Why study Genesis? Studying Genesis is the very beginning of the Bible and is foundational for understanding the Bible. A study of Genesis will reveal the very beginning of history when God created the heavens and the earth. It also reveals the creation of humans and the first family, followed by the sin of this family and their descendants. The initial sin by Adam and Eve resulted in their eventual deaths and a broken relationship with God. The sins of their descendants led to God’s judgment on humanity and punishment by the great flood. God began again with Noah and his family, but this also led to sin and rebellion against God on the plains of Shinar, after which God confused the languages of mankind resulting in their dispersal throughout the earth. God began again with Abraham from whom His chosen people were descended. The remainder of the Book of Genesis is a story of this family, who began their existence in Canaan and later relocated to Egypt.
A Simple Outline of Genesis
God Creates: Genesis 1-3
God Condemns: Genesis 4-11
God Covenants: Genesis 12-50
It is traditionally claimed that Moses wrote the book of Genesis along with the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, which are also called the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses. The torah, the law is contained in these five books, beginning in Exodus. Genesis is critical to understanding God’s plan for the world and explains much of the moral wickedness of today’s world and why God choose a people to glorify His name in all the earth, and from who would come the blessing of salvation which in later Biblical texts would be revealed as through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.
God Creates: Genesis 1-3
The first three chapters describe the creation of the earth and humans being created in God’s image. The first humans, Adam and Eve however rebelled against God and were cast out of the place that God had prepared for them to live. Their sinfulness resulted in the judgment of death upon all humans and a broken relationship with God. God however promised to bring someone who would restore this relationship.
Cod Condemns: Genesis 4-11
The sinfulness and rebellion of humans continued unabated until God decided to remove them from the earth by means of a great flood. Only one family, led by the righteous Noah, survived the flood by building a large boat (ark) to house this family and a set each of all the earth’s animals. After the flood, humans continued their sinfulness cumulating in their building of a tower on the plains of Shinar in defiance of God. God confused their language causing them to disperse throughout the earth as He had originally commanded them to do.
God Covenants: Genesis 12-50
God choose Abram to go to a designated land, Caanan, where God made a covenant with him. This covenant had three basic parts. God would give Abram and his descendants a land. God would bless Abram’s seed so that it would be a great nation and from Abram all nations of the earth would be blessed. The remainder of the Bible reveals that the ultimate blessing from Abram (later Abraham) would be the coming of God’s Son Jesus Christ into the world to save the world from their sins. Following the giving of this covenant, the narrative of the descendants of Abraham is told. Most of this story is about Abraham’s grandson Jacob and his twelve sons, one of whom was Joseph who through God’s intervention and mercy, became a great leader in Egypt. Genesis ends with Jacob’s family relocating to Egypt to be with Joseph because of a famine that devastated the land of Canaan and other lands of the ancient near east.
Alternative Outlines of Genesis
A very basic outline of the book in two sections:
(1) From Adam to Abraham Chapters 1-11
(2) From Abraham to Egypt. Chapters 12-50
Another basic outline is based on the words, “These are the generations of”: Hebrew tôleḏâ, (toledot) (Strong’s H8435).
1-5 of Adam (Genesis 5:1)
6-9 of Noah (Genesis 6:9)
10-11 of the sons of Noah (10:1, 11:10)
11:27 -25:11 of Abraham through Terah (11:27)
25:12-18 of Ishmael (25:12)
25:19-35:28 of Isaac (25:19)
36 of Esau, (36:1)
37-50 of Jacob (37:2)
Suggested Verses to Memorize from Genesis
1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head and you shall bruise his heel.
1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. (first half of this verse).
Resources for studying Genesis
See the article on how to study the Bible for suggestions on the method of Bible study and recommended resources to obtain. Suggested commentaries and studies are listed below for a more extensive study. Some are available on-line in a pdf format.
Genesis: One Hour – One Book
https://www.1hour1book.com/genesis/
Commentaries
1. Matthews, Kenneth A. Genesis, Vol. 1, Chapters 1 to 11:26. New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1996.
– Genesis, Vol. 2, Chapters 11:27 to 50:26, 2005.
2. Sailhamer, John H. Genesis. Vol. 1, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Revised ed. Zondervan, 2008.
3. Hamilton, Victor P. The Book of Genesis. New International Commentary, Old Testament. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Vol. 1: Chapters 1 to 17, 1990.
– The Book of Genesis, Vol. 2: Chapters 18 to 50, 1994.
4. Constable, Thomas, Notes on Genesis, latest edition. Online at Plano Bible Chapel.
5. Ross, Allen, P. Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis. Baker, 1997.
6. Morris, Henry M. The Genesis Record. Baker Book House, 1976.
7. Kidner, Derek. Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. InterVarsity Press, 1967.
Studies
1. Answers in Genesis Website
2. Busenitz, Irvin A. Introduction to The Biblical Covenants; The Noahic Covenant and The Priestly Covenant Master’s Seminary Journal 10/2 (Fall 1999) 173-189
3. Busenitz, Irvin A. Woman’s Desire for Man: Genesis 3:16 Reconsidered. Grace Theological Journal 7:2 (Fall 1986):203-12.
4. Davis, John J. Paradise to Prison. Baker Book House, 1975.
5. Essex, Keith H. The Abrahamic Covenant. Master’s Seminary Journal 10/2 (Fall 1999) 191-212
6. Ham, Kenneth A. Genesis and the Decay of the Nations. Answers in Genesis, 1991.
7. Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. The Promised Land: A Biblical-Historical View. Bibliotheca Sacra 138:552 (October-December 1981):302-12.
8. MacArthur, John. The Battle for the Beginning, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005.
9. Merrill, Eugene H. A Theology of the Pentateuch. In A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, pp. 7-87. Edited by Roy B. Zuck. Moody Press, 1991.
10. Morris, Henry M. III. The Book of Beginnings, Institute for Christian Research.
11. Ross, Allan P. The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9. Bibliotheca Sacra 138:550 (April-June 1981):119-38.
12. Sailhamer, John H. The Messiah and the Hebrew Bible. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44:1 (March 2001):5-23.
13. Sailhamer, John H. The Pentateuch as Narrative, Zondervan, 1992.
14. Swindoll, Charles R. Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness. Word Publishing, 1998.
15. Tanner, J. Paul Old Testament Chronology and Its Implications for the Creation and Flood Accounts. Bibliotheca Sacra 172:65 (January- March 2015):24-44.
16. Whitcomb, John C., Morris, Henry M. The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications, 50th Anniversary Edition. P & R Publishing.
Pentateuch Studies (listed alphabetically by author)
1. Alexander, T.D. From Paradise to the Promised Land. Baker Academic, 2002.
2. Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Pentateuch. 2nd Edition. Baker Academic, 2015.
3. Sailhamer, John H. The Pentateuch as Narrative, Zondervan, 1992.
4. Wenham, Gordon J. Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch. IVP Academic, 2016.
5. Wolf, Herbert. An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch. Moody Publishers, 1991.
Pdf File of this Study