This book is not for people who want to hear how inerrant the Old Testament is. Rather it is a fine example of what true Theological examination looks like. Gerhard von Rad takes Genesis and dissects it into fine details. Rarely does von Rad overlook a single detail. Taking into account language, history, and literary device, von Rad deals with Genesis in a way that will open up the stories into a new light, revealing pictures you've never even noticed before. Theist and atheist alike will find this commentary very insightful and useful in their study of Genesis.

This book is an excellent resource for pastors. It is a commentary after the tradition of german higher criticism. I am an orthodox reformed pastor who does not submit to the presuppositions of higher criticism. However, using such a commentary allows me to gain insight into language and cultural issues of the text that might not otherwise come to my attention. Pastors and lay people without training in the origional biblical languages and intricacies of higher criticism should take great caution in utilizing a resource such as Genesis: A Commentary. Others with proper training will appreciate and benefit from Von Rad's excellent work.

I have found this to be a very reliable resource to understanding the cultural background of the Old Testament. For me it gives a new, deeper meaning to the events of the Bible. It is clearly written, and a great book to have to begin your OT study...if you can find it.

There were two monumental Old Testament theologies translated from German into English in the early 1960's. One was Walter Eichrodt's _Theology of the Old Testament_ and the other, arguably the superior, was Gerhard von Rad's _Old Testament Theology_.

Using a keen sense of form criticism von Rad showed how the Old Testament grew out of the experiences of ancient Israel. Historical event was followed by layering of theological interpretation. These were arranged by ancient Israel in a cultic confession.

Von Rad noted that the destruction of the Hexateuchal framework made the discovery of the early history difficult. But the matter was very different if one took into consideration that the sequence of events conformed to a "canonical schema of a cultic nature."

The pre-Mosaic ancestors of ancient Israel were not always worshippers of Yahweh. Genesis mentions cults of the ancestors such as the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, and the Strong one of Jacob. Confessional formulae of which Deuteronomy 25.6 is most important coalesced these diverse traditions into the historiography of the Old Testament.

This is the starting point of von Rad's _Old Testament Theology_.

This review refers to the 1962 edition of Gerhard von Rad's _Old Testament Theology: the Theology of israel's Historical Traditions_.