Genesis 1-15

Word Biblical Commentary #1

by Gordon J. Wenham

Recent scholarship has shown a marked preference for a simpler analysis of Genesis, says Dr. Gordon Wenham, and with this trend his commentary identifies. Dr. Wenham has a remarkable gift for clarity of expression in discussing even the most difficult problems. His terse, crisp style serves well in his interaction with the multiciplity of arguments in primary arenas of scholarly concern-textual analysis, compositional sources, chronology, theological significance. Throughout, he effectively shares his broad knowledge of current research on Genesis and provides invaluable bibliographic information. Among the topics discussed are: It would be difficult to find a more concise yet thorough discussion of technical and textual matters. At the same time, Dr. Wenham displays unusual sensitivity to the compositional artistry of Genesis and the importance of storytelling in God's self-revelation to the human family. Dr. Wenham shows the opening chapters of Genesis as describing an avalanche of sin that gradually engulfs mankind-the alienation of the first man and woman and their expulsion from the presence of God in the garden, mankind's near-annihilation in the flood, the folly of Babel and humanity's dispersal over the face of the globe teaching that without God's blessing mankind is without hope. "But the promises to Abraham and the patriarchs begin to repair that situation," says Dr. Wenham. "The covenant will benefit not just Abraham and his descendants, but in him all the nations of the earth will find blessing, and the ultimate fulfillment of the creator's ideals for humanity is guaranteed ... . Let us beware of allowing ourselves to be diverted from the central thrust of the book so that we miss what the Lord, our creator and redeemer, is saying to us."

Genres: Theology, Reference, Biblical Studies, Christian, Christianity, Old Testament, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 1987

About the author

Gordon J. Wenham was a Reformed British Old Testament scholar and writer. He has authored several books about the Bible. Tremper Longman has called him "one of the finest evangelical commentators today."

Reviews

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little dated but this commentary is one of the finest.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I didn’t really read this. I more or less just dabbled in it for the last couple years.

I have to say, for the top rated commentary on Genesis on Bestcommentaries.com, I was not very impressed with this volume. It was ok, sure. But honestly, I found it very difficult to get straight answers from Wenham for his take on almost any issue in the opening chapters of Genesis.

It perhaps doesn’t help that the series is structured in a very complex way - requiring the commentator to divide his work into 3 sections for each pericope of biblical text: (1) Structure, (2) Comments, and (3) Explanation. As a reader, if you desire an answer to a very specific question, you are required to read all three lengthy sections. With this volume in particular I would find that after having read them all - often an hour or more of reading - my questions remained unanswered.

To be sure, this had a great deal of helpful info. It just seemed to me to fall very short of being the #1 pick for a Genesis commentary.

[Dwain Minor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very useful critical commentary. A lot of the historical and textual insights are very helpful. It’s just a good bit of information.

There is one aspect of this commentary that I should mention here. There is a good deal of interaction with Higher Critical discussions. These are theories on the writing of Genesis such as JEDP. And, I suppose any critical commentary is going to have to deal with these things. I appreciate his willingness to call it nonsense at times. But most of those times I feel he didn’t call it nonsense enough. But, even with that being the case, he understands well the history and the meaning of the stories found in Genesis. And this was very helpful.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing. I read this and his other volume on Genesis while doing exegetical work for school. In many cases, I felt that this commentary was sufficient aid to my translation and footnotes in and of itself. At the times I needed to consult other commentators, Wenham provided succinct summaries of opposing views so that I knew where to look for further research.

[Laurent Dv · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best commentary on genesis

[Chad Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Word Bible Commentary (WBC), is an extreamly scholarly and many time critical Biblical commentary, yet it is one that I have I had always desired to own. I was introduced to them in my second year of Seminary and found them extremely useful in writing academic papers, in sermon preparation, and in Sunday school preparation. As this commetnary series grows in my collection so does my respect for the series as a whole.
A few years ago the word bible commentary switch Publishers again, and came under the ownership of Zondervan Publications. Under their leadership this series has seen a rejuvenation of sorts. While the format remains unchanged (providing a phenomenal bibliography, translation, notes on translation and setting, followed by comments and explanation), the binding of the book has changed as well as the addition of revised versions of previously released commentaries.
While the WBC is world renowned for its high academic pursuit of God’s Word, I was pleasantly surprised at its accessibility to the pastor and not just the academically-minded Bible scholar. In the book that I have the privilege of viewing is a re-issuing of the 1st volume of this series containing Genesis 1-15, by Gordon J. Wenham which previously released under a previous publisher, but has a re-release under Zondervan’s leadership.

While reading an assortment of passages in the book of Genesis, I was saddened to see a lack of commentary about each verse with regard to application and contextualisation. Yet on the other hand comments about the Biblical Hebrew language as well as syntax of each verse are indispensable information that is sorely lacking in almost every modern commentary.

While knowledge of the Biblical Hebrew language is handy when utilizing this commentary, it is not a necessary requirement for some utilization. With that said having a deep knowledge of the Biblical Hebrew will greatly enhance a readers ability to use this commentary. I highly recommend this commentary to pastors and scholars due to its thorough academic approach combined with its accessibility to academia and the pastorate.

This book was provided to me free of charge from Zondervan Academic Publishers in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.

[Darwin Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

After researching Genesis commentaries online, I picked one for a preparatory overview, Goldingay's Genesis for Everyone, and then selected the top four more academic ones, starting with the least-rated of the four and working up to the top. The least-rated was Waltke's, better rated was Mathews', then Hamilton's, with the highest rating going to Wenham's superb commentary.

I felt that each was valuable in its own way. Waltke's was a great follow-up to Goldingay, being concise, but without omissions (includes the modern theological tie-ins), yet was contained in one volume. Mathews', like Waltke's and Goldingay's, was easy to read. I felt like there was a jump in quality, however, when going to Hamilton's commentary. It's difficult to say which is the better commentary between Hamilton and Wenham. Wenham's, I think is weightier with far more, up-to-date, well-researched information, but harder to "shlog" through (especially given the Word series' format). (Also, I previously had read this commentary several years ago, in its first edition, so I may be prejudiced.) Overall, the one to have is Wenham's.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent commentary on Genesis. Wenham is up-to-date and covers the bases well. He translation and textual notes are extremely helpful as are his comments (following the WBC format). He covers text critical issues well while remaining conservative in his judgements. Preachers, especially, will find his "explanations" full of helpful material when it comes to theological application. Many people don't seem to like the WBC format, but I've never I find it usually organises the information well.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I liked this commentary. I wish it had more - a better explanation of the puns in the text would have been useful. I wanted it to flesh out the anachronisms in the text, and in my opinion, in this regard it fell short.

I did like how Gordon Wenham helped me understand some of the more difficult passages in these chapters (and there are a few!)...

Overall, if you are a serious student of scripture, this is a worthwhile commentary, but I must say it is a little bit overpriced in my opinion. If you find a good deal for this used, buy it.

[Ryan Guenther · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent in-depth look at the first 15 chapters of Genesis. Definitely more scholarly than pastoral, which is good--we need to know what Genesis is trying to say on its own terms. Would be five stars except for its sometimes overdependence on the JEDP model of the Pentateuch, though Wenham does offer his own critiques of the model. As I understand it, the JEDP model isn't clung to the same way these days as it was 10 or 20 years ago, with more room for a spectrum of nuanced Moses+redactor(s) views of the Pentateuch's authorship.

[Jon Pentecost · Rating 4 out of 5]

A more technical commentary, there's useful stuff examining the Hebrew of the text. Also a lot of comparison to other ANE literature (sometimes useful), and regular reference to JEDP authorship theory (always tiresome). To be clear, Wenham is frequently critiquing JEDP, and points out that it's not a useful tool for determining the meaning of the author of Genesis as a united book. But he spends a *lot* of time on it. There are lots of useful comments on doctrine of the text, too.

Used in preparation for preaching Genesis in 2021.

[Micah Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough treatment of these chapters. Engages well with more critical scholarly conversations but spends too much time in source critical concerns for my taste. While acknowledging the fact that every series has its own emphasis and that source crit is a significant force to reckoned with in Pentateuch studies, I wish he would have explored more of the canonical implications of these texts. I guess I’ll just have to read one that focuses more those interests.
Faithfully engages with the text and comes out with believing conclusions. So a good book.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good commentary, pulling out all kinds of detail I suspected was there in the first 15 chapters of Genesis but had never really got to grips with (other than Genesis 1 and 2, where the writer of the commentary took broadly the same direction I would take, and with the benefit of a much better understaning of Hebrew than me).

No commentary is easy reading from start to finish, but for the serious reader of Genesis, this book is absolutely excellent. Recommended.

[Henry]

I wouldn’t say this commentary is mind blowing, but it is good and at times there were really helpful insights. I’m not sure Wenham has an overall “point”, but one point he illustrated in many different periciopes is how many of the stories in Genesis serve as “origin stories” of a sort for laws found later in the Pentateuch. I would definitely pick up Wenham’s other commentaries.

[David Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am only on chapter 3, but I appreciate scholarship that doesn't get lost in the weeds. Good reading of the text as it is, with insights into stylistic nuance.

[Michael Schmid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great careful and thorough, but not too wordy commentary. Some sections are too academic for my liking, but I greatly appreciate the insights into the Hebrew text.

[Jared Mcnabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, generally very helpful and insightful.

[Timothy Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though not always in agreement, this is a standard commentary that no pastor's library should be without.

[William Schrecengost · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good commentary on Genesis 1-15. It's got it's high points and it's low points. One star taken off for being open to Old Earth and for JEPD.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a long time reader of the Word Biblical Commentaries on the N.T. but this is only the second commentary in that series I have read on a Hebrew Bible text, the first being Frederic Bush's commentary on Ruth/Esther. I had some difficulty getting through the discussion of various points of Hebrew grammar, etc. in Bush's commentary sections. Wenham made it a point of making the discussion of points of Hebrew grammar in the commentary sections assessable to those without specialized knowledge of Hebrew, relegation those points to the notes section. Since my knowledge of Hebrew is minimal (practically nonexistent, actually), I skipped the notes for the most part.

I have read Genesis many times, having even translated the early chapters from the Greek, so I thought I was pretty well versed in the issues. Nevertheless I learned a great deal from this book. I especially enjoyed comparisons of the early chapters of Genesis to other ANE creation and flood accounts. Wenham takes the same tack as John D Currid does in a recent book that I read: Against the Gods by Currid, John D. (2013) Paperback. That is, he sees parallel in Genesis to ANE myths as polemical against the gods of those myths. This causes him, for example, to claim that the more mythical elements have been eliminated from Genesis 2-3. I find this a bit far fetched. If the author's purpose was to eliminate obviously mythical elements, why did he retain a talking snake and a tree that confers immortality? Furthermore, isn’t it a matter of opinion about whether the anthropomorphic gods of the ANE are more obviously mythical than the one God of the Hebrews, who is nevertheless still anthropomorphic? I had to laugh when Wenham, discussing the talking snake, said it would be quite absurd to have a corpse talk. Is having a snake talk less absurd?

In the introduction, the author claims that Orthodox Jews and Conservative Christians stand outside the bounds of mainstream biblical scholarship. Nevertheless, I thought the author sounded very much like a conservative Christian in his exegesis. I was quite surprised to see frequent references to the N.T. in a commentary on Genesis. This, combined with a tendency to downplay the mythological language of Genesis (Wenham consistently calls it symbolic rather than mythological) testifies to the author's bias. Nonetheless, it must be admitted that this bias does not cause the author to lapse into poor scholarship.

[Taymaz Azimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed commentary with a focus on historical analysis of Israelite/Judahite culture (in terms of customs as well as language), and also on theological implications of Genesis as a sacred scripture. Even though the "World Biblical Commentary" series is motivated by a particular Christian agenda (in a general sense) Gordon Wenham manages to offer a high-quality scholarship without forcing religious convictions through the text. More importantly, Wenham's attention to detail in every verse is awe-inspiring. He treats every significant word of phrase with great precision, making a non-Hebrew reader understand the intricacies of the original text. The result is, of course, more than three hundred pages of commentaries just on the first 15 chapters of the Book of Genesis. Still, after millennia of commentating on the Bible, we perhaps have no choice but to treat every chapter at such length. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this commentary and cannot wait to begin the next volume.

[Jess Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plein d'excellentes remarques, très bons sur la logique, sur le "flot" du texte.
De plus Wenham est très facile à lire, allant toujours droit au but sans se perdre dans des détours inutiles. Sauf une exception sur laquelle je reviendrai

Deux points un peu décevant :

1) je ne trouve pas Wenham assez "curieux". C'est à dire qu'il ne se pose pas beaucoup de questions du style : "pourquoi une offrande par Abel et son frère ?"," comment Noé connait-il la distinction pur/impur ?".

2) oui Wenham va droit au but sans discussion inutile. Sauf une exception dû au texte qu'il commente, la Genèse, et à cause des autres commentateurs avec lesquels il interagit.

Cette exception c'est bien sur la théorie de Welhausen. Alors Wenham ne semble pas en être très fan donc il n'en parle pas plus que nécessaire (pas comme Hartley pour le lévitique). Mais le peu qu'il fait est toujours trop pour moi.
Des lignes et des lignes pour conclure en général par "il n'y a rien de sûr", "c'est uniquement une supposition". Bref ce genre de remarque. Et j'avoue les sauter sans remords tant je ne vois pas l'intérêt.

Mais vu le caractère académique de la série Wenham est bien obligé d'y passer.

[Dave Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a ton from this exegetical commentary by Gordon J. Wenham. He does a good job of highlighting the scholarship (including from history) of the first 15 chapters of Genesis. He examines the text verse by verse while including an introduction to new sections and also has analysis after his verse by verse walk through.

If you want to dive deep into the opening chapters of Genesis, this commentary is a must have.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly benefitted from the first volume of Wenham's excellent commentary on Genesis.  I'm reading the second volume even now.  I recommend it to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of this foundational book of the Bible.   Novices and nerds alike will find something useful. 

[Reidar Røyset · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gammal, men god. Wenham prøvar ikkje å gi nokon revolusjonerande ny tolking av 1.Mos, men prøvar heller å gi eit overblikk over dei mange ulike tolkningane som var på dette punktet(1985). Kan anbefalast til dei som forkynner og undervisar over desse tekstane.

Highlights: kap. 1-3; 11: 1-9; 14-15

[Justin Hollabaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best commentary on Genesis. Incredible!

[esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

for someone as neurotic as me, the breakdown by each word, root, verse, source and context feels very satisfying. a good critical analysis of the intro to genesis with some very profound insights

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful in-depth look at the first chapters of Genesis. Wenham deals with the documentary theory, mythology and the various theories relevant to God's Genesis text. Erudite, thorough and well documented. Not an armchair read.