Criminology

Giavenchi T. Shiver

1/23/2013

Summaries for Genesis (Chapters 22-27)

TR: 11am-12:15pm

In Chapter 22, Get ready, because God is about to test Abraham—big time. How? Well, Abraham is ordered to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. God, of course, recognizes that Abraham loves Isaac, but he commands Abraham, "Go!" (22:2). (Sounds like that same command in 12:1, the opening of Abraham's story.)This time, God is commanding him to go to the land of Mariah and offer Isaac as a burnt offering. This should strike us as rather shocking given all the attention focused on Sarah's need to bear a son and his priority over Ishmael in the preceding chapters. Plus, the promises in 13:16, 15:5, and 21:12 are all dependent on this kid. Abraham gets up extra early, prepares a donkey, and orders two servants to go along. He also splits the wood he'll need for the offering and finally starts on his way. The narrator pays lots of attention to the details, slowing down the pace of the story and creating suspense.

In Chapter 23, Sarah is 127 years old when she dies at Hebron. Abraham is sad and mournful for a while, but he has to negotiate a place for Sarah's burial. Since Abraham is an immigrant, it's not as easy as it sounds. He buys a cave at Machpelah and sort of gets ripped off. Oh well, he can bury his wife there now.

In Chapter 24, Abraham sends his servant to get a wife for Isaac in Haran, and the servant comes home with Rebekah. Abraham marries another wife named Katonah, who has kids, but Abraham gives all of the inheritance to Isaac. Score. He dies, very old, full of years, and is "gathered to his people" (25:8 NRSV). Genesis really doesn't have much more to say than this about the afterlife. Isaac and Ishmael bury him with Sarah in Michaela, the cave Abraham bought in 23:1-20.

In Chapter 25, Isaac is forty when he gets hitched to Rebekah. He prays to the Lord for his barren wife to become pregnant, and, bam, Rebekah's barren womb is filled. Two babies, actually. That's some good...