A Deep Dive into Patriarchal Narratives in Genesis Chapters 12-50

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the patriarchal narratives found in Genesis chapters 12-50. It examines key figures such as Abraham, exploring their roles and significance within the narratives. The essay delves into the theological underpinnings of these stories, particularly focusing on God's interactions with humanity and the establishment of covenants. It also explores the historical context, drawing connections to the Ancient Near East and the Iron Age. The discussion includes an examination of suzerainty treaties and their parallels with the covenants described in Genesis. Furthermore, the essay touches upon the portrayal of women in these narratives and their roles as helpers and comforters. Finally, it briefly touches upon the relationship between law, wisdom, and the application of biblical principles in daily life.

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Patriarchal Narratives Concerning the Primordial History
The book of Genesis features the fathers of faith, especially in chapters 12-50. The
underlying theology depicts God as who he is and how he describes himself to human beings.
These stories are relevant, and chapters 12-50 focus on rather a different perspective as
compared to 1-11. These chapters focus on how God tries to come into terms with the human
beings after the failure of man in the Garden of Eden. These narratives closely associate with the
first created human being, which is the primordial history (Gertz, 5). The stories such as the
account of Abraham, the rescue of Lot and family, circumcision of Abraham, all show how God
was trying to resolve with the world he had created but had fallen into sinful after the eating of
the forbidden fruit and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Blenkinsopp, 235). The story of
Exodus is mainly built up in the migration of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land of
Canaan (Murphy, 397). From the account of Abraham in Genesis, God promises Abraham that
his descendants were to be enslaved in a foreign country, but God would free them after the
suffering and take them to the Promised Land (Lewis, 17). It is the most manifest stage setting
made by Genesis narratives for Exodus narratives. These stories answer the common question
about how the creation of God from Eden transformed into a totally different and highly sinful
world.
The dates given by archeologists overlap with the biblical creation stories. In the Iron
Age, the major stories feature through the book of Kings, the story of Solomon, Rehoboam and

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Jeroboam, David, and the prophets. However, in the Genesis narratives, we are given the story of
a man called Tubal-Cain who worked in bronze and iron (Genesis 4:22). Other relationships
include the Canaanites having chariots made of iron, (Joshua 17:16). Abraham is a figure best
known for his faith and obedience (Podmore, 80). Thus he is the father of faith. Isaac appears
when he is taken by Abraham to be offered as a burnt offering. The role of Isaac is one who gave
himself for our sins. Women in these narratives are playing as helpers to man. When Eve was
created, she was made submissive to Adam and also his helper (Sanders, 12). Women also play
the role of comforters to men. When Isaac’s mother died, he took up Rebekah whom he felt was
his comfort (Luger, 124).
Suzerainty Treaties relating to covenants with YHWH
The Ancient Near East was characterized by kings who had boundaries to govern. Often
these kings hand to enter into signing treaties to keep and honor each other's territories, assist
each other's lands’ growth by maintaining trades and returning the slaves who often ran away
from the kingdoms. Their treaties' conditions were written on stone tablets and preserved for
future reference. Other agreements kept this way were those between lords and servants, father
and son or greater king and lesser king (Phillimore). The conventions included requirements
from each party, consequences of breaking the agreement, and witnesses (21-32). The covenant
of Noah contains the curse for disobeying the covenant, which is death, and the witness is the
rainbow (Genesis 9:12-17).
Abraham's covenant with God comes with many promises, including many descendants,
which is a blessing of honoring the agreement, and then the witness is the circumcision of all
male members of Abraham's generation. The consequence of this covenant is being cut off from
the people in the promise. The Sinai covenant comes third with parties being God and the

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children of Israel (Exodus 19:36). Just like the suzerain treaties, this covenant has the
consequence as punishment by death or excommunication (Exodus 31:14). The Josiah covenant,
where people gathered in the house of Lord and Josiah went up and read from the book of the
agreement which was found in the house of God, all people listening to the words. The king
Josiah standing by the pillar and makes a covenant to walk after the Lord, and keep his
commandments in his heart and soul, to do the words of the bond and all the people entered the
agreement, (2 Kings 23). The overall relationship between these covenants between humans and
YHWH is to set guidelines for human beings to follow. There are rewards for following these
covenants and punishments for disobedience as well, similar to the suzerainty treaties in which
kings joined to help promote peace and development. Josiah’s act of entering a public covenant
because he felt all the people should come back to God wholeheartedly. It relates that the
political situation was not right in Judah at around that time. The Judahite polity was in the
inclusion of chaos in Israel that is why YHWH fought against it.
Biblical Genres of Law and Wisdom
Books of Law were concerned with how civilians were governed (Seed, 61). They
include Exodus and also known as the Torah. Law books, concerned with public order, the books
hold the Ten Commandments, ceremonial laws and general laws for how people should relate
with each other and the code of Holiness. The books of Wisdom feature advisor sayings, how to
uphold morals as an individual and to the rest of the society. They include Job, Proverbs, and
Ecclesiastes. Wisdom can be said to be directing persons on what is the correct law. For instance,
it is by law that all Christians obey the law and the Ten Commandments. However, it usually is
not easy for a typical human being who is sinful by nature. A wise man can know where to

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follow the law and where the code is invalid. It is the depiction of using wisdom to detect a valid
law (VanDrenen, 159).
In the process of Exodus, Jethro shows wisdom he advises Moses to elect helpers for the
work of administering the people due to the growing demands and population this where law and
knowledge meet. Another instance is when apostles needed to appoint assistants to help in
spreading the gospel. On the other side, law and wisdom contrast when Eve disobeyed the law to
gain wisdom by eating the forbidden fruit, (Genesis 3:6). When Pharaoh was to look for a man
with knowledge and put him in authority over Israel is another instance of the law matching
wisdom. King Solomon, on the other hand, was wise and was placed in the king position, (1
Kings 3:11, 28). In general, these law books contrast and argument so much against each other
despite a few similarities here and there. But their overall goal is to show Christians how to apply
the laws wisely and not being a blind follower of the commandments.

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Work cited
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. "Abraham as Paradigm in the Priestly History in genesis." Journal of
Biblical Literature 128.2 (2009): 225-241.
Hodossy-Takács, Előd. "The concept of covenant in the ancient near east and in Biblical
Theology." Studia Theologica Debrecinensis 4.1. (2011): 21-32.
Lewis, Rebecca. "Insider movements: Honoring God-given identity and community."
International Journal of Frontier Missiology 26.1 (2009): 16-19.
Luger, Steven. "Flood, salt, and sacrifice: Post traumatic stress disorders in genesis." Jewish
Bible Quarterly 38.2 (2010): 124.
Murphy, John M. "Barack Obama, the Exodus tradition, and the Joshua generation." Quarterly
Journal of Speech 97.4 (2011): 387-410.
Phillimore, Walter George. Three Centuries of Treaties of Peace and Their Teaching. The
Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2011.
Podmore, Simon D. "The Sacrifice of Silence: Fear and Trembling and the Secret of Faith."
International Journal of Systematic Theology 14.1 (2012): 70-90.
Sanders, Theresa. Approaching Eden: Adam and Eve in popular culture. Rowman & Littlefield,
2009.
VanDrunen, David. "Wisdom and the Natural Moral Order: The Contribution of Proverbs to a
Christian Theology of Natural Law." Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 33.1
(2013): 153-168.