Harris chapter 4 80-93

• Whom does Harris call the Tanakh's "true protagonist" and how is this character both "transcendent" and "imminent"
• How are the genealogies "symmetrical"?
• Describe the physics of the "firmanent" according to Figure 4.2.
• Does the Hebrew text support the idea that the world was created ex nihilo? Explain.
• What are some ways that J's creation differs from P's?
• Which talking animal in the bible, if any, is identified by J and other Tanakh writers as Satan? Explain.
• Unlike its neighbor cultures of Greece and Egypt, the Hebrew Bible says little about the afterlife. When does that change?
• Whose descendants create a "culture of violence"?
• What is the first of four biblical covenants?
• Who are the descendants of Shem, Ham,and Japeth?
• What do the journeys of Abraham and his progeny outline and anticipate?
• How do theophanies differ before and after the flood?
• How many versions of the Abrahamic covenant occur? Which one anachronistically (earlier /later than in reality) describes circumcision?
• According to Harris, what is the real crime in Sodom?
• What etiology explains the origin of Moab and Ammon? Why?
• According to box 4.5, how is the bible ambiguous on the subject of child sacrifice?
• Who is the only monogamous patriarch?
• Whose "strengths, weaknesses, and dymatic relationship to God" are like the character of Israel itself? What are some of those strengths and weakensses?
• Which episode in Genesis forms a coherent narrative, like a short story or novella? How does it end?

Genesis 25-36 (Jacob and his sons) plus blessing in chapter 49:

• Look up two of the following names in the Interlinear bible: Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, Israel, Bilhah, Rebekah, Sarah, Abram, Abraham
• What does Rachel mean when she says: "the way of woman is upon me"
• How do the sons of Jacob defeat the men of Shechem?
• Describe one of Jacob's two theopanies.