views as to the character of the patriarchs. But that is at best a doubtful hypothesis, and could only apply to three or four of the number. It is quite probable that if we had the continuation of J's Sethite genealogy, its names would be found to correspond closely with those of ch. 5.—The chronology, on the other hand, is based on an artificial system, the invention of which may be assigned either to P or to some later chronologist (see p. 136 below).—What is thoroughly characteristic of P is the framework in which the details are set. It consists of (a) the age of each patriarch at the birth of his first-born, (b) the length of his remaining life (with the statement that he begat other children), and (c) his age at death.[1] The stiff precision and severity of the style, the strict adherence to set formulæ, and the monotonous iteration of them, constitute a somewhat pronounced example of the literary tendencies of the Priestly school of writers.
The distinctive phraseology of P ((
Hebrew characters), (Hebrew characters), (Hebrew characters), (Hebrew characters)) is seen
most clearly in vv.1b. 2, which, however, may be partly composed of
glosses based on 126ff. (see on the vv.). Note also (Hebrew characters) (1a), (Hebrew characters), (Hebrew characters)
(3), (Hebrew characters) (throughout), (Hebrew characters) (22. 24, cf. 69); the syntax of the
numerals (which, though not peculiar to P, is a mark of late style: see
G-K, § 134 i; Dav. § 37, R. 3); the naming of the child by the father (3).—The
one verse which stands out in marked contrast to its environment
is 29, which is shown by the occurrence of the name (Hebrew characters) and the allusion
to 317 to be an extract from J, and in all probability a fragment of the
genealogy whose first links are preserved in 425. 26.
"The aim of the writer is by means of these particulars
to give a picture of the increasing population of the earth,
as also of the duration of the first period of its history, as
conceived by him, and of the longevity which was a current
element in the Heb. conception of primitive times" (Dri.
Gen. p. 75). With regard to the extreme longevity attributed
to the early patriarchs, it must be frankly recognised
that the statements are meant to be understood literally, and
that the author had in his view actual individuals. The
- ↑ Only in the cases of Adam (v.3), Enoch (22. 24) and Lamech (28. 29) are slight and easily explicable deviations from the stereotyped form admitted. The section on Noah is, of course, incomplete.
