Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis by James B. Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A brief review of the highlights of Genesis. I didn't agree with his take on every story, but many essays offer a worthy challenge to traditional interpretations. Jordan tends to be either way off base or really insightful.
Jordan sees things in the Bible that others don't. A good example is Genesis 15:1. God comforts Abraham by saying that God is His shield. I always wondered where this came from, but the passage just before it is the rescue of Lot. Abraham is afraid of Chedorlaomer's return. Abraham's survival and hold on the land is in danger. This new (to me at least) insight fits perfectly with the bigger redemptive-historical theme in Scripture: the promised line in danger.
Another example is the unleavened bread and Passover connection to the story of Lot leaving Sodom (Gen 19:3).
Jordan offers intriguing insights about culture, church and state. Sometimes it feels like those views are driving his reading of the text. But usually I got to the end and thought, no, that really fits with what the Bible itself says.
Each of the 12 essays is only 10-15 pages long. I read it in conjunction with my devotions through Genesis. This book is a helpful thought provoker as you read about Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, for instance, and wonder who was in the right and who in the wrong.
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