"Now, the phrase "@ëlleh thôlëdôth"(1) occurring only five times and only in Genesis begs the question of why its usage was so limited, but I'll address why I think this happened in another post" (From "On the Generations Of: A Pattern of Usage")
So, why do I think Scripture uses "@ëlleh thôlëdôth" only five times? Because I think the phrase was used to identify five writings Mösheh used to compile the book of Genesis, telling the Story of the Line of the Promise from the rehabilitation of the earth to the death of Yitschäq. A sixth scroll written in Mitsräyim (Egypt) continued the Story through the death of Yõsëph and ended the book instead of using the signature phrase. I think Rûãch @Élöhîm (Spirit of God) preserved these five writings in the Line of the Promise down through the generations, directing Jacob to bring them with him to Mitsräyim. So, here's the first part of the essay I wrote discussing my research and conclusions. Introduction As I recall, the question that led me to try to find an answer to the question of who wrote Genesis was whether or not @Îyõv (Job) was the oldest book in the Bible. I don't think @Îyõv is the oldest book in the Bible, but that's another essay. Still, that question started the ball rolling for my research into the structure and patterns of Genesis in recording the first part of YHWH's Story. In studying YHWH's Story over the past 20 plus years, as recorded in the Bible, I believe Rûãch @Élöhîm has led me to the following conclusions:
Mösheh was not the writer of Genesis, but rather he was the editor of Genesis He edited together writings handed down in the Line of the Promise over the millennia. By having Mösheh do so, Rûãch @Élöhîm provided the historical context and continuity for Mösheh' story and the story of the benê-> Yisrä@ël, which essentially began with the Exodus. By the time of Mösheh in Mitsräyim, the writings had probably been copied onto scrolls of vellum or papyrus, whatever their original format had been. I think Mösheh copied them (most likely with some editorial clarifications and/or additions) onto a single scroll to form the first book of the Law and set the context for the Law.
Aside: I see in the text where Rûãch @Élöhîm had editorial clarifications or additions made after the fact by later scribes or scholars. I do not think later editing or additions void the authority or authenticity of Scripture. I think Rûãch @Élöhîm used whatever process He deemed necessary to obtain His desired result: the infallible and authoritative Word of YHWH in the originals. I don't think copyist errors detract from the authority of Scripture.
While I still think Mösheh edited together earlier writings handed down in the Line of the Promise, I have recently come to realize that attributing the entirety of each of the six sections to the signature names alone is not taking into account the process Rûãch @Élöhîm used in recording YHWH's Story through his human agents. Rûãch @Élöhîm's methodology is complex and responsive to changes occurring over time, which explains His use of editors. Of course, using an editorial process begs the question of at what point during that process did Rûãch @Élöhîm declare a writing 'original and infallible.' I don’t know, but since all we have are copies anyway, it's probably not a question to which we really need the answer.
Aside: I understand that, in focusing on Rûãch @Élöhîm's role as Storyteller and the One who inspired the human agents, I am taking a different perspective than mainstream Biblical scholars usually do. From what I've read, mainstream Biblical scholars tend to focus on man's contributions, which were necessary and significant. However, men did not have the big picture perspective that Rûãch @Élöhîm did in telling YHWH's Story. Neither could the numerous human authors have meshed the various details so accurately over the centuries in accordance with the main themes of YHWH's Story. I believe Rûãch @Élöhîm was definitely in charge of the process; He is the Author of the Bible. What's interesting to me is looking at how Rûãch @Élöhîm crafted the written record of YHWH's Story using so many different human authors.
While I doubt I am the first or the only person to whom Rûãch @Élöhîm has set researching these questions, my research findings and conclusions are original and I'm going to write them up, even if others have already written up their similar or not similar research findings. My lead essay, "On the Generations of: A Pattern Usage in Scripture" can be found here. To summarize "On the Generations of: A Pattern Usage in Scripture," I concluded, based on my research and analysis, that the phrase "These are the proceedings (tôledôth) of X indicated the end of a section written by X, and that the phrase "Now/And these are the generations (tôledôth) of X" indicated the beginning of a genealogical list of the descendants of X. The first phrase occurs only in Genesis and (I contend) functions as a transition end point between writings by different authors. More Patterns Now, in looking at these ending transition points in Genesis in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, which is the Masoretic text, I found other patterns within them. I also concluded whoever came up with the chapter and verse divisions for the Masoretic text (c. early 13th century) (2) apparently did not see the patterns I see because the phrase "These are the proceedings of X" is not numbered as its own verse but rather is the first part of a longer verse. Given these other patterns, I think the medieval rabbinical scholars should have separated "These are the proceedings of X" as a separate sentence from the rest of the verse, and probably started a new paragraph, if not a new chapter, for the rest of the verse. I reiterate, these sentences are ending transition points between writings by different people. I acknowledge the Septuagint doesn't number these sentences separately either. In my opinion, information was forgotten or not passed on or not copied correctly that should not have been forgotten. I will be very curious to see the originals, which I'm confident are preserved in heaven, as they are not preserved on the earth. Recap Mösheh did not write Genesis but rather Rûãch @Élöhîm directed him to edit together writings that had been handed down in the Line of the Promise to his day. He likely added in some editorial comments and clarifications for his day, as other might have later on for their day. These individual writings are identified in the Genesis text by the signature statements ending each section. The six sections are:
Gen 1.1 - 2.4a The book of the proceedings of the heavens and the earth (an oral story written down verbatim) Gen 2.4b - 5.1a The book of the proceedings of @ädhäm (primarily authored by @ädhäm) Gen 5.1b - 6.9a The proceedings of Nöãch [includes genealogical table] (primarily authored by Nöãch) Gen 6.9b - 11.10a The proceedings of Shëm [includes genealogical tables] (primarily authored by Shëm) Gen 11.10b - 37.2a The proceedings of Yaôáqöv [includes genealogical tables] (primarily authored by Yaôáqöv) Gen 37.2b - 59.26 End of Genesis (likely authors primarily Yõsëph and Yehûdhäh )
The Hebrew is from the Masoretic text found in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. The Greek is from the Septuagint. The English translation is my own. The non-letter markings record how the Hebrew appears in the BHS. For example, < > indicates a new line. In my second essay, I'll look at Section 1, Gen 1.1 – 2.4a: The book of the proceedings of the heavens and the earth
FOOTNOTES 1 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. Return 2 Jewish Encylopedia.com, "Verse Division" accessed 11/10/2018 Return Return to blog post Return to Patterns Menu
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