In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis

Henri Blocher

This book was recommended to me as an excellent book on anyone studying the first few chapters of Genesis. I was a little nervous when the first thing I saw was a “translator’s preface.” But, Blocher’s French made it into English without any disjointed or otherwise-confusing sentences. Also, the translator made a point of blocking off larger portions of the text that are “more specialist material and detailed argument that some readers will wish to pass over” (8), which makes the book more accessible to the average reader.

Blocher spends most of his time in the first three chapters of Genesis and then, in the last chapter, makes a whirlwind tour of 4–11, constantly seeking first to understand what those chapters meant to the original audience. As such, you will find a more detailed study of those three chapters here that nearly anywhere else. Of course, most people don’t want that detailed a study (i.e., 195 pages) of three chapters and will probably do just as well to pass on this book. Also, the book does presume that you have some introductory-level understanding of Genesis (e.g., the toledot structure), so if you want to tackle this one, you should probably read Longman’s volume first, and maybe a little more than that.

And, of course, on any book covering the first several chapters of Genesis, you are bound to find things in it with which you disagree. Such will certainly be the case in this volume. But even though I often found myself disagreeing with Blocher on some specifics of his interpretation, I found his scholarship very well thought out and worthy of considering. Also, I found much of what he said to be outstanding. In summary, I would recommend this book, but not to everyone. If you fit into the following two criteria, you’ll probably want to grab this volume: 1) You’re interested in doing a thorough study of Genesis and already have some knowledge of Genesis-specific terms and such, 2) You are able to read a book that contains things with which you disagree without casting everything the author says aside.

The Editors do not advocate everything taught by the authors of the books we review. Like us, these authors are fallible humans and those who choose to read these books should measure them by the bible, the one true standard.