📖 The Book of Genesis
Start reading →Old Testament · 50 chapters · Law
The origin of the world, humanity, sin, and God's covenant people.
Who wrote Genesis?
Author
Moses (traditional)
Written
c. 1440 BC
Genre
Law
Traditional attribution. Modern critical scholarship sees layered sources (JEDP) compiled over centuries.
Why Genesis was written
To explain how God created everything good, how sin entered the world, and how God began his plan of redemption through the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Outline of Genesis
- 11–2: Creation — the world and humanity
- 23–11: The fall, Cain and Abel, the flood, Babel
- 312–25: Abraham — the covenant and its testing
- 425–36: Isaac and Jacob
- 537–50: Joseph — suffering, sovereignty, and preservation
Key verses
Genesis 1:1Genesis 3:15Genesis 12:1-3Genesis 50:20
How Genesis points to Christ
Genesis 3:15 is the first promise of a Redeemer. Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac foreshadows the Father offering His Son. Joseph's suffering, rejection, and exaltation parallel Christ's death and resurrection.
How Genesis begins
1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Read Genesis 1 →