Summary of Cassuto's Commentary on the Book of Genesis

This is one of the great masterpieces of Jewish Bible scholarship. Cassuto is thoroughly original and always illuminating.

The opening part of Genesis is among the most difficult and misinterpreted sections of the Bible; Cassuto is a sure guide, explaining difficulties and resolving apparent discrepancies. He is a firm opponent of the Documentary Hypothesis, rebutting its arguments comprehensively. On the other hand, he never falls into the trap of slavish fundamentalist interpretation. It is a tragedy that Cassuto's commentaries only cover Exodus and part of Genesis, but for the limited area they cover they are essential reading.

Method

"Historico-philological" is a combination of the words "historical" and "philological" and is used to describe a relationship between history and the study of language and literature.

This methodology is distinct from homiletics, the art of preaching, In ancient Greek: ὁμιλητικός homilētikós, from homilos, "assembled crowd, throng" is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. While homiletics interprets Tanach in each age relative to the needs of that age, "every verse has its primary significance and ... merits our effort to determine its original intent."

Goal

"...arrive at the sense that the wors were meant to have for the reader at the time that they were written..."

Principles

1. Comparison with the sagas of the peoples of the ancient East, including Israel.

2. Identification of ancient Israelite traditions from parallel and later texts.

3. Comparison with leterary approaches of ancient Eastern cultures, especially Canannite cuture, see the essays on Canaanite and Biblical Litersture.

4. A study of the sources of the Book of Genesis, and a refutation of the documentary hypothesis. See Cassutto's book, La Questione della Genesi.

   
   

Purpose of Torah

A broad subject, but something that Cassuto covers with precision and great skill.

Chapter:1 to 2:3

The whole world and all that it contains was created by One G-d, according to His will, without constraint.

Comparison with the sagas of the peoples of the ancient East

This is in contrast to the concepts current among the peopes of the ancient East, Israel's neighbours, as summarized in the table below.

Torah	Peoples of the ancient East
One G-d	Many gods
No family tree	Theogony: origin of the gods, genealogy of the deities who preceded humanity
One will	Wars, strife, clash of wills
G-d who stands absolutely above nature	Deities associated with nature and identified with it wholly or in part

Related ancient Israelite sources

Other sources in Tanach allude briefly to the creation story. The terseness of these references indicates that a reader in ancient Israel was sufficiently familiar with the material to not require elaboration. The identification of patterns of poetic language indicates a "poetic tradition amongst the Israelites anterior to the Book of Genesis." The following table gives examples of poetic metaphors found across Tanach, but not in chapter 1 of Genesis, describing G-d's creation of the universe. There are common themes here, such as lines 1 and 8 where the verb נטה (stretching, spreading out) is used, likening G-d's creation of the sky to the spreading out of tent material.

	Source	Text	Terminology
1	Job 9:8	נֹטֶ֣ה שָׁמַ֣יִם לְבַדּ֑וֹ וְ֝דוֹרֵ֗ךְ עַל־בָּ֥מֳתֵי יָֽם׃ Who by Himself spread out the heavens, And trod on the back of the sea;	spread out the heavens
2	Job 38:4	אֵיפֹ֣ה הָ֭יִיתָ בְּיׇסְדִי־אָ֑רֶץ הַ֝גֵּ֗ד אִם־יָדַ֥עְתָּ בִינָֽה׃ Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? Speak if you have understanding.	lay the earth's foundations
3	Job 38:5	מִי־שָׂ֣ם מְ֭מַדֶּיהָ כִּ֣י תֵדָ֑ע א֤וֹ מִֽי־נָטָ֖ה עָלֶ֣יהָ קָּֽו׃ Do you know who fixed its dimensions Or who measured it with a line?	measurements; line
4	Job 38:6	עַל־מָ֭ה אֲדָנֶ֣יהָ הׇטְבָּ֑עוּ א֥וֹ מִי־יָ֝רָ֗ה אֶ֣בֶן פִּנָּתָֽהּ׃ Onto what were its bases sunk? Who set its cornerstone	bases, cornerstone
5	Job 38:7	בְּרׇן־יַ֭חַד כּ֣וֹכְבֵי בֹ֑קֶר וַ֝יָּרִ֗יעוּ כׇּל־בְּנֵ֥י אֱלֹהִֽים׃ When the morning stars sang together And all the divine beings shouted for joy?	Indication of a tradition concerning the creation of the world on a bright morning, whilst the stars and G-d's angels sang in praise
6	Isaiah 40:12	מִֽי־מָדַ֨ד בְּשׇׁעֳל֜וֹ מַ֗יִם וְשָׁמַ֙יִם֙ בַּזֶּ֣רֶת תִּכֵּ֔ן וְכָ֥ל בַּשָּׁלִ֖שׁ עֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֑רֶץ וְשָׁקַ֤ל בַּפֶּ֙לֶס֙ הָרִ֔ים וּגְבָע֖וֹת בְּמֹאזְנָֽיִם׃ Who measured the waters with a hand’s hollow, And gauged the skies with a span, And meted earth’s dust with a measure, And weighed the mountains with a scale And the hills with a balance?	measurements
7	Isaiah 40:21	הֲל֤וֹא תֵֽדְעוּ֙ הֲל֣וֹא תִשְׁמָ֔עוּ הֲל֛וֹא הֻגַּ֥ד מֵרֹ֖אשׁ לָכֶ֑ם הֲלוֹא֙ הֲבִ֣ינוֹתֶ֔ם מוֹסְד֖וֹת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ Do you not know? Have you not heard? Have you not been told From the very first? Have you not discerned How the earth was founded?	earth's foundations
8	Isaiah 40:22	הַיֹּשֵׁב֙ עַל־ח֣וּג הָאָ֔רֶץ וְיֹשְׁבֶ֖יהָ כַּחֲגָבִ֑ים הַנּוֹטֶ֤ה כַדֹּק֙ שָׁמַ֔יִם וַיִּמְתָּחֵ֥ם כָּאֹ֖הֶל לָשָֽׁבֶת׃ It is [God] who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, So that its inhabitants seem as grasshoppers; Who spread out the skies like gauze, Stretched them out like a tent to dwell in—	stretch out the skies like a tent

Bibliography

Commentary on the Book of Genesis

Canaanite and Biblical Litersture

La Questione della Genesi