Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor Peterson" <speederson AT erols.com>]

Mike wrote:

> I have been wondering about the possibility of Gen 1:1 and Gen 2:4
> functioning as begin-title and end-title. Any thoughts?

Well, Gen 1:1 doesn't quite seem to fit the pattern of what we've been
discussing in this thread anyway.  And we'd have at least to admit that
the beginning and end title in this case would be quite different from one
another.  But there's also good reason to think that Gen 2:4 is part of a
series unique to Genesis (with I think one passage that may be an
intentional imitation in Ruth?), which if you try to make sense of all of
them (10 or 11, I think, depending on how you count them), seem pretty
consistently to refer to what comes next--in other words, the pattern
would seem to be that they are primarily beginning titles.  Granted, there
is difference of opinion on this, and there is of course the well-known
suggestion that these TOLDOT connectors are indicative of a particular
writer/school of writers.  I don't know that we necessarily have to go
down that road in response to your question.

But my inclination would be to say that Gen 2:4 goes with the following
discussion, while Gen 1:1 goes with the only thing it can go with--the
discussion that follows it.  As for the consensus on this list, I can only
imagine . . .

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics