Bereshit

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Bereshit (The Book of Genesis)
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Basic Facts about Genesis
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• Genesis is the first book of a larger literary
  unit called the Torah (law) or Pentateuch (5
  Books)
• Genesis (Bereshit)
• Exodus (Shemot)
• Leviticus (Vayikra)
• Numbers (Bamidbar)
• Deuteronomy (Devarim)
• The Torah is the first of the three larger
  literary units that constitute the Tanakh or
  Hebrew Bible, the others being the Neviium (the
  Prophets) and Ketuvim (the Writings). The three
  books constitute what Christians call the Old
  Testament.

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• The Torah tells a story spanning from the
  creation of the world to the death of Moses, the
  Patriarch who liberated the Israelites from their
  bondage to the Egyptians.

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Genesis Authorship

• Traditional Jewish and Christian theology
  identifies Moses as the author of the entire
  Torah (except for the final 8 verses that
  describe the death of Moses).
• The Torah itself is anonymous and likely has a
  collective authorship, not uncommon in the
  ancient world.
• Composed in the Hebrew language, linguistic and
  stylistic differences throughout the text provide
  one indication of multiple authorship.

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Genesis Date and Composition

• The consensus within Biblical scholarship is that
  Genesis was composed in different stages, by
  multiple authors, between the 9th and 6th century
  BCE.
• The text appears to have reached its canonical
  (official) form between the 6th and 4th century
  BCE, and was translated from Hebrew into Greek in
  the 3rd century BCE.
• The earliest (partial) manuscripts of Old
  Testament date to circa 3rd century BCE.
• The earliest complete Hebrew manuscript of
  Genesis (c. 10th century CE), Aramaic (c. 5th
  century CE), Greek (c. 3rd-5th century CE), and
  fragments are found among the Dead Sea Scrolls
  (c. 3rd-2nd century BCE).

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The Documentary Hypothesis

• Also called the Graf-Wellhausen Synthesis
• Developed in the late 19th century.
• Torah was created in the 5th century BCE by
  combining four different sources Jahwist, J (c.
  900 BCE), Elohist, E (c. 800 BCE), Deuteronomist,
  D (c. 600 BCE), and Priestly, P (c. 500 BCE).

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Genesis 1-11 is the product of at least two
different sources.
Genesis 1-11
J-Source
P-Source
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J-Source makes use of the Tetragrammaton or
four letters (YHWH) for Gods name, employs
highly anthropomorphic language to describe God,
and relies on folklore-type stories (source
origin 10th century BCE)
Example Genesis 24b-324, story of Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden
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P-Source This is the so-called Priestly source,
portions of text that use the term Elohim (for
Gods name), present genealogies, lists, and
cultic themes (source origin centuries after the
J-source, circa 586 BCE)
Example Genesis 11-24a, story of six-day
creation
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Patriarchal Era 2000-1300 BCE
Monarchic Period 1000-587 BCE
Babylonian Exile 586 BCE
Collection and Redaction
Written Sources
Oral Traditions
Final Form
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Topical Outline of Genesis Chapters 1-25
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Genesis 1-2 Creation of the World
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Genesis 3-5 The Fall from Innocence
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Genesis 6-10 Noah and the Great Flood
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Genesis 11-25 The Life of Abraham
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Abrahams Journey
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The rest of the Book of Genesis provides an
account of the lineage descending from Abraham
revolving around the two patriarchs Isaac and
Jacob.