Category: Genesis

This week, Fr. Paul wraps up his discussion of Genesis 6, giving Richard and Fr. Marc an opportunity to ask questions. As always, Richard opened Q&A with an insightful discussion of the original Hebrew, which lead to an excellent overview of kings, shepherds, and functionality in the Bible.  (Episode 88)

This week Fr. Paul highlights the connection between Genesis 6 and the story of Moses in Exodus. As always, this connection is impossible to discern in English—but this time there’s a twist. The English word “ark” in Genesis 6 sounds deceptively like the word “ark” in Exodus 25. In fact, they are totally unrelated; and…

Drawing, as always, on the original Hebrew and his knowledge of Arabic, Fr. Paul explains the folly of the Nephilim who assume their own mightiness, but are, in Fr. Paul’s words, “unto fallenness.”  English versions of the Bible refer to the Nephilim as “men of renown,” but this translation ignores the writer’s use of the technical…

After its use of the word ‘adam’ in chapter 5, the text of Genesis returns to the words ‘ha adam’ in chapter 6, referring to humanity in its entirety.  This shift, Fr. Paul explains, also points to God’s provision of a third chance for human beings. By now, everyone who tunes in to this podcast knows…

Noting that biblical names appear and reappear purposefully in Genesis, this week, Fr. Paul emphasizes the importance of having patience with the scriptural God who operates on his own time table. (Episode 84)

Following his discussion of the Toledot of Adam in Genesis 5, Fr. Paul explains how God manages to continue his plan and salvage humanity despite the people’s disobedience. (Episode 83)

This week, Richard and Fr. Marc had the chance to follow-up Fr. Paul’s discussion of Genesis 5 with questions, leading to an important discussion of the anti-kingly tradition of the Bible and it’s connection with the phrase, ‘son of man.’ (Episode 82)

This week, Fr. Paul uses his own family tree to help explain the tree of Adam in Genesis 5. Following verse 2, in which God “created them male and female, and he blessed them and named them man,” whether directly, as Seth or indirectly, as the followers of Seth, the main actor, Fr. explains, is…

This week Fr. Paul touches on the importance of the author’s purposeful use of the word Adam in some places and the words Ha Adam elsewhere. The various connections between biblical words, he explains, hinge not on philosophical premises, but the author’s use of these terms within the flow of the narrative. (Episode 80)

Dismantling the mistranslation found in Genesis 4:26, “at that time men began,” Fr. Paul explains that in the Hebrew, in the passive God merely allows—literally, it was allowed—to call on the name of the Lord. The action is initiated by God, without even mentioning human beings. This distinction is critical, since throughout Scripture, whenever men begin…