Popular Books

• The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John Walton
• The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate by John Walton
• How to Read Genesis by Tremper Longman III
• From Eden to Egypt: A Guided Tour of Genesis (9Marks) by Alex Duke

Articles

• BibleProject Guide: Genesis

Were there kings during the time of the patriarchy? E.g., King of Salem?

Yes, him (Melchizedek), and also Abimelech. When we say there were “no kings,” we mean that Israel’s institutional monarchy hadn’t yet formed (until 1 Samuel). The key point to consider is that many of Israel’s most prominent features and figures emerge after Genesis, and thus the first book is more foreign to our eyes than we sometimes realize.

Do we know the amount of time from Abraham to Joseph?

250-251 years. Abraham had Isaac when he was 100 years old, Isaac had Jacob when he was 60, and Jacob had Joseph when he was 90 or 91.

Is there a way to distinguish El from Elohim when reading our English translations? Capital G and lowercase g, or have to check the original text? El could be referring to any god? I’ve also heard it could be referring to a spirit being. Is that accurate or not?

No, there’sn’t an obvious way to distinguish between the two in English. However, elohim is used 2,602 times and el only 242 times, so that tells you something about “standard” usage. 

More often than not, el is used to, yes, refer to lesser gods. However, it’s typically used with reference to Yahweh when he takes on a “compound name,” such as Bet-el (“house of God”), El-Elyon (“God Most High”), El-Olam (“Everlasting God”), and (perhaps most familiar) El-Shaddai (“God Almighty”). El is also found in names such as “Immanuel” (Isa 7:14, meaning “God with us”) and “Israel” (meaning “one who strives with God”).

September 3, 2025: “The Existence, Nature and Characteristics of God”