Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 2, Genesis 16-50 (wenham) 556pp

Pastors and scholars alike will herald the appearance of this second volume of Gordon Wenham’s analysis of Genesis as a landmark event in the critical study of the Pentateuch. Dr. Wenham devoted fourteen years of his considerable scholarship and exegetical skills to write this exceptional work.

This second volume in Wenham’s Genesis study is destined to be widely acclaimed like the first volume. Dr. Moshe Greenberg, Professor of Biblical Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, praised Genesis 1–15 as “one of the richest and most informative works on Genesis in English.” J. C. L. Gibson, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Edinburgh, called that volume “a very good commentary which combines meticulous exegesis with keen theological insight.”

Writing this second volume with both the scholar and pastor in mind, Dr. Wenham makes sure that his Comment and Explanation sections on each segment of the Genesis text can be read and appreciated by professionals without Hebrew language skills. At the same time he includes copious technical notes on Form/Structure/Setting that will challenge and instruct the most capable Hebrew experts.

Out of his extensive examination of Genesis 16–50, Dr. Wenham has produced a careful commentary that interacts with contemporary scholarship in a restrained, informed manner, clearly affirming from beginning to end his underlying conclusions:

• that the patriarchal stories contained in Genesis are not pagan god-myths born in the Canaanite culture but, instead, are records that deal with real historical figures;
• that the multi-century oral transmission of the history is accurate and believable;
• that uncertainties about dating the patriarchal period in Genesis are not too great to keep scholars from placing these events in the centuries shortly after 2000 B.C.E.;
• that the Genesis picture of patriarchal life matches what we know about the family names, tribal customs, social laws, and domestic arrangements of the second millennium B.C.E.

Gordon Wenham has produced a commentary destined to take a respected place in all critical studies of Genesis, challenging liberal and conservative readers alike to pay closer attention to what the Bible tells us. Serious students of Genesis will applaud Dr. Wenham’s fine commentary as a genuine aid for all who seek to unravel the mysteries of Scripture and to know the mind of God.