Editing Book of Genesis (section)

== Structure ==
Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase {{transliteration|hbo|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.{{Sfn|Hamilton|1990|p=2}} The {{transliteration|hbo|[[toledot]]}} formula, occurring eleven times in the book of Genesis, serves as a heading which marks a transition to a new subject.{{Sfn|Schwartz|2016|p=1}} The {{transliteration|hbo|toledot}} divide the book into the following sections:{{Sfn|Arnold|1998|pp=17–18}}{{Sfn|Leithart|2017}}

# [[Genesis 1:1]]–2:3 [[In the beginning (phrase)|In the beginning]] (prologue)
# Genesis 2:4–4:26 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of Heaven and Earth (narrative)
# Genesis 5:1–6:8 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of [[Adam]] (genealogy, {{Crossreference|see [[Generations of Adam]]}})
# Genesis 6:9–9:29 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of [[Noah]] ([[Genesis flood narrative]])
# Genesis 10:1–11:9 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of Noah's sons [[Shem]], [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]], and [[Japheth]] (genealogy)
# Genesis 11:10–26 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of Shem (genealogy) 
# Genesis 11:27–25:11 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of [[Terah]] ([[Abraham]] narrative)
# Genesis 25:12–18 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of [[Ishmael]] (genealogy)
# Genesis 25:19–35:29 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of [[Isaac]] ([[Jacob]] narrative)
# Genesis 36:1–36:8 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of [[Esau]] (genealogy)
# Genesis 36:9–37:1 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of Esau "the father of the [[Edomites]]" (genealogy)
# Genesis 37:2–50:26 {{transliteration|hbo|Toledot}} of Jacob ([[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] narrative)

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).{{sfn|Whybray|2001|p=41}}{{efn|The [[Weekly Torah portion]]s, [[Parashot]], divide the book into 12 readings.}} 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.{{Sfn|McKeown|2008|p=2}} The primeval history has a symmetrical structure hinging on the flood story (chapters 6–9) with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after.{{Sfn|Walsh|2001|p=112}} The ancestral history is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph.{{sfn|Bergant|2013|p=45}} The stories of Isaac arguably do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.{{sfn|Bergant|2013|p=103}}