A Selected Bibliography for Further Reading

This volume has not carried a formal apparatus of footnotes; the aim throughout has been a reading of Genesis that a Sunday school teacher can hand across a table without an academic gauntlet in the way. That method leaves a debt to the sources on which the volume rests. The list that follows names the works most likely to reward the reader who wants to go further — organized by the character of the resource, not by frequency of appeal in the exposition. It is a starting library, not a comprehensive apparatus.

A confessional Lutheran reading of Genesis stands in a specific tradition and draws on specific tools. The categories below trace that tradition from its confessional and Reformation sources through the standard reference works to modern commentary. Where the manuscript names a source in passing, that source appears here; where the manuscript assumes a source without naming it (a Hebrew gloss from a standard lexicon, a chronology point from a standard reference), the assumed source is also listed.

I. Confessional Sources

Kolb, Robert, and Timothy J. Wengert, eds. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000. The standard modern English edition of the Lutheran symbolical books — Augsburg Confession, Apology, Small and Large Catechisms, Smalcald Articles, Treatise, and Formula of Concord.

Tappert, Theodore G., ed. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959. The mid-century English edition still widely cited in older confessional literature.

Concordia Publishing House. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005. A reader-edition of the Book of Concord with introductions, notes, and reading aids designed for lay use.

II. Luther on Genesis

Luther, Martin. Lectures on Genesis. Vols. 1–8 of Luther’s Works (American Edition), edited by Jaroslav Pelikan. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1958–1966. Luther’s decade-long lectures on Genesis (1535–1545) — the most sustained Christological reading of the book in the Lutheran tradition and the deepest resource behind the present volume.

Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, American Edition. 82 vols. Vols. 1–30 edited by Jaroslav Pelikan; vols. 31–55 edited by Helmut T. Lehmann; new series vols. 56– edited by Christopher Boyd Brown. St. Louis: Concordia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1955–.

Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will. Translated by J. I. Packer and O. R. Johnston. Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1957. Luther’s defining treatment of grace, freedom, election, and the hiddenness of God — background for every Genesis session that touches election, covenant, and providence.

Luther, Martin. On the Freedom of a Christian, in Luther’s Works vol. 31. Luther’s clearest short account of the two-kinds-of-righteousness distinction that shapes the volume’s reading of Genesis 15:6 and Genesis 22.

III. Post-Reformation and Modern Lutheran Theology

Chemnitz, Martin. Loci Theologici. 2 vols. Translated by J. A. O. Preus. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989. The great second-generation Lutheran systematic theology, indispensable on the two natures, the sacraments, and justification.

Chemnitz, Martin. The Two Natures in Christ. Translated by J. A. O. Preus. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971. The Lutheran classic on Christology, essential background for the volume’s treatment of the pre-incarnate Christ in Genesis.

Gerhard, Johann. Theological Commonplaces (Loci Theologici). Translated by Richard J. Dinda et al. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006–. The systematic culmination of Lutheran orthodoxy in the seventeenth century, now appearing in a complete modern English translation.

Pieper, Franz. Christian Dogmatics. 4 vols. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950–1957. The standard confessional Lutheran systematic theology of the twentieth century, particularly strong on justification, election, and the theology of the cross.

Sasse, Hermann. Here We Stand: The Nature and Character of the Lutheran Faith. Translated by Theodore Tappert. Adelaide: Lutheran Publishing House, 1979. A twentieth-century statement of the confessional Lutheran identity.

Walther, C. F. W. The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel. Translated by W. H. T. Dau. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1929. Walther’s classic evening lectures on the single most important interpretive distinction in confessional Lutheran exegesis. Directly relevant to every session in this volume.

Elert, Werner. The Structure of Lutheranism. Translated by Walter A. Hansen. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1962. A historical-systematic account of the Lutheran conception of law, gospel, and church.

IV. Standard Reference Works — Hebrew, Greek, and Bible

Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907; reprinted with corrections, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996. The classic Hebrew lexicon, standardly cited as BDB.

Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Revised by Walter Baumgartner and Johann Jakob Stamm. Translated and edited by M. E. J. Richardson. 5 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1994–2000. The standard modern Hebrew lexicon, cited as HALOT.

Botterweck, G. Johannes, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, eds. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. 15 vols. Translated by John T. Willis et al. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974–2006. The major word-study reference for Old Testament theology, cited as TDOT.

Kittel, Gerhard, and Gerhard Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. 10 vols. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964–1976. The standard New Testament word-study reference, cited as TDNT.

Bauer, Walter, Frederick W. Danker, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. The standard New Testament Greek lexicon, cited as BDAG.

The NET Bible. 2nd Beta edition. Biblical Studies Press, 2019. New English Translation with translators’ notes. The volume’s scripture quotations are drawn from this translation; the accompanying translator’s notes are an important running commentary in their own right. Available at netbible.com.

V. Old Testament Textual Sources

Elliger, K., and W. Rudolph, eds. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. 5th ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997. The standard critical edition of the Masoretic Hebrew Old Testament.

Rahlfs, Alfred, and Robert Hanhart, eds. Septuaginta. Editio altera. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006. The standard hand-edition of the Greek Old Testament — repeatedly relevant to the volume’s exposition (e.g., the seventy versus seventy-five souls of Jacob’s household discussed in Chapter Thirty).

Pietersma, Albert, and Benjamin G. Wright, eds. A New English Translation of the Septuagint. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Standard modern English rendering of the Greek Old Testament, cited as NETS.

VI. Commentaries and Scholarly Works on Genesis

Alter, Robert. Genesis: Translation and Commentary. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996. A literary translation with running commentary by the leading exponent of the Bible-as-literature school. Read as literary illumination rather than theological guidance.

Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. Revised and updated ed. New York: Basic Books, 2011. The classic study of the narrative technique of Hebrew scripture; particularly useful for the Joseph cycle.

Cassuto, Umberto. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. 2 vols. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1961–1964. A Jewish scholar’s careful literary and philological reading of Genesis 1–11 and 12–17 (his death interrupted the series before the Joseph cycle).

Hamilton, Victor P. The Book of Genesis. 2 vols. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990–1995. A thorough evangelical technical commentary, careful with Hebrew and with cross-textual connections.

Kass, Leon R. The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis. New York: Free Press, 2003. A philosophical reading of Genesis 1–36 by a University of Chicago moral philosopher. Not a Christian reading, but consistently attentive to the moral and human weight of the narrative.

Kidner, Derek. Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1967. A compact evangelical commentary of unusual theological depth for its length; still recommended as a first Genesis commentary for lay readers.

Sarna, Nahum M. Genesis. JPS Torah Commentary. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989. The standard rabbinic-scholarly commentary in English; strong on ancient Near Eastern background.

Waltke, Bruce K., with Cathi J. Fredricks. Genesis: A Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001. A theologically alert evangelical commentary.

Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1–15 and Genesis 16–50. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco: Word Books, 1987; Dallas: Word Books, 1994. A major mainstream evangelical technical commentary.

Westermann, Claus. Genesis 1–11, Genesis 12–36, and Genesis 37–50. A Continental Commentary. 3 vols. Translated by John J. Scullion. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1984–1986. The magnum opus of twentieth-century German Old Testament scholarship on Genesis. Read critically: source-critical throughout, but philologically and structurally invaluable.

VII. Chronology, History, and Ancient Near East

Kitchen, Kenneth A. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003. A senior Egyptologist’s comprehensive case for the historical placement and internal coherence of the Old Testament narratives, including the patriarchal period.

Currid, John D. Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997. Egyptological background for the Joseph cycle and the sojourn.

Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. with supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. The standard collection of ancient Near Eastern texts in English; cited as ANET. Directly relevant background for the patriarchal narratives.

Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000. A concise reference for ancient Near Eastern background on individual passages.

VIII. Ancient Jewish Sources

Josephus, Flavius. The Works of Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1987 (originally 1737). The Antiquities of the Jews Book I covers the patriarchal narratives from a first-century Jewish perspective.

Philo of Alexandria. The Works of Philo. Translated by C. D. Yonge. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993 (originally 1854–1855). Philo’s allegorical treatments of Genesis (On the Creation, Allegorical Interpretation, and others) provide a first-century Hellenistic-Jewish reading against which the volume’s Christological reading can be compared and distinguished.

IX. Biblical Theology and Typology

Beale, G. K. Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012. A practical guide to the New Testament’s citation, allusion, and typological use of Old Testament texts — directly relevant to the tier-A typologies of the present volume.

Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007. A reference companion tracking New Testament citations of the Old Testament passage by passage.

Goldsworthy, Graeme. According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002. A readable evangelical introduction to biblical theology as the tracing of God’s single redemptive plan through the whole canon.