Genesis
Title:
In the original Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament there were no names or titles to the various books. The Jews, to whom God gave His Word, usually called each book by the first one or two words of the opening sentence. In Genesis the first word in Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament, was the word translated “In the beginning”, and so that is what the Jews called it. Many centuries later Jewish scholars translated the Old Testament into the Greek language and gave names to each of the books. This translation is called the Septuagint. Much later these names were used in the Latin translation of the Bible, and many centuries after that in the English translation of the Bible. In this way the names came into what is now called the King James Version and other English versions.
Author:
The people of Israel from the time of Moses onward were sure that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, and there is strong evidence in the Bible itself to support this belief. See Ex 17:14; 24:4; 34:27; Num 33:2; Deut 31:19, 24-26; Josh 1:7-8; 8:31; 1 Kings 2:3; Luke 24:44; 1 Cor 9:9. Most importantly, Jesus Christ Himself said that Moses wrote about Him. See Matt 19:8; John 5:46-47; 7:19.
Date:
Probably sometime between 1446 and 1406 before Christ.
Theme:
Beginnings. Here we have the beginning of God’s written revelation of Himself, the beginning of the world, of mankind, of sin, of God’s plan of redemption, of the various races of men, and the beginning of the people of Israel through whom God gave His Word.
Contents:
Creation of the heavens and earth 1:1-31
More information about creation 2:1-25
The fall of man into sin and the result 3:1-24
Cain and Abel 4:1-18
The character of Cain’s descendants 4:19-24
Genealogy of early people 5:1-32
Noah, the ark, and the great flood 6:1—8:22
God’s covenant with Noah 9:1-17
The beginning of nations 9:18—10:32
The tower of Babel 11:1-9
More genealogies 11:10-32
Abraham obeys God’s call 12:1-9
Abraham in Egypt 12:10-20
Abraham and Lot separate 13:1-18
Abraham saves Lot 14:1-17
Abraham and Melchizedek 14:18-20
God’s promises to Abraham 15:1-19
The birth of Ishmael 16:1-15
Circumcision commanded 17:1-14
Isaac promised 17:15-19
Abraham’s three visitors from heaven 18:1-15
Abraham prays for Sodom 18:16-33
The destruction of Sodom 19:1-29
Lot and his daughters 19:30-38
Abraham and Abimelech 20:1-18
The birth of Isaac, departure of Ishmael 21:1-21
God tests Abraham about Isaac 22:1-19
Sarah’s death and burial 23:1-20
A bride for Isaac 24:1-67
Abraham’s death 25:1-11
Ishmael’s descendants 25:12-18
Birth of Jacob and Esau 25:19-26
Esau sells his birthright to Jacob 25:27-34
Isaac and Abimelech 26:1-33
Jacob deceives Isaac, gets his blessing 27:1-29
Esau’s loss and anger 27:30-45
Jacob flees to Laban 28:1-22
Jacob’s dream of a ladder 28:10-22
Jacob’s wives and children 29:1—30:24
Jacob and Laban – two deceivers 30:25-43
Jacob flees, Laban pursues 31:1-55
Jacob prepares to meet Esau 32:1-21
Jacob wrestles with the angel 32:22-32
Jacob meets Esau 33:1-17
Jacob at Shechem 34:1-31
Jacob at Bethel 35:1-15
Death of Rachel and Isaac 35:16-29
Genealogy of Esau 36:1-43
Joseph’s dreams 37:1-11
Joseph’s brothers sell him 37:12-36
Judah and Tamar 38:1-30
Joseph in Egypt 39:1—50:26
Potiphar’s wife 39:1-19
Joseph in prison, interprets dreams 39:20—40:23
Joseph appointed prime minister 41:39-57
Joseph and his brothers 42:1—44:34
Joseph reveals his identity 45:1-15
The brothers bring Jacob to Egypt 45:16—46:34
Jacob meets Pharaoh 47:1-12
Joseph’s acts as prime minister 47:13-31
Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons 48:1-22
Jacob blesses his own sons 49:1-28
Death of Jacob 49:29-33
Joseph’s remaining days in Egypt 50:1-26