The document provides an overview of the key points and themes in the Book of Genesis. It discusses that Genesis is the first book of the Bible and is about origins, including the origins of humankind, Israel, and God's relationship with a particular people. The document also summarizes some of the major sections and themes in Genesis, including Creation, the dignity of humankind, and the recurring formula of "Toledot" or generations that structures the book.

1. The Book of Genesis
Introduction

2. Genesis is the first book of the
Bible
 ―Genesis is a book
about origins: the
origins of
humankind, the
origins of Israel,
and the origins of
the unique
relationship
between God and
a particular
people.‖ (The JPS Torah
Commentary: Genesis; Commentary by
Nahum M. Sarna; The Jewish Publications
Society, Philadelphia, PA 1989 p.xii)

3. Genesis is the first book of the
Bible
 Genesis is about
origins

4. Genesis is the first book of the
Bible
 Genesis is about
origins
 The origins of
humankind

5. Genesis is the first book of the
Bible
 Genesis is about
origins
 The origins of
humankind
 The origins of
Israel

6. Genesis is the first book of the
Bible
 Genesis is about
origins
 The origins of
humankind
 The origins of
Israel
 The origins of
God‘s relationship
with a particular
people

7. (Bereshit)

8. (Bereshit)
Hebrew Word for
―beginning‖ or ―in
the Beginning‖

9. (Bereshit)
Hebrew Word for
―beginning‖ or ―in
the Beginning‖
The word ―Genesis‖
comes from the
Septuagint (Greek)
version

10. (Bereshit)
Hebrew Word for
―beginning‖ or ―in
the Beginning‖
The word ―Genesis‖
comes from the
Septuagint (Greek)
version
Both words refer to
the concern with
origins in the Book

11. Toledot
Hebrew for
―generations‖ or
―descendants‖

12. Creation
―The theme of
Creation, important
as it is, serves
merely as an
introduction to the
book‘s central
motif: God‘s role in
history.‖ (The JPS Torah
Commentary: Genesis; Commentary by Nahum
M. Sarna; The Jewish Publications Society,
Philadelphia, PA 1989 p.xii)

13. Creation
―...the human being in
Genesis – the pinnacle of
Creation – is a creature of
infinite preciousness who
enjoys a unique
relationship with God.
Humankind is endowed
with free will and,
consequently, is also
charged with moral
responsibility and
inescapable
accountability.‖ (The JPS Torah
Commentary: Genesis; Commentary by Nahum
M. Sarna; The Jewish Publications Society,
Philadelphia, PA 1989 p.xii)

14. Dignity of the Human Person
 ―The dignity of the human person
is a transcendent value, always
recognized as such by those who
sincerely search for the truth.
Indeed, the whole of human
history should be interpreted in
the light of this certainty. Every
person, created in the image and
likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-28)
and therefore radically oriented
towards the Creator, is constantly
in relationship with those
possessed of the same dignity. To
promote the good of the individual
is thus to serve the common
good, which is that point where
rights and duties converge and
reinforce one another.‖ (MESSAGE OF
HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR THE
CELEBRATION OF THE WORLD DAY OF PEACE 1
JANUARY 1999)

15. The Number 10
 “ten is one of the
perfect numbers,
and signifies the
perfection of Divine
order,
commencing, as it
does, an altogether
new series of
numbers.‖

16. Unity of the Scriptures
 ―Genesis is part of a
grand design which
unites the books of the
Torah with Joshua,
Judges, Samuel and
Kings in one
configuration: from
the creation of the
world to the choosing
of the people of Israel
and their settlement in
Canaan up to the
Babylonian Captivity.‖
(The Literary Guide to the Bible; edited by
Robert Alter and Frank Kermode, Bellknap
Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1987 p. 40-41)

17. Primeval History
 Chapters 1-11
cover the
distant aeons
of primeval
history

18.  chapters12-50
cover the
shorter span of
patriarchal
history

19. Toledot = Generations
 ―...the internal
structure of
Genesis is marked
off by the recurring
formula “These
are the
generations” or
“these are the
descendants” or
“this is the
history” (Heb.
‘elleh toledot).

20. Toledot = Generations
 Eleven times the
underlying Hebrew
expression occurs in
Genesis, each time
pointing the way
forward to a new
phase or
development in the
story, usually with a
reference to a single
ancestor.‖ (Ignatius
Catholic Study Bible:
Commentary, Notes and Study
Questions; Scott Hahn and
Curtis Mitch; Ignatius Press,
San Francisco, CA 2010 p.14)

21. Toledot = Generations
 “...toledot, literally
‖begettings,‖ from the
root yld which is used
for mothers (yaldah
―she gave birth‖),
fathers (holid, ―he
begot‖), and children
(nolad,‖he was born‖).
The begettings provide
a solid framework that
supports and
meticulously
articulates the various
sections of Genesis.‖
(The Literary Guide to the Bible; edited by
Robert Alter and Frank Kermode,
Bellknap Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1987
p. 40-41)

22. Documentary Hypothesis
 The Documentary
Hypothesis. The
documentary hypothesis,
(DH) (sometimes called the
Wellhausen hypothesis),
holds that the Torah was
derived from originally
independent, parallel and
complete narratives, which
were subsequently
combined into the current
form by a series of
redactors (editors). The
number of these is usually
set at four, but this is not an
essential part of the
hypothesis.

23. Documentary Hypothesis
 the Yahwist source ( J ) :
written c. 950 BC in the
southern Kingdom of Judah.

24. Documentary Hypothesis
 the Yahwist source ( J ) :
written c. 950 BC in the
southern Kingdom of Judah.
 The Elohist source ( E ) :
written c. 850 BC in the
northern Kingdom of Israel.

25. Documentary Hypothesis
 the Yahwist source ( J ) :
written c. 950 BC in the
southern Kingdom of Judah.
 The Elohist source ( E ) :
written c. 850 BC in the
northern Kingdom of Israel.
 The Deuteronomist ( D ) :
written c. 600 BC in Jerusalem
during a period of religious
reform.

26. Documentary Hypothesis
 the Yahwist source ( J ) :
written c. 950 BC in the
southern Kingdom of Judah.
 The Elohist source ( E ) :
written c. 850 BC in the
northern Kingdom of Israel.
 The Deuteronomist ( D ) :
written c. 600 BC in Jerusalem
during a period of religious
reform.
 the Priestly source ( P ) :
written c. 500 BC by Kohanim
(Jewish priests) in exile in
Babylon.

27. Creation in the Bible
 ―...the theme of creation
is not set down once for
all in one place; rather, it
accompanies Israel
throughout its history,
and, indeed, the whole
Old Testament is a
journeying with the Word
of God. Only in the
process of this
journeying was the
Bible‘s real way of
declaring itself formed,
step by step.‖ (‗In the
Beginning’ – A Catholic Understanding
of the Story of Creation and the Fall;
Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI),
translated by Boniface Ramsey;
William B. Eerdman‘s Co., Grand
Rapids, Mich. 1995)


28. Composition of Genesis
 ―On this hypothesis, the
composition of Genesis
began around 900 B.C and
came to an end around 400
B.C., sometime after the
return of the Jews from the
Babylonian Exile. Most
who adopt this view
acknowledge that the
stories in Genesis are often
much older than their
written form, and some
would allow that certain
parts of its contents may
indeed be Mosaic.‖ (Ignatius
Catholic Study Bible: Commentary, Notes and
Study Questions; Scott Hahn and Curtis
Mitch; Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA
2010 p.13)

29. Composition of Genesis
 ―The moment when creation became a
dominant theme occurred during the
Babylonian Exile. It was then that the
account we have…based to be sure,
on ancient traditions – assumed its
present form. Israel had lost its land
and its temple. According to the
mentality of the time this was
something incomprehensible, for it
meant that the God of Israel was
vanquished – a God whose people,
whose land, and whose worshippers
could be snatched away from him. A
God who could not defend his
worshippers and his worship was seen
to be, at the time, a weak God. Indeed
he was no God at all: he had
abandoned his divinity. And so, being
driven out of their own land and being
erased from the map was for Israel a
terrible trial: Has our God been
vanquished and is our faith void?‖ (‗In
the Beginning’ – A Catholic Understanding of the Story
of Creation and the Fall; Joseph Ratzinger (Pope
Benedict XVI), translated by Boniface Ramsey; William
B. Eerdman‘s Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. 1995)

30. gods in the Ancient Near East
 ―The king enjoyed the favor of
the gods, but their favor was
exhibited preeminently when
they granted the king and his
armies victory over the
enemies that threatened his
realm.‖
 (Gods in the Desert: Religions of the Ancient Near
East; Glenn S. Holland; Rowman and Littlefield,
Lanham, Md., 2009 p. 135)

31. The God of Israel
 1 Samuel 5: The Philistines
capture the Ark of the
Covenant

32. The God of Israel
 1 Samuel 5: The Philistines
capture the Ark of the
Covenant
 The implication is that the God
of Israel was defeated and
was now held in the house of
the god Dagon. However,
with the destruction of the cult
statue of their god, the
Philistines got the message:
the God of Israel is the true
God.

33. The God of Israel
 The Israelites ask
for a king. "Grant
the people's every
request. It is not
you they reject,
they are rejecting
me as their king.‖
(1 Sam. 8:7)

34. The God of Israel
 ―To Israel, his chosen, God
revealed himself as the only
One: "Hear, O Israel: The
LORD our God is one LORD;
and you shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and
with all your might." (Deut 6:4-
5.) Through the prophets,
God calls Israel and all
nations to turn to him, the one
and only God: "Turn to me
and be saved, all the ends of
the earth! For I am God, and
there is no other. . . . To me
every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall swear. ‗Only in
the LORD, it shall be said of
me, are righteousness and
strength.'" (Isa 45: 22-24; cf. Phil 2:10-11)
(CCC Ch. 1, Art. 1 #201-#202a)

35. I believe in one God
 "In the beginning God
created the heavens and
the earth": (Gen. 1:1)
three things are affirmed in
these first words of
Scripture: the eternal God
gave a beginning to all that
exists outside of himself;
he alone is Creator (the
verb "create"—Hebrew
bara—always has God for
its subject). The totality of
what exists (expressed by
the formula "the heavens
and the earth") depends on
the One who gives it being.
(CCC Art. 1, Par. 4 #290-292)


36. I believe in one God
 ―The mythology of both
Mesopotamia and Egypt
makes clear that the gods had
origins. They exist in familial
relationships and there are
generations of gods.‖ (Ancient
Near Eastern Thought and the Old
Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World
of the Hebrew Bible; John H. Walton; Baker
Academic, Grand Rapids, Mich. 2006 pp.
87-88)

37. I believe in one God
 ―...unlike earthly overlords, the
gods are endowed with a
divine authority and power
that elevates them far above
the capabilities of human
beings. The symbols of their
power embody that power and
confer it upon their owner.
They have strength,
knowledge, and skills that
surpass those of human
beings, but they are still
recognizably human in their
emotions, their desires and
their ambitions.‖ (Gods in the Desert:
Religions of the Ancient Near East; Glenn S.
Holland; Rowman and Littlefield, NY 2009 p.113)