Lesson Thirty-One: Idioms from the Book of Genesis

c. By partaking of the forbidden fruit in Genesis, Chapter 3, humanity disregards limitations or boundaries. d. Ironically, man’s excessive desire to be like “gods” results in his loss of divine appointments. e. All the statements above are correct.

3. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. Ironically, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is indeed a source of power. b. The serpent speaks partial truths. c. Ironically, half of what the serpent says to Eve is reversed after she eats the fruit. d. Ironically, eating the fruit produces a sense of helplessness in the minds of the humans. e. All the statements above are correct.

4. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. After sin enters the world, nakedness in biblical text is a sense of helplessness instead of innocence. b. In Genesis, Chapter 3, humans are introduced to shame after grasping for divine knowledge independent of God. c. Ironically, the divine knowledge that they gain when their eyes open causes them to hide themselves. d. Ironically, the alteration of the relationship between God and humanity in Genesis, Chapter 3 extends to the man blaming God for what was originally meant to be a blessing. e. All the statements above are correct.

5. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. Disobedience affects mankind’s relationship with God. b. Ironically, disobedience disrupts the harmony between human and human. c. Ironically, the relationship between earth and humanity is disrupted in the Genesis, Chapter 3 narrative. d. Ironically, although humans are created from the ground, they lose the earth’s cooperation in yielding sustenance. e. All the statements above are correct.

6. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. The sin of disobedience causes the woman to take a subordinate role in the relationship with her husband. b. Ironically, in grasping for more than they already have, Adam and Eve lose their home in paradise. c. The serpent, ironically, is reduced to a shameful position of crawling on its belly in the dirt. d. Ironically, instead of experiencing physical death at once, the humans in the Garden of Eden become acquainted with fear and shame.

e. All the statements above are correct.

7. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. God admonishes Cain about his anger before he kills his brother Abel. b. Ironically, Cain has time to reconsider his murderous plan. c. Sin lurks with the intent to ambush humankind. d. Ironically, Cain takes course the course of sin by ambushing his brother in a field. e. All the statements above are correct.

8. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. Cain’s question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” in Genesis 4:9 has a sarcastic tone. b. Ironically, the obvious answer is affirmative; he is his younger brother’s keeper. c. Because of jealousy and anger, Cain fails perceive his true relationship to his brother as a “keeper.” d. The Hebrew term for “keeper” is a pun that relates to Abel’s vocation as a shepherd, or a keeper of sheep. e. All the statements above are correct.

9. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. Like Adam, Cain loses his vocation as a servant of the soil. b. Ironically, in Genesis 4:10, the soils becomes uncooperative and accuses Cain of his crime. c. Cain loses his home and becomes a wanderer. d. Ironically, Cain cries against the possibility of being murdered after he has killed his only brother. e. All the statements above are correct.

10. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a) As the story of humanity progresses, ironically, people increase in wickedness while obeying God’s command to increase in population. b) Cain’s murderous sin nature extends to Lamech (Genesis 4:23-24). c) The results of one ruptured relationship between the brothers in Genesis, Chapter4 expands to a tragically ironic pattern in God’s “good” world. d) Ironically, when humans claim divine privileges, they become “beastly” and strange. e) All the statements above are correct. 11. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. In biblical text, God is the only giver of life. b. The Babel narrative shows that excessive human aspirations produce evil. c. In the story of the Tower of Babel, unlimited human power and fame connote an air of illegitimacy.

d. Ironically, although they are created in the image of God, humans tend to increase in evil when they are given power and fame. e. All the statements above are correct.

12. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. The Flood narrative in Genesis, Chapter 6, depicts a “good” world that has gone astray. b. Chaotic waters are first introduced in the Creation narratives in Genesis 1 and 2. c. Ironically, the chaotic waters from the Flood serve a means of reestablishing order and “goodness” on earth. d. At the end of the Flood, when Noah tries to return to normalcy, he reintroduces sin when he becomes intoxicated. e. All the statements above are correct.

13. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. In the Flood narrative, the ground has a role in man’s trouble. b. Noah plants a vineyard and uses its produce to become intoxicated. c. The theme of nakedness that connects to the Creation narrative is associated with shame. d. Ham’s sin relates to his father’s nakedness. e. All the statements above are correct.

14. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. The curse of Ham affects Canaan, Noah’s grandson. b. For a while, God gives the descendants of Canaan the promised land. c. Canaan becomes “the land flowing with milk and honey.” d. Ironically, the descendants of Ham take part in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to Abraham. e. All the statements above are correct.

15. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. Verbal irony communicates the opposite of what is said. b. Dramatic irony derives from the fact that the character knows less than the reader. c. Ironical utterances can be said in the form of questions. d. In verbal irony, the speaker’s attitude is one of rejection or disapproval. e. All the statements above are correct.

16. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. The writer proposes that in Genesis 11:6, God ironically mocks the attitude of the people building the tower. b. The first eleven chapters of Genesis use irony to emphasize how God’s providential plan overrides the plans of men. c. The Book of Genesis uses irony in telling how God’s promises override human failure and fallibility.

d. Irony can be detected by the tone of one’s voice. e. All the statements above are correct.

17. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. An echoic utterance can be a form of irony. b. In literature, the use of irony can be difficult to detect. c. Dramatic irony is not present in any of the patriarchal narratives. d. Dramatic irony is particularly clear in the story of Joseph (50:20). e. All the statements above are correct.

18. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. Verbal irony is within the blessings that Jacob gives to his sons (Genesis 49). b. Jacob’s repeated action of choosing the younger son over the older, reinforces the theme of God’s plan to prevail over the customs and expectations of human culture. c. Ironically, Jacob’s final blessings over his sons and grandsons reflect his own way of gaining his blessing as a younger son. d. A writer’s use of irony in a text is usually implicit. e. All the statements above are correct.

19. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. An understatement (litotes) is an expression of lesser strength than what the speaker or writer means or than what is normally expected. b. An overstatement is an act of saying something more profoundly than it is. c. An overstatement is used to make a point more serious, important, or beautiful. d. In literature, writers use overstatement for the sake of humor, and for placing emphasis on a certain point. e. All the statements above are correct.

20. Select the statement that is INCORRECT. a. This is an example of an overstatement: “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” (Gen. 13:16) (KJV) b. This is an example of an overstatement: “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies…” (Gen. 22:17) (KJV) c. This is an example of an overstatement: “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.” (Gen. 28:14) (NIV) d. This is an example of a litotes: “And in the morning, behold, it was Leah.” (Gen. 29:25) e. All the statements above are correct.

For Reflection:

Read each of the following scenarios and reflect on the irony in each. Write a five-eight sentence response to the events/situations below about biblical irony. Edit your writing to remove errors. Post your responses on the discussion board. Label the reflections: Irony in the Book of Genesis.

1 God informs Abraham that his descendants will be strangers in a land that they did not own, and that their enemies will afflict them four hundred years. God also assures Abraham that He will judge the oppressive nation (Egypt) and that his descendants will come out with great possessions. How is this an example of situational irony? (Gen. 15:12)

2 Because of Sarah’s beauty, her husband Abraham who fears for his life tells Abimelech king of Gerar that Sarah is his sister. In fact, she is his half-sister. Abimelech takes Sarah into his harem, but God sends him a dream forbidding him to touch Sarah because she is Abraham’s wife. What is ironic about the way that Abraham behaves after receiving such great promises from God? (Gen. 20:3–7)

3 After Jacob deceitfully steals his brother Esau’s inheritance, he flees from his brother’s fury. In Genesis 28:12, Jacob dreams about a ladder reaching to heaven upon which angels ascend and descend. In the dream, God extends Abraham’s blessing to Jacob. What is ironic about God’s choice of people to fulfill His promise to Abraham? (Genesis 28:10-17)

4 In a dream, God reveals to Joseph that one day his family will bow to him in deference. Instead of giving Joseph honor, however, his brothers become angry and sell him into slavery in Egypt. After countless vicissitudes in his life, and through divine providence, Joseph’s dream comes to pass, and he saves his family from a severe famine. Based on the life of Joseph, how does God use irony to fulfill His plans for humans? (Genesis 37-50 )

A Closing Thought:

“The patriarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian dispensations, are evidently but the unfolding of one general plan.”

-Mary Hopkins