The way of imagination

  I.                     Gn. 6.5—9.17: The Great Flood A. OBSERVATION 1. General observations      The Flood narrative begins with God regretting having created humanity, due to its “great wickedness” (Gn. 6.5-6).   Things have apparently escalated since the murder of Abel.   “But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord” (6.8).   Indeed, Noah’s unique destiny had been portended since his birth (cf. 5.28-29).   Noah’s father “prophesizes” that his son will provide humanity “relief [1] from the toil caused by the cursing of the ground” (cf. 3.17-18).   Like his great-grandfather Enoch before him, Noah “walked with God” (6.9; cf. 5.22-24).   Indeed, Noah is the only “righteous” [2] person among his generation (7.1; cf. 6.9); presumably, this is because, in the preceding verse, he is said to “have done all that God commanded him” [3]...

  I.                     Gn. 4.1-26: Cain’s murder of his brother & Cain’s genealogy A. OBSERVATION 1.       General observations      The primal pair becomes a family of four (4.1-2).   The vocation “to till ( abad ) and to keep ( samar )” (cf. Gn. 2.15) continues. [1]   Cain, like his father, is a “tiller ( abad ) of the ground”, while Abel is a “keeper ( raa ) of sheep”.   The Lord remonstrates much with Cain, first when he is angered by God’s rejection of his offering (4.6-7) and again after Cain kills his brother due to his simmering resentment [2] (4.9-15).   Abel, whose textual “lifespan” consists of 7 verses, says not a word.   There are many similarities with the preceding chapter. [3]   Following upon a troublesome human situation, God intervenes with a series of (rhetorical) [4] questions (4....