Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project: Book Of The Bible

Bible Dictionary Project

Name: Sara Seider

Student ID: 25623931

Course: BIBL 104-B22

Date: 2/16/2015

Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project:

Genesis: The author of Genesis was Moses. It is believed that Moses wrote Genesis under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Genesis was written from 1450-1410 B.C. Genesis was the first book of Pentateuch or law. The book of Genesis is considered the beginning. Genesis explains the beginning of the human race and the Hebrew race (Hindson & Towns, 2013). Genesis was written to educate Israel regarding her place in history of the world (Hindson & Towns, 2013). Genesis talks about how God is all-powerful and loves his people no matter what. It has two major sections. First, it tells the story of
creation and expansion of life. Second, it talks about the story of Abraham and his family. Another important part of Genesis is Abrahamic covenant, which talks about how the people of Israel had a right to her land. The major characters in Genesis are Adam, Eve, Cain, Able, Noah’s family, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob’s wives and his twelve sons.
The book of Genesis lays the groundwork for the other books of the bible.

Abraham: Abraham was known as one of the four great patriarchs. The name Abraham means “father of a multitude.” Abraham was the founder of Jewish nation. He was born in Ur, a city of Chaldea and stayed there until God came to him. God asked Abraham to leave everything and follow him to a land that God would show him. Abraham did not know what land God was speaking of. God promised to make him into a great nation and bless him. Abraham didn’t know how he could be a great nation because he didn’t have any children. Abraham said yes to God and packed up this wife, nephew, and all of there things. They traveled up the Euphrates River to the land that God promised to show Abraham, which was Canaan. Many years went
by and Abraham still didn’t have any children.
Abraham told God he was going leave everything to his servant. God stated, “This man will not be your, heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir”(Genesis 15:4). God made a promise to Abraham that day. He made a covenant with Abraham that Abraham and his descendants would possess the entire land, the Promise land. Abraham went home and told his wife Sarah about the promise God has made to him. He told Sarah that God was going to give them a son. Sarah told Abraham that she was to old to have children and he should sleep with the maidservant. Abraham gave into his wife’s wishes and he had a son with his servant. His name was Ishmael. After, Ishmael was born God did not speak to Abraham for thirteen years. God came to Abraham and told him that he was going to make the father of many nations. Abraham laughed at God for saying such a thing because him and Sarah were too old to have children. Abraham asked God to allow Ishmael to be the promised son. God stated that he would bless Ishmael but the covenant would be made with their son Isaac. God told Abraham he would have a son by this time next year and then left. Abraham didn’t tell Sarah what had happened so God
did it himself. God came down with two angels to visit Sarah and Abraham. Sarah to laughed at God when he told her she would have a son. Time passed and Sarah did get pregnant and had a son and named him Isaac. Isaac had grown into a young man and God spoke to Abraham and told him to the region of Moriah. God said “ Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains” (Genesis 22:2). A burnt offering is when you burn the sacrifice as an offering to God. Abraham gathered his belongings, two servants, chopped wood, and Isaac set further for Moriah. Once they got to Moriah Abraham told his servants to wait, that him and his son were going to worship and come back to them. Isaac asked his father where was the lamb for the sacrifice and Abraham told Isaac that God would provide him with one. Once they made it to the alter Isaac allowed his father to bind him and place him on the alter. Abraham placed the knife at Isaac’s neck and that’s when God spoke to him. God told him not to touch Isaac and now he knows that Abraham fears him. That’s when Abraham saw the ram stuck in the bush. Abraham knew that God had provided the ram as the sacrifice and Isaac was sent free.

Ur:

The city of Ur was in the region of Sumer, southern Mesopotamia. It is now known as Iraq. It stands about 6 miles away from Euphrates and 150 miles from the sea. It was known as a small port city of the Persian Gulf. People of Ur traded with people on the gulf and other countries like India, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Ur was a great trade city due to the fact that it’s location was Tigris and Euphrates run into the Persian Gulf. Ur possessed great wealth due to it’s location for trade. Either a priest or priest-king ruled Ur. The people of Ur worshiped the Gods. The Ubaid people in 5000 BCE first inhabited it. In 3800 BCE, it was established as a city. Ur was the city where Abraham was born and lived before he left for Canaan. The fall of Ur started due to climate change and the over use of land. More people stated to move to the northern portion of Mesopotamia. Some of the others it’s stated that they went with Abraham when he left for Canaan. Ur started to decrease in size and importance due to the Persian Gulf receding further and further from the city. The city was continuously inhabited until around 450 BCE.

Citations:

Hindson, E. (2013). Getting Started: The Journey of Faith. In Courageous Faith Life Lessons from Old Testament Heros (pp. 17-31). Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG.

Hindson, E., & Towns, E. (2013). Genesis. In Illustrated Bible Survey. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group.

Mark, J. (2011, April 28). Ur. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/ur/