GENESIS (Lat., from Gk. yevecrts, genesis, origin, from 7(-yreolu, gignesthai, to become), BOOK OF, or more fully GENESIS KOSMOU (Gk. yeveots dame), origin, generation of the world). The name given by the Septuagint to the open ing book of the Bible. In the Hebrew canon it is called B'reshith beginning'), from the initial word; in the Talmud it is sometimes re ferred to as 'the Book of Creation,' or 'the Book of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Its Masoretic di vision into 50 chapters, followed in the English Bible, or into 12 large and 43 small encyclical sections (sedarim parshioth), does not corre spond to any logical division of the subject mat ter. The book seems of itself to fall most naturally into two totally distinct parts. The first extends from the beginning to the call of Abraham (chs. i.-xi.), and embraces the account of the creation; the fall; the generations between Adam and Noah, together with their religion, arts, settlements, and genealogy; the Deluge; the repeopling of the earth; the Tower of Babel; the dispersion of the human race; and the gen erations between Noah and Abraham, thus form ing an introduction to the second part (chs. xii.-1.), or the history of the patriarchs (Abra ham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, and Joseph), the whole concluding with the settle ment of Jacob's family in Egypt. Another divi tion seems indicated by the inscription Toledoth origins, generations), which occurs ten times in the course of the book, introducing at each repetition a new cycle of the narrative, and which would thus split the whole (from ii. 4) into ten distinct sections of disproportionate length.
While the Jewish canon makes Genesis the first of a series of five books, which it comprises under the term Torah (`law'), according to the modern critical view Genesis is part of a com prehensive Hebrew history, beginning with crea tion and extending to the destruction of Jeru salem by Nebuchadnezzar, and comprising, there fore, besides the Pentateuch, the four books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The book of Genesis, like the other books of the series, is held to be of a composite character. There are two great compilations underlying it, the one— the priestly history—forming a setting to the priestly code (see PENTATEUCH) ; the other a purely historical compilation, written, however, from the point of view of the prophets and com monly designated as JE. (See ELonisr and YAiiwisr.) Of these, the latter, which again represents a combination of two documents—a Yahwistic and an Elohistic history—is the older, being the work of a Judean in the seventh cen tury B.C., whereas the priestly history is post
exilic. In the combination of these two works, additions and changes have been introduced by a series of redactors, which, however, do not efface the independent character of each. The older combination JE is characterized by what may be called its popular character. The old stories and legends are charmingly told, and while the pro phetic point of view is never absent, there is considerable interest felt in the stories as such. The priestly history, on the other hand, shows throughout the result of study and most decided theological and scholastic proclivities. The crea tion narrative is told as an illustration of the dogma of ethical monotheism, and the goal of God's work in creating the world is the estab lishment of the Sabbath as a day of rest; and so throughout, everything hinges upon the ritual, and the stories are made to lead up in some way to some definite point of the divine law.
This modern theory as to the composition of Genesis satisfactorily disposes of the difficulties which the old exegesis encountered. It explains the frequent double versions of one and the same tale, the numerous inconsistencies in the state ments found in the book itself, as well as the traces of events, such as the establishment of the kingdom, the erection of the Temple at Jerusalem, and even the Exile, which belong many centuries subsequent to the days of Moses, who became in tradition the author of the entire Pentateuch.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Of the numerous commentaries Bibliography. Of the numerous commentaries on Genesis, those of Gunkel, Holzinger, Dillman, Delitzsch, Ball, and Strack are to be recom mended, as well as the introductions to the Old Testament by Kuenen, Driver, Cornill, Bleek Wellhausen. Consult, also: Kalisch, Commentary of Genesis (London, 1859) ; Dods, The Book of Genesis (New York, 1888) ; Candlish, The Book of Genesis (London, 1884) ; Hale.vy, Recherches bibliques (Paris, 1895) ; Spurrell, Notes on the Text of the Book of Genesis (Oxford, 1896) ; Bacon, The Genesis of Genesis (New York, 1892 ) ; Fripp, The Composition of the Book of Genesis (London, 1892) ; Schurmann, Die Wellhausensche Pentateuchtheorie dargestellt and geprift (Karls ruhe, 1892) ; Green, The Unity of the Book of Genesis (New York, 1896). For the meaning of the stories included in Genesis, see CREATION;