The Shape of Primeval J at the Moment of Compilation

There is widespread agreement that the components of the Primeval Story (Genesis 1:1-11:27) fall into two separate narrative complexes, with minimal editorial transitions. Dividing the texts into Primeval P and Primeval J (or non-P) yields two accounts of the distant past that each set the stage for the emergence of the Israelite ancestors. While identification of the components of Primeval J has reached a near consensus, the question of order has received too little attention. The current order of the J elements in Genesis has been the default starting point, perhaps because this seems true of the P elements. The discussion below begins differently, by asking what order produces the most coherent plot. The primary result of this process is the placement of the flood story near the end of the account, while producing a central sequence of texts: Cain and the development of human civilization (4:17-25), the intervention of divine beings (6:1-4), the career of Nimrod (10:8-12), the demise of Babylon (11:1-9).