Interpretation of the Old Testament of the Bible, Book of Genesis

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Knowledge of the Orthodox Book of Genesis is an important aspect for every believer. It is considered the first of the Pentateuch of the Old Testament. It is based on information about the emergence of the universe, the formation of living things and the emergence of the Jewish people. The work includes 50 chapters. The beginning of the story is based on the point of origin of everything that exists and the end is described by the end of Joseph's life in the lands of Egypt.

Title and content

The table of contents owes its term to a translation from the Latin by Jerome of the Vulgate. He also says that this word was found by him in a text in Greek. Its meaning is birth, beginning, origin or creation. It does not make any precise statements about who its authorship belongs to. But many say that Moses is speaking to them.

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A summary of the Book of Genesis describes events that unfold in three locations:

the first 11 chapters take place in Mesopotamia;
from 12 to 38 - in Canaan;
another 12 are in Egypt.

The work itself has two main parts:

The history of mankind from the beginning to the appearance of the patriarchs. Here you can gain knowledge about world history, as the main points of primitive humanity are explained.
Patriarchs and their families. The emergence of the Jewish people and their division into tribes is described.

Version canonized in Europe

Unlike Ancient Rus', in Europe there was a long debate about which translation of the Tanakh should be considered canonized. The Jewish canon itself did not include the Apocrypha. The Catholic Old Testament that existed at that time consisted of several books. As a result, the translation made from the Masoretic Hebrew text in 1611 (commissioned by the King James) becomes the official version in Great Britain. Forty-seven scientists from different universities carried out this work. During the process, they often worked separately and then compared the results. In controversial cases, decisions were made by majority vote. To date, many errors have been found in this translation. In addition, the work was carried out under some pressure from the King James, who recommended that scholars emphasize “the King’s divinely given right to rule.”

There are other scriptures canonized by the Catholic Church. Thanks to the information preserved in them, it is almost always possible to explain the ambiguities of the Old Testament of the King James.

Main stories

There are several most important points that everyone, even those who are not particularly sophisticated in religion, should know about. According to the Book of Genesis, the creation of the world took place by the Lord over a certain period of time. The description shows this as a week:

On the first day he made light, and on the second he made the sky.
Next, the earthly stronghold and the plant world.
On the fourth, the luminaries and stars were placed in the sky.
Afterwards he made representatives of the fauna inhabiting water and air spaces and reptiles.
On the last day he left the animals and man.
On the seventh day the Lord was at peace. This is how he finished his work.

The best article for you, go to: The Book of the Prophet Daniel

God created man first, endowed him with a soul and placed him in the Garden of Eden. Then he created a woman. They were allowed to enjoy everything except eating the fruits of the Tree of Good and Evil. But they broke this rule and were expelled for it.

A large number of quotations from the Book of Genesis have been analyzed beyond the number of people who have taken them as the basis for their lives.

In addition to the story of the creation of the world, there are other important events. Among them are:

committing a sin;
period before high water;
global flood;
table of people;
Isaac's sacrifice;
Jacob had a dream;
heirs of Jacob;
death of Joseph in Egypt.

Studying at least the above will provide an opportunity to understand the fundamental principles of religion.

Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Community of Quebec City

OLD TESTAMENT

Introduction to the Old Testament (lecture notes) St. Lev Shikhlyarov

The word “Bible” translated from Greek means “books” (papyri for ancient books were produced in the Asia Minor city of Byblos). The plural in this name initially emphasized the structure of the Holy Scriptures of the Jews, consisting of many books, but over time it acquired a different, majestic meaning: something like “The Book of Books,” or “to all books a Book.” After many years of atheistic ideology and in the years of spiritual pluralism that replaced it, a correct understanding of the Bible becomes for an Orthodox Christian not so much a sign of education as one of the conditions of salvation. In spiritual literature the term “revelation” is often used.

Lectures on the Old Testament by Archpriest N. Sokolov

Today we are starting a series of lectures dedicated to one of the greatest books existing in the world - the Bible, or rather its first part, which is called the Old Testament. The theme of our lectures over the course of two years will be the experience of theological comprehension and disclosure of the meaning of the Holy Scripture of the Old Testament as an enduring value in the realm of spiritual values, as a value that receives its interpretation in the light of the Holy Scripture of the New Testament and in the general context of the church’s understanding of the ways of saving Divine Providence.

Lectures on an introduction to the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament by D.G. Dobykin

This course of lectures does not pretend to be original and is a compilation from a number of pre-revolutionary and modern studies and publications on the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. The compiler’s goal is a course that would be of interest to all those who do not yet know, but want to know, what the Old Testament is….

The Bible and the science of the creation of the world, Arch. Stefan Lyashevsky

This experience of theological analysis of the Biblical tale represents the first part of a scientific study (narration) about the creation of the world and man. The second part of the study is devoted exclusively to the first people on earth, whose lives are examined in the light of modern archaeological data about prehistoric man.

In the field of geological and archaeological knowledge, there are known provisions that are the absolute truth, and there are controversial provisions, on which there are several judgments and theories.

Turning exclusively to the scientific data of geology and paleontology, and in the second part of the book to archaeological research, I could, of course, freely make a choice between various hypotheses, and in some cases express my personal judgments. The degree of convincingness of this research can be judged by everyone who wants to look at the world and man from the point of view of revealed knowledge, which is narrated in the first pages of the book of Genesis.

Tit for tat Andrey Desnitsky

Executions, fines, compliance with harsh laws - how can the God of Love demand this from a person? But this is precisely how the Old Testament appears to many of our contemporaries, which demands “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”

Is the Old Testament cruel? Deacon Andrey Kuraev

Today it is easier to understand the mystery of Israel than a hundred years ago, because to understand it we must imagine a world in which only pagans live. We must imagine a world in which the Gospel has not yet been preached, and magicians, sorcerers, shamans, spirits and “gods” swarm around. Today this is easier to do. Once again, ordinary people scare each other with hexes and evil eyes, and again, wandering shamans offer theirs to the “lapel.” Again there is a fair abundance of names and masks of various spirits and deities, occult words denoting all kinds of “planes”, “eons” and “energies”. People have forgotten that you can simply stand before God and, without any complex rituals, spells and eloquent names, say: “Lord!” And as rarely as it is today in bookstores to find a book about Orthodoxy, it was just as rare three thousand years ago to hear a word about the One God on earth.

Lifting the veil of time Ekaterina Prognimak

“And I will say to them: if it pleases you, then give Me My wages; if not, don’t give it; and they will weigh out thirty pieces of silver as payment to Me.” No, this is not a quote from a hitherto unknown gospel text describing the betrayal of Judas. All this was predicted by the prophet Zechariah 500 years before the birth of Christ. And the words about the thirty pieces of silver, and other equally accurate predictions of Zechariah can be easily found in any edition of the Old Testament.

But how could the prophet Zechariah know about the impending betrayal if he lived long before the events described in the Gospel?

Conversations on the Book of Genesis by Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev

The book is compiled from conversations of the famous Moscow priest Oleg Stenyaev - cleric of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and Joy of All Who Sorrow on Ordynka in Moscow, head of the Rehabilitation Program for victims of non-traditional religions of the Missionary Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, a regular participant in the programs of the Radonezh radio station. In his conversations, Father Oleg shows that Biblical Revelation is the key to understanding and solving many of our political, social, family and personal problems.

Why read the Old Testament? Deacon Roman Staudinger

The Old Testament in the New Testament Church, Archpriest. Mikhail Pomazansky

MANY CENTURIES separate us from the time of writing the books of the Old Testament, especially its first books. And it is no longer easy for us to be transported to that structure of the soul and to that environment in which these divinely inspired books were created and which are presented in these books themselves. From here arise the perplexities that confuse the thought of modern man. These perplexities arise especially often when there is a desire to reconcile the scientific views of our time with the simplicity of biblical ideas about the world. General questions also arise about how consistent the Old Testament views are with the New Testament worldview. And they ask: why the Old Testament? Isn't the teaching of the New Testament and the Scriptures of the New Testament sufficient? As for the enemies of Christianity, it has long been the case that attacks against Christianity begin with attacks on the Old Testament. And today's militant atheism considers the stories of the Old Testament the easiest material for this purpose. Those who went through a period of religious doubt and, perhaps, religious denial, especially those who underwent Soviet anti-religious training, indicate that the first stumbling block to their faith was thrown at them from this area. This brief review of the Old Testament Scriptures cannot answer all the questions that arise, but I think it indicates guiding principles by which a number of misunderstandings can be avoided.

Why do they make sacrifices? Andrey Desnitsky

Why do the Bible describe all kinds of sacrifices? In primitive ancient paganism, of course, people thought that it was inconvenient to approach a deity or spirit as a boss without a gift or bribe. But why did the One God, to Whom the whole universe already belong, demand sacrifices? And why, finally, is the death of Christ on the cross described as a sacrifice of a special kind - who brought it, to whom and why?..

Why is the Old Testament so petty? Andrey Desnitsky

When opening the Bible, a person expects first of all great revelations. But if he reads the Old Testament, he is usually amazed by the abundance of petty instructions: eat the meat only of animals that have cloven hooves and chew the cud. What is all this for? Does God really care what kind of meat people eat? Why these endless ritual details: how to offer different sacrifices to Him? Is this the main thing in religion?...

Historical and cultural context of the Old Testament V. Sorokin

The question of the origin of the Torah is one of the most complex and confusing in modern biblical studies. In this case, we have to keep in mind two aspects of the problem: the question of the sources of the Torah, that is, those texts that preceded the appearance of its final version, and the question of codification, that is, the recognition of a known text or group of texts as the Torah...

“Uninteresting” Old Testament Yuri Maksimov

Unfortunately, today many people come to churches who either have never opened the Gospel at all or have read it superficially. But if reading the New Testament is nevertheless recognized by the majority of Christians as a necessity - it would be strange if it were different, then familiarity with the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament is limited to the “Law of God” of Archpriest Seraphim Slobodsky...

How to read the Bible? Archpriest Alexander Men

The book is an anthology of biblical texts compiled by the famous theologian and Orthodox priest Alexander Men. The sequence of texts corresponds to the chronology of the history of Salvation. The book consists of three parts. The proposed first part begins with the Pentateuch and ends with the Book of Song of Songs, traditionally attributed to Solomon. All biblical texts are provided with a brief scientific commentary. The introductory section explains the history of the Bible and its influence on world culture. The book is accompanied by a short bibliography, a diagram of biblical sources, chronological tables of the history of the Ancient East and maps. Intended for a wide range of readers interested in the world of the Bible...

How to read the Old Testament? Protopresbyter John Breck

Speech delivered by priest John Breck, professor at the St. Sergius Theological Institute, at a meeting of participants in the Nepsis youth movement of the Archdiocese of the Romanian Patriarchate in Western Europe on April 21, 2001. Published in: Mensuel Service Orthodoxe de Presse (SOP). Supplement No. 250, juillet-out 2002.

The Christian tradition of reading and understanding1 the Old Testament is dear to me. It has infinite significance for us, since we acutely feel that for many years, if not centuries, as Orthodox Christians, we have somehow neglected reading the books of Holy Scripture and, in particular, the books of the Old Testament. I think we should begin with the main statement: this is a conviction that places us in a certain connection with the great church tradition represented both by the Fathers of the Church and by the holy writers of the books of the New Testament. This conviction boils down for us to understanding the Old Testament in accordance with the Apostle Paul (cf. 2 Cor.), namely, as a collection of deeply and essentially Christian books.

Reading the Old Testament Konstantin Korepanov

Very often one hears that for a full Christian life a Christian needs only the Sacred History of the New Testament - Christ said everything with which one can completely nourish one’s spiritual life. On the one hand, this is true, but, nevertheless, there is a certain derogation of the entire fullness of the Revelation of God and the Holy Scriptures...

NEW TESTAMENT

Interpretation of the Gospel by B.I. Gladkov

Review of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt on the book “Interpretation of the Gospel” by B. I. Gladkov January 18. 1903

Beloved brother Boris Ilyich in Christ!

I read with the greatest interest both your preface to the highly esteemed work of explanation of the Gospel, and excerpts of the explanation. The previous time of your delusion and the state of spiritual dissatisfaction and longing for the truth of God served to the amazing sophistication of your logical, philosophical mind and to the purification of the heart's eye, to the most subtle distinctness and clarity in judgments and objects relating to faith. I received great spiritual satisfaction from reading your explanation. Your sincere admirer, Archpriest John Sergiev

Introduction to the New Testament Ioannis Karavidopoulos

The first edition of the Introduction to the New Testament textbook, which began the Bible Library series, has served the needs of both theology students and all who read the Holy Scriptures for more than 20 years. During this period, from 1983 to this day, the list of books on biblical studies in Greek was replenished with works that, although they do not contain anything revolutionary new in solving general and specific issues of New Testament biblical studies, nevertheless offer fresh material and new aspects to explore. This material was included in the current, third edition of the textbook, with the limitation, of course, so as not to deviate from the purpose of the “Biblical Library” series, and therefore new data is presented mainly in the section of editions of the text and translations of the New Testament. It goes without saying that all old and new special bibliography is given at the beginning of each chapter of this Introduction to the New Testament.

Introduction to the New Testament V. Sorokin

The Bible has been and is being read by many people, and everyone reads it in their own way. For some it is a historical source, for others it is a wonderful example of the poetic genre...

Heritage of Christ. What was not included in the Gospels? Deacon Andrey Kuraev

The book by Deacon Andrei Kuraev, professor at the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute, is devoted to the issue that is at the center of Orthodox-Protestant discussions - the question of what place the Bible occupies in the life of the Church. Was it only the Bible that Christ left to people? Is it only through the Bible that Christ comes and speaks to us?

The book raises questions about the relationship between Scripture and Church Tradition, about the Christian perception of history, and about the relationship between matter and Spirit.

The purpose of the book is to protect people (both Protestants, Orthodox, and secular researchers) from an overly simplified understanding of Orthodoxy and to explain what exactly makes Orthodoxy a religious tradition significantly different from Protestantism.

New Testament. Introductory part. Lectures by A. Emelyanov

The study of the New Testament traditionally begins with an introductory section, which is often referred to by the Greek word “isagogy.” Isagogy includes the study of the history of the New Testament, the study of parallel civil history to complete the presentation of Sacred history, the study of the textual criticism of the New Testament, i.e. study of the origin of the text and other auxiliary sections. But before turning to this introductory part, I will make a very brief excursion into Old Testament history. To make it easier for you to structure the sacred history that you need to know in order to fully understand New Testament history, I offer you Biblical History Atlases, now available and sold by the Bible Society.

Interpretation of John Chrysostom on the Gospel of Matthew

The first and second books of the seventh volume of the collected works of John Chrysostom. That is, the proposed book contains the complete Interpretation of John Chrysostom on the Gospel of Matthew. “Matthew rightly called his work the gospel. In fact, he proclaims to everyone - the enemies, the ignorant, sitting in darkness - the end of punishment, the remission of sins, justification, sanctification, redemption, sonship, the inheritance of heaven and affinity with the Son of God. What can compare with such gospel? God is on earth, man is in heaven; everything is united: the angels have formed one face with people, people have united with angels and other heavenly forces. It has become obvious that the ancient warfare has ceased, that the reconciliation of God with our nature has been accomplished, the devil has been put to shame, demons have been cast out, death has been bound, heaven has been opened, the oath has been abolished, sin has been destroyed, error has been removed, truth has returned, the word of piety is sown and growing everywhere...

Interpretation of the Gospel of John by Euthymius Zigaben

Compilation of patristic texts, mainly by John Chrysostom. Men wrote about Zigaben’s interpretations of the New Testament: “His commentary on the NT seems more independent. He tried to resolve some exegetical difficulties, for example: were there three anointings of Christ with chrism or two? Where did Peter's denial take place: in the house of Annas or Caiaphas? Why did the Lord say: “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28)? In all these cases, Zigaben resorts to his own. conclusions. Unlike St. John Chrysostom Zigaben counts two anointings; the question of Peter is resolved by the hypothesis that Caiaphas and Anna lived in the same house, and the words of the Savior in John 14 are explained by the fact that He was forced to take into account the degree of understanding of His words by the disciples. Sometimes Zigaben used the allegorical method in interpreting the Gospels. In general, “his explanations are short and concise; attempts to reconcile evangelical differences are often very...

Ephraim the Syrian's point of view

The interpretation of the Book of Genesis by Ephraim the Syrian is based on a deep presentation of the essence of what was written. His work is aimed at a more detailed presentation of the essence of everything that is happening. He makes it possible for everyone to understand the text read, not from the point of view of his own experience, but in relation to those statutes and dogmas that are described in all other sacred scriptures.

Ephraim the Syrian believes that every believer should read this work to deepen their knowledge and expand their worldview. It will also help strengthen faith and guide you on the path of truth.

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May the Lord protect you!

Jewish collection Tanakh

The Tanakh is the combined records of the Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketubim (Scripture). According to many researchers, these sacred texts began to be put together during the time of King Solomon, and were completed a couple of centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. It is believed that this work was carried out by Ezra and his assistants. However, nothing is known about this for certain.

Interpretations. Accommodation method

The First Bible (Old Testament), and in particular the prophecies contained in it, has been interpreted by many churchmen and independent researchers throughout its existence. Unfortunately, very often the subjective opinion of the author prevailed over the objective meaning of a particular text. Simply put, ancient prophecies were interpreted in a strained manner when applied to the events of that historical era and the area in which the interpreter himself lived. This method is called the method of accommodation and is condemned both by ordinary researchers and by Christians themselves.

At the same time, the Church itself has more than once been accused of mechanically attracting Old Testament biblical texts to certain events and for a specific purpose. Gnostics in the second century AD believed, for example, that even Christ himself and the apostles interpreted the Old Testament not objectively, but attracted to their own teaching. However, Christians and many researchers are still confident: with regard to the coming of the Messiah and Jesus from Nazareth, the official interpretations of the church are far from the methods of accommodation.

Typological method

There is another method by which the interpretation of the Old Testament is carried out - typological, used by the Christian church. It is based on the fact that all the events described in this book are historically correct, but their moral and religious background is not separate and completely independent, but represents something like preparing the reader for later times - the coming of the Messiah.

According to all Christian churches, the ancient Bible (Old Testament) is a book that is a “schoolmaster to Christ.” The apostles used a similar method of interpretation when they wrote their Gospels. The basic principles of typological interpretation include:

Structural similarity between prototype and event. This means that the “Image” presented in the interpretation should not be too far removed from the literal words of the prophecy.
Oppositions. Thus, the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament contrast the good Jesus (the coming Messiah), according to the churchmen, with the first sinner Adam, death and destruction with eternal life, terrible shadows and dreams with happy reality.
Limitation of the image of interpretation in time. What does it mean? Any image is not final. The underlying reason for any typological interpretation is that the event presented in it will certainly be followed by some other event.
Prohibition of deviation from scientific historical reality. According to many authoritative church leaders, the events of the Old Testament should be interpreted in such a way that the truth of history remains intact.

The Old and New Testaments are books that have existed for centuries. One can interpret the first based on the fact that it is a prelude to the second, or on the basis that it is a completely independent work and even has nothing to do with Christ. In any case, momentary, accommodative images will sooner or later sink into oblivion. The truthfulness of the objective ones will certainly become apparent.

Interpretation of the Old Testament. Historical method

The historical or literal method of interpretation is often applied not only to the historical part of the Old Testament, but also to the prophetic. If we talk about the same coming of the Messiah, then this holy book contains literal indications that such an event is about to happen. This and other similar direct prophetic instructions allow us to assert with a high degree of probability that a specific person, and namely Jesus Christ, was to become the Savior of Israel. As direct indications, we can take the words of Isaiah about the birth of the Messiah from a Virgin, the prophecy of Micah about his birth in Bethlehem, as well as the prophecy of Isaiah about the execution of the Messiah.