Книга бытия как пишется

У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Бытие (значения).

Бытие
בְּרֵאשִׁית (Бе-решит — «В начале»)
Сотворение света
Автор:	Моисей
Жанр:	Священное Писание
Язык оригинала:	древнееврейский
Серия:	Библия / Ветхий Завет / Пятикнижие
Следующая:	Исход

Бытие́ (ивр. בְּרֵאשִׁית‎, Бе-реши́т — «В начале»; лат. Genesis; др.-греч. Γένεσις — «Происхождение»; тж. «Первая книга Моисея») — первая книга Пятикнижия (Торы), Ветхого Завета и всей Библии. Содержание книги составляют предания о происхождении мира, древнейшей истории человечества и происхождении еврейского народа. Повествование начинается с Сотворения мира и человека и заканчивается смертью Иосифа в Египте. Состоит из пятидесяти глав.

Название

Еврейское название книги, так же как и у других книг Торы, дано по первому значимому слову. В талмудической литературе эта книга часто называется «ספר מעשה בראשית» (Сефер маасе берешит) — «Книга начала бытия», откуда происходит название этой книги в большинстве переводов Библии. В Талмуде^[1] называется также «Сефер а-яшар» (букв. «Прямая книга»), в честь праотцов, которые были «прямыми» (то есть честными с людьми и преданными Богу). Некоторые средневековые рукописи употребляют также название «Сефер ришон» («Первая книга») или «Сефер бриат а-олам» («Книга сотворения мира»).

Содержание книги

Книга делится на две основные части:

1. история человечества до патриархов (главы 1—11), заключает в себе как бы универсальное введение во всемирную историю, поскольку касается исходных пунктов и начальных моментов первобытной истории всего человечества.
2. история патриархов и их семей (главы 12—50), описывает историю зарождения еврейского народа в лице его родоначальников — патриархов Авраама, Исаака и Иакова.

Сотворение мира

Грехопадение

Допотопные времена

Всемирный потоп

Таблица народа

Разделение книги на недельные главы

1. Берешит (1:1—6:8)
2. Ноах (6:9—11:32)
3. Лех леха (12:1—17:27)
4. Ваера (18:1—22:24)
5. Хаей Сара (23:1—25:18)
6. Толдот (25:19—28:9)
7. Ваеце (28:10—32:3)
8. Ваишлах (32:4—36:43)
9. Ваешев (37:1—40:23)
10. Микец (41:1—44:17)
11. Ваигаш (44:18—47:27)
12. Ваехи (47:28—50:26)

Происхождение книги с точки зрения богословия

Христианский богослов А. П. Лопухин писал, что подлинность книги Бытия имеет как внутренние, так и внешние основания^[2].

• К внутренним доказательствам, прежде всего, относится язык, которым написана книга: он отмечен глубокой древностью, в тексте постоянно встречаются библейские архаизмы.
• К внешним доказательствам относится согласие данных Библии с информацией из различных внешних естественнонаучных^{[источник не указан 666 дней]} и древне-исторических научных источников. Изучение текста книги Бытие в сопоставлении с письменными памятниками других народов Древнего Переднего Востока и данными археологии свидетельствует о глубокой древности этой книги.
  • Так, доказана связь патриархов с Месопотамией, в особенности с Хараном, в период, предшествовавший завоеванию Ханаана израильтянами, то есть до 1200 г. до н. э., что подтверждается, в частности, совпадением имен предков патриархов с топонимами в округе Харана. С возвращением Иакова в Ханаан эта связь неожиданно прерывается.
  • Противоречия между данными истории евреев после заселения ими Ханаана и повествованием Бытия о сынах Иакова могут быть объяснены только тем, что это повествование сохранило достоверные фрагменты ранней истории отдельных еврейских племен. Так, Рувим назван первенцем Иакова, его имя всегда занимает почетное место в списках Израилевых колен, хотя в эпоху после патриархов колено Рувима уже не играло господствующей роли в истории Израиля; Левий изображен в Бытии безжалостным воином, что противоречит известному нам по последующим книгам Библии статусу левитов как служителей культа, не игравших никакой роли в завоеваниях.

См. также

• Энума элиш
• Первый человек
• Праотцы

Примечания

Литература

• Классические библейские комментарии: Книга Бытия. Сборник переводов с древнееврейского, арамейского и средневекового иврита. — М.: Олимп, 2010. — 700 c. — 1000 экз. — ISBN 978-5-7390-2468-8
• Фаст Геннадий. Этюды по Ветхому Завету. Руководство к изучению Священного Писания. — Красноярск: Енисейский благовест, 2007. — Т. 1. — 352 с.

Ссылки

	бытие в Викисловаре?
	Книга Бытия в Викицитатнике?
	Бытие в Викитеке?
	Category:Book of Genesis на Викискладе?

• Зайцев Д. В. Бытие // Православная энциклопедия. Том VI. — М. : Церковно-научный центр «Православная энциклопедия», 2003. — С. 412-428. — 752 с. — 39000 экз. — ISBN 5-89572-010-2
• Бытие — статья из Электронной еврейской энциклопедии
• Книга Брейшит. Предисловие к изданию Сончино.
• Bereshit  (англ.) (иврит)
• Берешит на иврите с переводом на англ.
• Пятикнижие Моисеево. Книга Бытия
• Прослушать Книгу Бытие. Читает Nikolai Digalo  (ст.-слав.)

Книги Танаха
Пятикнижие Торы	Бэ-решит  • Шмот  • Ва-йикра  • Бэ-мидбар  • Дварим
Пророки	Йешуа  • Шофтим  • Шмуэль Алеф  • Шмуэль Бет  • Млахим Алеф  • Млахим Бет  • Йешайяху  • Ирмияху  • Йехезкель  • Хошеа  • Йоэль  • Амос  • Овадья  • Йона  • Миха  • Нахум  • Хавакук  • Цфания  • Хагай  • Зехарья  • Мала’хи
Писания	Тегилим  • Мишлей  • Иов  • Шир ха-Ширим  • Рут  • Эйха  • Кохэлет  • Эстер  • Даниэль  • Эзра  • Нехемия  • Диврей ха-ямим (Алеф/Бет)

Книги Ветхого Завета
Пятикнижие	Бытие • Исход • Левит • Числа • Второзаконие
Исторические	Иисуса Навина • Судей Израилевых • Руфь • Самуила (1-я Царств • 2-я Царств) • 3-я Царств • 4-я Царств • Паралипоменон (1-я • 2-я) • Ездры (1-я • 2-я* • 3-я*) • Неемии • Товита* • Юдифи* • Есфирь
Учительные	Иова • Псалтирь • Притчей Соломоновых • Екклесиаста • Песни Песней • Премудрости Соломона* • Премудрости Иисуса, сына Сирахова*
Пророков	Исаии • Иеремии • Плач Иеремии • Послание Иеремии* • Варуха* • Иезекииля • Даниила • Осии • Иоиля • Амоса • Авдия • Ионы • Михея • Наума • Аввакума • Софонии • Аггея • Захарии • Малахии • Маккавейские* (1-я* • 2-я* • 3-я*)
Знаком * отмечены второканонические книги

The Book of Genesis (from Greek Γένεσις, Génesis; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית Bəreʾšīt, «In [the] beginning») is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.^[1] Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit («In the beginning»). Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and of Israel’s ancestors and the origins of the Jewish people.^[2]

Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy; however, modern scholars, especially from the 19th century onward, place the books’ authorship in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, hundreds of years after Moses is supposed to have lived.^[3][4] Based on scientific interpretation of archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence, most mainstream Bible scholars consider Genesis to be primarily mythological rather than historical.

It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50).^[5] The primeval history sets out the author’s concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind’s relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for mankind, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, sparing only the righteous Noah and his family to re-establish the relationship between man and God.^[6] The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God’s chosen people.^[7] At God’s command, Noah’s descendant Abraham journeys from his birthplace (described as Ur of the Chaldeans and whose identification with Sumerian Ur is tentative in modern scholarship) into the God-given land of Canaan, where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob’s name is changed to «Israel», and through the agency of his son Joseph, the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus (departure). The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all mankind (the covenant with Noah) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob).^[8]

In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centres on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land.

Title[edit]

The name Genesis is from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek Γένεσις, meaning «origin»; Biblical Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, romanized: Bərēšīṯ, «In [the] beginning».^[9]

Composition[edit]

For much of the 20th century, most scholars agreed that the five books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—came from four sources: the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. Known as the documentary hypothesis, each source was held to tell the same basic story, with the sources later joined together by various editors.^[10] Since the 1970s, however, there has been a revolution in this line of thought, leading scholars to view the Elohist source as no more than a variation on the Yahwist, and the Priestly source as a body of revisions and expansions to the Yahwist (or «non-Priestly») material. (The Deuteronomistic source does not appear in Genesis.)^[11]

Scholars use examples of repeated and duplicate stories to identify separate sources. In Genesis, these include three different accounts of a patriarch claiming that his wife was his sister, the two creation stories, and the two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert.^[12]

This leaves the question of when these works were created. Scholars in the first half of the 20th century concluded that the Yahwist source was a product of the monarchic period, specifically at the court of Solomon, 10th century BC, and the Priestly work a product of the middle of the 5th century BC (with claims that the author was Ezra). However, more recent thinking is that the Yahwist source dates to from either just before or during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC, and that the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after.^[4] The almost complete absence of all the characters and incidents mentioned in Primeval history from the rest of the Hebrew Bible has led a sizeable minority of scholars to conclude that these chapters were composed much later than those that follow, possibly in the 3rd century BC.^[13]

As for why the book was created, a theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial, is that of Persian imperial authorisation. This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire, after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce a single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Second Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the «elders» and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had «given» them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own «history of origins». However, the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.^[14]

Genre[edit]

Genesis is an example of a work in the «antiquities» genre, as the Romans knew it, a popular genre telling of the appearance of humans and the ancestors and heroes, with elaborate genealogies and chronologies fleshed out with stories and anecdotes.^[15] The most notable examples are found in the work of Greek historians of the 6th century BC: their intention was to connect notable families of their own day to a distant and heroic past, and in doing so they did not distinguish between myth, legend, and facts.^[16] Professor Jean-Louis Ska of the Pontifical Biblical Institute calls the basic rule of the antiquarian historian the «law of conservation»: everything old is valuable, nothing is eliminated.^[17] This antiquity was needed to prove the worth of Israel’s traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in the early Persian province of Judea), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself.^[17]

Describing the work of the biblical authors, John Van Seters wrote that lacking many historical traditions and none from the distant past, «They had to use myths and legends for earlier periods. In order to make sense out of the variety of different and often conflicting versions of stories, and to relate the stories to each other, they fitted them into a genealogical chronology.»^[18]

Textual witnesses[edit]

There are four major textual witnesses to the book: the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and fragments of Genesis found at Qumran. The Qumran group provides the oldest manuscripts but covers only a small proportion of the book; in general, the Masoretic Text is well preserved and reliable, but there are many individual instances where the other versions preserve a superior reading.^[19]

Structure[edit]

Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase elleh toledot, meaning «these are the generations,» with the first use of the phrase referring to the «generations of heaven and earth» and the remainder marking individuals—Noah, the «sons of Noah», Shem, etc., down to Jacob.^[20] The toledot formula, occurring eleven times in the book of Genesis, delineating its sections and shaping its structure, serves as a heading which marks a transition to a new subject:

• Genesis 1:1 (narrative) In the beginning
• Genesis 2:4 (narrative) Toledot of Heaven and Earth
• Genesis 5:1 (genealogy) Toledot of Adam
• Genesis 6:9 (narrative) Toledot of Noah
• Genesis 10:1 (genealogy) Toledot of Shem, Ham, and Japheth
• Genesis 11:10 (genealogy) Toledot of Shem
• Genesis 11:27 (narrative) Toledot of Terach
• Genesis 25:12 (genealogy) Toledot of Ishmael
• Genesis 25:19 (narrative) Toledot of Isaac
• Genesis 36:1 and 36:9 (genealogy) Toledot of Esau
• Genesis 37:2 (narrative) Toledot of Jacob^[21][22]

It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, and most modern commentators divide it into two parts based on the subject matter, a «primeval history» (chapters 1–11) and a «patriarchal history» (chapters 12–50).^[23][a] While the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book.^[24] The «primeval history» has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, the flood story, with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after;^[25] the «ancestral history» is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph.^[26] (The stories of Isaac do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.)^[27]

Summary[edit]

Primeval history (chapters 1–11)[edit]

The Genesis creation narrative comprises two different stories; the first two chapters roughly correspond to these.^[28] In the first, Elohim, the generic Hebrew word for God, creates the heavens and the earth including humankind, in six days, and rests on the seventh. In the second, God, now referred to as «Yahweh Elohim» (the LORD God), creates two individuals, Adam and Eve, as the first man and woman, and places them in the Garden of Eden.

In the third chapter, God instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They promise not to, but a talking serpent, portrayed as a deceptive creature or trickster, convinces Eve to eat the fruit against God’s wishes, and she convinces Adam, whereupon God throws them out and curses both of them—Adam was cursed with getting what he needs only by sweat and work, and Eve to giving birth in pain. This is interpreted by Christians as the «fall of man» into sin. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain works in the garden, and Abel works with meat; they both offer offerings to God one day, and God does not accept Cain’s offering but does accept Abel’s. This causes Cain to resent Abel, and Cain ends up murdering him. God then curses Cain. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abel’s place.^{[citation needed]}

After many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by human sin and Nephilim, and God wants to wipe out humanity for their wickedness. However, Noah is the only good human; so first, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. Then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, making a rainbow as a symbol of his promise. God sees mankind cooperating to build a great tower city, the Tower of Babel, and divides humanity with many languages and sets them apart with confusion. Then, a generation line from Shem to Abram is described.

Patriarchal age (chapters 12–50)[edit]

Abram, a man descended from Noah, is instructed by God to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. There, God makes a promise to Abram, promising that his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, but that people will suffer oppression in a foreign land for four hundred years, after which they will inherit the land «from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates». Abram’s name is changed to ‘Abraham’ and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah (meaning «princess»), and God says that all males should be circumcised as a sign of his promise to Abraham. Due to her old age, Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife (to bear a child). Through Hagar, Abraham fathers Ishmael.

God then plans to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people. Abraham protests but fails to get God to agree not to destroy the cities (his reasoning being that everybody there is evil, except for Abraham’s nephew Lot). Angels save Abraham’s nephew Lot (who was living there at the same time) and his family, but his wife looks back on the destruction, (even though God commanded not to) and turns into a pillar of salt for going against his word. Lot’s daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get Lot drunk so they can become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.

Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar, pretending to be brother and sister (they are half-siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her (as she is really Abraham’s wife) and he obeys. God sends Sarah a son and tells her she should name him Isaac; through him will be the establishment of the covenant (promise). Sarah then drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness (because Ishmael is not her real son and Hagar is a slave), but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation.

Then, God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, God restrains him, promising him again innumerable descendants. On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac; after proving herself worthy, Rebekah becomes Isaac’s betrothed. Keturah, Abraham’s other wife, births more children, among whose descendants are the Midianites. Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron (Machpelah).

Isaac’s wife Rebekah gives birth to the twins Esau (meaning «velvet»), father of the Edomites, and Jacob (meaning «supplanter» or «follower»). Esau was a couple of seconds older as he had come out of the womb first, and was going to become the heir; however, through carelessness, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. His mother, Rebekah, ensures Jacob rightly gains his father’s blessing as the firstborn son and inheritor. At 77 years of age, Jacob leaves his parents and later seeks a wife and meets Rachel at a well. He goes to her father, his uncle, where he works for a total of 14 years to earn his wives, Rachel and Leah. Jacob’s name is changed to ‘Israel’, and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah.

Joseph, Jacob’s favourite son of the twelve, makes his brothers jealous (especially because of special gifts Jacob gave him) and because of that jealousy they sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Joseph endures many trials including being innocently sentenced to jail but he stays faithful to God. After several years, he prospers there after the pharaoh of Egypt asks him to interpret a dream he had about an upcoming famine, which Joseph does through God. He is then made second in command of Egypt by the grateful pharaoh, and later on, he is reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him and plead for food as the famine had reached Canaan as well. After much manipulation to see if they still hate him, Joseph reveals himself, forgives them for their actions, and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them the land of Goshen. Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies. Joseph lives to old age and tells his brothers before his death that if God leads them out of the country, then they should take his bones with them.

Themes[edit]

Promises to the ancestors[edit]

In 1978, David Clines published The Theme of the Pentateuch. Considered influential as one of the first authors to take up the question of the overarching theme of the Pentateuch, Clines’ conclusion was that the overall theme is «the partial fulfilment—which implies also the partial nonfulfillment—of the promise to or blessing of the Patriarchs». (By calling the fulfilment «partial», Clines was drawing attention to the fact that at the end of Deuteronomy the people of Israel are still outside Canaan.)^[29]

The patriarchs, or ancestors, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Joseph is normally excluded).^[30] Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations.^[31] (It is, however, worth noting that in the Jahwist source, the patriarchs refer to deity by the name YHWH, for example in Genesis 15.) Through the patriarchs, God announces the election of Israel, that is, he chooses Israel to be his special people and commits himself to their future.^[32] God tells the patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. to Israel), and Israel is expected to have faith in God and his promise. («Faith» in the context of Genesis and the Hebrew Bible means an agreement to the promissory relationship, not a body of a belief.)^[33]

The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land.^[34] The fulfilment of the promise to each patriarch depends on having a male heir, and the story is constantly complicated by the fact that each prospective mother—Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel—is barren. The ancestors, however, retain their faith in God and God in each case gives a son—in Jacob’s case, twelve sons, the foundation of the chosen Israelites. Each succeeding generation of the three promises attains a more rich fulfilment, until through Joseph «all the world» attains salvation from famine,^[35] and by bringing the children of Israel down to Egypt he becomes the means through which the promise can be fulfilled.^[30]

God’s chosen people[edit]

Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis’ theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive the analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources.^[36] The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of the divine promise to the stories of Genesis 1–11 (the primeval history) with their theme of God’s forgiveness in the face of man’s evil nature.^[37][38] One solution is to see the patriarchal stories as resulting from God’s decision not to remain alienated from mankind:^[38] God creates the world and mankind, mankind rebels, and God «elects» (chooses) Abraham.^[8]

To this basic plot (which comes from the Yahwist), the Priestly source has added a series of covenants dividing history into stages, each with its own distinctive «sign». The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham (Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign is circumcision; and the last, which does not appear until the Book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath. A great leader mediates each covenant (Noah, Abraham, Moses), and at each stage God progressively reveals himself by his name (Elohim with Noah, El Shaddai with Abraham, Yahweh with Moses).^[8]

Judaism’s weekly Torah portions in the Book of Genesis[edit]

It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion, popularly referred to as a parashah, to be read during Jewish prayer services on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays. The full name, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ, Parashat ha-Shavua, is popularly abbreviated to parashah (also parshah or parsha), and is also known as a Sidra (or Sedra ).

The parashah is a section of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 weekly parshas, or parashiyot in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year.

The first 12 of the 54 come from the Book of Genesis, and they are:

1. Chapters 1–6 (verses 1–8) Parashat Bereshit
2. Chapters 6 (v. 9 ff)–11 Parashat Noach
3. Chapters 12–17 Parashat Lekh Lekha
4. Chapters 18–22 Parashat Vayera
5. Chapters 23–25 (v. 1–18) Parashat Chayyei Sarah
6. Chapters 25 (v. 19 ff)–28 (v. 1–9) Parashat Toledot
7. Chapters 28 (v. 10 ff)–32 (v. 1–3) Parashat Vayetzei
8. Chapters 32 (v. 4 ff)–36 Parashat Vayishlach
9. Chapters 37–40 Parashat Vayeshev
10. Chapters 41–44 (v. 1–17) Parashat Miketz
11. Chapters 44 (v. 18 ff)–47 (v. 1–27) Parashat Vayigash
12. Chapters 47 (v. 28 ff)–50 Parashat Vayechi

See also[edit]

• Biblical criticism
• Criticism of the Bible
• Dating the Bible
• Enûma Eliš
• Genesis 1:1
• Genesis creation narrative
• Historicity of the Bible
• Mosaic authorship
• Paradise Lost
• Protevangelium
• Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

[edit]

General[edit]

External links[edit]

• Bible: Genesis public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions

The Book of Genesis (from Greek Γένεσις, Génesis; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית Bəreʾšīt, «In [the] beginning») is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.^[1] Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit («In the beginning»). Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and of Israel’s ancestors and the origins of the Jewish people.^[2]

Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy; however, modern scholars, especially from the 19th century onward, place the books’ authorship in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, hundreds of years after Moses is supposed to have lived.^[3][4] Based on scientific interpretation of archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence, most mainstream Bible scholars consider Genesis to be primarily mythological rather than historical.

It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50).^[5] The primeval history sets out the author’s concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind’s relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for mankind, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, sparing only the righteous Noah and his family to re-establish the relationship between man and God.^[6] The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God’s chosen people.^[7] At God’s command, Noah’s descendant Abraham journeys from his birthplace (described as Ur of the Chaldeans and whose identification with Sumerian Ur is tentative in modern scholarship) into the God-given land of Canaan, where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob’s name is changed to «Israel», and through the agency of his son Joseph, the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus (departure). The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all mankind (the covenant with Noah) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob).^[8]

In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centres on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land.

Title[edit]

The name Genesis is from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek Γένεσις, meaning «origin»; Biblical Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, romanized: Bərēšīṯ, «In [the] beginning».^[9]

Composition[edit]

For much of the 20th century, most scholars agreed that the five books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—came from four sources: the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. Known as the documentary hypothesis, each source was held to tell the same basic story, with the sources later joined together by various editors.^[10] Since the 1970s, however, there has been a revolution in this line of thought, leading scholars to view the Elohist source as no more than a variation on the Yahwist, and the Priestly source as a body of revisions and expansions to the Yahwist (or «non-Priestly») material. (The Deuteronomistic source does not appear in Genesis.)^[11]

Scholars use examples of repeated and duplicate stories to identify separate sources. In Genesis, these include three different accounts of a patriarch claiming that his wife was his sister, the two creation stories, and the two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert.^[12]

This leaves the question of when these works were created. Scholars in the first half of the 20th century concluded that the Yahwist source was a product of the monarchic period, specifically at the court of Solomon, 10th century BC, and the Priestly work a product of the middle of the 5th century BC (with claims that the author was Ezra). However, more recent thinking is that the Yahwist source dates to from either just before or during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC, and that the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after.^[4] The almost complete absence of all the characters and incidents mentioned in Primeval history from the rest of the Hebrew Bible has led a sizeable minority of scholars to conclude that these chapters were composed much later than those that follow, possibly in the 3rd century BC.^[13]

As for why the book was created, a theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial, is that of Persian imperial authorisation. This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire, after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce a single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Second Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the «elders» and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had «given» them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own «history of origins». However, the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.^[14]

Genre[edit]

Genesis is an example of a work in the «antiquities» genre, as the Romans knew it, a popular genre telling of the appearance of humans and the ancestors and heroes, with elaborate genealogies and chronologies fleshed out with stories and anecdotes.^[15] The most notable examples are found in the work of Greek historians of the 6th century BC: their intention was to connect notable families of their own day to a distant and heroic past, and in doing so they did not distinguish between myth, legend, and facts.^[16] Professor Jean-Louis Ska of the Pontifical Biblical Institute calls the basic rule of the antiquarian historian the «law of conservation»: everything old is valuable, nothing is eliminated.^[17] This antiquity was needed to prove the worth of Israel’s traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in the early Persian province of Judea), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself.^[17]

Describing the work of the biblical authors, John Van Seters wrote that lacking many historical traditions and none from the distant past, «They had to use myths and legends for earlier periods. In order to make sense out of the variety of different and often conflicting versions of stories, and to relate the stories to each other, they fitted them into a genealogical chronology.»^[18]

Textual witnesses[edit]

There are four major textual witnesses to the book: the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and fragments of Genesis found at Qumran. The Qumran group provides the oldest manuscripts but covers only a small proportion of the book; in general, the Masoretic Text is well preserved and reliable, but there are many individual instances where the other versions preserve a superior reading.^[19]

Structure[edit]

Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase elleh toledot, meaning «these are the generations,» with the first use of the phrase referring to the «generations of heaven and earth» and the remainder marking individuals—Noah, the «sons of Noah», Shem, etc., down to Jacob.^[20] The toledot formula, occurring eleven times in the book of Genesis, delineating its sections and shaping its structure, serves as a heading which marks a transition to a new subject:

• Genesis 1:1 (narrative) In the beginning
• Genesis 2:4 (narrative) Toledot of Heaven and Earth
• Genesis 5:1 (genealogy) Toledot of Adam
• Genesis 6:9 (narrative) Toledot of Noah
• Genesis 10:1 (genealogy) Toledot of Shem, Ham, and Japheth
• Genesis 11:10 (genealogy) Toledot of Shem
• Genesis 11:27 (narrative) Toledot of Terach
• Genesis 25:12 (genealogy) Toledot of Ishmael
• Genesis 25:19 (narrative) Toledot of Isaac
• Genesis 36:1 and 36:9 (genealogy) Toledot of Esau
• Genesis 37:2 (narrative) Toledot of Jacob^[21][22]

It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, and most modern commentators divide it into two parts based on the subject matter, a «primeval history» (chapters 1–11) and a «patriarchal history» (chapters 12–50).^[23][a] While the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book.^[24] The «primeval history» has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, the flood story, with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after;^[25] the «ancestral history» is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph.^[26] (The stories of Isaac do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.)^[27]

Summary[edit]

Primeval history (chapters 1–11)[edit]

The Genesis creation narrative comprises two different stories; the first two chapters roughly correspond to these.^[28] In the first, Elohim, the generic Hebrew word for God, creates the heavens and the earth including humankind, in six days, and rests on the seventh. In the second, God, now referred to as «Yahweh Elohim» (the LORD God), creates two individuals, Adam and Eve, as the first man and woman, and places them in the Garden of Eden.

In the third chapter, God instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They promise not to, but a talking serpent, portrayed as a deceptive creature or trickster, convinces Eve to eat the fruit against God’s wishes, and she convinces Adam, whereupon God throws them out and curses both of them—Adam was cursed with getting what he needs only by sweat and work, and Eve to giving birth in pain. This is interpreted by Christians as the «fall of man» into sin. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain works in the garden, and Abel works with meat; they both offer offerings to God one day, and God does not accept Cain’s offering but does accept Abel’s. This causes Cain to resent Abel, and Cain ends up murdering him. God then curses Cain. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abel’s place.^{[citation needed]}

After many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by human sin and Nephilim, and God wants to wipe out humanity for their wickedness. However, Noah is the only good human; so first, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. Then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, making a rainbow as a symbol of his promise. God sees mankind cooperating to build a great tower city, the Tower of Babel, and divides humanity with many languages and sets them apart with confusion. Then, a generation line from Shem to Abram is described.

Patriarchal age (chapters 12–50)[edit]

Abram, a man descended from Noah, is instructed by God to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. There, God makes a promise to Abram, promising that his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, but that people will suffer oppression in a foreign land for four hundred years, after which they will inherit the land «from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates». Abram’s name is changed to ‘Abraham’ and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah (meaning «princess»), and God says that all males should be circumcised as a sign of his promise to Abraham. Due to her old age, Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife (to bear a child). Through Hagar, Abraham fathers Ishmael.

God then plans to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people. Abraham protests but fails to get God to agree not to destroy the cities (his reasoning being that everybody there is evil, except for Abraham’s nephew Lot). Angels save Abraham’s nephew Lot (who was living there at the same time) and his family, but his wife looks back on the destruction, (even though God commanded not to) and turns into a pillar of salt for going against his word. Lot’s daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get Lot drunk so they can become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.

Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar, pretending to be brother and sister (they are half-siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her (as she is really Abraham’s wife) and he obeys. God sends Sarah a son and tells her she should name him Isaac; through him will be the establishment of the covenant (promise). Sarah then drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness (because Ishmael is not her real son and Hagar is a slave), but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation.

Then, God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, God restrains him, promising him again innumerable descendants. On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac; after proving herself worthy, Rebekah becomes Isaac’s betrothed. Keturah, Abraham’s other wife, births more children, among whose descendants are the Midianites. Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron (Machpelah).

Isaac’s wife Rebekah gives birth to the twins Esau (meaning «velvet»), father of the Edomites, and Jacob (meaning «supplanter» or «follower»). Esau was a couple of seconds older as he had come out of the womb first, and was going to become the heir; however, through carelessness, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. His mother, Rebekah, ensures Jacob rightly gains his father’s blessing as the firstborn son and inheritor. At 77 years of age, Jacob leaves his parents and later seeks a wife and meets Rachel at a well. He goes to her father, his uncle, where he works for a total of 14 years to earn his wives, Rachel and Leah. Jacob’s name is changed to ‘Israel’, and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah.

Joseph, Jacob’s favourite son of the twelve, makes his brothers jealous (especially because of special gifts Jacob gave him) and because of that jealousy they sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Joseph endures many trials including being innocently sentenced to jail but he stays faithful to God. After several years, he prospers there after the pharaoh of Egypt asks him to interpret a dream he had about an upcoming famine, which Joseph does through God. He is then made second in command of Egypt by the grateful pharaoh, and later on, he is reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him and plead for food as the famine had reached Canaan as well. After much manipulation to see if they still hate him, Joseph reveals himself, forgives them for their actions, and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them the land of Goshen. Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies. Joseph lives to old age and tells his brothers before his death that if God leads them out of the country, then they should take his bones with them.

Themes[edit]

Promises to the ancestors[edit]

In 1978, David Clines published The Theme of the Pentateuch. Considered influential as one of the first authors to take up the question of the overarching theme of the Pentateuch, Clines’ conclusion was that the overall theme is «the partial fulfilment—which implies also the partial nonfulfillment—of the promise to or blessing of the Patriarchs». (By calling the fulfilment «partial», Clines was drawing attention to the fact that at the end of Deuteronomy the people of Israel are still outside Canaan.)^[29]

The patriarchs, or ancestors, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Joseph is normally excluded).^[30] Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations.^[31] (It is, however, worth noting that in the Jahwist source, the patriarchs refer to deity by the name YHWH, for example in Genesis 15.) Through the patriarchs, God announces the election of Israel, that is, he chooses Israel to be his special people and commits himself to their future.^[32] God tells the patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. to Israel), and Israel is expected to have faith in God and his promise. («Faith» in the context of Genesis and the Hebrew Bible means an agreement to the promissory relationship, not a body of a belief.)^[33]

The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land.^[34] The fulfilment of the promise to each patriarch depends on having a male heir, and the story is constantly complicated by the fact that each prospective mother—Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel—is barren. The ancestors, however, retain their faith in God and God in each case gives a son—in Jacob’s case, twelve sons, the foundation of the chosen Israelites. Each succeeding generation of the three promises attains a more rich fulfilment, until through Joseph «all the world» attains salvation from famine,^[35] and by bringing the children of Israel down to Egypt he becomes the means through which the promise can be fulfilled.^[30]

God’s chosen people[edit]

Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis’ theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive the analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources.^[36] The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of the divine promise to the stories of Genesis 1–11 (the primeval history) with their theme of God’s forgiveness in the face of man’s evil nature.^[37][38] One solution is to see the patriarchal stories as resulting from God’s decision not to remain alienated from mankind:^[38] God creates the world and mankind, mankind rebels, and God «elects» (chooses) Abraham.^[8]

To this basic plot (which comes from the Yahwist), the Priestly source has added a series of covenants dividing history into stages, each with its own distinctive «sign». The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham (Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign is circumcision; and the last, which does not appear until the Book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath. A great leader mediates each covenant (Noah, Abraham, Moses), and at each stage God progressively reveals himself by his name (Elohim with Noah, El Shaddai with Abraham, Yahweh with Moses).^[8]

Judaism’s weekly Torah portions in the Book of Genesis[edit]

It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion, popularly referred to as a parashah, to be read during Jewish prayer services on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays. The full name, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ, Parashat ha-Shavua, is popularly abbreviated to parashah (also parshah or parsha), and is also known as a Sidra (or Sedra ).

The parashah is a section of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 weekly parshas, or parashiyot in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year.

The first 12 of the 54 come from the Book of Genesis, and they are:

1. Chapters 1–6 (verses 1–8) Parashat Bereshit
2. Chapters 6 (v. 9 ff)–11 Parashat Noach
3. Chapters 12–17 Parashat Lekh Lekha
4. Chapters 18–22 Parashat Vayera
5. Chapters 23–25 (v. 1–18) Parashat Chayyei Sarah
6. Chapters 25 (v. 19 ff)–28 (v. 1–9) Parashat Toledot
7. Chapters 28 (v. 10 ff)–32 (v. 1–3) Parashat Vayetzei
8. Chapters 32 (v. 4 ff)–36 Parashat Vayishlach
9. Chapters 37–40 Parashat Vayeshev
10. Chapters 41–44 (v. 1–17) Parashat Miketz
11. Chapters 44 (v. 18 ff)–47 (v. 1–27) Parashat Vayigash
12. Chapters 47 (v. 28 ff)–50 Parashat Vayechi

See also[edit]

• Biblical criticism
• Criticism of the Bible
• Dating the Bible
• Enûma Eliš
• Genesis 1:1
• Genesis creation narrative
• Historicity of the Bible
• Mosaic authorship
• Paradise Lost
• Protevangelium
• Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

[edit]

General[edit]

External links[edit]

• Bible: Genesis public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions

Комментарии для сайта Cackle

Приблизительное время чтения: 1 мин.

Царь Давид и Соломон, фарисеи и кесарь, пророк Илия и многие другие такие знакомые и, одновременно, незнакомые имена. Кем были все эти библейские герои? Хорошо ли мы знаем кто есть кто в Библии? Не путаем ли порой с какими-то теми или иными мифологическими персонажами? Чтобы разобраться во всем этом «Фома» открыл проект кратких рассказов «Кто есть кто в Библии». Сегодня мы говорим об авторе первых пяти книг Библии — Моисее.

В самой книге Бытия нет указания на автора, однако традиционно считается (и современные научные исследования это не опровергают), что книгу Бытия написал Моисей. Традиционно он считается автором первых пяти книг Библии – Бытие, Исход, Левит, Числа и Второзаконие, которые носят название Пятикнижия Моисеева.

Согласно современным научным данным, Бытие было написано между 1440 и 1400 гг. до н.э., в период между выходом израильтян из Египта и смертью Моисея.

В этой связи интересна цитата из книги Исход: «И сказал Господь Моисею: напиши сие для памяти в книгу и внуши Иисусу, что Я совершенно изглажу память Амаликитян из поднебесной» (Ис 17:14).

Святитель Филарет (Дроздов) в предуведомлении к Толкованию на Книгу Бытия писал так:

«О Моисее, как писателе книги Бытия и вместе с нею четырех следующих книг Священного Писания, составляющих в сем отношении одно с нею в течение трех тысяч лет от времен Моисея, не изъявляли сомнения даже и такие люди, как Цельс, Порфирий и Иулиан. Смелое суждение некоторых новейших испытателей, которые или совсем отъемлют у него его писания, или мнят видеть их поврежденными, уже довольно слабое по своей новости, опровергается рассматриванием самых сих писаний и непререкаемым о них свидетельством последующих писателей священных и Самого Иисуса Христа».

На анонсе картина «Моисей защищает дочерей Иофора». Источник фото wikipedia.org

The Book of Genesis (From Greek «Γένεσις» lit. «Beginning; Creation») is the first book of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament of the Bible. Genesis tells the origins of history starting with the Creation,^[1] and ending with Joseph’s death.^[2] Genesis was written by Moses who was given the information and verified by God.

Though Genesis is ordered first both canonically and chronologically, it is the second book of the Bible written behind Job.

Mosaic Authorship

The Book of Genesis was written by Moses, about 2,700 years after The Creation, making it the second book of the Bible written. Interestingly, Moses was not present at any of the events recorded in Genesis. It is likely that Moses was revealed the details of many events while at Mt. Sinai, directly by God. Another likely (and maybe even complimentary) source for the details in Genesis was the retelling of the accounts orally throughout Israelite ancestry. Nevertheless, the Book of Genesis was directed in its authorship ultimately by God.^[3]

Compared to the other books of the Pentateuch Scripture doesn’t directly vet Moses’s authorship of Genesis. From ancient times Genesis has been grouped with the other four books: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and is similar in the genre and narrative style.

Various Accounts

Apparently Genesis is divided into various accounts, often starting with the phrase «this is the account of».^[4] This phrase implies that Moses either got his information from outside sources or the information was directly copied. Usually, this phrase is used to precede genealogy, which were probably written down before Genesis. Moses would have copied these genealogies or relied on memory and oral tradition if they were passed down orally.

The other accounts like the sixth day of Creation would have been derived from information found in oral tradition or even a written account. The wording of these accounts may have been created by Moses himself or copied from another source. It does not appear oral tradition would have been written down word-for-word to produce these accounts based on the style being monotone.

The usage of this phrase may purely have been a way to organize or make easy reference of accounts for the Israelites. Instead of implying Moses copied or gathered his information from another source it simply may have been a heading or label to divide it from the rest of the text.

Purpose

Genesis was probably written to document the origins of humanity and the Hebrew people for Israel. At the time of its writing few would have had the same education as Moses^[5] to be able to decipher multiple accounts of oral tradition, written records (including genealogy and historical accounts) as well as divine revelation. During Moses’s tim,e the majority of Israel may not have even been literate.

Since the events of Genesis happened a few millennia prior, those who were unfamiliar with the oral tradition would have had no singular work to read about all of it. In addition the etiology of the world could not be easily connected with the covenants and promises made for the Hebrews. In writing Genesis not only was the origins of the world, sin, humanity and cultures explored but the covenants made to the Patriarchs tracing through the genealogy of the people mentioned in the events, the Israelites not only had proven records to verify their right to the Abrahamic Covenant,but also to learn of the ancestors of Israel. Through the genealogy and family relations the covenant of a chosen people could be traced to be continually true. Prophecies such as one alluding to Israel as subservient to Egypt could be verified.

Genesis also could show the nations not under the covenant to Abraham. It can be demonstrated how belief in God was carried through the lineage of Seth, rather than that of Cain. The origins of other countries some who would be future enemies of Israel could be traced back to a single person, who were direct descendants of either Shem, Ham or Japheth. Even further down the line countries could be traced back to sinful deeds of their founder such as Esau (Edom) and how the birth of Moab came about. The promise of there being many nations from Abraham asides from the Israelites could be proved, in particular ,the assurance that from Ishmael would stem a great many people.

Having verifiable documentation of an Israelite’s root, and recorded instances of legally binding covenants between God and the Hebrew ancestors would justify Israel’s conquest of Canaan, establishment as a Theocracy, as well as the requirement for circumcision.

Themes

In the earlier chapters of Genesis, one of its central themes is the origin or the beginning of many phenomena. The most prominent example of this is The Creation. Additionally it explains the Great Flood, the reason behind it (and foreshadows to Christ in both the Ark , and the Tribulation) and its impact on the Earth It also introduces the problem of sin and the need for a Law, until the time in which Jesus Christ would fulfill it. It also details the origin of different ethnicities, both from the almost complete extinction of the Earth, and from being dispersed from the Tower of Babel.

This is done by introducing the Abrahamic Covenant, which in the middle through the end of Genesis is constantly reiterated. This is originally brought to Abraham and after having his own children and ancestors, are reminded of this by God. This would serve as a foreshadowing to the nation of Israel, which is the nation by which both the Law and Jesus Christ would be born of.

Genre

Historical Account

Genesis primarily is a historical account.^[6] It gives account to many events in detail. Particularly, Genesis gives narratives following the life events of the Patriarchs and their impact on future Israelite establishment. Often times direct quotations from a person or even more significantly, God are used to detail conversations and the emotions being expressed.

Chronology

Genesis also contains many genealogical records, or records of family lines.^[4] Chronological or genealogical records are used commonly for multiple reasons. Not only do they provide a historical preservation of Israelite ancestry, but they compliment the accounts of Genesis. These ancestry records not only reaffirm people mentioned, but also can fill the gap between two time periods where there is not a narrative to bridge them.

Laws

While Genesis does not contain Israelite law, like the rest of the Pentateuch’s books, it does contain multiple covenants. Due to the strength of covenants, they were often considered law, hence why Genesis is categorized in the Pentateuch as a book of law.

Outline

Literary

Content

I. The Creation

A. Genesis 1 — Creation (Days One To Six)

B. Genesis 2- Creation (Day Seven; Adam and Eve)

II. The Fall

A. Genesis 3 — The Fall

B. Genesis 4 — Cain and Abel

C. Genesis 5 — Noah’s ancestry

III. The Flood

A. Genesis 6 — Noah builds the Ark

B. Genesis 7 — The Flood

C. Genesis 8 — The flood waters recede

D. Genesis 9 — Yahweh’s covenant with Noah

IV. From Noah to Abram

A. Genesis 10 — Noah’s sons and their accounts

B. Genesis 11 — Tower of Babel/Abram’s ancestry

C. Genesis 12 — Start of Abram’s journey

D. Genesis 13 — Abram and Lot separate

E. Genesis 14 — Abram’s war with the four kings

F. Genesis 15 — Yahweh promises a son to Abram

G. Genesis 16 — The birth of Ishmael

H. Genesis 17 — The covenant of circumcision; Abram becomes Abraham

I. Genesis 18 — Three visitors visit Abraham

J. Genesis 19 — Lot’s departure from Sodom

K. Genesis 20 — Abraham dwells with Abimelech

L. Genesis 21 — The birth of Isaac; Hagar departs

M. Genesis 22 — Yahweh tests Abraham with his son Isaac

N. Genesis 23 — Abraham buries his wife Sarah

O. Genesis 24 — Rebekah becomes Isaac’s wife

V. From Isaac to Jacob

A. Genesis 25 — Abraham dies; Esau and Jacob are born

B. Genesis 26 — Isaac deals with Abimelech

C. Genesis 27 — Jacob gets Esau’s blessing

D. Genesis 28 — Jacob departs to Padan Aram

E. Genesis 29 — Jacob works for Laban; marries Leah and Rachel

F. Genesis 30 — Jacob’s children; profits from Laban’s flocks

G. Genesis 31 — Jacob’s family flees; Laban pursues him

H. Genesis 32 — Jacob prepares to meet Esau; name changed to Israel

I. Genesis 33 — Jacob makes peace with Esau; settles in Shechem

J. Genesis 34 — Dinah is raped; Simeon and Levi attack Shechem

K. Genesis 35 — The birth of Joseph; Rachel dies

L. Genesis 36 — Esau’s sons and their accounts

VI. The Story of Joseph

A. Genesis 37 — Joseph is taken into Egypt

B. Genesis 38 — Judah’s sons, including those with Tamar

C. Genesis 39 — Joseph accused of rape, sent to prison

D. Genesis 40 — Joseph interprets two men’s dreams

E. Genesis 41 — Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams

F. Genesis 42 — Joseph’s first encounter with his brothers

G. Genesis 43 — Joseph’s second encounter with his brothers

H. Genesis 44 — Joseph’s brothers charged with stealing

I. Genesis 45 — Joseph reveals himself to his brothers

J. Genesis 46 — Joseph’s family travels to Egypt

K. Genesis 47 — People become poor during the famine

L. Genesis 48 — Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons

M. Genesis 49 — Jacob’s final words to his sons

N. Genesis 50 — Deaths of Jacob and Joseph; Joseph forgives his brothers

Verses

no:Første Mosebok

The Book of Genesis (From Greek «Γένεσις» lit. «Beginning; Creation») is the first book of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament of the Bible. Genesis tells the origins of history starting with the Creation,^[1] and ending with Joseph’s death.^[2] Genesis was written by Moses who was given the information and verified by God.

Though Genesis is ordered first both canonically and chronologically, it is the second book of the Bible written behind Job.

Mosaic Authorship

The Book of Genesis was written by Moses, about 2,700 years after The Creation, making it the second book of the Bible written. Interestingly, Moses was not present at any of the events recorded in Genesis. It is likely that Moses was revealed the details of many events while at Mt. Sinai, directly by God. Another likely (and maybe even complimentary) source for the details in Genesis was the retelling of the accounts orally throughout Israelite ancestry. Nevertheless, the Book of Genesis was directed in its authorship ultimately by God.^[3]

Compared to the other books of the Pentateuch Scripture doesn’t directly vet Moses’s authorship of Genesis. From ancient times Genesis has been grouped with the other four books: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and is similar in the genre and narrative style.

Various Accounts

Apparently Genesis is divided into various accounts, often starting with the phrase «this is the account of».^[4] This phrase implies that Moses either got his information from outside sources or the information was directly copied. Usually, this phrase is used to precede genealogy, which were probably written down before Genesis. Moses would have copied these genealogies or relied on memory and oral tradition if they were passed down orally.

The other accounts like the sixth day of Creation would have been derived from information found in oral tradition or even a written account. The wording of these accounts may have been created by Moses himself or copied from another source. It does not appear oral tradition would have been written down word-for-word to produce these accounts based on the style being monotone.

The usage of this phrase may purely have been a way to organize or make easy reference of accounts for the Israelites. Instead of implying Moses copied or gathered his information from another source it simply may have been a heading or label to divide it from the rest of the text.

Purpose

Genesis was probably written to document the origins of humanity and the Hebrew people for Israel. At the time of its writing few would have had the same education as Moses^[5] to be able to decipher multiple accounts of oral tradition, written records (including genealogy and historical accounts) as well as divine revelation. During Moses’s tim,e the majority of Israel may not have even been literate.

Since the events of Genesis happened a few millennia prior, those who were unfamiliar with the oral tradition would have had no singular work to read about all of it. In addition the etiology of the world could not be easily connected with the covenants and promises made for the Hebrews. In writing Genesis not only was the origins of the world, sin, humanity and cultures explored but the covenants made to the Patriarchs tracing through the genealogy of the people mentioned in the events, the Israelites not only had proven records to verify their right to the Abrahamic Covenant,but also to learn of the ancestors of Israel. Through the genealogy and family relations the covenant of a chosen people could be traced to be continually true. Prophecies such as one alluding to Israel as subservient to Egypt could be verified.

Genesis also could show the nations not under the covenant to Abraham. It can be demonstrated how belief in God was carried through the lineage of Seth, rather than that of Cain. The origins of other countries some who would be future enemies of Israel could be traced back to a single person, who were direct descendants of either Shem, Ham or Japheth. Even further down the line countries could be traced back to sinful deeds of their founder such as Esau (Edom) and how the birth of Moab came about. The promise of there being many nations from Abraham asides from the Israelites could be proved, in particular ,the assurance that from Ishmael would stem a great many people.

Having verifiable documentation of an Israelite’s root, and recorded instances of legally binding covenants between God and the Hebrew ancestors would justify Israel’s conquest of Canaan, establishment as a Theocracy, as well as the requirement for circumcision.

Themes

In the earlier chapters of Genesis, one of its central themes is the origin or the beginning of many phenomena. The most prominent example of this is The Creation. Additionally it explains the Great Flood, the reason behind it (and foreshadows to Christ in both the Ark , and the Tribulation) and its impact on the Earth It also introduces the problem of sin and the need for a Law, until the time in which Jesus Christ would fulfill it. It also details the origin of different ethnicities, both from the almost complete extinction of the Earth, and from being dispersed from the Tower of Babel.

This is done by introducing the Abrahamic Covenant, which in the middle through the end of Genesis is constantly reiterated. This is originally brought to Abraham and after having his own children and ancestors, are reminded of this by God. This would serve as a foreshadowing to the nation of Israel, which is the nation by which both the Law and Jesus Christ would be born of.

Genre

Historical Account

Genesis primarily is a historical account.^[6] It gives account to many events in detail. Particularly, Genesis gives narratives following the life events of the Patriarchs and their impact on future Israelite establishment. Often times direct quotations from a person or even more significantly, God are used to detail conversations and the emotions being expressed.

Chronology

Genesis also contains many genealogical records, or records of family lines.^[4] Chronological or genealogical records are used commonly for multiple reasons. Not only do they provide a historical preservation of Israelite ancestry, but they compliment the accounts of Genesis. These ancestry records not only reaffirm people mentioned, but also can fill the gap between two time periods where there is not a narrative to bridge them.

Laws

While Genesis does not contain Israelite law, like the rest of the Pentateuch’s books, it does contain multiple covenants. Due to the strength of covenants, they were often considered law, hence why Genesis is categorized in the Pentateuch as a book of law.

Outline

Literary

Content

I. The Creation

A. Genesis 1 — Creation (Days One To Six)

B. Genesis 2- Creation (Day Seven; Adam and Eve)

II. The Fall

A. Genesis 3 — The Fall

B. Genesis 4 — Cain and Abel

C. Genesis 5 — Noah’s ancestry

III. The Flood

A. Genesis 6 — Noah builds the Ark

B. Genesis 7 — The Flood

C. Genesis 8 — The flood waters recede

D. Genesis 9 — Yahweh’s covenant with Noah

IV. From Noah to Abram

A. Genesis 10 — Noah’s sons and their accounts

B. Genesis 11 — Tower of Babel/Abram’s ancestry

C. Genesis 12 — Start of Abram’s journey

D. Genesis 13 — Abram and Lot separate

E. Genesis 14 — Abram’s war with the four kings

F. Genesis 15 — Yahweh promises a son to Abram

G. Genesis 16 — The birth of Ishmael

H. Genesis 17 — The covenant of circumcision; Abram becomes Abraham

I. Genesis 18 — Three visitors visit Abraham

J. Genesis 19 — Lot’s departure from Sodom

K. Genesis 20 — Abraham dwells with Abimelech

L. Genesis 21 — The birth of Isaac; Hagar departs

M. Genesis 22 — Yahweh tests Abraham with his son Isaac

N. Genesis 23 — Abraham buries his wife Sarah

O. Genesis 24 — Rebekah becomes Isaac’s wife

V. From Isaac to Jacob

A. Genesis 25 — Abraham dies; Esau and Jacob are born

B. Genesis 26 — Isaac deals with Abimelech

C. Genesis 27 — Jacob gets Esau’s blessing

D. Genesis 28 — Jacob departs to Padan Aram

E. Genesis 29 — Jacob works for Laban; marries Leah and Rachel

F. Genesis 30 — Jacob’s children; profits from Laban’s flocks

G. Genesis 31 — Jacob’s family flees; Laban pursues him

H. Genesis 32 — Jacob prepares to meet Esau; name changed to Israel

I. Genesis 33 — Jacob makes peace with Esau; settles in Shechem

J. Genesis 34 — Dinah is raped; Simeon and Levi attack Shechem

K. Genesis 35 — The birth of Joseph; Rachel dies

L. Genesis 36 — Esau’s sons and their accounts

VI. The Story of Joseph

A. Genesis 37 — Joseph is taken into Egypt

B. Genesis 38 — Judah’s sons, including those with Tamar

C. Genesis 39 — Joseph accused of rape, sent to prison

D. Genesis 40 — Joseph interprets two men’s dreams

E. Genesis 41 — Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams

F. Genesis 42 — Joseph’s first encounter with his brothers

G. Genesis 43 — Joseph’s second encounter with his brothers

H. Genesis 44 — Joseph’s brothers charged with stealing

I. Genesis 45 — Joseph reveals himself to his brothers

J. Genesis 46 — Joseph’s family travels to Egypt

K. Genesis 47 — People become poor during the famine

L. Genesis 48 — Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons

M. Genesis 49 — Jacob’s final words to his sons

N. Genesis 50 — Deaths of Jacob and Joseph; Joseph forgives his brothers

Verses

no:Første Mosebok