This syllabus is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor
Spring 2014
Online
Prof. Mark George
Office: I-202C, ext. 168
Hours: By appointment
mgeorge@iliff.edu
I. Course Description
This course is a critical, exegetical study of the Book of Genesis. This term, we will give careful consideration to literary aspects of the texts of this Book, and how those texts express a range of socially significant meanings. We also will give some consideration to the effects or after-lives of Genesis as interpreters have engaged it throughout history.
Please note : as a depth course, either Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (preferably) or Introduction to the New Testament is a prerequisite.
II. Course Goals and Objectives
III. Course Readings
Required texts
Cohn, Norman. Noah’s Flood: The Genesis Story in Western Thought . New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN 9780300076486 (paper).
Cotter, David W. Genesis . Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2003. ISBN 9870814650400 (cloth).
Levenson, Jon D. Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam . Library of Jewish Ideas. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780691155692 (cloth).
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. This is the required version for all course work. If you do not own a copy or do not have access to it electronically, I recommend The HarperCollins Study Bible (NRSV) —Student Edition: Fully Revised and Updated . San Francisco: HarperOne, 2006. ISBN 9780060786841 (paper).
Bibliographic information for the additional readings may be found on
Additional readings Berman, Joshua. “Identity Politics and the Burial of Jacob (Genesis 50:1–14). Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68, no. 1 (2006): 11–31. Blyth, Caroline. “Terrible Silence, Eternal Silence: A Feminist Re-Reading of Dinah’s Voicelessness in Genesis 34.” Biblical Interpretation 17 (2009): 483–506. Clifford, Richard J. “Genesis 38: Its Contribution to the Jacob Story.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 66 (2004): 519–32. Fentress-Williams, Judy. “Location, Location, Location: Tamar in the Joseph Cycle.” The Bible and Critical Theory 3, no. 2 (2007): 20.1–20.8. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2104%2Fbct.v3i2.139. Fewell, Danna and David M. Gunn. Gender, Power, & Promise: The Subject of the Bible’s First Story. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993. Hereafter GPP. Frolov, Serge. “The Other Side of the Jabbok: Genesis 32 as a Fisaco of Patriarchy.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 91 (2000): 41–59. Mandolfo, Carleen. “ ‘You Meant Evil Against Me’: Dialogic Truth and the Character of Jacob in Joseph’s Story.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28, no. 4 (2004): 449–65. Matthews, Victor H. “The Anthropology of Clothing in the Joseph Narratives.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 65 (1995): 25–36. Miles, Jack. “Jacob’s Wrestling Match: Was It an Angel or Esau?” Bible Review 14, no. 5 (Oct. 1998): Mitchell, W.J.T. “What Is An Image?” Pages 7–46 in Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. O’Brien, Mark A. “The Contribution of Judah’s Speech, Genesis 44:18–34, to the Characterization of Joseph.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 59 (1997): 429–47. Pardes, Ilana. “Rachel’s Dream: The Feminist Subplot.” Chapter Four (60–78) in Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. Hereafter Countertraditions. Petersen, David L. “Genesis and Family Values.” Journal of Biblical Literature 124, no. 1 (2005): 5–23. Pirson, Ron. “The Twofold Message of Potiphar’s Wife.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 18/2 (2004): 248–59. Rashkow, Ilona. “The Rape(s) of Dinah (Gen 34): False Religion and Excess in Revenge.” Pp. 53–80 in The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2004. Schüle, Andreas. “Made in the ›Image of God‹: The Concepts of Divine Images in Gen 1–3.” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 117, no. 1 (2005): 1–20. Shupak, Nili. “A Fresh Look at the Dreams of the Officials and Pharaoh in the Story of Joseph (Genesis 40–41) in Light of Egyptian Dreams.” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 30 (2003): 130–38. Ska, Jean-Louis. Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch. Winona Lake, Wisc.: Eisenbrauns, 2006. Hereafter IRP. Steinberg, Naomi. “Kinship and Gender in Genesis.” Biblical Research 39 (1994): 46–56. Sylva, Dennis. “The Blessing of a Wounded Patriarch: Genesis 27:1–40.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32, no. 3 (2008): 267–86. Towner, W. Sibley. “Clones of God: Genesis 1:26–28 and the Image of God in the Hebrew Bible.” Interpretation 59, no. 4 (2005): 341-56. Weisberg, Dvora E. “The Widow of Our Discontent: Levirate Marriage in the Bible and Ancient Israel.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28, no. 4 (2004): 403–29.
An audio recording of the professor discussing the course description, goals and objectives, and readings is available here .
“Tell a Friend” discussion postings. All students are to provide the lead posting once during the term. Further information and details are provided here. Genesis and the World discussion postings. All students are to provide the lead posting once during the term. Further information and details are here and a couple of examples are here. Weekly discussions. The “Tell a Friend” and “Genesis and the World” postings will serve as the initial discussion materials each week. Each week students are expected to read these postings and respond to at least one “Tell a Friend” posting and one of the “Genesis and the World” postings. By Tuesday evening at 11:45 p.m. MDT every student is to respond to at least one of these two discussions. By Thursday evening at 11:45 p.m. MDT every student is to respond to one of the postings in the other discussion. So, for example, you may find one of the postings in the “Genesis and the World” discussions interesting and something to which you want to respond first, and therefore you respond to it by the Tuesday deadline. You then log in on Wednesday, read the postings in the “Tell a Friend” discussion, and respond by the Thursday deadline. You may respond to more than one initial posting or to someone else’s response, but at a minimum you must post one response in each discussion each week, by the two deadlines. In each case, responses are to advance the discussion initiated in the postings in some way. For more on this, see the comments on the “Discussion guidelines” page. Exegesis papers. All students will write two short (1000–1200 words, approximately 3-4 pages) exegesis papers during the term. This word count includes text and footnotes but not your bibliography. Please note the total word count at the end of your paper. The first paper, on a passage of the student's choice from Gen 1-17, is due no later than Sunday, 13 April at 11:45 p.m. MDT. Late papers will be graded down one letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each 24 hour period it is late. The second paper, on a passage of the student's choice from Gen 18-38, is due no later than Sunday, 11 May at 11:45 p.m. MDT. Late papers will be graded down one letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each 24 hour period it is late. All papers are to be critical exegesis papers that are written for a scholarly audience. They are to have a clear thesis and argument that is developed in the course of the paper and that makes a contribution to the understanding of the biblical text being exegetes. I recommend that you select 4-6 verses from Genesis as the textual focus of your paper. All papers are to demonstrate engagement with scholarship on the topic or passage that is the focus of the paper. Normally this would be indicated by citing at least two recent journal articles and two recent monographs (recent being defined here as published within the last 10-15 years). Commentaries, bible dictionaries, and encyclopedias may be consulted and used (please cite them properly), but they do not count as journal articles or monographs. Please take extra care to proof-read your papers before submitting them, to ensure they have proper spelling, correct grammar, proper footnoting and annotation style, and generally are the highest quality writing you can achieve. The Writing Center at Iliff is available for your use and consultation, and all students are encouraged to avail themselves of this resource. Papers are to be uploaded to the Canvas site. Please note that papers will be graded down one full letter grade for each 24 hour period it is late. Also note that late papers will adversely affect your exegesis response grade, because the Canvas system only assigns papers for review to those students who submit the assignment. If you do not submit, you will not be assigned a paper to review, and thus the negative impact on your grade will be more significant (you will receive a zero [0] for the review). All papers are to conform to the standards of graduate school research, writing, and formatting and to follow the style guidelines detailed in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition (CMS; available online here) and/or The SBL Handbook of Style (SBLHS), which is based upon the CMS and provides a number of useful abbreviations for journals and other standard reference works in biblical studies. An audio recording of the professor discussing the course requirements is available here. Please note that this recording has an error as to how many times you are to serve as the lead posting in each of the discussions. You are to do so only once for each discussion, not twice. Each student is to sign up to provide the lead posting one time in both the "Tell a Friend" and the "Genesis and the World" discussions (in other words, you will provide the lead posting a total of two [2] times during the quarter). More details about the "Tell a Friend" assignment are available here. More details about the "Genesis and the World" assignment are here, and examples are available here. Please be certain you sign up for two (2) total times to be lead presenter! Week 2 (due Sunday, 30 March, 11:45 pm MDT 1) Kelly Berne Week 3 (due Sunday, 6 April, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Raquel Mull Week 5 (due Sunday, 20 April, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Week 6 (due Sunday, 27 April, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Laura Littman 2) Dusty Craig Week 7 (due Sunday, 4 May, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Lou Ward Week 9 (due Sunday, 18 May, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Etta Maria Hadnot No graduates may sign up this week 2) Martin Avery Week 10 (due Sunday, 25 May, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Denise Shannon No graduates may sign up this week Week 2 (due Sunday, 30 March, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Kelly Berne Week 3 (due Sunday, 6 April, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Dusty Craig Week 5 (due Sunday, 20 April, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Martin Avery Week 6 (due Sunday, 27 April, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Raquel Mull Week 7 (due Sunday, 4 May, 11:45 pm MDT): 1)Denise Shannon 2) Laura Littman Week 9 (due Sunday, 18 May, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Lou Ward No graduates may sign up this week Week 10 (due Sunday, 25 May, 11:45 pm MDT): 1) Etta Maria Hadnot No graduates may sign up this week “Tell a Friend” discussion postings. All students are to provide the lead posting once during the term. Further information and details are provided here. Genesis and the World discussion postings. All students are to provide the lead posting once during the term. Further information and details are here and a couple of examples are here. Weekly discussions. The “Tell a Friend” and “Genesis and the World” postings will serve as the initial discussion materials each week. Each week students are expected to read these postings and respond to at least one “Tell a Friend” posting and one of the “Genesis and the World” postings. By Tuesday evening at 11:45 p.m. MDT every student is to respond to at least one of these two discussions. By Thursday evening at 11:45 p.m. MDT every student is to respond to one of the postings in the other discussion. So, for example, you may find one of the postings in the “Genesis and the World” discussions interesting and something to which you want to respond first, and therefore you respond to it by the Tuesday deadline. You then log in on Wednesday, read the postings in the “Tell a Friend” discussion, and respond by the Thursday deadline. You may respond to more than one initial posting or to someone else’s response, but at a minimum you must post one response in each discussion each week, by the two deadlines. In each case, responses are to advance the discussion initiated in the postings in some way. For more on this, see the comments on the “Discussion guidelines” page. Exegesis papers. All students will write two short (1000–1200 words, approximately 3-4 pages) exegesis papers during the term. This word count includes text and footnotes but not your bibliography. Please note the total word count at the end of your paper. The first paper, on a passage of the student's choice from Gen 1-17, is due no later than Sunday, 13 April at 11:45 p.m. MDT. Late papers will be graded down one letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each 24 hour period it is late. The second paper, on a passage of the student's choice from Gen 18-38, is due no later than Sunday, 11 May at 11:45 p.m. MDT. Late papers will be graded down one letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each 24 hour period it is late. All papers are to be critical exegesis papers that are written for a scholarly audience. They are to have a clear thesis and argument that is developed in the course of the paper and that makes a contribution to the understanding of the biblical text being exegetes. I recommend that you select 4-6 verses from Genesis as the textual focus of your paper. All papers are to demonstrate engagement with scholarship on the topic or passage that is the focus of the paper. Normally this would be indicated by citing at least two recent journal articles and two recent monographs (recent being defined here as published within the last 10-15 years). Commentaries, bible dictionaries, and encyclopedias may be consulted and used (please cite them properly), but they do not count as journal articles or monographs. Please take extra care to proof-read your papers before submitting them, to ensure they have proper spelling, correct grammar, proper footnoting and annotation style, and generally are the highest quality writing you can achieve. The Writing Center at Iliff is available for your use and consultation, and all students are encouraged to avail themselves of this resource. Papers are to be uploaded to the Canvas site. Please note that papers will be graded down one full letter grade for each 24 hour period it is late. Also note that late papers will adversely affect your exegesis response grade, because the Canvas system only assigns papers for review to those students who submit the assignment. If you do not submit, you will not be assigned a paper to review, and thus the negative impact on your grade will be more significant (you will receive a zero [0] for the review). All papers are to conform to the standards of graduate school research, writing, and formatting and to follow the style guidelines detailed in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition (CMS; available online here) and/or The SBL Handbook of Style (SBLHS), which is based upon the CMS and provides a number of useful abbreviations for journals and other standard reference works in biblical studies. An audio recording of the professor discussing the course requirements is available here. Please note that this recording has an error as to how many times you are to serve as the lead posting in each of the discussions. You are to do so only once for each discussion, not twice. Grading Discussions...................................................................................................... 40% total Tell a Friend............................................................................................... 20% Genesis and the World.............................................................................. 10% Participation.............................................................................................. 10% Exegesis papers (25% each)............................................................................ 50% Response to exegesis papers (5% each)......................................................... 10% Pass/fail requests are due to the instructor by e-mail message no later than Sunday, 30 March 2014. A response approving or denying the request will be sent by the professor. Incompletes will be granted only in the most exceptional of circumstances. If granted, the procedures outlined in the Handbook appropriate to the student’s degree program will be followed. Accommodations. Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to accommodate reasonably student needs. Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations. For Iliff students, the advising center may be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by telephone at 303-765-1146. Academic Integrity and Community Covenant: All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate. All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant. General grading rubric: In all forms of assessment, the demonstration of critical thinking and reading skills (identifying central arguments and the evidence to support them, developing one’s own ideas and arguments, etc.), advancing the class discussion and work, and engaging in careful thinking about the topics of the course are a major component of how students are graded. Participation grades include demonstration each student’s reading knowledge and comprehension of assigned materials, the ability to summarize the main arguments of readings, to relate those arguments to other materials of the day, and active participation in the Canvas discussions. Exegesis paper evaluated on the basis of the clarity of the central argument or thesis, the strength of the supporting evidence, the logic and organization of the paper, the persuasiveness of the argument, and the mechanics of writing (style, format, grammar, spelling, etc.). Grading for responses to exegesis paper are based on the care with which the paper is read, the ability to identify the thesis and argument, articulation of both strengths and weaknesses, and the professionalism of the response. Writing Lab. Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments. Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. Inclusive Language. It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. An audio recording of the professor discussing grading is available here. "Tell a Friend" guidelines. An audio recording of the professor talking about this assignment is available here. Please note that this recording has an error as to how many times you are to serve as the lead posting. You are to do so only once for this discussion, not twice. Once during the quarter each student will write a short posting (no more than 500 words, about a page and a half) to serve as one of the lead postings for our discussions on Canvas. These postings are to be a focused consideration about something you learned for the week. Write them as if you are telling a friend what you are studying. Alternatively, assume you are writing for the church newsletter, an op-ed piece for the local newspaper because your work in class is relevant to the community discussion, writing a blog post, or some other setting (be sure to indicate that setting as part of your posting). Whatever context you assume, your goal is to communicate a key idea you think is useful for your audience. Demonstrate in your posting your careful thinking about the biblical materials and readings. These postings are due no later than 11:45 p.m. MDT on Sunday. Please write #Wk2 (or #Wk3, etc.) on the first line of your posting so that it is easier to locate. Everyone else is to log in by Tuesday at 11:45 p.m. MDT and post a substantive response to one of the lead postings either in this discussion or in the Genesis and the World discussion. By Thursday at 11:45 p.m. MDT, everyone is to post a substantive response to one of the lead postings in the other discussion. Please note that late postings are graded down one full letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each 24 hour period it is late. Genesis and the World Guidelines An audio recording of the professor talking about this assignment is available here. Please note that this recording has an error as to how many times you are to serve as the lead posting. You are to do so only once for this discussion, not twice. Assignment: Because this course is being taught online, we will make use of the resources and opportunities the internet presents for learning. Once during the quarter each student will provide a posting containing an object or item of some sort from the internet and annotate/comment on it. These objects are to be, for example, a news item, a story, image, short video clip (not more than 3 -4 minutes), musical clip, or other artifact of interest or relevance to the course. Annotations/commentaries should not be more than a paragraph. Explain why or how the item is relevant to you and this course. The objective is to think beyond the readings and consider in what ways our study of Genesis leads us to understand in a different way the world in which we live. For example, how do our readings and discussions carry over into other parts of our lives? How do they shape the way we live in the world? How do they lead us to think through issues from alternative perspectives? Does what we are studying matter at all or have any practical application(s)? These postings are to be made no later than 11:45 p.m. MDT on Sunday. Please write #Wk2 (or #Wk3, etc.) on the first line of your posting so that it is easier to locate. The goal of this assignment is to expand our thinking and conversation by considering ways in which our studies help us think more or differently about the world in which we live. In this assignment you try to capture an object or artifact as an example of how what you are learning in this course operates on the ground. A couple of definitions: 1. Film Clip: It probably is easiest to link to something like YouTube, but you also could include a short section from a movie or television show. 2. News story: Provide a link to a news report on something that is occurring now and therefore being discussed in the media. 3. Image/Picture: Either find a picture online or upload one of your own that illustrates how some idea or text plays out in the world. This could be an image of a sign, a situation, an institutional structure, etc. You also can create an illustration or image to upload if you can imagine it but not find it in real life. 4. Website: Provide a link to a website that captures or exemplifies one of the ideas or texts in the course. In your annotation, indicate what we should be looking for when we follow the link. How does it illustrate the idea or text to which you are connecting it? The professor has examples here of what might be done in this assignment. Everyone else is to log in by Tuesday at 11:45 p.m. MDT and post a substantive response to one of the lead postings either in this discussion or in the "Tell a Friend" discussion. By Thursday at 11:45 p.m. MDT, everyone is to post a substantive response to one of the lead postings in the other discussion. Please note that late postings are graded down one full letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each 24 hour period it is late. Here are a few examples by the professor of what you might post for the "Genesis and the World" assignment. For class discussions to be meaningful conversation spaces, we all need to take responsibility for consistent and substantial participation. The purpose and goal of our discussions is substantially to engage in conversation each week. Over the course of a conversation, substantial engagement means: Each post need not do all of these things, but your overall participation in each conversation should demonstrate all of them. You might have several short posts and a handful of longer posts in a week or you might have only a few strategically substantial posts. Either way, the goal for each week's discussion is your substantial engagement in it. The goal of this discussion design is to encourage and reward interchange, so post often and engage each other with meaningful questions that open to other questions. Please note that late postings are graded down one full letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each 24 hour period it is late. Guidelines for Respondents to Papers The primary objective of responding to a paper is two-fold: 1) to assist the author with constructive criticism so the author might thereby improve the quality of the paper; 2) to articulate issues and questions that will generate discussion (if the paper is being presented to a class) or help the author think further about the arguments made in the paper. If you would like to download a copy of these guidelines, you may do so with this file: Guidelines for Respondents to Papers.pdf A.................... 94–100 A-................... 91–93 B+.................. 88–90 B..................... 83–87 B-................... 80–82 C+.................. 78–79 C..................... 73–77 C-................... 70–72 D+................. 68–69 D.................... 60–67 F..................... 59 or below Here are a variety of resources that are designed to help students with biblical exegesis. Most focus on the different types of methods and approaches that are taken by scholars, and therefore discuss the types of questions asked by each approach or method, its interpretive concerns, and then some examples of the method or approach in action. I provide links to Amazon.com listings of the books, but you may also find these in the local library, perhaps a church library, and in Iliff's Taylor Library. Carvalho, Corrine L. Primer on Biblical Methods. A basic introduction to exegesis. McKenzie, Steven L. and Stephen R. Haynes. To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and their Application. Rev. and expanded ed. Assigned several times in the past in the Introduction to the Hebrew Bible course. Barton, John. Reading the Old Testament: Method in Biblical Study. Rev. and expanded ed. Focuses on traditional historical critical methods and approaches to exegesis by a British scholar. Hayes, John H. and Carl R. Holladay. Biblical Exegesis: A Beginners' Handbook. 3rd ed. Another text used in in the past in the Introduction to the Hebrew Bible course. Introduces methods and approaches and provides sample exegeses uses those methods. Examples come from both the HB and NT. Yee, Gale. Judges and Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies. 2nd ed. Discusses methods from the past 30 years or so. Each chapter discusses the approach or method and then provides a sample exegesis using that method on a pericope in the Book of Judges LeMon, Joel M. and Kent Harold Richards. Method Matters: Essays on the Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Honor of David L. Petersen. Offers a large selection of different methods and approaches for exegesis and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, with both description of the approach or method and a sample exegesis. A bit more advanced than some of the other books on this list. This books is a festschrift (honorary volume) for a former Iliff HB professor (and one of the editors is a former Iliff HB professor)! Bible & Culture Collective. The Postmodern Bible. An excellent, advanced level collection of essays on more recent approaches, theories, and methods in biblical interpretation. Examples come from both the HB and NT. Exegesis tips. This is a short document with a series of general steps you might find helpful for the whole process of writing an exegesis paper. It discusses ways you can select a pericope for your paper, develop an argument and thesis about that pericope, then write your paper.
Sign-up Sheet for "Tell a Friend" and "Genesis and the World" Assignments - REVISED
Tell a Friend schedule
Genesis and the World schedule
Adapted from Materials Originally Produced by Dr. Pamela M. Eisenbaum
Grade Scale
Revision date: 11 April 2014.
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Mar 28, 2014 | Fri | Week 1: Introductions | due by 05:45AM |
| Apr 02, 2014 | Wed | Week 2: Creations, Gen 1-4 | due by 05:45AM |
| Apr 04, 2014 | Fri | Week 2: Creations continued | due by 05:45AM |
| Apr 09, 2014 | Wed | Week 3: Water, Water, Water, Gen 5-10 | due by 05:45AM |
| Apr 11, 2014 | Fri | Week 3: Water, Water, Water continued | due by 05:45AM |
| Apr 14, 2014 | Mon | First Exegesis Paper (Gen 1-17) - Turn in here | due by 05:45AM |
| Apr 16, 2014 | Wed | Week 4: Being Fruitful, Call, Covenant, Gen 11-17 | due by 05:45AM |
| Apr 18, 2014 | Fri | First Exegesis Paper (Gen 1-17) Response | due by 05:45AM |
| May 12, 2014 | Mon | Second Exegesis Paper (Gen 18-38) - Turn in here | due by 05:45AM |
| May 16, 2014 | Fri | Second Exegesis Paper (Gen 18-38) Response | due by 05:45AM |