Genesis

Which day is blessed by God? What does that day commemorate?

The seventh day (2:3). God blessed and sanctified it because on it He rested from all the work of creation; it commemorates the completion of the world. Compare Exodus 20:11.

What phrases are reiterated in Chapter 1? What teachings may be derived from these refrains?

“And God said … and it was so”; “God saw that it was good”; and “there was evening and there was morning, day …” (1:3–31). The refrains teach that the world came into being by God’s word alone, in deliberate order, and that it is good; after man is created, “very good” (1:31).

Why do you think Eve wanted to also involve Adam in her sin?

The text says only that she “gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” (3:6). Rashi, drawing on the Midrash (compare Bereshit Rabbah 19:5), suggests she did not want to die while Adam lived on and married another woman. Others see a simple wish to share what she believed was good.

In what way was the creation of man brought about in a different manner than all the other creations of God?

Only man is preceded by divine deliberation, “Let us make man” (1:26), and only man is made “in the image of God” (1:27) and given dominion (1:28). In the second account God forms him from the dust and breathes into him the breath of life (2:7).

Why was Cain jealous? What was his punishment?

God accepted Abel’s offering, from the firstlings of his flock, but not Cain’s (4:3–5). Cain was cursed from the ground, which would no longer yield its strength to him, and made a fugitive and a wanderer (4:11–12). God set a sign on him so that no one would kill him (4:15).

Why was eating from the Tree of Knowledge prohibited to Adam?

The Torah gives no reason; it is a command to be obeyed, with the warning “on the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (2:17). The serpent claims it would make them “like God, knowing good and evil” (3:5), and after eating their eyes are opened (3:7). The prohibition tested obedience; knowledge of good and evil was not man’s to take for himself.

Which man founded a city?

Cain, who built a city and named it after his son Enoch (4:17). The Hebrew could also mean that Enoch built it, but Cain is the usual reading.

Who were the NEPHILIM?

Beings mentioned just before the Flood (6:4); the same verse speaks of “the mighty men of old, the men of renown,” often taken to mean them. The name appears again for the giants seen by the spies (Numbers 13:33). Rashi derives the name from the root “to fall”: they fell, and brought the world down with them.

What made some Bible commentators suspicious of Noah’s righteousness?

Noah was righteous “in his generations” (6:9). Rashi cites both readings of the Sages (Sanhedrin 108a): some praise him, righteous even in a wicked age; others say that in Abraham’s generation he would not have stood out. His drunkenness after the Flood (9:20–21) added to the doubts.

What 3 incidents in the PARSHA show that mankind continued to sin even after the flood?

Noah’s drunkenness and Ham’s disrespect for his father (9:20–22); the building of the Tower of Babel (11:1–9); and Nimrod, “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (10:8–9), whom Rashi understands as leading people to rebel against God.

What verse(s) in the PARSHA illustrate the Torah’s warning about not following a majority to do evil?

“All flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth” while Noah alone was righteous (6:11–12; 7:1). At Babel, “the whole earth was of one language” and united to build a tower against God’s will (11:1–4). Compare Exodus 23:2, “You shall not follow a multitude to do evil.”

What are the 7 commandments given to all mankind (Chapter 9)?

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 56a) lists seven laws for all mankind: not to worship idols, not to blaspheme, not to murder, not to commit sexual immorality, not to steal, not to eat flesh torn from a living animal, and to establish courts of justice. Chapter 9 states two of them outright: flesh with its lifeblood (9:4) and bloodshed (9:5–6).

What reasons does the Torah suggest for the flood? What reasons does God mention to Noah?

The narrator: man’s wickedness was great and every inclination of his heart only evil (6:5), and the earth was corrupt and full of violence (6:11–12). To Noah, God names the violence: “the earth is filled with violence (ḥamas) through them” (6:13). Rashi reads ḥamas as robbery, which sealed the decree.

Which birds are mentioned in the PARSHA? In what context?

The raven and the dove, sent out to see whether the waters had dried (8:7–12). Birds of every kind also entered the ark (6:20; 7:14), and Noah offered clean birds on the altar after the Flood (8:20).

Who were the 3 sons of Noah?

Shem, Ham and Japheth (6:10).

Which sons did he bless and which did he curse? Why?

Noah blessed Shem and Japheth, who covered their father’s nakedness without looking (9:23, 26–27). He cursed Canaan, Ham’s son, because Ham saw his father’s nakedness and told his brothers (9:22, 25). The curse falls on Canaan, not on Ham himself.

What negative character traits are displayed by Lot?

He chose the well-watered plain of the Jordan for its wealth, though “the men of Sodom were wicked and great sinners” (13:10–13). His herdsmen quarreled with Abraham’s (13:7); Rashi says they grazed their flocks in other people’s fields. He shows no gratitude to Abraham, who had brought him along.

Why do you think Abraham needed a special assurance from G-d after his great military victory and return of the captives?

“Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (15:1). Rashi explains that Abraham feared the victory had used up the reward for his good deeds, or that he would be punished for the people he had killed. The Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 44:4) adds the fear that the sons of the slain kings would seek revenge.

What positive character traits did Abraham display?

Faith and obedience in leaving his homeland (12:1–4); generosity and love of peace in letting Lot choose first (13:8–9); courage and loyalty in rescuing Lot (14:14–16); and integrity in refusing the spoils of Sodom, “not a thread or a sandal strap” (14:22–23). “He believed in the Lord” (15:6).

Abraham is given the commandment of circumcision. How does the Torah emphasize the importance of this Mitzva?

It is called “My covenant” again and again (17:2–14) and an “everlasting covenant” (17:13). It applies to every male, born in the household or bought (17:12–13), and anyone left uncircumcised “shall be cut off from his people” (17:14). The new names Abraham and Sarah are given in the same chapter (17:5, 15), and Abraham carries it out that very day (17:23–26).

What was the reason that Abraham went down to Egypt?

There was a famine in the land (12:10).

Who greeted Abraham with bread and wine and blessed him?

Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High (14:18–20).

What is the difference between what G-d says to Abraham about Sara and what Sara said to herself concerning the birth of a child to the couple?

Sarah laughed and said, “After I am worn out shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” (18:12). God reports her words to Abraham as “Shall I really bear a child, when I am old?” (18:13), leaving out her remark about Abraham’s age. Rashi, following the Sages (Yevamot 65b), learns that one may alter the truth for the sake of peace.

What hints do we have that Isaac was aware of Abraham’s intentions as they journeyed to Mount Moriah?

Isaac asks, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?” (22:7), and Abraham answers, “God will provide the lamb … my son” (22:8). Twice we read “and the two of them went together” (22:6, 8). Rashi comments that Isaac then understood he was to be the offering, and still went on with his father in the same spirit.

The commentator Rashi calls attention to a number of Jewish values in the opening verses of the PARSHA. Can you detect at least 3?

Rashi points to visiting the sick, since God appeared to Abraham while he was recovering from circumcision (18:1), and to escorting guests, since Abraham walked with them to send them on their way (18:16). The verses also show hospitality: he ran to greet the strangers and had water brought to wash their feet (18:2–4). And as the Talmud notes (Bava Metzia 87a), “the righteous say little and do much”: he promised “a morsel of bread” and served a feast (18:5–8).

Who were the progenitors of Moab and Ammon?

Lot, through his two daughters, whose sons were Moab and Ben-ammi (19:30–38).

Who surrounded Lot’s house and demanded that his guests be sent out to them?

The men of Sodom, “young and old, all the people from every quarter” (19:4–5).

How did Abraham intercede for the inhabitants of Sodom?

He pleaded, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly?” (18:25), and asked that the city be spared for the sake of fifty righteous men, then forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty and at last ten (18:23–32).

Why is Chapter 23 a test of faith for Abraham?

God had promised Abraham the whole land (13:15–17; 15:18), yet when Sarah died he owned none of it. He had to call himself “a stranger and a sojourner” and pay full price for a grave (23:4, 16). He accepted this without complaint.

Which commandment (MITZVA) is emphasized at the beginning of the PARSHA?

Honoring the dead: Abraham mourns and weeps for Sarah (23:2) and takes pains to give her a proper burial (23:3–20).

What 3 significant details does the Torah relate about the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah?

Rebekah was asked whether she consented to go (24:57–58). She covered herself with her veil when she saw Isaac (24:65). Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, she became his wife, he loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death (24:67).

What differences can you spot between what happened at the well and Eliezer’s repetition of the story?

At the well he gave Rebekah the ring and bracelets and only then asked whose daughter she was (24:22–23); in the retelling he asks first and gives the jewelry afterward (24:47). He turns Abraham’s “my land and my birthplace” (24:4) into “my father’s house and my family” (24:38). He also leaves out Abraham’s insistence that Isaac must never be taken back there (24:6, 8).

Where was Sarah buried? How was the Cave of Machpelah purchased?

In the cave of Machpelah facing Mamre, which is Hebron (23:19). Abraham asked the Hittites for a burial site; they offered any of their graves, but he insisted on buying Ephron’s cave and field for its full price of four hundred shekels of silver, publicly, before witnesses (23:3–20).

How old was Abraham when he died?

One hundred seventy-five years old (25:7).

Why do you think that Isaac preferred to bless Esau first?

“Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game” (25:28), and Esau was the firstborn. Rashi (25:27–28) adds that Esau deceived his father with pious-sounding questions, such as how to tithe salt and straw. Some suggest Isaac saw in the active, worldly Esau qualities that he himself lacked.

What made Isaac suspicious that it was not Esau who came for the blessing?

The game was found too quickly (27:20); the speaker invoked God — “the Lord your God sent it my way” (27:20) — which Rashi says Esau would not have done; and “the voice is the voice of Jacob” (27:22).

Cite several examples of Esau’s sensitivity to the feelings of his parents.

He brought his father game and served him food (25:28; 27:30–31). When he saw that Canaanite women displeased his father, he married Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael (28:8–9). He put off revenge on Jacob until “the days of mourning for my father” (27:41). The Midrash says Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel never served his father a hundredth as well as Esau served his (Bereshit Rabbah 65:16).

What subtle but meaningful changes are there in Rebekah’s report to Jacob of the father’s words to Esau in 27:1-4?

Isaac said, “that my soul may bless you before I die” (27:4); Rebekah reports, “that I may bless you before the Lord before my death” (27:7), adding “before the Lord” and making the blessing weightier. She also drops Isaac’s words “such as I love” (27:4), and does not mention that Isaac asked for Esau to hunt the game himself (27:3).

Which incidents in the Torah indicate Isaac’s passive personality?

He is bound on the altar without a word of protest (22:9); his father’s servant chooses his wife for him (24); when the Philistines stop up and dispute his wells, he moves on and digs others (26:15–22); and he is deceived over the blessing (27).

Why did Esau sell his birthright to Jacob?

He came in from the field exhausted and hungry and said, “I am about to die; what use is a birthright to me?” He sold it for a pot of lentil stew — “so Esau despised his birthright” (25:29–34).

Compare the dreams of Jacob (28:12-22 and 31:10-13) and indicate what happened to him during the years he stayed with Laban?

The first dream — the ladder, the angels, and God’s promise of land, descendants and protection — comes as he flees, and Jacob vows to return (28:12–22). The second, about the speckled flocks, reminds him of that vow and tells him to go home (31:10–13). In between, over twenty years Laban deceived him and changed his wages ten times, yet God protected him and he grew wealthy and raised a family (31:38–42).

There is a biblical principle: “measure for measure”. How was Jacob repaid for cheating his brother Esau?

Jacob, the younger, took his brother’s place and deceived his blind father. Laban gave him the elder daughter, Leah, in place of Rachel and said, “It is not done in our place to give the younger before the firstborn” (29:25–26).

Can you suggest what happened to Jacob that he left home without means?

Jacob later recalls, “with my staff I crossed this Jordan” (32:11). Rashi (29:11) cites the Midrash that Eliphaz son of Esau was sent to kill him, spared him, and took all his possessions instead. More simply, he left in haste to escape Esau (27:43–45).

A well was an important place in patriarchal times. Indicate 3 events where a well was instrumental for the choice of brides.

Abraham’s servant found Rebekah at the well (24:11–20); Jacob met Rachel at the well (29:1–12); and Moses met Zipporah at the well in Midian (Exodus 2:15–21).

What happened at Mahanayim?

As he left Laban, angels of God met Jacob. He said, “This is God’s camp,” and called the place Mahanaim, “two camps” (32:2–3).

What covenant did Jacob make with Laban?

They set up a pillar and a heap of stones as a witness — Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha and Jacob Galeed — that neither would pass it to harm the other, and that Jacob would not mistreat Laban’s daughters or take other wives (31:44–54).

What is the significance of the change in name from Jacob to Israel in the episode where Jacob wrestles with some unknown adversary?

“Your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed” (32:29). The name Jacob recalls the heel and deception (25:26; 27:36). Rashi explains that it will no longer be said the blessings came through trickery, but openly and with honor.

What do you think was the reason that Jacob stayed in Shechem instead of journeying directly to meet his parents?

The text does not say. He had a large household and flocks to settle; he bought land and built an altar (33:17–20). He may also have hesitated to face his past at home. The stay led to the tragedy of Dinah (34).

Simon and Levi are severely chastised by their father for their treacherous act against the men of Shechem. How did they justify themselves?

“Should he treat our sister like a harlot?” (34:31).

Rachel dies giving birth to a boy. Where did she die, what was the new name of the locality, and what was the name of the boy?

On the road to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem (35:19). She named the boy Ben-oni, “son of my sorrow”; his father called him Benjamin (35:18).

Jacob came to visit his father Isaac. Where was Isaac living?

At Mamre, in Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron (35:27).

What error(s) of Jacob’s parents were repeated by Jacob?

Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob (25:28). Jacob likewise favored Joseph, giving him the striped coat, so that his brothers hated him (37:3–4).

Why does Jewish tradition label Joseph a TZADIK (righteous man) despite some of his faults?

He resisted Potiphar’s wife: “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (39:9). He credited God for interpreting dreams (40:8; 41:16) and forgave his brothers (45:5–8; 50:19–21). His youthful faults — bringing bad reports and telling his dreams (37:2, 5–10) — are outweighed by these.

What clues did Joseph have that the baker’s dream would not have a happy ending in contrast to the dream of the wine butler?

In the wine butler’s dream the butler himself acts, pressing the grapes into Pharaoh’s cup and placing it in his hand (40:11). In the baker’s dream he does nothing: birds eat from the basket on his head, and nothing reaches Pharaoh (40:17).

What law in the Torah is referred to in 38:8?

Levirate marriage (yibum): a man marries his brother’s childless widow to raise up offspring for the dead brother. It is set out later in Deuteronomy 25:5–10.

What essential differences are there between the way Potiphar’s wife relates the supposed attempt upon her by Joseph to her servants and to her husband?

To the servants she hints at her husband — “he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us” — and says outright that Joseph came to lie with her (39:14). To Potiphar she blames him openly, “the Hebrew servant whom you brought to us,” but drops the charge that Joseph tried to lie with her, saying only that he came to mock her and fled when she screamed (39:17–18).

Why did Joseph’s brothers want to kill him?

They were jealous of their father’s love for him (37:4), resented his bad reports (37:2), and hated his dreams of ruling over them: “Let us kill him … and we will see what becomes of his dreams” (37:5–11, 19–20).

How was Joseph chosen to interpret Pharaoh’s dream?

When Pharaoh’s magicians could not interpret his dreams, the chief butler remembered the young Hebrew who had interpreted his dream in prison (41:8–13).

What was Pharaoh’s dream and how did Joseph interpret it?

Seven lean cows swallowed seven fat cows, and seven thin ears of grain swallowed seven full ones (41:1–7). Joseph explained that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of famine, that the dream was doubled because God would do it soon, and advised storing grain in the good years (41:25–36).

How was Joseph rewarded by Pharaoh?

Pharaoh set him over all Egypt, second only to himself, and gave him his signet ring, fine linen, a gold chain and the second chariot. He named him Zaphenath-paneah and gave him Asenath, daughter of Poti-phera, as his wife (41:39–45).

Why didn’t Joseph inform his father that he was alive all those years?

The Torah does not say. Ramban (on 42:9) explains that Joseph was working to see his dreams fulfilled — all his brothers, including Benjamin, bowing to him — and so could not reveal himself sooner. Others suggest he wanted to see whether his brothers had changed before revealing himself.

Which brother was kept as a hostage to ensure that the brothers return to Egypt?

Simeon (42:24).

On his way to Egypt, why did Jacob pray to the God of Isaac and not of Abraham? (clue: Genesis 26:2,3)

God had told Isaac not to go down to Egypt (26:2–3), so Jacob, before leaving the land, turned to the God of Isaac, and God answered, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt” (46:3). Rashi (46:1) adds that one owes more honor to one’s father than to one’s grandfather.

Why did Joseph choose Simon as a hostage? Why not another brother?

Reuben, the eldest, had tried to save him (37:21–22; 42:22), so Joseph took the next eldest. Rashi (42:24) offers two reasons: Simeon was the one who cast Joseph into the pit and said to Levi, “Here comes this dreamer”; or Joseph wanted to separate him from Levi so the two could not plot together.

Suggest some motives for Joseph wanting his brothers to settle in Goshen.

Goshen had good pasture for their flocks (45:10; 47:6). Shepherds were abhorrent to the Egyptians, so living apart would keep the family separate and preserve its identity (46:34). It was also close to Joseph (45:10).

How does the Torah emphasize that the settlement of the Israelites in Egypt was to be temporary?

God promises Jacob, “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will surely bring you up again” (46:4). The brothers tell Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land” (47:4). Abraham had already been told his descendants would be strangers in a land not theirs (15:13–14).

Why does Joseph present only 5 of his brothers to Pharaoh?

The Torah does not say why (47:2). Rashi, following the Midrash, says Joseph chose the weakest-looking of them so that Pharaoh would not make them his warriors.

What do these 5 brothers tell Pharaoh? How is what they say different from what Joseph requested them to say?

Joseph told them to say they were keepers of livestock from their youth (46:33–34). They said, “Your servants are shepherds,” the very occupation the Egyptians despised, and asked to live in Goshen (47:3–4).

Give several reasons why Reuben, the first born, didn’t receive the rights and blessings of a first-born.

He went up to his father’s bed (35:22; 49:4). Jacob calls him “unstable as water” and denies him preeminence (49:3–4). The birthright passed to Joseph and leadership to Judah (1 Chronicles 5:1–2); Rashi (on 49:3) adds that the priesthood went to Levi.

Why did Jacob bestow a special blessing on Ephraim and Menasheh, his grandsons, and not on his other grandchildren?

Jacob adopted them as his own sons, like Reuben and Simeon (48:5), giving Joseph a double portion, the right of the firstborn (48:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1–2).

In what way does verse 49:4 indicate that Joseph lost some influence with Pharaoh?

The reference is probably to 50:4. Joseph did not go to Pharaoh himself to ask leave to bury his father, but asked Pharaoh’s household to speak for him. Sforno explains that a mourner in sackcloth could not come to the king’s gate (compare Esther 4:2); others see a sign that his standing had declined.

Why is Jacob’s body taken to Hebron soon after his death but Joseph’s body is not?

Jacob had made Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan (47:29–31), and Joseph, still in power, obtained Pharaoh’s permission (50:4–6). Joseph asked only that his bones be carried up when God redeemed Israel (50:24–25). Perhaps Egypt would not have released him; his coffin also stood as a pledge of the redemption. Moses took his bones (Exodus 13:19), and they were buried at Shechem (Joshua 24:32).

Why does Jacob tell Joseph about the death and burial of Rachel (48:7) at this particular juncture?

He is about to ask Joseph to bury him in Canaan (47:29–30), while he himself had buried Rachel by the road. Rashi explains that Jacob was answering Joseph’s unspoken complaint: he had buried her there at God’s command, so that she would weep for her children as they went into exile (Jeremiah 31:14).