Genesis

Genesis moves from the universe to humanity, from humanity to one family, and from that family to the people whose story fills the rest of the Old Testament. Chapters 1–11 tell the history of humanity; chapters 12–50 tell the history of one family, from Abraham to Joseph.

Lessons

1. 1In the BeginningGenesis 1–2 · Genesis opens with one Creator who brings order out of the deep, and makes humanity in His image.
2. 2The Garden and the FallGenesis 2–3 · Humanity is placed in a garden with God, chooses its own way, and is sent out into a harder world.
3. 3Cain, Abel, and the Long-Lived AncestorsGenesis 4–5 · Violence spreads outside Eden, civilization begins, and the line of Seth carries hope toward Noah.
4. 4Noah and the FloodGenesis 6–9 · God sends a flood on a violent world, preserves Noah, his family, and the animals in the ark, and promises never to do it again.
5. 5Babel and the NationsGenesis 10–11 · Humanity unites to build a tower to the heavens, God scatters them, and the story narrows to one man named Abram.
6. 6The Call of AbrahamGenesis 12–13 · God calls Abram to leave his homeland for a land He will show him, promising that through his family all the families of the earth will be blessed.
7. 7The War of the KingsGenesis 14 · Eastern kings raid the Dead Sea cities and carry off Lot. Abram rescues him and is blessed by Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High.
8. 8God's Covenant with AbrahamGenesis 15–17 · God binds Himself to Abram by covenant. Sarai gives Hagar to Abram, and Hagar meets "the God who sees." Abram becomes Abraham, and circumcision becomes the covenant sign.
9. 9Visitors, Judgment, and SodomGenesis 18–19 · Three visitors promise Sarah a son. Abraham pleads for Sodom. Lot's family escapes as the cities of the plain are destroyed.
10. 10The Promised SonGenesis 20–22 · Isaac is born to Sarah in old age. Hagar and Ishmael are sent away and saved by God. Then God tests Abraham: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac."
11. 11Sarah's Burial and Isaac's MarriageGenesis 23–24 · Abraham buys the cave of Machpelah to bury Sarah, his first owned ground in the promised land. His servant finds Rebekah, who chooses to go.
12. 12Two Brothers, Two DestiniesGenesis 25–27 · Rebekah's twins struggle before birth. Esau sells his birthright for stew, and Jacob, urged by Rebekah, deceives blind Isaac to receive the blessing.
13. 13Jacob's Ladder and His FamilyGenesis 28–31 · Fleeing Esau, Jacob dreams of a stairway to heaven at Bethel. In Haran the deceiver is deceived: he marries Leah and Rachel, and twelve children are born amid rivalry and prayer.
14. 14Wrestling with GodGenesis 32–33 · Afraid of Esau, Jacob prays, sends gifts, and wrestles through the night with a mysterious man who renames him Israel. The next day Esau runs to embrace him.
15. 15Dinah, Bethel, and the Twelve TribesGenesis 34–36 · Dinah is violated at Shechem and her brothers take brutal revenge. Jacob returns to Bethel, Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, Isaac dies, and Esau's descendants become Edom.
16. 16Joseph Is Sold into EgyptGenesis 37 · Jacob's favorite son dreams of his brothers bowing to him. They throw him into a pit and sell him to traders bound for Egypt, and tell their father he is dead.
17. 17Judah, Tamar, and Joseph's TrialsGenesis 38–40 · Tamar risks everything to claim the justice Judah denied her. In Egypt, Joseph resists Potiphar's wife, is imprisoned on a false charge, and interprets two officials' dreams.
18. 18Pharaoh's DreamsGenesis 41 · Pharaoh dreams of seven fat and seven lean cows. Joseph, brought from prison, interprets: seven years of plenty, then seven of famine. Pharaoh sets him over all Egypt.
19. 19The Brothers ReturnGenesis 42–44 · Joseph's brothers come to buy grain and bow before him without recognizing him. He tests them until Judah offers himself as a slave in Benjamin's place.
20. 20Joseph Reveals HimselfGenesis 45–47 · Joseph reveals himself and forgives his brothers. Jacob's whole family, seventy in the Hebrew count, settles in Goshen, while Joseph's policies bring Egypt's land under Pharaoh.
21. 21Jacob's Final BlessingsGenesis 48–49 · Jacob adopts Joseph's sons and crosses his hands to bless the younger. Then he speaks poetic words over each of his twelve sons, giving Judah the scepter.
22. 22Joseph's Final DaysGenesis 50 · Jacob is embalmed in the Egyptian way and buried in Canaan. Joseph reassures his frightened brothers, and before he dies makes them promise to carry his bones home.

How Genesis came to us

Who wrote it, how it was copied, and how it reached the Bible you hold. These lessons follow the book through history.

1. ★How Genesis Came to UsWho wrote Genesis, how it was copied for three thousand years, where the copies differ, and how the whole book from creation to Joseph reached the Bible you hold.
2. 2Moses and the TorahWho wrote the five books of Moses, what the Bible itself says about Moses writing, and the oldest surviving words of Scripture.
3. 6The SeptuagintJews in Egypt translated their Scriptures into Greek, creating the Bible of the early church and of the New Testament writers.
4. 7The Dead Sea ScrollsA shepherd's discovery in 1947 gave us Bible manuscripts a thousand years older than any known before, and showed how faithfully the text was kept.
5. 8Hebrew, Greek, and SamaritanThree ancient lines of copying, Hebrew, Greek, and Samaritan, let us compare the text and see where it was preserved and where it changed.
6. 13Scribes, Jerome, and the MasoretesJerome gave the West its Latin Bible; Jewish scholars called the Masoretes guarded the Hebrew text letter by letter.

Journey of a Passage

• ¶Genesis 1:1: In the beginningThe Bible's first sentence, followed through Hebrew, Samaritan, Greek, Latin, and English witnesses. The major witnesses preserve remarkably similar wording; the Hebrew syntax still leaves room for more than one reading.
• ¶Genesis 37:36: Medanites or Midianites? Who sold JosephThe standard Hebrew text names "Medanites" as the traders who sold Joseph in Egypt. The Samaritan, Greek and Latin read "Midianites," as in verse 28. A one-letter difference.
• ¶Genesis 46:27: Seventy or seventy-five? Jacob's family in EgyptThe Hebrew counts seventy people of Jacob's house in Egypt. The Greek Septuagint counts seventy-five, and so does Stephen in Acts 7:14, and a Dead Sea Scroll of Exodus 1:5.
• ¶Genesis 47:31: Bed or staff? Same letters, two readingsIsrael bowed "upon the bed's head" in the Hebrew, but "upon the top of his staff" in the Greek, which Hebrews 11:21 quotes. The Hebrew consonants are the same; the vowels differ.
• ¶Genesis 49:10: "Until Shiloh come": the scepter of JudahOne of the hardest phrases in the Hebrew Bible. Is "Shiloh" a name, a place, a title ("he to whom it belongs"), or "tribute"? Ancient Jewish and Christian readers heard a promise of the Messiah.