Shorter Reviews

Abstract

Suitable for ScholarS, preachers, and students, this second of two volumes on the book of Genesis continues to interpret the book as a response to communal disaster. The introduction provides the reader with historical context and a summary of major themes, helping to situate Genesis 25B–50 within the book’s wider arc and enabling this second volume to function well on its own. O’Connor has pioneered trauma and disaster studies within biblical studies, previously applying this critical framework to Lamentations and Jeremiah. Reading Genesis as disaster literature sheds new light on the book’s emphasis on beginnings, divine creativity, promise, and the persistence of life in seemingly impossible circumstances. The creation of the world gives hope for the re-creation of a fractured people; promises of land, descendants, blessings, and a name speak into being a future marked by commitment and renewal. O’Connor is an astute interpreter, weaving together textured literary analysis with sensitivity to historical context and theological themes. The commentary’s greatest strength is its analysis of how the text may have functioned for its ancient audience. For example, the character of Isaac, comparatively passive and ineffectual, may symbolically portray the experiences of Judeans who remained in the land while others went into exile in Babylonia. Isaac’s passivity mirrors the experience of occupation; his narrative functions as a kind of bridge between ancestral generations and similarly reflects this group’s historical role as a bridge between preexilic and restoration communities. Joseph’s reticent and watchful demeanor in Genesis 45 may offer a model for Judeans who remained in the land and returnees to “receive one another, to meet without suspicion and jealousy after decades of separation and the near death of the nation” (p. 228). In the “Connections” that conclude each chapter O’Connor brings a similar skill and sensitivity to exploration of contemporary social, homiletic, and pastoral implications. This series is especially appealing for visual learners. O’Connor includes images spanning millennia and media, ranging from ancient stelae and medieval mosaic and illuminated manuscript to modern painting, tapestry, sculpture, pen and ink drawing, and engraving. The accompanying CD allows readers to access digital images and search the full text, including sidebars on topics ranging from famine to incarceration.