NOTICE
The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible. The Bible books are not chronological in a sense that Genesis was the first Biblical book to be compiled. It is rather what I would call: ‘Thematic Chronology’. What I mean by ‘Thematic Chronology’ is that the content of the Bible is a product of oral tradition around the events and experiences of the ancient people (early Mesopotamia Civilisation) concerning their culture and their beliefs.
The books have reached us in this form through the process of transmission. First, it was an event initiated by this self-revealing God to man, then it was the tales about these revelatory events, these tales were then inscribed on rocks and skins. Then on the papyrus, later on, scrolls, on papers and today we have them digitally.
The oldest Bible book whose content was earlier than all other Books’ content is not Genesis but Job; according to me, it is upon the Oral Tradition (word of mouth) of the content in Job that the Scribes in Exile based on to construct and reconstruct their social, spiritual and theocratic history. Therefore, the Book of Genesis has the introduction of the whole story that is told in the whole Bible chronologically and contextually. It is in that sense that Genesis is the first book of the sixty-six books of the whole Bible.
TITLE
The title ‘Genesis’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Geneseos’ which appears in the Old Testament (OT) Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. According to its usage in Genesis 2:4 and 5:1, the term ‘Geneseos’ can mean; ‘History of Origin’, ‘Genealogy’ or ‘Birth’. The Bible in English or any other language, except Hebrew and Greek, are translations and therefore, readers must understand that what they are reading in any vernacular (English inclusive) is a translation. So, most of these Bible versions are translations.
The OT is a translation of a Greek TRANSLATION of the Hebrew (and some Aramaic sections) text and that is what the scholars call the Septuagint/LXX. So your English (and any other Language except Hebrew) version of the OT is a translation of a translation (Greek) of the original Hebrew text. The book we know as Genesis (as it is translated from the Greek translation) has B’reshith’ as its title in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew title means; ‘In the Beginning’ and the cultural connotation of this title was; ‘the Book of the Creation of the World’.
AUTHORSHIP
It is largely believed that the book of Genesis is one of the first five books (Pentateuch) written by Moses. The authorship of Moses has its defence and challenges as well but for now, we won’t look deeply into each school of thought but assert that the book is a compilation of both what Moses recorded (Deuteronomy 31:9, 24; Luke 24:27, 44) and what the Historians (Scribes led by Ezra known as the Massoretes in the Exile days) put together (Nehemiah 8:1, 4-5, 9; Jeremiah 8:8-9).
The first five books; Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy are therefore the work of Moses and that of the Scribes (Massoretes) for Moses could not have written about his death and Burial (Deuteronomy 34:1-12).
These Scribes who were co-authors with Moses of the Pentateuch according to Ian Werret, PhD
“were a tiny literate minority in an overwhelmingly illiterate and oral-based culture. It was these scribes who put their people’s oral traditions into writing, who edited independent stories into books, and who created new compositions. Some of them appear to have belonged to the priestly class, a landless tribe with the time and resources to engage in literary activities. Other scribes, such as the record-keepers, “historians,” and letter-writers in the royal palaces and urban administrative centres, were affiliated with the ancient equivalent of professional guilds.”
The sources of both Moses and these Scribes that shape the content of the Pentateuch are:
- The redeeming and revelatory Acts of God amidst them and surrounding cultures,
- The oral tradition about their experiences and the influence of the wisdom of surrounding cultures
- And direct oracles of God through the men of God like priests and prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1; Jeremiah 36:1-4; 45:1).
The Pentateuch is a product of the works of Moses and later, the additional (but contextual) work of the scribes who operate as redactors of the history recorded by Moses, the existing Oral Tradition and the revelatory acts of God in their time. It is this that explains the variations we see in the Pentateuch.
CANONICITY
There is way too much-sacred writings and records in the past but what we consider as the word of God is the 66 books of the Bible. The process by which we determine which book becomes part of the Bible books is what is called: Canonisation. In the future of these introductions, I will say more about the Canon but for now, let me share notes from the Book written by one of my theology teachers about the same.
“The word ‘canon’ has come into our language (through Latin) from the Greek word kanōn. In Greek, it meant a rod, especially a straight rod used as a rule; from this usage comes the other meaning which the word commonly bears in English—‘rule’ or ‘standard’
In the earlier Christian centuries, this was a summary of Christian teaching, believed to reproduce what the apostles themselves taught, by which any system of doctrine offered for Christian acceptance, or any interpretation of biblical writings, was to be assessed. But when once the limits of Holy Scripture came to be generally agreed upon, Holy Scripture itself came to be regarded as the rule of faith. For example, Thomas Aquinas (c 1225–1274) says that ‘canonical scripture alone is the rule of faith’. From another theological perspective the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), after listing the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, adds: ‘All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.’
These words affirm the status of Holy Scripture as the ‘canon’ or ‘standard’ by which Christian teaching and action must be regulated. While the ‘canon’ of scripture means the list of books accepted as holy scripture, the other sense of ‘canon’—rule or standard—has rubbed off on this one, so that the ‘canon’ of scripture is understood to be the list of books which are acknowledged to be, in a unique sense, the rule of belief and practice.” (The Canon of Scripture; F.F Bruce)
The Book of Genesis is considered Canon, therefore, because within its narratives, there is the ‘Word of God’ (‘Scripture’) as ‘inspired’ not just for their time but even for our times. The Rule (Canon) upon which Bible books are determined at the expense of all other documents and oral traditions of then is ‘Reality’. So the book of Genesis is canonical in a sense that within its narratives (not the details of its recording) there is a chronological, corresponding and coherent word of God – what we know as Scripture – that suits what both believers and non-believers consider the reality on issues of consensus at least. We will look at this issue in later episodes of these introductions.
OUTLINE
There are two ways to outline the book of Genesis. You can choose to outline the book in a NARRATIVE way or choose a THEMATIC way. Here is the:
Narrative
Chapters 1-11 is Primeval History: Bible readers must understand that the Bible is a historically relevant book. While it records myths, it as well records real events in history that are cross-cutting.
Chapters 12-50 is Patriarchal History: Genesis introduces a very interesting history and that is the history of the patriarchs. Every Culture has its Patriarchs and what we have in Genesis is the history of the Patriarchs to the Hebrews who in principle represent the foundations of majority patriarchal societies.
Thematic
Chapters 1-2 is about Creation/Origins: There are two worldviews about the origin of everything. The first is one that says there is a Being that created everything from nothing (Ex-nihilo) and the other contends everything evolved from something due to an unknown natural reaction.
Chapters 3-50 is about Salvation History (Heilsgeschichte): Genesis is an introduction of a story about the relationship between God, his creation and his people. The book introduces the story of two WHEREs and two WHATs. a)- Where did everything come from? b) – Where are we? c)-What is Wrong? And d)-What is the Solution? The Bible story rotates around the self-revealing God and the perception of the first recipients.
Whichever outline you choose, the meaning of Genesis must not be isolated from the rest of the Bible books.
God bless you,
I invoke TRUTH, WISDOM and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest M.I.T White (+256-775 822833/whitemwine@gmail.com for further inquiries)
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