Overview of the Book
The book of Genesis is the very first book of the Hebrew Scripture, known as ‘The Old Testament,’ as well as the Christian Scripture, known as ‘The Bible’. The book serves as an essential introduction to the entire bible. The book unveils the answer to the natural question of ‘what is the origin of everything in the universe?’ For example, this book answers questions relating to the creation of the universe and the creation of Adam and Eve. Although the book is written in the form of a narration, starting from creation of the universe to the death of Joseph, it is the foundation and the one of the most important segments of God’s Word. A comprehensive study of this book is crucial because it helps us to not only answer the fundamental questions regarding our origin, existence, and our faith in God, but also help us to understand the central theme and message of the entire Bible.
Title of the Book
The title of the book in Hebrew — בְּרֵאשִׁית (Bereshith) — is taken from the first word of the book that is translated in English as ‘In the beginning.’ The term γένεσις, gheneseos, recorded as ‘Genesis’ in the English Bible is the Greek translation of the Hebrew title בראשית, which means the origin, birth, lineage, creation or beginning of something. Thus, the title ‘Genesis’ stands for βίβλος γενέσεως ‘The book of beginnings.’ The following is a sample text from each stage in translation:
בְּרֵאשִׁית 1:1, בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ (read from right to left)
Bereshith 1:1 B’rëshiyt Bärä élohiym ët haSHämayim w’ët hääretz (read from left to right)
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning Élöhîm ( אֱלֹהִים ) created the heaven and the earth.
The Authorship, Date of writing, and the Recipients of the book
There is no internal or external evidence to affirm the authorship of Genesis because the author’s name is not mentioned in the book itself. Nonetheless, most of the Old Testament writers agree that the ‘Torah/The Law/Pentateuch’ (the first five books of the Bible – from Genesis to Deuteronomy) is written by Moses (1 Kings 2:3; Ezra 6:18; Daniel 9:11-13). Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch can be recognized based on each book’s harmony with the rest of the books. Although, there is not much historical evidence to verify Moses’ authorship of Genesis, many ancient Jewish writers, New Testament writers, and the early Church Fathers portrayed Moses as the author of Genesis. Evidence can be seen in the following scriptures, Matthew 19:4-6; Luke 11:51; John 7:21-23).
It is believed that the book of Genesis is written sometime between BC 1445 and 1405, which was probably the last 40 years of Moses’ life¹. The original recipients of the book were the twelve tribes of Israel, specifically the Exodus generation. However, the teachings and themes of the book are applicable to all generations thereafter.
Purpose of Writing
The purpose of the book is for God to reveal Himself and His plans to humanity and to provide His perspectives about His plans for His creation. Therefore, the book very specifically records creation from beginning till the end: creation of the universe, the beginnings of human history, marriage, the fall and reconciliation, the founding of cities (Genesis 5 & 10), languages (Genesis11:6-7), God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other Patriarchs, and the formation of the nation of Israel (Genesis 15:1-21; 17:4-14).
Key Characteristics of the Book
- The book of Genesis is placed as the first book in the Bible according to the chronological order (there are arguments still in effect that the book of Job was the first-ever written book in the Bible)
- Genesis is the book of beginnings or the record of firsts happenings. There are numerous to mention but just a few are mentioned below due to the lack of time and space:
-First mentioning of God [In the beginning God …] (Genesis 1:1)
-First substance created (Genesis 1:1)
-First humans (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7, 18, 21-22)
-First Job Description (Genesis 1:27-29; 2:15)
-First Commandment with a warning (Genesis 2:8-9; 15-17)
-First marriage (Genesis 2:18-25)
-First sin (Genesis 3:1-14)
-First Gospel Message (Genesis 3:15)
-First announcement of the Redeemer (Genesis 3:15)
-First Judgement/Punishment (Genesis 3:14-19; 23-24)
-First delivery [childbirth] (4:1-2)
-First Extended family (Genesis 5:1-5),
-First Sacrifice (Genesis 3:21; 4:4)
-First Worship Service with an Offering (Genesis 4:3-4)
-First Prayer (Genesis 4:26)
-First Murder 4:8)
-First Polygamist (Genesis 4:19-23)
-First City builder (Genesis 4:17)
-First musician (Genesis 4:21)
-First Person/s to enter heaven (Genesis 4:8, 10; 5:21-24),
-First Flood and Massive Destruction (Genesis 7:17-23)
-First God-fearing Family (Genesis 5:32; 6:9; 7:1,7,13; 8:16,18; 9:1)
-First Covenant with a visible sign (Genesis 9:8-17),
-First person to be called and separated by God for a Cause (Genesis 12:1-3)
- Genesis shows that the world and life on earth has not come into existence by chance or as the result of the nature’s process but exclusively as a result of God’s creative work
- The key subject-matter of the first two chapters of the book is God and His creation work
- The book highlights God’s covenant with Abraham
-The call of Abraham (in Genesis 12:1-3)
-The call of Abraham confirmed (Genesis 15)
-The call of Abraham established (Genesis 17 & 22)
-The covenant re-established with Isaac (Genesis 26: 2 – 5).
-The covenant re-affirmed and ratified with Jacob (Genesis 35-37)
-The Preparation of Joseph to preserve the children of Israel (Genesis 42)
-The journey of Jacob, his sons, and the household to Egypt (Genesis 46)
Major Teachings of the Book
The book portrays God as the Creator God, Covenant making God, Redeemer God, Almighty God, and Most high God. Man is portrayed as created by God in His image and likeness, but due to man’s disobedience of God’s commands, Man lost the image and likeness of God that was present in them. However, God took initiative to reconcile Himself with them and brought them back to Himself through His grace (Genesis 6:8, 9) and made them ‘the friend of God’ (James 2:23).
The book has two major divisions: (i) The first division describes the beginning of the universe and the beginning of human history from Adam to Abram (Genesis 1 – 11); (ii) the second division mainly focuses on the origin and the formation of the Hebrew people (Genesis 12 – 50).
(I) The first major division is divided again into five sub-divisions:
(a) Creation (Genesis 1 – 2): God’s creation of the universe including the first humans
(b) The Fall (Genesis 3): Sin entered into the human world because of Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience of the Word of God.
(c) The lives of Cain and Abel: Two basic divisions of human history developed as a result of Cain’s attitude towards Abel: (1) Human Civilization, and (2) The Redemptive Remnant (Genesis 4 – 5):
(d) The Flood (Genesis 6 – 10): God destroyed the ancient world, including humanity, through a flood because of human sin, but saved Noah and his family as a remnant since Noah walked righteously before God.
(e) The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11): The tower of Babel represents the unification of the post-flood world through idolatry and rebellion against God
(II)The second major division (Genesis 12-50) is divided again into four sub-divisions. These divisions highlight the lives of Israel’s four founding patriarchs and their descendants through whom God has been working to bring forth ‘The Redeemer’ of mankind. They are as follows:
(a) The life of Abraham: the call and covenant of God (Genesis 12:1 – 25:18)
(b) The life of Isaac: the promised son of Abraham (Genesis 25:19 – 28:9)
(c) The life of Jacob and his family (Genesis 28:10 – 37:2)
(d) The life of Joseph and his brothers’ lives in Egypt (Genesis 37:3 – 50:26)
In addition to the above mentioned major teachings, it is understandable that most of the major doctrines in the Bible have their origin and development from the book of Genesis.²
The Relationship between Genesis and Jesus Christ
Genesis reveals the prophetic history of a Redeemer and the deliverance of humanity from the grip of Satan and sin:
- Through the offspring of the woman (Genesis 3:15)
- Through the line of Seth (Genesis 4:25-26)
- Through the line of Shem (Genesis 9:26-27)
- Through the descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3)
- Through Judah (Genesis 49: 8 – 12)
- The prophecy of the Redeemer’s coming was fulfilled with the coming of Christ Jesus (Matthew 1:1; John 8:58; Galatians 3:16, 29)
Elaboration (of the superscripts)
The first phase of Moses’ life was in Egypt as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (the first 40 years of his life); the second phase his life was in Midian as a shepherd in the household of Jethro the Priest of Midian (the second 40 years of his life); and the third phase of his life was traveling through the wilderness (between Egypt and Canaan, that is, from Rameses in Egypt [Numbers 33:3,5] to the top of Pisga on Mount Nebo on the plains of Moab, across Jericho [Deuteronomy 34:1, 5]) as the deliverer, leader, and the law giver of the Hebrew people (the last 40 years of his life). Moses lived a total of one hundred and twenty years of age (Deuteronomy 34:7).
For instance: Bibliology – the study about the Word of God; Theology Proper – the study of the doctrine of God; Angelology – the study of the angelic beings; Anthropology – the study of mankind; Hamartiology – the study of sin; Christology – the study Christ Jesus; Soteriology – the study of Salvation; Pneumatology – the study of the Holy Spirit; Ecclesiology – the study of the Church; Eschatology- the study of the end times.