John Day investigates disputed points of interpretation within Genesis 1-11, expanding on his earlier book From Creation to Babel with 11 stimulating essays. Day considers the texts within their Near Eastern contexts, and pays particular attention to the later history of interpretation and reception history.
Topics covered include the meaning of the Bible's first verse and what immediately follows, as well as what it means that humanity is made in the image of God. Further chapters examine the Garden of Eden, the background and role of the serpent and the ambiguous role of Wisdom; the many problems of interpretation in the Cain and Abel story, as well as what gave rise to this story; how the Covenant with Noah and the Noachic commandments, though originally separate, became conflated in some later Jewish thought; and the location of 'Ur of the Chaldaeans', Abraham's alleged place of origin, and how this was later misinterpreted by Jewish, Christian and Islamic sources as referring to a 'fiery furnace of the Chaldaeans'. These chapters, which illuminate the meaning, background and subsequent interpretation of the Book of Genesis, pave the way for Day's forthcoming ICC commentary on Genesis 1-11.

John Day is Professor of Old Testament Studies in the University of Oxford, and Fellow & Tutor of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He has written or edited numerous books and articles, and in 2014 is President of the Society for Old Testament Study.

1. Genesis 1.1-5: The First Day of Creation
2. 'So God Created Humanity in His Own Image' (Genesis 1.27). What Does the Bible Mean and What Have People Thought It Meant?
3. The Serpent in the Garden of Eden: Its Background and Role
4. Wisdom and the Garden of Eden
5. Problems in the Interpretation of the Story of Cain and Abel
6. The Enochs of Genesis 4 and 5 and the Emergence of the Apocalyptic Enoch Tradition
7. The Source Analysis and Redaction of the Genesis Flood Story
8. The Covenant with Noah and the Noachic Commandments
9. The Table of the Nations in Genesis 10
10. In Search of Nimrod: Problems in the Interpretation of Genesis 10.8-12
11. From Abraham of Ur to Abraham in the Fiery Furnace
Bibliography
Index