Genesis: An Introduction
Torah — תּוֺרָה
Genesis is the first of the first 5 books of the Bible, called alternatively, Torah or Pentateuch.
Torah (תּוֺרָה) in Hebrew means 'instruction' or 'law'. Pentateuch (πεντατεύχος) in Greek means 'five-volumed (book)'.
Genesis — בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית
The Hebrew name of Genesis is בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית (bərēʾšît), which is the first word of the book, translated 'In the beginning'.
The term 'Genesis' derives from the Greek Septuagint title, γένεσις (genesis), meaning literally 'birth'; figuratively 'origin, coming into being'; and by metonymy (cause for effect) 'generation, issue, descendancy'. Thus, the title Genesis in English Bibles is a term that qualifies the book's genre as that of a genealogical narrative, which in large measure it is.
Authorship
(Enlarge image)
Image Caption: Moses Icon, St. Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai. Source: Category: Icons from Saint Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai
(Wikimedia) [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Icons_from_Saint_Catherine_Monastery,_Mount_Sinai]
Authorship of the Pentateuch is traditionally ascribed to Moses on the basis of
- faith communities' long interpretative tradition
- thematic consistency among all the books of the Pentateuch
By the 1st century AD, it was already customary to refer to the Torah as the "Law of Moses", but the first explicit Jewish attribution of Mosaic authorship is in the Babylonian Talmud (200 to 500 AD): "Moses wrote his own book and the section concerning Balaam." Later, rabbis explained that God wrote the Torah in heaven before the world was created, in letters of black fire on parchment of white fire, and that Moses received it by divine dictation, writing the exact words spoken to him by God.
Jesus attributed authorship of the Law generally to Moses (John 5:46: 'If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.'). This was a general attribution of authorship. Attributions of this sort would need qualification. Just as it's unlikely that Moses wrote those parts of Deuteronomy that speak from a vantage point west of the Jordan River ('across the Jordan' refers to land east of the Jordan in Deuteronomy 1:1, 5; 3:8, 20; 4:41, 49 — whereas Moses did not travel west of the Jordan [Deuteronomy 3:25-27]) and just as it's unlikely that Moses described his own death or other posthumous events (Deuteronomy 34), it's unlikely that Moses authored verses in Genesis that describe as already existing situations that occurred only after his death (Genesis 12:6; 13:7; 14:14; 36:31; 47:11).
When Deuteronomy 31:9-13 refers to 'this law' that 'Moses wrote' and gave to the Levites and elders to be read publicly during Succoth (Tabernacles) each Sabbatical year, it is difficult to say what form the law that Moses wrote had at that time. Some laws were added after Moses' death, such as laws concerning a city of refuge in the Half-tribe of Manasseh (Machir) east of the Jordan, following a migration that took place during the Conquest period (Joshua 17:14-17). These laws supplement the Mosaic grant to the transjordanian tribes of Reuben and Gad with a grant to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 32:33, 39-42), giving them too a city of refuge, Golan (Joshua 20:8; 21:27, 31; 1 Chronicles 6:71). Such post-Mosaic ammendments were needed to accommodate tribal movements and situation changes.
Assigning authorship to Genesis is a more difficult problem. Unlike attributions of Mosaic authorship to speeches 'Moses said' in other books of the Pentatuech, Genesis does not attribute Mosaic authorship to its narratives. With regard to Genesis, scholars have long noted ancient literary parallels to accounts in Genesis 1–11 that antedate Moses, yet these chapters and those that follow don't claim that it was Moses who received or revised these tradition accounts. Among the varied tradition accounts, there are characteristic uses of divine names — אֱלֹהִים 'Elohim' (1:1-2:4a; 12–22), יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים 'YHWH Elohim' (2:4b-25), יְהוָה 'YHWH' (12:1-3), as well as the occasional use of archaic names, such as אֵל 'El' (14:18), אֵל עֶלְיוֹן 'El Elyon' (14:18-20), אֵל שַׁדַּי 'El Shaddai' (17:1), אֵל רֳאִי 'El Roi' (16:13), אֵל עוֹלָם 'El Olam' (21:33) — these names are used differently among the various accounts of Genesis, which many have understood to indicate that there were diverse cultural origins for different accounts. Indicators of distinct tribal origins are worth noting; indeed, the book of Genesis shows explicit interest in the origins of nations (decendants of Noah's sons) and even counter-Israelite tribal traditions (decendants of Ishmael and Esau).
Since, Genesis ascribes no author to its constituent geneaolgies or episodic narratives, its contributors and final compiler remain anonymous. So, other than by faith ascribing authorhip of Genesis as a whole to divine inspiration, naming its specific human contributors with assurance remains beyond the reach of our present knowledge.
Oldest Manuscripts
The Septuagint (LXX), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, includes a translation of Genesis, was likely completed in the 3rd century BC. This is the earliest manuscript evidence of the Book of Genesis. It is likely that the Book of Genesis had already attained canonical status long before the Jews of Alexandria in Egypt saw value in translating and using it in Greek translation, so it is reasonable to push back the canonical form of Genesis by at least decades, if not centuries.
Image Caption: Dead Sea scroll fragment 4Q7 of Genesis 1:1-8. Source: Dead Sea Scrolls Archive [https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-archive/image/B-295096]
Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), the oldest Hebrew-language manuscripts of Genesis were Masoretic texts dating to the 10th century AD, such as the Aleppo Codex. Today, the oldest known extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century. The biblical manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls push that date back a full thousand years, to the 2nd century BC. (Wikipedia, Dead Sea Scrolls)
The DSS fragments cover a range of passages from the first half of the book of Genesis.
- Dead Sea scroll fragments 1QGen (1Q1) of Genesis 1:18–21; 3:11–14; 22:13–15; 23:17–19; 24:22–24
- Dead Sea scroll fragments 2QGen (2Q1) of Genesis 19:27–28; 36:6, 35–37
- Dead Sea scroll fragments 4QGenesis-Exodus, 4Q(paleo)Gena-m (4Q1-12), including 4Q7 of Genesis 1:1-8
- Dead Sea scroll fragments 6QpaleoGen (6Q1) of Genesis 6:13–21
- Dead Sea scroll fragments 8QGen (8Q1) of Genesis 17:12–13, 15, 18–19; 18:20–22, 24–25
Alphabetic Writing
Genesis Traditions in Protoalphabetic Script (19th to 11th centuries BC)
While Semitic peoples resided in Egypt, in the 12th Dynasty (19th Century BC), alphabetic writing was invented. This is a period contemporary with the emergence and rise of the Hyksos peoples in Egypt, beginning in the 12th Dynasty but reaching prominence in the 15th Dynasty (1650 to 1550 BC). The authors of the Hebrew family traditions that are preserved in Genesis spoke a Semitic dialect: Hebrew.
The proto-Semitic alphabet first appears in 19th-century BC Egypt and seems to have been borrowed from consonants adapted from Hieroglyphic writing. However, unlike the syllabic writing of Hieroglyphs, the earliest written form of Semitic languages from 19th-century BC Egypt and thereafter was alphabetic (limited mostly to graphemes representing phonetic consonants). So, it is possible that the earliest writing system used to form the ancestral records found in Genesis was alphabetic.
Image Caption: Proto-Canaanite or Proto-Hebrew Script: 19th to 11th Century BC. Source: The Serabit el-Khadim Sphinx (Codex 99) [http://codex99.com/typography/11.html]
Image Caption: Wadi el-Hol Inscription, 19th century BC. Source: Did Canaanites Create Hebrew Aleph-bet? (Blogspot) [https://e1b1b1-m35.blogspot.com/2013/01/did-canaanites-create-hebrew-aleph-bet.html]; cf. [https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7e4HIDnbXyn2lCg4UdqM1M8aPzHpTDdnLnGkbki1Erdl2kVnzC13-yqfMRs01KaSWVdkRdLH94BqrUuijMQ7_zvKf7X5kStMKD2tSBoIat_7b6-GdebZzguX4YBQuKwrZiZagPtmQWT5D/s474/scritt_06.gif] Cf. John Coleman Darnell et al., Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi el-Hol: New Evidence for the Origin of the Alphabet from the Western Desert of Egypt (AASOR, vol. 59, 2005, pp. 67-124) [https://www.scribd.com/document/491046450/Darnell-John-Coleman-Et-Al-Two-Early-Alphabetic-Inscriptions-From-the-Wadi-El-%E1%B8%A4ol-New-Evidence-for-the-Origin-of-the-Alphabet-From-the-West-59-Annual]
Image Caption: Wadi el-Hol Inscription, 19th century BC. Source: The Serabit el-Khadim Sphinx (Codex 99) [http://codex99.com/typography/11.html]
Image Caption: Serabit al-Khadim Sphinx, 1800 BC. Source: The Serabit el-Khadim Sphinx (Codex 99) [http://codex99.com/typography/11.html]
Image Caption: Mount Ebal Imprecation Text, folded lead tablet, 15th century BC. This curse tablet, on which ʾrwr 'cursed' occurs multiple times and the deity YHW twice, uses archaic alphabetic writing — older than paleo-Hebrew, says its discoverer, Scott Stripling. Source: Early Israelite Curse Inscription Found on Mt. Ebal (Haaretz) [https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-early-israelite-curse-inscription-found-on-mt-ebal-1.10696926]
Image Caption: Divine name yhw from Mount Ebal Imprecation Text, 15th century BC. Source: An Early Israelite Curse Inscription from Mt. Ebal? (Biblical Archaeology) [https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/A-schematic-rendering-of-the-name-YHW-in-the-Mt.-Ebal-inscription.-Courtesy-the-Associates-for-Biblical-Research..png]
Image Caption: Jerusalem Temple Mount Inscription, 11th or 10th century BC. Source: Precursor to Paleo-Hebrew Script Discovered in Jerusalem (BAS) [https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/precursor-to-the-paleo-hebrew-script-discovered-in-jerusalem/]
Owing to the period when traditions preserved in Genesis were first formed, and owing to the presence of 'national' Israel in Egypt from the 19h to the 15th centuries BC, it is reasonable to infer that, if passed on in written form, the earliest traditions of the Book of Genesis were likely scribed using an alphabetic form of Semitic writing.
Protocanonical Genesis in Paleo-Hebrew Script (10th to 7th centuries BC)
The Hebrew prophets and writings from the period of Israel's monarchy allude to accounts described in detail only in the corpus of Genesis (Ps 8 [creation of man to rule creation (Gen 2–3)]; Isa 1:9 [destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19)]; Isa 1:15 [Cain's murder of Abel (Gen 4:11-16)]; Isa 51:2 [the call of Abram (Gen 12:1-3)]; Ezek 33:24 [Abraham possessed the land (Gen 13:14-17)]; Ps 105:8-15 [wanderings of Abraham and Isaac (Gen 12–22)]; Ps 105:16-23 [Joseph in Egypt (Gen 39–49)]; Deut 26:5 [Jacob a wandering Aramean went to Egypt (Gen 25–49)]). The prevalence of mere allusions, not citations, may indicate that some accumulated form of the accounts we now find in Genesis was already known during Israel's monarchical period. Whether these accounts had during the monarchy been compiled into a unified written form similar to the form we now know remains to be proven. Still, it is reasonable to infer, that if such a written form of Genesis existed in the time of the monarchy, it would have been written using the paleo-Hebrew alphabetical script.
Image Caption: Early Paleo-Hebrew Alphabet, 10th century BC. Source: Jeff A. Benner, The Paleo-Hebrew Alphabet (Ancient Hebrew Research Center) [https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/ancient-alphabet/paleo-hebrew-alphabet.htm]
Image Caption: Tel Zayit Abecedary, 10th to 9th century BC. Source: The Tel Zayit Abecedary — c. 1020 B.C.E. (UASV Bible) [https://uasvbible.org/2025/10/26/the-tel-zayit-abecedary-c-1020-b-c-e/]
Image Caption: Gezer Calendar, ca. 925 BC. Source: Gezer calendar (Wikipedia) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezer_calendar#/media/File:Gezer_calendar_close_up.jpg]
Image Caption: Siloam Inscription, 8th century BC. Source: The Siloam Inscription (CityofDavid.org) [https://cityofdavid.org.il/en/the-siloam-inscription-eng/]
Canonical Genesis in Aramaic Script (5th century BC)
The earliest manuscript form of the Hebrew book of Genesis is written in Hebrew using an Aramaic-style alphabetical script. This form of Genesis derives from post-Exilic editorial work that took place under the direction of the priest Ezra, who performed temple services according to the Law of Moses after his arrival in Jerusalem in 458 BC (Ezra 6:18; 7:6). Later, in 444 BC, Ezra read from the Book of Moses / the Book of the Law of YHWH (Ezra 7:10; Neh 8:1; 9:5-8 [citing creation, Abram's name changed to Abraham, the land covenant (Gen 1; 12–22)]). From summary details, it would seem that the creation account of Genesis 1 and of the Abrahamic covenant of Genesis 17 was included in the reading of that occasion.
Image Caption: Aramaic Script: 5th Century BC. Source: Did ancient Hebrew come from the Aramaic language? (Quora) [https://www.quora.com/Did-ancient-Hebrew-come-from-the-Aramaic-language]
Image Caption: Nash Papyrus, 150-100 BC. Source: Nash Papyrus (Wikipedia) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Papyrus#/media/File:2nd_century_Hebrew_decalogue.jpg]
Early Hebrew Inscriptions
Literary Formation
Although no historical record in Genesis can have been written earlier than the events it describes, it certainly may have been written later. Some parts of Genesis derive from a period following Israel's conquest and some parts from conditions that inhere only after the period of Israel's monarchy.
Genesis 12:6
A narrative remark in Genesis that refers to Abram's time as a time when 'the Canaanite was then in the land' (Genesis 12:6) can only be construed as coming from a perspective when Canaanites no longer lived identifiably within the borders of Israel — something that likely occurred only after the Solomonic monarchy.
| ו וַיַּעֲבֹר אַבְרָם בָּאָרֶץ עַד מְקוֹם שְׁכֶם, עַד אֵלוֹן מוֹרֶה; וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי אָז בָּאָרֶץ׃ | 6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. |
Image Caption: Map showing location of Shechem, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim. Source: If I Could Teach the Bible (Wordpress) [https://ificouldteachthebible.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/map-of-shechem.jpeg]
Image Caption: Aerial view of location of Shechem (modern Nablus) between Mounth Gerazim and Mount Ebal.Source: Shechem: Two Mountains and a Deep Well (Jacob's Well, July 14, 2015) [https://sourceflix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Shechem-Pano-with-Text-4w-1600x.jpg]
Genesis 13:7 (between Bethel and Ai, Gen. 13:3)
A similar comment from the Genesis narrator notifies the reader of the narrator's historical vantagepoint after Canaanites and Perizzites ceased to live as recognizable groups within Israel.
| ז וַיְהִי-רִיב בֵּין רֹעֵי מִקְנֵה-אַבְרָם, וּבֵין, רֹעֵי מִקְנֵה-לוֹט; וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי אָז יֹשֵׁב בָּאָרֶץ׃ | 7 And there was a dispute between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite then dwelt in the land. |
Image Caption: Map showing location of Bethel and Ai.Source: Bethel (Bible Atlas) [https://bibleatlas.org/area/bethel.jpg]
Image Caption: Aerial view of location of Bethel and Ai.Source: Bethel Ai (Google Earth)
Genesis 14:14
When the Genesis narrator references Abram's pursuit of Lot northward to the locale of Dan, a situation that occurred during the period of the Judges (Judg. 17–18), it's evident that the narrator shared with his readers a historical vantagepoint long after the Danite migration was well known. The Danites settled Tel Dan (formerly Canaanite Leshem / Laish) in the late Bronze to early Iron Age transition, around the 12th–11th century BC (ca. 1150–1050 BC).
| יד וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם, כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו; וַיָּרֶק אֶת-חֲנִיכָיו יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ, שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת, וַיִּרְדֹּף, עַד-דָּן׃ | 14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. |
Image Caption: Map showing general location of Dan (Leshem).Source: Dan (Bible Atlas) [https://bibleatlas.org/full/dan.htm]
Image Caption: Map showing vicinity of Dan (Leshem).Source: Leshem (Dan) (Bible Atlas) [https://bibleatlas.org/leshem.htm]
Image Caption: Aerial view of Tel Dan.Source: Tel Dan (Google Earth)
Genesis 36:31
The Genesis narrator's reference to the existence of kings in Israel evinces a historical perspective that occurred after the rise of monarchy in Israel.
| לא וְאֵלֶּה, הַמְּלָכִים, אֲשֶׁר מָלְכוּ, בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם--לִפְנֵי מְלָךְ-מֶלֶךְ, לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ | 31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the sons of Israel. |
Image Caption: Map showing location of Edom, south of the Dead Sea.Source: Edom (Bible Atlas) [https://bibleatlas.org/edom.htm]
Image Caption: Satellite image and roads of Edom.Source: Bethel Ai (Google Earth)
Genesis 47:11
By a proleptic anachronism, the Genesis narrator refers to the place of Jacob's settlement in Egypt as the 'land of Rameses' though none of the contemporaries of Jacob and Joseph would have known a 19th Dynasty pharaoh Rameses II (ca. 1279–1213 BC).
Source: Ramesses II in hieroglyphs (Pharaoh.se) [https://pharaoh.se/ancient-egypt/pharaoh/ramesses-ii/].
| יא וַיּוֹשֵׁב יוֹסֵף אֶת-אָבִיו וְאֶת-אֶחָיו, וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אֲחֻזָּה בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ בְּאֶרֶץ רַעְמְסֵס--כַּאֲשֶׁר, צִוָּה פַרְעֹה׃ | 11 And Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. |
Image Caption: Map showing general location of Rameses (Avaris).Source: Avaris (Bible Atlas)
Image Caption: Map showing location of Rameses (Avaris).Source: Rameses (Bible Atlas) [https://bibleatlas.org/rameses.htm]
Image Caption: Aerial schematic of Rameses and Avaris.Source: Schematic of Rameses and Avaris (Patterns of Evidence: Exodus) in Joseph Tomb and Palace at Avaris (YouTube) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f2nqErmcJs]
Image Caption: Schematic of 12-column entrance to house in Avaris.Source: 12 Column Entrance (Patterns of Evidence: Exodus) in Joseph Tomb and Palace at Avaris (YouTube) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f2nqErmcJs]
Image Caption: Schematic of 12 tombs in courtyard at Avaris.Source: 12 Tomb Courtyard (Patterns of Evidence: Exodus) in Joseph Tomb and Palace at Avaris (YouTube) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f2nqErmcJs]
Literary Form
Two fibers weave the fabric of the Genesis tapestry: one of genealogy and one of episodic narrative. Together, these form a series of תוֹלְד֧וֹת (tôledôṯ) 'generational accounts' (Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1, 32; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 13, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2), which demarcate the main sections of the book.
The five generational accounts in Genesis 1–11 demarcate the six sections of the Primordial Saga about the origins of the world (describing the formation of nature and culture then the divine judgments on nature and culture).
Primordial Saga
(3 blessings)
(3 curses)
[HORIZONTAL GENEALOGY]
5:1-32
[VERTICAL GENEALOGY]
6:1-8
[EXPOSITION OF CONCENTRIC NARRATIVE]
Primordial Flood: Natural Cataclysm 6:9–9:29
[CONCENTRIC NARRATIVE]
Genealogy of Noah’s Sons 10:1-32
[HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL GENEALOGIES]
[CONCENTRIC NARRATIVE]
11:10-26
[VERTICAL GENEALOGY]
Primordial Lineage
Image Caption: Source: Family Tree of Adam (Wikipedia) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogies_in_the_Bible]
The six generational accounts in Genesis 12–50 demarcate the six sections of the Historical Saga about the fathers of national Israel (forecasting world blessing through their progeny and the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).
Historical Saga
11:27–25:11
[CONCENTRIC SAGA]
25:12-18
[HORIZONTAL GENEALOGY]
25:19–35:29
[CONCENTRIC SAGA]
36:1-8
[HORIZONTAL FAMILIAL GENEALOGY]
36:9-43
[HORIZONTAL NATIONAL GENEALOGIES]
37:(1)2–50:26
[PLOT-BASED SAGA]
Historical Lineage
Image Caption: Source: Family Tree of Terah (Wikipedia) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogies_in_the_Bible]
Genesis doesn't finish the story of Israel's role in bringing the blessing of salvation to the world; it merely begins it. Horizontal genealogies summarize tribal groups whose role in salvation history does not further the narrative of salvation history. Vertical genealogies form a continuous line from Adam to Joseph — a line that will continue to be traced among most books of the Bible until the birth of Yeshua (Jesus), the Lamb of God (Genesis 22:6-8, 14-18; Isaiah 53:7; 1 Peter 1:19; John 1:29, 36; 1 John 2:2) and the founder of a new blood covenant with Israel and all nations (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 49:1-7; 56:1-8; 59:21; Jeremiah 31:31-40; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8; 9:11-15; 10:11-18).
Rhetorical Rationale
As a rhetorical work, Genesis is a genealogical episodic narrative of the emergence of a family that would become a nation, the nation Israel. God, the creator and judge of the whole earth, is the god who called Abram to the land of Caanan to form there a people who would become the conduit of divine blessing for the whole world. Israel's unique prophetic call to stand apart from other people's of the world and its perpetual right to the land promised by God are among the central themes of Genesis as a whole, offering a divine rationale for the statehood of Israel, its conquest of foreign nations in the promised land, and its defense against foreign nations who threaten its existence from without.
These divinely instituted themes justify Israel's national existence to this day. Long since Genesis was composed, Israel as a people has undergone threats from within and without that have attempted to undo God's plan of world redemption as revealed in Genesis. Whether they serve as types or antetypes, human characters and relationships in the book of Genesis are often archetypal and serve as paradigms of virtue or vice for succeeding generations. In distinction from other books of the Pentateuch, which nest legal prescriptions into narrative, Genesis is more descriptive narrative, accounting for the origin of creation, society, divine judgment, and the emergence of God's program of world redemption through the seed of Abraham in the promised land. While Genesis doesn't enjoin the call to follow YHWH's law found in other books of the Pentateuch, Genesis still counts as a worldview forming revelation, establishing principles, practices, and paradigms of virtue that call its readers to believe its claims about the divine origin of the world, of social norms and values (marriage and family), of ethnic distinctions, and of acceptable ways by which people can relate to the one eternal and holy god.