Book Study
Genesis
Genesis is the book of beginnings. It opens the Bible with creation, rebellion, judgment, covenant, family, land, and promise. It introduces the world that the rest of Scripture will build on.
Meaning: beginnings / origins
Category: Torah
Testament: Old Testament
Key verse: Genesis 1:1
Traditional author
Moses is the traditional author in Jewish and Christian understanding, though discussions about composition and final form are broader in scholarship.
Where was it written?
Traditionally associated with Moses and the wilderness period, though the book’s story world stretches from Eden to Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Egypt.
Context
What Genesis is doing in the Bible.
Main theme
Genesis lays the foundation for the Bible’s story: God creates, humanity falls, judgment comes, and covenant promise begins moving through one family.
Why it is first
Genesis stands first because it establishes the categories the rest of the Bible depends on: creation, sin, blessing, covenant, land, nations, and promise.
Jesus Connection
How Genesis points forward.
Genesis introduces the patterns that the New Testament will later interpret through Christ: the promised seed, blessing to the nations, sacrifice, covenant, kingship, and the hope that God will undo the curse.