Genesis
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
Genesis moves from creation and humanity's fracture to God's promises to Abraham's family. Blessing, land, offspring, rivalry, and reconciliation connect its ancestral narratives; Joseph's story ends in Egypt rather than in possession of the promised land.
Historical context
The narrated world of the ancestors and the book's long history of composition are different questions. Traditional Mosaic attribution and modern accounts of collected traditions should not be confused with the date of a surviving manuscript.
Key points
- Read the creation narratives before reducing them to a modern scientific chronology.
- The covenant includes blessing for other families, not only a private promise to Abraham.
- Joseph names human wrongdoing without denying the possibility of providence and reconciliation.
Scripture
- Genesis 1:1-2:3 — The ordered creation narrative culminates in God's rest; the image of God belongs to humanity.
- Genesis 12:1-9 — Abram's call sets blessing for the families of the earth within the promise of land and descendants.
- Genesis 50:15-21 — Joseph distinguishes his brothers' harmful intent from God's life-preserving purpose.
- Galatians 3:6-14 — Paul explicitly rereads Abraham's blessing in relation to faith, Christ, and the nations; compare his argument with Genesis's narrative setting.
Primary sources
Basil, Hexaemeron I.1:
Basil begins his Genesis homilies by attributing creation to God. This is a fourth-century Christian interpretation, not a date for Genesis's composition.
the creation of heaven and earth, which was not spontaneous, as some have imagined, but drew its origin from God
Passage context and translation
Basil opens his homilies on Genesis by rejecting an unguided origin of the cosmos and directing attention to the Creator.
Before the excerpt
I am about to speak of
Sources and further reading
- Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles: canonical books and Apocrypha
- Basil, Hexaemeron, Homily 1.1-2
A named patristic reading of creation; distinguish its theological argument from modern scientific questions. - Catholic Catechism §120: canon and book list
- Genesis: complete public-domain WEB text
- Orthodox Church in America: canon of Scripture
- Orthodox Church in America: Old Testament historical books
- USCCB Bible introductions: historical and literary notes