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Patterns: On the "Generations Of"
A Pattern of Usage in Scripture
by D M Doede
Observing a pattern usage
In the 1990s I read Dr. Henry Morris' The Genesis Record (1). He postulated that the repeating phrase
"These are the generations of . . . " denoted authorship of the section preceding the phrase. This was
in contrast to the commonly held mainstream scholar opinion that the phrase serves as a introductory
sentence to the subsequent section, as argued in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (2)
(TWOT) discussion of "tôlëdôth (3)," a derivative of "yälad" [to bear, beget, bring forth] (#867),
and in the NET Bible, Second Edition, comment on Genesis 2.4a. (4)
Dr. Morris identified the authors as God, Adam, Noah, the sons of Noah, Shem, Terah, Ishmael, Isaac,
Esau, and Jacob.
However, in closely examining the phrase usage in Hebrew (5), I concluded, while Dr. Morris" interpretation
of the pattern made sense within the context of Scripture, he did not see that this pattern involved two
distinct phrases: one starting with the disjunctive waw (we - translated as 'now'), and one starting with the
demonstrative pronoun "zeh" (singular 'this') or @ëlleh (plural 'these').
The phrases are:
"These are the generations of" (@ëlleh thôlëdôth)
"Now these are the generations of" (we@ëlleh thôlëdôth).
I agree with Dr. Morris that "These are the generations of X" occurs at the end of a section; it signifies
authorship. However, I also think that "Now these are the generations of X" occurs at the beginning of a section;
it is a title statement introducing a genealogical list.
The TWOT #867 article comments about the meaning of the word 'tôlëdôth.'
"The common translation as 'generations' does not convey the meaning of the word to modern
readers. The English word 'generations' is now limited almost entirely to two meanings: (1) the
act of producing something or the way it is produced and, (2) an entire group of people living
at the same period of time, or the average length of time that such a group of people live.
As used in the OT, 'tôlëdöth' refers to what is produced or brought into being by someone, or
follows therefrom."
Thus, I translate the first phrase as "These are the proceedings of . . . ". I postulate that it is a signature
statement indicating the previous section was produced by the individual named.
I translate the second phrase as "Now these are the generations of . . . ". I postulate that it is a title
for a list of those descended from or brought forth from the named individual.
Verifying the pattern usage
I decided the best way to verify this pattern usage was to look at every instance of the usage of
"these are/were" in the Hebrew Scriptures. I wanted to see whether its use without the "we" occurred
more frequently at the end of a section and whether its use with a "we" occurred more frequently at
the beginning of a section. I set up a table to count when "these are/were" by itself and in combination
with the "we." Using e-Sword to identify the verses, I ended up with a table seven pages long. Therefore,
I am only putting the summary count into this essay.
| Table 1. Summary |
| These are the proceedings | And these are the generations | And these are | And these were | These are | These are | All these were |
| (end) | (beginning) | (beginning) | (end) | (beginning) | (end) | (end) |
| 4/1 3/2 | 8 | 67 | 7 | 34 | 102 | 20 |
The specific phrase "these are the tôledöth" occurs only 12 times in Scripture, with a 13th variant --
"this is the book of the tôledöth." However, in the Septuagint,(6) I found this variant used for one of the
12 occurrences in the Masoretic.
The four instances of "these are the tôledôth" without the "we" all occur in Genesis:
Gen 2.4a: @ëlleh tôledôth hashshämayim wehä@ärets
These are the proceedings of the heavens and the earth in their being brought into existence.
Gen 6.9a: @ëlleh tôledôth nöãch
These are the proceedings of Noah
Gen 11.10a: @ëlleh tôledôth shëm
These are the proceedings of Shem
Gen 37.2a: @ëlleh tôledôth yaøáqöv
These are the proceedings of Jacob
The Masoretic variant is:
Gen 5.1a zeh sëpher tôledöth @ädhäm
This is the book of the proceedings of Adam
The Septuagint variant is:
Gen 2.4a aúta ha bíblos géneseos ouranoû kaì gâs
This is the book of proceedings of heaven and earth . . .
Six of the eight instances of "now these are the tôledöth" occur in Genesis with the last two in Numbers
and Ruth.
Gen 10.1a: we@ëlleh tôledöth benê nöãch
Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah
Gen 11.27a: we@ëlleh tôledöth terach
Now these are the generations of Terah
Gen 25.12a: we@ëlleh tôledöth yishmäøë@l
Now these are the generations of Ishmael
Gen 25.19a: we@ëlleh tôledöth yitschäq
Now these are the generations of Isaac
Gen 36.1a: we@ëlleh töledôth øësäw
Now these are the generations of Esau
Gen 36.9a: we@ëlleh töledôth yaøáqöv
Now these are the generations of Jacob
Num 3.1a: we@ëlleh töledôth @ahárön wemösheh
Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses
Ruth 4.18: we@ëlleh toledôth pärets
Now these are the generations of Perez
In looking at the contexts, all of the 'we@ëlleh' verses clearly occur at the beginning of a section introducing
a list of descendents. However, I don't think that the same holds true for the '@ëlleh' verses. My observation
of the context is that these occur at the end of a section indicating the author of the preceding section.
The phrase "these are/were" followed by something other than "tôlëdôth" occurs 210 times in Scripture.
Only 3 of these usages do not involve a list of some kind.
Of the 136 occurring without the "we," 34 (25%) occur at the beginning of a section and 102 (75%) occur
at the end of a section.
Of the 74 occurring with the "we," 67 (90.5%) occur at the beginning of a section and 7 (9.5%) at the end
of a section.
The phrase at Genesis 5.1a inserts 'sepher' or 'book of' between @ëlleh and tôlëdôth, so I did not count it.
However, I think it that belongs in this category as another ending statement. The same holds true for the
Septuagint's translation of Genesis 2.4a.
The phrase "All these were" also came up in the search. It's not a phrase that I was analyzing, but it is
interesting to note that, of the 20 times it is used, all the usages occur at the end of a section and never at
the beginning of one. It is clearly a summary statement of what preceded it, which one would expect,
given the wording.
Thus, I contend that Scripture uses the phrase "these are/were" without the "we" most frequently as a
summing up statement at the end of a section or a list, while it uses that phrase with the "we" most frequently
to intoduce a list. There are exceptions, of course, but overall, that is the usage in Scripture I have observed.
And again, with respect to the specific phrase "these were/are the tôlëdôth," - of which all instances without
the "we" occur only in Genesis - I reiterate my contention: they occur at the end of a section, and all instances
with the "we" clearly occur at the beginning of a section.
Conclusion
So, based on the overall usage of the phrases "there are/were" and"and/now there are/were" in the Biblical
text, I conclude that Dr. Morris was correct in observing that "@ëlleh thôlëdôth" (These are the proceedings
of) is a signature statement at the end of a section identifying the author.
I also conclude that I am correct in observing that "we@ëlleh thôlëdôth" (Now these are the generations of)
is an introductory statement to a geneaological list of the individual named.
I realize that my conclusion is " outside the box" of mainstream Biblical scholarly thinking. Mainstream scholars
have taught for years that these phrases serve as introductions to the sections following. I have read their
arguments. However, based on my own detailed research and analysis of the relevant Scriptures, as documented
in this essay, with (I believe) the leading of Rûãch @Élöhîm to think outside the mainstream box, I must
respectfully disagree.
I reiterate: "@ëlleh thôlëdôth" is the signature statement ending a writing and "we@ëlleh thôlëdôth" is the
introductory phrase for a genealogical listing.
In addition, I believe that the five usages of the phrase "@ëlleh thôlëdôth" provide the overall organizational
structure to the book of Genesis, dividing it into six main sections with the last section lacking a signature
statement. But that’s a topic for another essay.
Who Wrote Genesis: Introduction
FOOTNOTES
(1) Morris, Henry. The Genesis Record. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1976. Return
(2) Harris, R. Laird, et. al. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute.
1980, 2v. Article #867. Return
(3) My transliteration system is my own, loosely based on the official one, but re-worked for use in MS Word; the diacritical marks weren’t available
in MS Word in 1996 when I started my research (or, at least I didn’t know how to access them). I use @ for aleph and ø for ayin. Half the time I
could not tell the difference between the apostrophe and the reverse apostrophe due to bad eyesight. So, I found symbols that I could see and
easily distinguish between for clarity. Return
(4) NET Bible, New English Translation, Second Edition. Biblical Studies Press, 1996-2018, p.7 Return
(5) Using the Masoretic text of the Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Elliger, K. and Rudolph, W., eds. Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia.
Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. 1967/77, 1574p Return
(6) Brenton, Sir Lancelot C.L. The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English. London: Bagster & Sons. 1851 (2001,
US: Hendrickson), 1138p, 248p. Return
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