Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, And Theological Commentary

by C. John Collins

Publisher:

P&R

, 2006

Overview

Much controversy surrounds the opening chapters of Genesis. They are front-loaded with all manner of vital topics—such as God's work of creating the world and mankind; what it means to be human; why our present experience is so different from what we find in Genesis 2; how we come to know God and to be sure of his love.

Collins employs a literary-theological method informed by contemporary discourse analysis in order to read passages as coherent wholes. He shows how later biblical and inter-testamental writers have used Genesis 1–4 and reflects on how these chapters shape a Christian worldview today.

Key Features

• Comments on the first four chapters of Genesis
• Explains the content in a literary production methodology
• Aims for the attention to linguistic and literary details within its larger context

Contents

• A Discourse Oriented Literary Approach
• Genesis 1-4 in Its Literary Context
• Genesis 1:1-2:3: The Creation Week
• Genesis 2:4-25: The Garden of Eden
• Genesis 3:1-24: The Man and Woman Disobey
• Genesis 4:1-26: After Eden
• Sources, Unity, and Authorship
• The Communicative Purpose of Genesis 1-4
• Genesis 1-4, History, and Science
• Seeing the World through the Eyes of Genesis 1-4

Praise for Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, And Theological Commentary

From every standpoint—methodological and theological, structural and syntactical, linguistic and literary, apologetic and worldview—this expository survey is a model of ‘good reading’ of the text. Here you have a landmark treatment of Genesis 1–4 as canonical communication from God, a work of detailed scholarship that no serious student or honest teacher will henceforth be able to ignore

J. I. Packer

What does it mean to be human? Why are we here? What’s wrong with us and our world? How can things be made right? And what’s God got to do with the whole business? Collins demonstrates that the opening chapters of Scripture are crucial in answering these worldview questions, and thus essential to a faithful engagement with life in God’s world. He gives us a commentary that is both exegetically exacting and theologically relevant for the modern church.

Michael D. Williams

Jack Collins is a most promising candidate to provide wise guidance in the interpretation of Genesis 1–4. He brings to the discussion a background in science and text-linguistics, advanced degrees in theology and the languages and literatures of the Bible, and a long-standing involvement with the early chapters of Genesis. The result is a clearly written and insightful treatise on this crucially important part of the Bible.

V. Philips Long

Product Details

• Title: Genesis 1–4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary
• Author: C. John Collins
• Publisher: P&R
• Print Publication Date: 2006
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 318
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. Genesis 1-4 › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9780875526195, 0875526195
• Resource ID: LLS:GNSS14THLGCLCMM
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:17:54Z

About C. John Collins

C. John Collins (PhD, University of Liverpool) is Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary. Chair of the Old Testament translation committee for the English Standard Version, he is the author of Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary; The God of Miracles: An Exegetical Examination of God’s Action in the World; Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? and Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? Who They Were and Why You Should Care.