7/8 Reading (Genesis 16-18; Psalms 1-5)

I noticed I had a lot to say on this reading. I think it’s because today’s reading included an introduction to the Psalms.

Genesis 16: Story of Sarai offering Hagar to Abraham since Sarai is barren. After Hagar gets pregnant, Sarai throws her out and Abraham lets Sarai do it because he says Hagar is her slave. Hagar is visited by an Angel, who she thinks is God. She calls him El-roi? Note indicates this means either God of seeing or God who sees. After reading the notes I was reminded that there was a time when women gave their slaves to their husbands and took the kid as their own.

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7/3 Reading (Genesis 1-3; Luke 1)

First day reading the Bible. I will find it really challenging to NOT read all of the footnotes as well as the introduction to each book. But reading the introduction will be really helpful for this endeavor.

Intro to Genesis: So, here are my thoughts on the introduction to Genesis. First, I have heard and read in several places that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all believe in the same God. It was good to see in the intro that all three ā€œlay claim to the characters and stories of Genesis, each with their distinct understanding of the meaning of this important book of beginningsā€ (p. 7). Pretty cool stuff. I had no idea that the authorship of the Pentateuch wasnā€™t attributed to Moses until after his lifetime. That’s pretty interesting. Fascinating reading about when Genesis was written on pages 7-8. Iā€™ve heard and read many times that Moses is the author of the first five books. So this kinda surprised me: ā€œNevertheless, we do know that the book was written over centuries by multiple authors, and we have a more specific and assured picture of the final stages of its compositionā€ (p. 8). This makes me wonder why is it that many people argue that Moses was the author. Why is this so important?

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