Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/230

 views as to the character of the patriarchs. But that is at best a doubtful hypothesis, and could only apply to three or four of the number. It is quite probable that if we had the continuation of J's Sethite genealogy, its names would be found to correspond closely with those of ch. 5.—The chronology, on the other hand, is based on an artificial system, the invention of which may be assigned either to P or to some later chronologist (see p. 136 below).—What is thoroughly characteristic of P is the framework in which the details are set. It consists of (a) the age of each patriarch at the birth of his first-born, (b) the length of his remaining life (with the statement that he begat other children), and (c) his age at death. The stiff precision and severity of the style, the strict adherence to set formulæ, and the monotonous iteration of them, constitute a somewhat pronounced example of the literary tendencies of the Priestly school of writers.

The distinctive phraseology of P is seen most clearly in vv.$3$, which, however, may be partly composed of glosses based on 1$22. 24$ (see on the vv.). Note also ($28. 29$), , ($1b. 2$), (throughout),  ($26ff.$, cf. 6$1a$); the syntax of the numerals (which, though not peculiar to P, is a mark of late style: see G-K, § 134 i; Dav. § 37, R. 3); the naming of the child by the father ($3$).—The one verse which stands out in marked contrast to its environment is $22. 24$, which is shown by the occurrence of the name and the allusion to 3$9$ to be an extract from J, and in all probability a fragment of the genealogy whose first links are preserved in 4$3$.

"The aim of the writer is by means of these particulars to give a picture of the increasing population of the earth, as also of the duration of the first period of its history, as conceived by him, and of the longevity which was a current element in the Heb. conception of primitive times" (Dri. Gen. p. 75). With regard to the extreme longevity attributed to the early patriarchs, it must be frankly recognised that the statements are meant to be understood literally, and that the author had in his view actual individuals. The