According to Clines, the theme of the Pentateuch is:
The theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfilment – which implies also the partial non-fulfilment – of the promise to blessing of the patriarchs. The promise or blessing is both the divine initiative in a world where human initiatives always lead to disaster, and are an affirmation of the primal divine intentions for humanity. The promise has three elements: posterity, divine human relationship, and land. The posterity-element is dominant in Genesis 12:50, the relationship element in Exodus and Leviticus, and the Land element in Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Our first clue to the theme of the Pentateuch comes from the way in which he and his various books are completed. It is extraordinary that they do not end in a point of rest or satisfaction, but with a …show more content…
To begin with, the entire cycle of Abraham's narratives revolves around this topic. In these narratives, the theme appears mainly in the form of distressing questions. First: Will there be a son? Second; What will become of him? Will he live to bring forth a posterity (Gen. 22)? The other stories of the patriarchs continue to focus essentially on the theme of the family and its preservation. Here is the meaning of the triple narrative of the "ancestor in peril" (Gen. 12; 20; 26); is important because the danger to the patriarch's wife is a threat to the fulfilment of the promise. Here is also the meaning of the sterility of the wives of the patriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel) and the significance of the famine in the land of Canaan (Gen. 12.10; 26.1; 41.54) threatening the survival of the patriarchal family. And yet the promise of posterity to Abraham is not empty: it was fulfilled at the birth of Isaac (Gen. 21) and, in a sense, at the birth of Ishmael (Gen. 16). Yet it has not been fully fulfilled- how many generations are still necessary for the number of the descendants of Israel to be like the dust of the
The theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfilment – which implies also the partial non-fulfilment – of the promise to blessing of the patriarchs. The promise or blessing is both the divine initiative in a world where human initiatives always lead to disaster, and are an affirmation of the primal divine intentions for humanity. The promise has three elements: posterity, divine human relationship, and land. The posterity-element is dominant in Genesis 12:50, the relationship element in Exodus and Leviticus, and the Land element in Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Our first clue to the theme of the Pentateuch comes from the way in which he and his various books are completed. It is extraordinary that they do not end in a point of rest or satisfaction, but with a …show more content…
To begin with, the entire cycle of Abraham's narratives revolves around this topic. In these narratives, the theme appears mainly in the form of distressing questions. First: Will there be a son? Second; What will become of him? Will he live to bring forth a posterity (Gen. 22)? The other stories of the patriarchs continue to focus essentially on the theme of the family and its preservation. Here is the meaning of the triple narrative of the "ancestor in peril" (Gen. 12; 20; 26); is important because the danger to the patriarch's wife is a threat to the fulfilment of the promise. Here is also the meaning of the sterility of the wives of the patriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel) and the significance of the famine in the land of Canaan (Gen. 12.10; 26.1; 41.54) threatening the survival of the patriarchal family. And yet the promise of posterity to Abraham is not empty: it was fulfilled at the birth of Isaac (Gen. 21) and, in a sense, at the birth of Ishmael (Gen. 16). Yet it has not been fully fulfilled- how many generations are still necessary for the number of the descendants of Israel to be like the dust of the