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Introduction to the first book of Moses,
the Genesis

Introduction to the first book of Moses, Genesis. The First Book of the Bible, the Book of Beginnings.

The First Book of the Bible, the Book of Beginnings

The first book of Moses is also called “Genesis”; this is the title that the translators of the Septuagint gave to the book.
Translated into English, the Greek word “genesis” means birth, origin, beginning, or creation.

In Judaism, this first scroll of the Torah is called “Bereshit” = In the Beginning, after its first word.

In our Bibles, the first book of Moses is divided into 50 chapters.
These fifty chapters deal — as the title suggests — with the beginning 🙂

The beginning of the universe — the beginning of our solar system and our planet — the beginning of life, and at the end of this process — the beginning of humanity and its history — up to the beginning of the history of Israel.

The first book of the Bible is essential for understanding the Old Testament and, by extension, the Jewish faith.
Here, the nature of the material world, the nature of humanity, and also the possibility of a relationship with the Almighty God are revealed to us.

The first book, like the entire Pentateuch — the first five books of the Bible — was written by Moses, after whom they are usually named.

Given his upbringing as a prince of Egypt, he could — at least superficially — have accomplished this using the 700 common hieroglyphs, but as far as we know, he used only the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet for his five books — how else could the Israelites – and than also we all, have ever made sense of them…

This writing system continued to be used for the Old Testament for over 1,200 years 🙂

The likely period of origin is the 40-year journey through the desert following the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt.
If this, as I personally believe, is connected to the volcanic eruption on Thera, Moses wrote Genesis around the year 1600 B.C.

Even in this first book of the Bible, a brief overview of all of human “prehistory,” this account — spanning many millennia — contains references, foreshadowings, and prophecies pointing to a Savior whom we humans need.

Another distinctive feature that sets this book apart from all other classical literature — and one that will accompany us throughout the entire Bible — is already found here in Genesis:

In His Word, God always presents people to us as they truly are — completely objectively and honestly; nothing about them is sugarcoated or idealized in the Bible!
Even the greatest heroes of the faith, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, or David, are not portrayed as perfect saints, but are described to us with all their faults and weaknesses.

A comfort for every seeker — no human has ever been perfect, but everyone who sets out on the “path” is also “accepted” — and, if they allow it, transformed as well. 🙂

Outline of the Book of Genesis:

Genesis covers the longest period of time of all the biblical books; it lists three time periods:

1. The time from Creation to the Flood

Chapters 1–2 – the creation of the universe, the world, all plants, and living creatures

Chapter 3 – the Fall of Man

Chapters 4 and 5 – the history of humanity from the expulsion from Paradise up to the Flood

2. From the Flood to the Patriarchs

Chapters 6–8 – the Flood as judgment upon corrupt humanity

Chapters 10–11 – from after the Flood to Abraham, the genealogy of the nations

3. The time of the patriarchs – up to the formation of Israel and the settlement of the people in Egypt

Chapters 12–25 – Abram – Abraham, his calling and his life

Chapters 25–28 – Isaac

Chapters 28–36 – Jacob – Israel

Chapters 37–50 – Joseph and the settlement in Egypt

Content of Genesis, the first book of Moses:

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Books of the bible

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