcomings of the book which was once placed on so high a pinnacle of authority, have led many seekers after truth to cast it contemptuously aside, as absolutely valueless for both science and religion. The discovery in these chapters of elements common to Israel with other nations has even made them, in certain recent controversies, the principal battery-ground for an assault on the whole idea of Revelation. The present thesis is an attempt to estimate the value of the narratives afresh in the light of modern research. It aims, in the first instance, at ascertaining, in objective, scientific fashion, their real character and significance. The author will here be found to move in harmony with the main trend of recent scholarship. But even while following the beaten track, he has worked out his results by independent study of the original documents, and in various directions has endeavoured to define the issues more precisely, hoping thus to shed light on problems that still await solution. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.