What the book is
Genesis is the first book of the Bible and the first of the five books of the Law, the Torah. Its name comes from the Greek translation and means “origin”; in Hebrew it is named after its first word, “in the beginning”. It begins with the whole world and narrows to one family. The first eleven chapters tell of creation, the garden, the first sin, Cain and Abel, the flood and the tower of Babel. From chapter 12 the book follows Abraham, to whom God promises land, descendants and blessing, and then his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons, ending with Joseph in Egypt.
It opens with these words:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Who wrote it, and when
Genesis does not name its author. Jewish and Christian tradition has long held that Moses wrote the five books of the Law, and many readers still hold that he is their author or the main source behind them. Since the eighteenth century, many scholars have argued instead that the books were drawn together from earlier sources and traditions over a long time, reaching their final form during or after Israel’s exile in Babylon, in the sixth or fifth century BC. Others hold views in between: an ancient core, with later editing. The book marks its own sections with a repeated heading, “This is the story of Noah”, “This is the account of Terah’s family”, often followed by a family list.
None of these questions changes how a sentence is translated, and the draft does not take a side on them.
How the book is laid out
- Creation (1:1–2:3): six days and a day of rest.
- The beginnings of humankind (2:4–11:26): the garden and the first sin, Cain and Abel, the flood and God’s covenant with Noah, the nations, and the tower of Babel.
- Abraham (11:27–25:18): God’s call and promise, the covenant, the birth of Isaac, and the testing of Abraham on the mountain.
- Isaac and Jacob (25:19–36:43): Jacob and Esau, the stolen blessing, Jacob’s dream at Bethel, his years with Laban, and the night he wrestles and is named Israel.
- Joseph (37–50): sold by his brothers, raised up in Egypt, and the family brought together again. “Evil was what you planned against me; good was what God planned by it” (50:20).
What to look for
Promise is the thread. God’s word to Abraham, that “all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (12:3), is repeated to Isaac and Jacob and runs through the rest of the Bible. Again and again the promised child is long in coming, the younger son is chosen over the elder, and God brings good out of human failure. The New Testament comes back to Genesis often: to Adam, to Abraham who “put his trust in the LORD” and was counted righteous (15:6), and to Melchizedek.
How Open Word Bible translates Genesis
The divine name. God’s personal name, the four Hebrew letters often written YHWH, appears more than a hundred and forty times in Genesis. Following a very old practice, the text writes it “the LORD” in small capitals; a reader setting shows “Yahweh” instead. See the divine name and Names and titles of God.
The first verse. “In the beginning God created” can also be read as “When God began to create”, leading into verse 2. The draft follows the first reading and footnotes the second. See “In the beginning”: translating Genesis 1:1–2.
The Spirit of God (1:2). The same Hebrew word means wind, breath and spirit. The draft says “the Spirit of God” and gives “a wind from God” in a footnote. See Wind, breath and Spirit.
”Let us make” (1:26). Why does God speak in the plural? A decision sets out the readings: God speaking to the heavenly beings around him, a plural of fullness or majesty, or a first hint of more than one person in God. See “In our image”.
The woman’s offspring (3:15). God tells the serpent that the woman’s offspring “will strike your head, and you will strike his heel”. The draft keeps “he”, as the Hebrew does, and a footnote gives the readings: a struggle in which the serpent receives the deadly blow, the long fight between people and snakes, or a promise of one descendant who will defeat the serpent, as Christians have long read it.
The sons of God (6:2). The draft says the phrase most likely means heavenly beings, and the footnote gives the other views: the godly line of Seth, or kings and rulers.
Wordplay. Genesis is full of names that are puns: Adam and the ground, Eve and life, Babel and confusion, Isaac and laughter. The text keeps the names, and decisions explain the play. See Wordplay that can’t be translated.