Chapters IV and V of Genesis are often stumbling blocks to those who try to read the Bible. Dr. Neiman transforms these dry chapters on the genealogies of man into fascinating accounts of the pagan origins and ancient king lists that the writers of the bible drew on in order to craft these chapters. (76 min.)
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In this third lecture in an eight parts series on the first chapters of the book of Genesis, Dr. Neiman anayzes the genealogies that are listed in chapter IV and V of Genesis.
From the notes of Dr. David Neiman:
Unlike the majestic poetic language of the Creation and the drama of the Garden of Eden and its first human inhabitants followed by the tragic events in chapter 4, chapter 5 of Genesis, the list of the ante-diluvian patriarchs, their ages and their individual descendants, is an arid list of names and numbers, devoid of drama or other element that might hold one’s interest. Moreover, the exaggerated ages assigned to these individuals strain the sense of reality of rational readers who are not true believers in the absolute truth of the words simply because they are a part of what we call the Sacred Scriptures.
Any attempt to understand the significance of the contents of this chapter must fail without a knowledge of the wealth of literature and tradition which preceded the composition of this document. Moreover, once this pre-biblical data is revealed and understood, the significance of this chapter can be appreciated. In addition, a comparison with these earlier sources shows how it differs from them and in what manner it modified its understanding of this early historical record.