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Discovering Biblical Text
Discovering Genesis: Content, Interpretation, Reception (DISCOVERING BIBLICAL TEXTS
Concise, student-friendly introduction to Genesis
Iain Provan here offers readers a compact, up-to-date, and student-friendly introduction to the book of Genesis, focusing on its structure, content, theological concerns, key interpretive debates, and historical reception.
Drawing on a range of methodological approaches (author-, text-, and reader-centered) as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of understanding, Discovering Genesis encourages students to dig deeply into the theological and historical questions raised by the text. It provides a critical assessment of key interpreters and interpretive debates, focusing especially on the reception history of the biblical text, a subject of growing interest to students and scholars of the Bible.
Iain Provan here offers readers a compact, up-to-date, and student-friendly introduction to the book of Genesis, focusing on its structure, content, theological concerns, key interpretive debates, and historical reception.
Drawing on a range of methodological approaches (author-, text-, and reader-centered) as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of understanding, Discovering Genesis encourages students to dig deeply into the theological and historical questions raised by the text. It provides a critical assessment of key interpreters and interpretive debates, focusing especially on the reception history of the biblical text, a subject of growing interest to students and scholars of the Bible.
224 pages, Paperback
Published May 6, 2016
68 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Iain W. Provan
30 books23 followersMarshall Sheppard Professor of
Biblical Studies (OT) at Regent College (Vancouver) and formerly senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
Biblical Studies (OT) at Regent College (Vancouver) and formerly senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 13, 2022
Refreshing and insightful!
Iain Provan very helpfully equips us to read Genesis well. He first helps us to see the shape of the book, both in terms of the toledot “acts” of the drama, and in terms of the remarkable chiastic scenes.
Next, he helps us gain perspective on the many ways Genesis has been read over the centuries, with an emphasis on a literal reading—that is, literal as opposed to allegorical, on the one hand, and literal as opposed to literalistic, on the other. In this way, Dr. Provan helps us recall that Biblical books are written in a cultural, literary, and historical context, and become very clear (and deeply profound) in light of those contexts—and terribly fractured when read apart from those contexts.
As Dr. Provan turns from contexts and reading strategies (source, form, narrative, canonical, and feminist criticism, for example), he then guides us through a reading of each “act.” These readings are food for thought and for devotion. We learn the delight and importance of Hebrew word-play (helpfully transliterated), and we are transformed and humbled as we come to see “Biblical heroes” in a rather different light. Contrary to the way many of us were taught in Sunday School, the only “hero” here is the incredibly patient, ever-creative God, making the best out of very raw and rebellious material.
Iain Provan very helpfully equips us to read Genesis well. He first helps us to see the shape of the book, both in terms of the toledot “acts” of the drama, and in terms of the remarkable chiastic scenes.
Next, he helps us gain perspective on the many ways Genesis has been read over the centuries, with an emphasis on a literal reading—that is, literal as opposed to allegorical, on the one hand, and literal as opposed to literalistic, on the other. In this way, Dr. Provan helps us recall that Biblical books are written in a cultural, literary, and historical context, and become very clear (and deeply profound) in light of those contexts—and terribly fractured when read apart from those contexts.
As Dr. Provan turns from contexts and reading strategies (source, form, narrative, canonical, and feminist criticism, for example), he then guides us through a reading of each “act.” These readings are food for thought and for devotion. We learn the delight and importance of Hebrew word-play (helpfully transliterated), and we are transformed and humbled as we come to see “Biblical heroes” in a rather different light. Contrary to the way many of us were taught in Sunday School, the only “hero” here is the incredibly patient, ever-creative God, making the best out of very raw and rebellious material.
August 17, 2022
Iain Provan teaches at Regent College (Vancouver, Canada) and is an articulate biblical scholar.
In this volume, Provan reviews how Christians have read and understood Genesis pre-Renaissance, and from the Renaissance until the Present.
He then leads us to read Genesis as a text in its time and place, walking us through Creation, the Entrance of Evil, the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. At each step, we develop as engaged readers who take the text on its own terms and see how it speaks to us in our present.
This book is well-written, informative, and accessible to those interested in learning more about Genesis and how to understand it.
This review first appeared in ‘living theology’ at johnbmacdonald.com.
In this volume, Provan reviews how Christians have read and understood Genesis pre-Renaissance, and from the Renaissance until the Present.
He then leads us to read Genesis as a text in its time and place, walking us through Creation, the Entrance of Evil, the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. At each step, we develop as engaged readers who take the text on its own terms and see how it speaks to us in our present.
This book is well-written, informative, and accessible to those interested in learning more about Genesis and how to understand it.
This review first appeared in ‘living theology’ at johnbmacdonald.com.
July 3, 2021
Probably the best short introduction to Genesis I’ve read. Provan drives his read back to the text regularly to see if what he says rings true. He also give fascinating glimpses into the reception and interpretation of Genesis over the past centuries. I think this would be a good guide to use as you read Genesis and try to see the big picture.
May 23, 2023
Excellent perspective on Genesis. I recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews