Is Genesis factual

Answer 1

Answer 1

Yes, according to tradition.

Answer 2

No. All current scientific and archaeological evidence that we currently have expressly contradicts the events of Genesis Chapters 1-11. As for the remainder of Genesis, as these are events of a particular family, science and Archaeology cannot speak to them.

Answer 2

Yes, it is. See also:Is there evidence for Creation?

Evidence of the Flood

Lifespans of the ancients

1) No parchment, scroll, or inscription has ever been found that would support the JEPD (multiple-authors) hypothesis for the Torah (including Genesis). Those ancient writers who mention, describe, summarize or translate the Torah (Josephus, Samaritans, Targum, Septuagint etc.), describe it in its complete form.

Concerning the beginning of Genesis, see: Does Genesis have two Creation-accounts? (a Christian author).

Among the Jews, the Hebrew Bible has been handed down since its beginning, in an unbroken chain of tradition for which we possess the names of the leading sages in every single generation. Every verse is elucidated in the Talmud and midrashim.

2) Archaeological finds, such as the Ugarit documents and those of Nuzu, Mari, Susa, Ebla, and Tel el-Amarna, have repeatedly caused the critics to retract specific claims. The entire social milieu portrayed in Genesis and the entire Torah, once criticized as anachronistic, has been shown to be historically accurate, including customs of marriage, adoption, contracts, inheritance, purchases, utensils, modes of travel, people's names and titles, etc. Professor Gleason Archer Ph.D of Harvard University states: "In case after case where historical inaccuracy was alleged as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrew record has been vindicated by the results of excavations, and the condemnatory judgment of the Documentary theorists have been proved to be without foundation."

3) "Whoever wrote the narrative of Joseph was quite familiar with Egyptian life, Egyptian literature and culture. In particular he was expertly informed concerning the Egyptian royal court" (Prof. Alan Sherman).

4) Because of its antiquity, only in the Torah is the female pronoun "hee" spelled with a letter vav; the word "asher" is used exclusively; Jerusalem and the kings are not mentioned, etc.

5) Unlike what the theorists claim, no Levite or Kohen ("priest") would have voluntarily invented the Torah in whole or in part. The Torah states that Leah (ancestress of the Levites) was less-favored (Genesis ch.29), it records the curse against Levi (Genesis ch.49), the rebellion of Korah the Levite (Numbers ch.16), and the role of Aaron the Kohen in the events of the Golden Calf (Exodus ch.32).

6) Some JEPD theorists question the very existence of Abraham. In so doing, they not only ignore the continuous tradition of the entire Jewish nation, but also the statements of other ancient writers as far back as 2,300 years ago. These include Berosus, Alexander Polyhistor, Melo, Eupolemus, Artapanus, Hecateus, and Nicolaus Damascenus. Abraham was a historical person, as recorded in the Book of Genesis (ch.11-25); and his gravesite is known to this day, in the Machpelah at Hebron, Israel. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

7) One Bible-theorist, Richard Elliott Friedman claims that "The author of the J document was more interested in the patriarchal period while the author of E was more focused on the Exodus and wilderness age."
- Neither Friedman nor any Bible critic ever interviewed the postulated J or E to hear their focus or interests, or saw a manuscript attributable to them. All that we hear about J and E derives from what the critics themselves believe.

Overstatements of this kind cited go far beyond the type of caution one might expect from a scholar.

8) The critics attempt to break down the continuity of the Torah based on style and vocabulary. Their breakdown often cuts verses into three or four parts, claiming a different writer for each part. But in dealing with so many different topics and eras, it stands to reason that the Torah would use different styles. The narrative of Genesis would not function in a style appropriate to the laws of Leviticus. Just as Shakespeare's plays and sonnets differ yet had one author, (and the same goes for your own resume and shopping lists), so the Torah employs styles depending on the subject matter.
Also, those familiar with Torah-commentators recognize that every question asked by the bible critics was asked, and answered, centuries ago.

Some specific examples:

1) Some claim that giants (Genesis ch.6) could not have existed. But the fact that giants are mentioned not only in Israelite traditions, but also by the Greeks, Romans, Celts, Hindus, Norse, Basques, Japanese and others, in our opinion warrants more than mere dismissal.

2) It was claimed that the camel hadn't been domesticated in Abraham's time. But the Canophorin tablet, dating from 18th century BCE gives a list of fodder for camels and other household animals. And a cylinder seal from Mesopotamia, dating from the patriarchal era, shows riders sitting on camels.

3) The term "achol et kaspeinu" ("our money was eaten," Genesis 31:15) is spoken by Rachel and Leah concerning an inheritance from their father Laban. This term is found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Five documents have been unearthed in which 18th century BCE Akkadian marriage contracts use this exact terminology, in the same context. We thus verify again that no postulated late redactor could possibly be credited with such specific knowledge of an era centuries before his own.

4) The names Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Laban, Balaam and Joseph were used in the Patriarchal period and dropped out of usage thereafter. These names appear in archaeological inscriptions from that period and no later period. How did those verses get appropriate names for that period of time (if they were created centuries later)?

5) Joseph is sold for twenty pieces of silver. That was the accurate price of a slave in Joseph's time, and at no other time. Slaves were cheaper beforehand, and they got increasingly expensive later. How would a later redactor know the right price?

Some indications of the Divine origin of the Torah:1) No other religion claims a national revelation, because that is something that cannot be fabricated.

2) No Israelite of any tribe, had the Torah been a human invention, would have made Abraham the father of Ishmael, his firstborn (Genesis ch.16). No Israelite would have written that Isaac fathered their enemy Esau (Gen.ch.25). Nor would he have admitted the stigma that the Israelites had been slaves (Exodus ch.1). No Israelite would have penned the prohibition against warring with Ammon and Moab (Deut.2:4,9,19), who became enemies; nor would he have ascribed one of our important national institutions to a foreigner (Exodus ch.18).

3) In no other religious text can one find such criticism of its own protagonists. No one is immune to having his faults exposed: Abraham (Genesis 16:5), Reuben (Gen.ch.35), Simeon and Levi (Gen.ch.34 and 49), Judah (Gen.ch.38), Joseph's brothers (Gen.ch.37), Moses (Numbers ch.20), Aaron (Exodus 32:2-4), Samson (Judges 14:1-3), Saul (1 Samuel ch.15), David (2 Samuel ch.11-12), and many others.

4) No other ancient record has such a coherent and detailed account of the genealogy of nations (Genesis ch.10).

5) A few examples of fulfilled prophecies:

Noah's blessing of "God will enlarge Japheth" (Genesis ch.9) has been fulfilled through the empires of Persia, Greece, Rome, Russia and America.

God's promise to make Ishmael into a great nation (Genesis ch.17) has been fulfilled through the wide band of Arab and Muslim countries stretching from western Africa to Indonesia, well over 1.5 billion people.

The prophecy that the Torah would never die out (see Gen.32:33, Deut.31:21, Esther 9:28, Isaiah 59:21) has been fulfilled, against all odds. And the Israelites have also survived (Genesis 12:2), outliving many other nations.

The prophecy that the Israelites would inherit the Holy Land (Genesis ch.28) was fulfilled in the time of Joshua. And the prophecy that Ephraim would become greater than Menasheh (Genesis ch.48) also came true through his descendant, Joshua, since Menasheh produced no one comparable.

Joseph's prophetic dreams (Genesis ch.37) were fulfilled during his sojourn in Egypt (Gen. ch.41-42).

Jacob's prophecy of redemption (Gen.48:21) came true when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus ch.12). His words of greatness for Judah (Gen.49:8:10) came true through the Davidic royal dynasty. His prediction that Dan would topple the enemy (Gen.49:17) came true through Samson's depredations against the Philistines (Judges 13-16).

These are just a few examples.

See: Criticizing the critics

More from Archaeology

The authorship of the Hebrew Bible

Answer 3

Genesis chapters 1-11 are clearly mythical. Some scholars even say the Patriachs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) were based on much older stories in which the Patriarchs were avatars of the moon god, known to have been worshipped by the early Israelites.

The later chapters of Genesis can be judged from a single example. In Genesis there are quite a few mentions of the Philistines, such as in Genesis 21:34 (And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.) However, the Philistines were sea people who only arrived in the Levant around 1200 BCE, far too late for any of the purported events of Genesis. The Iron Age sources for Genesis knew that Philistines occupied the southern coastline during their own times and simply believed that always to have been the case.