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Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis
Creation and Blessing is an exceptionally helpful guide for pastors and teachers. Its literary, exegetical, and theological analyses will enrich any exposition of Genesis.
The author's purpose is to "help the reader appreciate the major literary and theological motifs that form the theological ideas in the narratives, and to demonstrate how these theological ideas can be developed into clear and accurate expository ideas." To accomplish this goal, he divides Genesis into more than sixty units, discussing each unit's theological ideas, describing its structure, and synthesizing its message, as well as providing an exegetical outline, an expository outline, and a bibliography.
The author's purpose is to "help the reader appreciate the major literary and theological motifs that form the theological ideas in the narratives, and to demonstrate how these theological ideas can be developed into clear and accurate expository ideas." To accomplish this goal, he divides Genesis into more than sixty units, discussing each unit's theological ideas, describing its structure, and synthesizing its message, as well as providing an exegetical outline, an expository outline, and a bibliography.
744 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 25, 2024
A valuable tool for expositing Genesis. I often went went with a different take than Ross, but he almost always pointed me to the main things I needed to consider in each passage.
April 10, 2025
4 stars is not a knock against the book. It's a high quality exposition. Definitely dives into the more technical things at times; Hebrew language, passage structures, etc. But it provides a nice balance with expositional suggestions that are practical.
March 12, 2010
This is by far the most thorough and helpful commentaries on Genesis I have ever seen/read. Ross used to teach at Dallas Theological Seminary and this is considered by many to be his greatest work. The format of this commentary is great. He gives an overview of the content of each section, explaining the primary message and how that particular section relates to the larger narrative. He also makes good application gives helpful tips on expositing each section. It is a hefty read, but well worth it.
October 11, 2022
While occasionally moralistic and occasionally missing clear connections to Christ, Ross has a solid commentary on Genesis. Well worth interacting with it.
March 31, 2025
A must have in the tool box of every expositor of Genesis. The exegetical outlines are worth it alone. Add his comments and you’ve got yourself a book you can’t do without.
Read
July 8, 2023I haven’t finished Ross’s work since I decided only to preach 12 chapters of Genesis so far. But I will come back to it as it’s superb.
Loved the layout as it was quite helpful to my preaching even while scholarly.
Loved the layout as it was quite helpful to my preaching even while scholarly.
April 29, 2013
Pros:
1. Probably the best expositional commentary on Genesis I have ever read.
2. Though Ross does use some Hebrew, it is very easy for an english-only reader to fully understand.
3. Every section ends with application making sermon preparation from Genesis very simple.
4. Every text in Genesis is approached from an expositional perspective. Ross is not afraid to examine a text from an applicational perspective. Even genealogies are approached from this.
5. Ross’s applications are revenant.
6. Ross approaches hard portions of the text from a conservative perspective, yet is willing to examine liberal views on texts from a non-bias stand-point. One example of this is Ross’s explanation of the double Esau toledot. Here Ross suggests a document including kings of Edom was found long after the death of Moses and added in. Through this Ross always remains theologically conservative in his views of biblical inspiration.
7. Ross does an incredible job with balancing an academic approach with a homiletical focus making this book a great read for a person of any level of biblical training.
8. Ross’s methodology of arriving at application from Old Testament narratives is very solid.
9. Ross is a Old Testament and Hebrew instructor. Ross has taught at Dallas Seminary, Perkins School of Theology, and Beeson Divinity School Ross has two doctorates from Cambridge.
Ross includes clear bibliographies at the end of every chapter which is extremely helpful for further study on the chapter.
10. Each section includes an exegetical outline and then transitions into a homiletical outline.
11. Ross includes many helpful charts to understand literary structure within Genesis.
12. Ross has clearly examined the texts from a literary perspective.
13. Ross examines various sides of controversial and disputed texts within Genesis - for the most part - explaining all sides of the arguments.
Cons:
1. Many of Ross’s applications are do not take into consideration the wider context of the book of Genesis.
2. Ross does not emphasize biblical theology in his exposition of Genesis.
3. Ross rarely, if ever, explains New Testament uses of Genesis.
4. I wish Ross had included explanation from people who find allegory and typology within the Genesis texts instead of limiting himself to a literal hermeneutic.
5. Ross suggests Gap Theory in his summary of Genesis 1:2-3 without giving other options for the text. This is typical in many places in his book where I wish he had given other perspectives and views on controversial texts within Genesis.
6. Though this book is entitled Creation and Blessing I do not see Ross arguing for continuity of theme within the book of Genesis.
7. I wish Ross had included more details on how the covenants within Genesis relate to one another.
8. Ross does not emphasize the immediate fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant within Genesis: land of goshen, many descendants, blessing to all nations (especially Egypt who Abraham deceived) through providing food in time of famine.
9. Ross does not emphasize the importance of the repentance of Judah in Genesis 39.
10. Because Ross does emphasizes nether covenant nor the Seed as major themes within Genesis, he sees Joseph as the main character of Genesis 37ff. He does not emphasize the importance of Joseph as protecting the line of Messiah through providing food.
11. Ross’s applications within the Sons of Israel narratives decline in quality greatly because of Ross’ lack of emphasis on biblical theology in his commentary. Instead of applying God’s keeping of his promise to Abraham, Ross uses applications such as God using guilt to get rebellious people to follow Him. I feel like many texts throughout could have been better handled, but these last few chapters seem to include to worst of the applications.
12. Ross does not mention spiritual fulfillment of Abrahamic Covenant in the Church.
13. Ross says that a preacher must research ANE understanding of dreams to understand Genesis 37, but just leaves it at that. If Ross really believes this to be important, I wish he had dedicated a couple of pages to helping his reader understand this - or at least given a resource.
1. Probably the best expositional commentary on Genesis I have ever read.
2. Though Ross does use some Hebrew, it is very easy for an english-only reader to fully understand.
3. Every section ends with application making sermon preparation from Genesis very simple.
4. Every text in Genesis is approached from an expositional perspective. Ross is not afraid to examine a text from an applicational perspective. Even genealogies are approached from this.
5. Ross’s applications are revenant.
6. Ross approaches hard portions of the text from a conservative perspective, yet is willing to examine liberal views on texts from a non-bias stand-point. One example of this is Ross’s explanation of the double Esau toledot. Here Ross suggests a document including kings of Edom was found long after the death of Moses and added in. Through this Ross always remains theologically conservative in his views of biblical inspiration.
7. Ross does an incredible job with balancing an academic approach with a homiletical focus making this book a great read for a person of any level of biblical training.
8. Ross’s methodology of arriving at application from Old Testament narratives is very solid.
9. Ross is a Old Testament and Hebrew instructor. Ross has taught at Dallas Seminary, Perkins School of Theology, and Beeson Divinity School Ross has two doctorates from Cambridge.
Ross includes clear bibliographies at the end of every chapter which is extremely helpful for further study on the chapter.
10. Each section includes an exegetical outline and then transitions into a homiletical outline.
11. Ross includes many helpful charts to understand literary structure within Genesis.
12. Ross has clearly examined the texts from a literary perspective.
13. Ross examines various sides of controversial and disputed texts within Genesis - for the most part - explaining all sides of the arguments.
Cons:
1. Many of Ross’s applications are do not take into consideration the wider context of the book of Genesis.
2. Ross does not emphasize biblical theology in his exposition of Genesis.
3. Ross rarely, if ever, explains New Testament uses of Genesis.
4. I wish Ross had included explanation from people who find allegory and typology within the Genesis texts instead of limiting himself to a literal hermeneutic.
5. Ross suggests Gap Theory in his summary of Genesis 1:2-3 without giving other options for the text. This is typical in many places in his book where I wish he had given other perspectives and views on controversial texts within Genesis.
6. Though this book is entitled Creation and Blessing I do not see Ross arguing for continuity of theme within the book of Genesis.
7. I wish Ross had included more details on how the covenants within Genesis relate to one another.
8. Ross does not emphasize the immediate fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant within Genesis: land of goshen, many descendants, blessing to all nations (especially Egypt who Abraham deceived) through providing food in time of famine.
9. Ross does not emphasize the importance of the repentance of Judah in Genesis 39.
10. Because Ross does emphasizes nether covenant nor the Seed as major themes within Genesis, he sees Joseph as the main character of Genesis 37ff. He does not emphasize the importance of Joseph as protecting the line of Messiah through providing food.
11. Ross’s applications within the Sons of Israel narratives decline in quality greatly because of Ross’ lack of emphasis on biblical theology in his commentary. Instead of applying God’s keeping of his promise to Abraham, Ross uses applications such as God using guilt to get rebellious people to follow Him. I feel like many texts throughout could have been better handled, but these last few chapters seem to include to worst of the applications.
12. Ross does not mention spiritual fulfillment of Abrahamic Covenant in the Church.
13. Ross says that a preacher must research ANE understanding of dreams to understand Genesis 37, but just leaves it at that. If Ross really believes this to be important, I wish he had dedicated a couple of pages to helping his reader understand this - or at least given a resource.
July 13, 2022
I used this commentary during for over half of a year to help with preparing sermons for a series on the book of Genesis. Ross' commentary doesn't provide a ton of detailed insight about the passage but is phenomenal for helping you think through how to outline each chapter and make sense of the context and the central points of the chapter. I was very glad to have this in my studying and benefitted greatly from it.
June 3, 2024
Would recommend this to any and every pastor or teacher working through Genesis. Technical/linguistic where it needs to be without being laborious or burdensome. A fantastic look into the cultural/contextual aspects of early Israel that are unknown or unfamiliar to modern, Western followers of Jesus. Does a really good job of keeping the major themes and ideas of the overall book of Genesis at the forefront, while simultaneously providing insight into the specific passages/accounts.
January 2, 2022
As I'm teaching Genesis over 2021/22, I've found this commentary to be one of the most helpful. Ross is a great author, comes from a conservative perspective on questions like creation days, and has given much helpful information to my own study.
July 6, 2017
Very good.
September 5, 2018
This is a great comments on Genesis with exegetical outlines and guides for those teaching through the book.
January 23, 2019
A must have commentary on Genesis!
March 15, 2019
Great commentary - approachable to all readers with enough in-depth analysis for more serioue bible students. Quite helpful.
October 4, 2019
Easy to read and deeply true to the text. While it wasn't my primary resource while preaching through Genesis, it wasn't far behind.
May 13, 2021
You don't want to preach or teach through Genesis without this book!
February 1, 2022
An excellent and accessible text on Genesis. Worth a read to anyone studying the book.
Read
April 17, 2022Read for sermon prep on Genesis 1-5 during Ephiphany, Lent, and Holy Week 2022
May 6, 2023
Pretty good. It was very academic in tone and therefore a bit hard to follow, but I guess since it was written for an academic context I can't really fault it for that.
December 7, 2015
Allen P. Ross is an Episcopalian minister and theologian.
This is a great book for students. Each pericope begins with a theological overview, then shows an outline tree of the text, then an extended comment on exegeting the text in a few major points. The extended discussion includes highlighting Hebrew terms and offering others' ideas. Each pericope contains an extensive bibliography. I found Ross reprints quotes most often from Dods, Skinner, Brueggemann, von Rad, and Kidner. In addition, the book contains several appendices that hold thoughts on Genesis 1:1-3, the Hebrew word "create," the term "to visit," and other notes.
While I appreciate the focus on digging into what the text meant to the original audience, the downside is that he largely ignores any Christology and biblical theology. While exegeting each text for a Christian audience he mostly draws on themes about God and leaving Jesus absent. The best commentaries on Genesis are found in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, and these are completely ignored. You can read Jesus between the lines, but he's largely explicitly absent until the end of Genesis as Ross is wrapping up looking forward to the Exodus. Where he inserts Christological thoughts, it's quoting the commentaries of others.
3 stars.
This is a great book for students. Each pericope begins with a theological overview, then shows an outline tree of the text, then an extended comment on exegeting the text in a few major points. The extended discussion includes highlighting Hebrew terms and offering others' ideas. Each pericope contains an extensive bibliography. I found Ross reprints quotes most often from Dods, Skinner, Brueggemann, von Rad, and Kidner. In addition, the book contains several appendices that hold thoughts on Genesis 1:1-3, the Hebrew word "create," the term "to visit," and other notes.
While I appreciate the focus on digging into what the text meant to the original audience, the downside is that he largely ignores any Christology and biblical theology. While exegeting each text for a Christian audience he mostly draws on themes about God and leaving Jesus absent. The best commentaries on Genesis are found in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, and these are completely ignored. You can read Jesus between the lines, but he's largely explicitly absent until the end of Genesis as Ross is wrapping up looking forward to the Exodus. Where he inserts Christological thoughts, it's quoting the commentaries of others.
3 stars.
December 18, 2011
Perhaps the best commentary of Genesis I've read. It's exegetically solid from the Hebrew, yet very user friendly from the standpoint of the pastor who is concnerned about principles for application. Double thumbs up!!
Steven
Steven
February 10, 2016
Incredibly easy to read, understand, and apply. Great exegesis of difficult text to understand and interpreted. Most comprehensive and clear understanding of men, women, and marriage I've ever read or heard.
May 17, 2007
Talbot Course: Exegesis in Genesis and selected Passages of the OT
Pretty good Commentary on Genesis.
Pretty good Commentary on Genesis.
January 12, 2009
Best Genesis commentary I've read. Only Genesis commentary I've read. Bust seriously insightful.
April 9, 2010
An amazing book for pastors that would like help when preaching through the book of Genesis. Ross is pretty easy to read compared to so many other scholars so I would recommend this book.
February 29, 2012
My favorite Genesis commentary among those I used. Ross is thorough but concise. Not heavy-handed on exegesis with an emphasis instead on exposition.
September 21, 2013
Excellent if you are teaching from Genesis.
May 13, 2014
Regularly consulted this commentary for the life of Jacob. So I can only speak for his treatment of those chapters. His strength is his outlines.
June 3, 2012
Only read about 150 pages. It was interesting.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews