Genesis

Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 I did not want to write this interpretation of the book of Genesis, so as not to repeat here again what has already been stated here in chants and conversations. But forced to do so by the love of my friends, I offer here briefly what I have proposed more extensively in chants and conversations. Moses' reason for writing the book of Genesis was as follows. The Creator implanted clear knowledge about Him in the minds of primitive people; The creatures before the pandemonium were revered by the creatures, but even after the pandemonium, the preaching of the true teaching did not stop among the sons of Shem until Moses. However, the descendants of Abraham, from the time of resettlement in Egypt, began, like the whole world, to lose knowledge of God, moving away from the good laws imprinted in nature; what was created from nothing began to be considered eternal; creatures that have recently come into being are called God. That is why God wanted, through Moses, to teach the truth to his erring contemporaries, so that the evil that had passed on to them according to tradition would not spread throughout the centuries. God sends Moses to Egypt, so that where error arose, it would faint in the light of true knowledge. And so that they would not doubt the truth of what Moses would write, God performed signs and wonders with his hand. For this purpose he illuminated, and anointed, and enlightened him, so that the light of his face would testify to the Spirit who spoke through his mouth. And Moses, after the miracles he performed in Egypt, after the covenant made in the wilderness, writes about created natures that they were brought into being out of nothing, giving them to understand that they falsely call them gods; Moses writes about creatures that they were created from nothing, that they are mistakenly honored as gods; writes about God that He is One, that thousands and thousands of darkness are before Him, writes about the mysteries of the Son predicted at the very creation of the world, presents to people those prototypes of the Son that were destined by the ancient righteous, those signs that are indicated by the miracles performed by the rod of Moses, writes the true laws from which people deviated, and to this he adds those relating to the genealogy of the Jewish people. So, Moses at the very beginning describes the six-day creation of the world, accomplished by the hand of the Intercessor, Who is consubstantial and equal in power to the Creator. When he further says: “This is the book of the existence of the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 2:4), he returns to the same creation and completes what he did not write in the first narrative. And then he talks about the creation of Adam and Eve, about their stay in paradise, about the coming of the serpent, about his wiles, about the crime of Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit, and about their punishment by expulsion from paradise. It tells about the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, about the murder of Abel, about the curses pronounced on Cain, and this story leads to the seventh generation, to the conversation of Cain’s descendant Lamech with his wives. He talks about ten generations from Adam to Noah, about the wickedness of the descendants of Cain and Seth, about the construction of the ark, about the small remnant of all creation preserved in the ark. Afterwards he talks about the descent from the ark and the sacrifice of Noah, about the rainbow on the clouds given as a sign of the covenant of peace, he talks about the grapes that Noah planted, about how Noah got drunk, slept and was naked, about the curse on Canaan and the blessings to his brothers. Then he counts seventy-two sons born from the sons of Noah, speaks of the pandemonium and the confusion of languages, of the scattering of people throughout the whole earth, and counts the other ten generations from Shem to Abraham. Then he talks about Abraham’s migration from the land of Ur, about his settlement in Harran, about his stay in the land of Canaan, about how Sarah was taken to the house of the Pharaohs and about her return after the punishments that befell the Pharaohs’ house. Then he tells about Lot’s separation from Abraham, about his captivity along with the Sodomites, about his deliverance by Abraham and how Melchizedek blessed Abraham, who gave him a tithe of all the property that was returned from captivity. He talks about Abraham’s faith in the future seed, about the question he proposed when he wanted to find out how his seed would inherit the land on which so many people live, he talks about Abraham’s sacrifice, about the covenant of peace that God confirmed with him on the same day. Moses also tells how Abraham yielded to Sarah's desire and went to Hagar, who, having conceived in the womb, began to despise and reproach her mistress; how Hagar ran away, how an Angel saw her and brought her into obedience to her mistress. He talks about the covenant of circumcision given to Abraham, and how Abraham circumcised Ishmael and all his household. Then he talks about the revelation that Abraham had when he was sitting at the door of his tent, about the coming of Angels to him in the form of strangers, about how they promised Sarah Isaac, and how she laughed inwardly at him. Then he tells about the departure of the Angels to Sodom, about Abraham's intercession for the Sodomites, about the entry of the Angels into the house of Lots, about the wicked gathering of the Sodomites, about the departure of Lot and his daughters, about the final extermination of the Sodomites for their lewdness. He also says how Lot’s daughters made their father drunk with wine, how he slept with them and did not know it. He talks about the capture of Sarah by Abimilech and how God did not allow him to approach her. It tells about the birth of Isaac, about his circumcision and upbringing, about the expulsion of a slave and her son because he mocked the son of a free woman. Then Moses talks about the covenant that Abimilech made with Abraham, about the temptation of Abraham, about bringing Isaac to the altar, about his deliverance from above, about the ram found among the trees and sacrificed in Isaac's place. It tells about the death of Sarah and her burial in the “extreme” cave of the sons of the Hittites (Gen. 23:9). Then he talks about the oath that Abraham swore on Eliezer (Gen. 15:2), about sending him to Mesopotamia, about the prayer of a servant at the storehouse, about bringing Rebekah to the house of Abraham to be Isaac’s wife. He talks about Rebekah’s barrenness, about how Isaac prayed, and she conceived in her womb, about how Rebekah asked the Lord, and she was told that there were two nations in her womb, and the older one would serve the younger one; talks about the birthright of Esau, which he sold to Jacob, about the covenant that the king of the Philistines made with Isaac, just as he made with Abraham. Then he talks about how Jacob, according to his mother’s instructions, captured Esau’s blessing, talks about Jacob’s departure to Laban’s house and about his vision of a ladder in a dream. It tells how Jacob betrothed one wife to himself of his own free will, but had to take three others against his will. He talks about Jacob’s return to his father’s house, about how Laban was angry, but God did not allow him to harm Jacob, and about how they concluded a covenant of peace on Mount Gilead. He also talks about the regiment of Angels that met Jacob, about peace envoys, about the gifts sent by Jacob to Esau, about the struggle of Jacob with the Angel, about how the Angel touched his thigh and it came out of its place, about how his brother Esau rejoiced at Jacob and embraced him. He talks about Jacob's settlement in Shechem, about how their father was saddened by it. He talks about the death of Rachel on the borders of Euphratha, about the return of Jacob to his father and about the death and burial of Isaac. Then he numbers the descendants of Esau and the kings who reigned in Edom when Israel had no kings. Then he talks about Joseph’s dreams and the taking (taking) of Tamar into marriage, about how her husbands suddenly died, how she cunningly lured Judah to her, how he first condemned her to be burned, and then acquitted her and recognized her as right more than himself. Afterwards it tells how Joseph was sent to his brothers, thrown into a ditch by them and sold to the Arabians. He talks about Joseph’s coming to Egypt, about his flight from his mistress, about his imprisonment, about how he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s servants and then to Pharaoh himself, he talks about the honor that Joseph received for this, about the grain he collected during seven fertile years, about the great wealth acquired during the famine years. He also talks about the arrival of his brothers to him, about how he did not reveal himself to them and tempted them, and then revealed himself and kissed them. It also tells how Joseph’s brothers told Jacob about him, how Jacob moved to Egypt with seventy souls, how Joseph went out to meet his father, brought Jacob to Pharaoh, how Jacob blessed Pharaoh, how Joseph settled his brothers in the best countries of the land of Egypt, how he purchased from Pharaoh all the land of Egypt, except for the priestly lands. Then he speaks about Jacob’s illness, about the blessing of the sons of Joseph, about how Jacob exalted the younger Ephraim over his elder brother Manasseh. He talks about the blessings that Jacob spoke to his sons, and then he spread his legs on his bed and kissed his people; how Joseph took him and buried him where Abraham and Isaac were buried. Then he tells about the death of Joseph himself, about how he swore to his brothers to take his bones with them to the land of their inheritance. This is what Moses wrote in the first book of Genesis. It starts like this: You might be interested in: