“Although moderns tend to regard genealogy as a type of science—a cataloging of people according to precise biological relationships—it can also function as social science, or even as art. Biblical genealogies do not simply assemble real or purported facts. They interpret the world. And in Genesis they provide a framework essential for understanding the whole of the book and everything that comes after” (43).

Mbuvi, Amanda Beckenstein. Belonging in Genesis: Biblical Israel and the Politics of Identity Formation. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016.