Carol M. Kaminski (Ph.D., Cambridge) is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary Massachusetts, USA. She is the author of From Noah to Israel: Realization of the Primaeval Blessing After the Flood (T&T Clark, 2004).

• Introduction; 1. Methodology; 2. The Import of the Primeval Blessing; Chapter 1; Is The Dispersal In Gen. 9:19 To Be Interpreted Positively? 1. Introduction; 2. The Meaning of the Command to "Fill the Earth"; 2.1 Gen. 1:28 In its Literary Context; 2.2 The Repetition of the Primeval Blessing in Gen. 9:1 and 9:7; 3. Language used in Gen. 9:19; 4. The Meaning of the Verb Jpn in Gen. 9:19; 5. Early and More Recent Translations of Jpn in Gen. 9:19; 6. Translations of Gen. 9:19 in Commentaries; 7. Conclusion; Chapter 2; Are The Babelites Rejecting The Command To Fill The Earth? 1. Scholarly Views Regarding the Actions of the Babelites; 2. The Meaning and Import of the Conjunction /P# in Gen. 11:4; 3. Are the Builders Fearful of the Primeval Commands? 3.1 The Primeval Commands are God's Blessing; 3.2 Did the Babelites Perceive God's Blessing in a Negative Light? 4. Is the Scattering Motif to be Identified with Filling the Earth? 5. Conclusion; Chapter 3; Does YHWH's Scattering Noah's Descendants Fulfil The Primeval Blessing? 1. Scholarly Views of YHWH's Scattering Noah's Descendants; 2. Scattering and the Curses of the Mosaic Covenant; 3. Scattering and Judgment; 3.1 Jacob's "Scattering" Simeon and Levi in Gen. 49:7; 4. Lack of Attention to the Language of "Scattering"; 5. Is Scattering to be Understood Positively because of the Positive Context? 5.1 Does Jpn in Gen. 9:19 have "Positive" Connotations? 5.2 Is Jpn in Gen. 9:19 a Leitwort? 5.3 Does Jwp in Gen. 10:18 have "Positive" Connotations? 6. YHWH's Scattering the Babelites and the Primeval Blessing; 6.1 The Babel Story and the Exite; 7. Conclusion; Chapter 4; Is The Primeval Blessing Fulfilled In The Table Of Nations? 1. Scholarly Views of the Primeval Blessing in Relation to the Table; 2. Is Language from the Primeval Blessing used in the Table of Nations? 3. The Meaning of drp in Gen. 10:5 and 10:32,; 4. Translations of drp in Gen. 10:5 and Gen. 10:32; 5. Translations of drp in Commentaries; 6. James Moffatt's Translation of Gen. 10:5 and 10:32; 7. Gen. 10:5 and 10:32 in An American Translation; 8. Leupold's Genesis Commentary and Translation of Gen. 10:5 and 10:32; 9. Implications of English Translations for Interpretation; 10. Support for the Meaning of drp as "Separate" or "Divide"; 11. Conclusion; Chapter 5; The Primeval Blessing And The Shemite Genealogy; 1. The Placement of Shem's Genealogy in the Table of Nations; 2. Is the Reversal of Order in Gen. 10:1-32 Theologically Significant? 3. Presentation of the Secondary Lines First and the Main Line Last; 4. Presentation of Genealogies from Genesis in 1 Chron. 1; 5. The Main Line of Shem and the Primeval Blessing; 6. Identification of the Table; 7. Steinberg's Assessment of Gen. 11:10-26; 8. The Shemite Genealogy (Gen. 11:10-26) and the Primeval Blessing; 9. Structural Analysis: the Relationship of Gen. 5:1-32 and 11:10-26; 10. Conclusion; Chapter 6; Does The Primeval History End On A Note Of Judgment? 1. Introduction; 2. Chronological Considerations: Gen. 10:1-32 and 11:1-9; 2.1 Gen. 11:1-9 in Its Literary Context; 2.2 Are the Two Texts Reconcilable? 2.3 Is the "Dischronology" of Gen. 10:1-32 and 11:1-9 Problematic? 2.4 Divine Providence; 3. Does Gen. 10:1-32 Contribute to the Judgment-Grace Schema? 4. How Does the Primeval History Conclude? 5. Conclusion; Chapter 7; Does The Promise Of Increase To The Patriarchs Contribute To The Realisation Of The Primeval Blessing After The Flood? 1. Abram as the Goal of the Shemite Genealogy (Gen. 11:10-26); 2. The Primeval Blessing is Reaffirmed to Abraham's Progeny; 3. What is the Significance of the Promise of Increase Given to the Patriarchs? 3.1 Weimar's Approach; 3.2 Approaches of Scharbert and Harland; 3.3 God's Blessing on the Nations and His Blessing on Israel through Abraham; 3.4 The Outworking of the Primeval Blessing in Gen. 1-11; 4. The Promise of Increase to the Patriarchs Has the Divine Guarantee; 4.1 The Promise of Increase under Threat; 4.2 Does Sin Pose a Threat to the Realisation of the Promise of Increase? 4.3 God's Faithfulness to his Promise of Increase in spite of the Patriarchs; 5. God's Intention in Creation Advances through the Divine Promise; 6. Conclusion; Chapter 8; Realisation Of The Primeval Blessing Through Israel; 1. The Twelve Sons of Jacob as Recipients of the Promise of Increase; 2. Jacob's Twelve Sons: the Culmination of the Genealogical Schema; 3. Realisation of the Promise of Increase through Jacob's Twelve Sons; 4. The Primeval Blessing and Israel; 4.1 Reaffirmation of the Primeval Commands to Israel in Gen. 35:11; 4.2 Reissuing of the Primeval Commands to Noah (9:1) and Israel (35:11); 5. The Seventy Descendants of Israel (Gen. 46:8-27) and the Promise of Increase; 6. Initial Fulfillment of the Blessing to Israel in Gen. 47:27; 7. Conclusion; Chapter 9; Fulfilment Of The Primeval Blessing Through Israel (Exod. 1:1-7); 1. The Book of Exodus as the Continuation of Genesis; 2. Does Exod. 1:7 Introduce a New Section or Does It Belong to Exod. 1:1-6? 3. Exod. 1:7 and the Promise of Increase to the Patriarchs; 4. The Import of Creation Language in Exodus 1:7; 5. Exodus 1:7 and the Primeval Blessing; 6. Exod. 1:7: Fulfilment of the Primeval Blessing in Microcosm; 7. One or Two Fulfilments of the Primeval Blessing? 8. Execution of the Primeval Commands-through Scattering or a Promise? 9. Redemption Ensures that God's Creational Work Will Advance; 10. Blessing to the Macrocosmic World through Israel; 11. Conclusion; Conclusion; 1. Summary of Argument; 2. Implications for Further Study in Genesis

"Kaminski addresses the blessing aspect of the divine command by investigating the passage as a whole rather than its Yahwistic and Priestly components.... The argument in this book is clearly made, yet quite technical in approach." -The Bible Today, April/May 2006