GENESIS
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS
Genesis is about beginnings— of the world, of humanity and of Israel. The book focuses on the early stages of God’ s relationship with humankind, as he sets a plan in motion to redeem the world. God chooses Abraham— known as Abram at the time— and his descendants to participate in this plan. The thrilling stories of Abraham and his family make up the majority of Genesis.
BACKGROUND
The name“ Genesis” comes from the Greek word meaning“ origins.” But there is great debate about the book’ s origins and the rest of the Pentateuch( the first five books of the Bible). While the text of Genesis does not identify its author, Jewish and Chris tian traditions ascribe the book to Moses( e. g., Lk 24:44). However, this does not necessarily mean Moses himself wrote the Pentateuch— it may simply be in the tradition of Moses, the first known writing prophet( Ex 20). The Pentateuch may use multiple sources, and multiple people may have added to it and edited it over time— with it reaching its final form in the fifth century BC. Even if Moses had a major hand in shaping this material, certain passages( such as the record of his death in Dt 34:1 – 12) indicate that it underwent at least some editorial revision.
STRUCTURE
Genesis can be divided into two sections. First, Genesis 1 – 11 is known as the primeval history; this section describes creation and its corruption by sin, with passages about humanity’ s fall
Ur? Harran
Tigris River
Mediterranean Sea
Euphrates River
Bethel
Shechem
Beersheba
Ur?
There is disagreement about whether Ur of the Chaldeans is a large city in southern Mesopotamia or a smaller city in northwest Mesopotamia.
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