The first book of the *Bible. The Book of Genesis tells of the *creation of the universe, the story of the first human beings (see *ADAM and *EVE), the history of the great *flood, the exploits of the patriarchs *Abraham, *Isaac and *Jacob and the story of *Joseph. It ends with the Israelites settling in the land of Egypt.
Genesis is known as ‘Bereshit’ (‘In the beginning’) and is traditionally believed to have been written by *Moses (see *DOCUMENTARY HYPOTHESIS). The essential theme of the book is the development of the *covenantal relationship of *God first with humanity in general (as represented by Adam and *Noah) and later with the *Jews in particular (through their forefather Abraham.) *God’s saving plan in history is being unfolded and the chronology is highly schematised (ten generations from Adam to Noah and from Noah to Abraham). Genesis is the first book of the *Pentateuch and, with the other four books, is read from every week in the *synagogue. (See *PENTATEUCH, *TORAH, READING FROM).
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