The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17

By Victor P. Hamilton

Book Overview

"In the Old Testament we read God's word as it was spoken to his people Israel. Today, thousands of years later, we hear in these thirty-nine books his inspired and authoritative message for us."

These twin convictions, shared by all of the contributors to The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, define the goal of this ambitious series of commentaries. For those many modern readers who find the Old Testament to be strange and foreign soil, the NICOT series serves as an authoritative guide bridging the cultural gap between today's world and the world of ancient Israel. Each NICOT volume aims to help us hear God's word as clearly as possible.

Scholars, pastors, and serious Bible students will welcome the fresh light that this commentary series casts on ancient yet familiar biblical texts. The contributors apply their proven scholarly expertise and wide experience as teachers to illumine our understanding of the Old Testament. As gifted writers, they present the results of the best recent research in an interesting manner.

Each commentary opens with an introduction to the biblical book, looking especially at questions concerning its background, authorship, date, purpose, structure, and theology. A select bibliography also points readers to resources for their own study. The author's own translation from the original Hebrew forms the basis of the commentary proper. Verse-by-verse comments nicely balance in-depth discussions of technical matters -- textual criticism, critical problems, and so on -- with exposition of the biblical writer's theology and its implications for the life of faith today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802825214
• ISBN13: 9780802825216
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 540 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Best Full Commentary To Date

This is the finest commentary on Genesis in my library. It is a 2 volume set. Hamilton deals with a wide array of issues. His work reflects later scholarship than Wenham's Word Biblical Commentary, and his conclusions are more convincing than Wenham's when they differ (in my opinion). For example, Genesis contains the Hebrew 'TOLeDOT' in 10 locations. Hamilton reviews Wenham's (and others) idea that 'TOLeDOT' in Genesis 2 is a conclusion for the first chapter. He then goes on to reject that idea because the 9 others are clearly introductions to the following material. He then goes on to explain how it should be seen as the introduction to Genesis 2:4 ff. He goes further than commentators like Waltke on this, by offering a significant grammatical point on this as well. Wenham does not talk about it at all. Wenham bases his argument on context only with a leaning towards the meaning of the words themselves. This affects how one sees the entire book of Genesis. Wenham does not see the ten divisions of Genesis. Hamilton includes the ten divisions as part but not all of his reasoning. Waltke concurs with Hamilton, and I have to say that Hamilton's argument is far superior in my view. It's not just another point in the exegesis of the book. This particular point is crucial to how you see Genesis as a whole, and its parts. It even can affect how you view the authorship of Genesis (hodgepodge or a whole composition). Unfortunately, Hamilton does not contain information that deals with chiastic and alternating structures. He should. I've found his commentary is usually full and helpful as well as readable. Every part of every verse provides reflection on the hard issues and the easy ones. I have had the feeling that I am not just reading about the bible, but am feeding on the spiritual treasures of Genesis presented by someone who loves the Word. I really appreciate the tone of this commentary. Often Hamilton gives a section called New Testament Appropriation where he cites a passage in Genesis and related passages in the NT. These are packed with comments on each relevant passage and loaded with footnotes for further study. This is extremely convenient for the preacher or Bible teacher who is dealing with these issues in the text. He does not give what is now expected in the finer full commentaries...one excursus after another. This is a disappointment. He also does not give the wealth of Chiastic and Alternating structures that Waltke gives. He does not provide any special systematic treatment of Christological passages, even though more than one book has been written on preaching about Christ from Genesis. He does give a lot of integrated and expertly cited information from Jewish literature and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. These citations seem to flow from the pen of someone who is very familiar with Ancient Near Eastern cultures and religions. I love the way he ties this research in, and even though I have personally read some of the ver

The Christian's Genesis Commentary Par Excellence

This excellent work treads the line carefully, taking into account Textual Criticism, Ancient Near East backgrounds and parallels, New Testament Appropriation of texts and critical scholarship in a way that leaves the reader well informed on issues. Sometimes comes to "interesting" conclusions, but if not near a reference library, this is the commentary on the book to have (over Wenham, Spieser, or Westermann). Especially helpful to have 1 more if possible (I'd take the JPS Torah series to get a solid Jewish and historical approach) to compare against, but Hamilton is solid and orthodox in his conclusions, avoiding straying too far from either extreme, though leaving ultra-conservative evangelicals out in the cold with some of his statements. (see esp. Gen 1-3; Oi)

A must for every serious Bible student...

Hamilton's outline and word study allows the reader to determine for themselves the best interpretation of verses under challenge. While focusing on the Biblical evidence, Hamilton shows varying opinions on specifics and then challenges each with other areas of Scripture. The format, and easy-to-read structure make it a must for any Old Testament library.

A scholarly, yet easy to read exposition of Genesis.

This is a really good two volume commentary on Genesis. I like it better than Gordon Wenham's two volume work for several reasons: 1) It is easier to read. 2) There are many points where Hamilton focus on applying the text to the New Testament and to the practical Christian life, 3) you don't have to have a knowledge of hebrew to access this mammoth work. So if you're doing a Bible study on Genesis or if you're preaching through it, then this is the top of the line.