Editing Book of Genesis (section)

{{short description|First book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament}}
{{redirect|The Book of Genesis|the comic|The Book of Genesis (comic){{!}}''The Book of Genesis'' (comic)}}
{{Tanakh OT |Torah |Pentateuch}}

The '''Book of Genesis''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] {{Langx|grc|Γένεσις|Génesis|label=none}}; {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|בְּרֵאשִׁית}}|Bərēʾšīṯ|In [the] beginning}}; {{langx|la|Liber Genesis}}) is the first book of the [[Hebrew Bible]] and the Christian [[Old Testament]].{{sfn|Hamilton|1990|p=1}} Its Hebrew name is the same as its [[incipit|first word]], {{transliteration|hbo|Bereshit}} ([[In the beginning (phrase)|'In the beginning']]). Genesis purports to be an account of the [[Genesis creation narrative|creation of the world]], the early history of humanity, and the [[Jews#Origins|origins of the Jewish people]].{{sfn|Sweeney|2012|p=657}}

Genesis is part of the [[Torah]] or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Tradition credits [[Moses]] as the Torah's author. It was probably composed around the 5th century&nbsp;BC,<ref>{{cite book |last=Oliver |first=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQjTDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |title=Creation |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9780567656117 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-20 |title=Genesis {{!}} Creation, Covenant & Patriarchs {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Genesis-Old-Testament |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> and some authors even propose a date as late as c. 270 BC,{{sfn|Gmirkin|2006|p=240-245}} although a composition date prior to the Persian period{{Year needed|date=May 2025}} has also been argued on linguistic grounds. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Hendel |first=Ronald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urwdtQEACAAJ |title=How Old Is the Hebrew Bible?: A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study |last2=Joosten |first2=Jan |date=2018-11-20 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-23488-6 |pages=81-82 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rendsburg |first=Gary |author-link=Gary A. Rendsburg |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Redaction_of_Genesis.html?id=z9TYAAAAMAAJ |title=The Redaction of Genesis |date=1986 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-931464-25-6 |pages= |language=en |chapter=THE DATE OF GENESIS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hornkohl |first=Aaron D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZswEQAAQBAJ |title=Diachronic Diversity in Classical Biblical Hebrew |date=2024-11-11 |publisher=Open Book Publishers |isbn=978-1-80511-437-6 |pages=37, 136, 201–202. |language=en}}</ref>

Based on the scientific interpretation of [[Archaeology|archaeological]], [[Genetics|genetic]], and linguistic evidence, mainstream biblical scholars consider the literal interpretation of Genesis to be primarily mythological rather than historical.

It is divisible into two parts, the [[primeval history]] (chapters 1–11) and the [[Patriarchal age|ancestral history]] (chapters 12–50).{{sfn|Bergant|2013|p=xii}} 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 humans, 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.{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=35}} The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of [[Israelites|Israel]], God's [[Jews as the chosen people|chosen people]].{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=78}} At God's command, Noah's descendant [[Abraham]] journeys from his birthplace (described as [[Ur of the Chaldeans]] and whose identification with [[Ur|Sumerian Ur]] is [[Ur#Identification with the Biblical Ur|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 (son of Jacob)|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 [[The Exodus|Exodus]] (departure). The narrative is punctuated by a series of [[Covenant (biblical)|covenants]] with God, successively narrowing in scope from all humankind (the [[covenant with Noah]]) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob).{{Sfn|Bandstra|2004|pp=28–29}}

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