Gen 4-11 - Primeval History Reading and  Discussion Questions

1.  Describe the overall movement of the plot in Genesis 1-11. Consider the following stories: 

Creation

The Garden of Eden

Cain and Abel

Enoch, Lamech and his sons

Nephilim (divine being/human intermarriage)

The Flood

Noah’s Drunkenness, and 

Tower of Babel

What patterns or themes emerge?

2.  What are the functions of the genealogies in this section of Genesis?

3.  Bandstra argues the story of the flood is the "pivot point of the Primeval Story" (61).  Why?  Do you agree?  Why or why not?

4.  What are some of the literary devices that structure Gen 1-11?  For example, the toledot headings, parallels between stories including repeated phrases, and the use of the Hebrew word shem or "name."  See Bandstra 72-74.

5.  What difference does a determination of the genre of the primeval stories make?  How does Bandstra  approach the question on pp. 74-75?  How does he define "myth"?