THE BOOK OF GENESIS

SUMMARIZED BY

S. M. MUKARRAM JAHAN
M.A.C.R. SEM II, ID: 201905072

SUBMITTED TO
CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS AND
CIVILIZATIONS
JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA, OKHLA, NEW DELHI-110025
Dated: March 25, 2020 Professor: Dr. Annie Kunnath

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 BOOK OF GENESIS
The Book of Genesis comprising 50 chapters forms the first book of the Pentateuch or the Torah, the first
part of the TaNaKh, or the Hebrew Bible. Literally meaning “origin” or “birth,” genesis is the Greek
name for the book. The Hebrew name is Bere’sit, “in (the) beginning,” which is the book’s first word.

The book is, for relative purposes, divided into two parts, the primeval history and the ancestral history.
The synopsis of the former revolves around the Jewish narrative of the creation of the world and the
relationship of God with the humans and the introduction of evil to humanity. Consequently, the
relationship is portrayed to have soured and humanity is salvaged through Noah and the episode of the
Great Flood. The ancestral history (beginning from 12 th chapter) paints a picture of the history of Israel,
the chosen people of God. Abraham figures as the patriarch of the Jewish people who migrates to Canaan
and through his great-grandson Joseph, the people of Israel (Israel being the name of Jacob, son of Isaac
and grandson of Abraham) end up in Egypt preparing the ground for Moses and the Exodus. The Book
also sees a series of covenants between God and the humanity but is narrowed down stage to stage from
the whole of humanity through Adam and Noah to the progeny of Isaac and Joseph.

Jewish tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and most of Deuteronomy, but modern scholars increasingly see them as a product of the 6th
and 5th centuries BC. Furthermore, Genesis seems to have been assembled from several writings.
Scholars have tentatively identified three sets of these writings. They call one account J, because it always
refers to God as YHWH. Another account they call E, because it refers to God as Elohim. A third
account, P for Priestly, seems to contain material that would interest priests. A possible explanation may
also be that the contents were transmitted orally for centuries and were ultimately committed to writing
during or shortly after the Babylonian Exile

Genesis 1
The first words of the first chapter of the first book of the Holy Bible begin with the words, “In the
beginning,” and relate the Jewish narrative of the creation of the Universe in six days. Day I begins by
God creating the heavens and the earth ex nihilo but the latter was uninhabitable with pervading darkness
and only the essence of God sweeping over the waters. Then God created the Light through his word and
appreciated this creation to be “good” and pleasant and separated light from darkness so that they cancel
each other out for the purpose of marking night and day. Day II begins by the creation of a dome in the
waters that separated the waters below from the waters above (i.e. the clouds) and God called this dome
‘sky.’ During Day III, God assembles the waters below so that dry land would appear and commended
this separation. Then God has the earth create vegetation with fruits and seeds and God admired the same.

Day IV is marked by God creating stars in the sky to distinct night from day and seasons and years and
provides light to the earth. Day V is marked by God creating all the types of aquatic animals as well as
the birds to fly in the sky and God appreciated it. He commanded the creatures to procreate
henceforth and be fruitful.11 On Day VI, God created all the animals on earth and their species of every
kind and God liked it. Then, finally, as the most cherished piece of creation, God created the first human
—male and then the female, in his image, and gave him the authority over all the creatures dwelling in
water, land and air. They are given the same command to procreate to ensure the survival of humankind
and use all the resources for mutual benefit. God instructed them and other creatures to have the plants as
food. All that had to be created was done, and God appreciated the final result.

Genesis 2: By Day VII, God had finished all the work that He had started on Day I and rested on the 7th
day and blessed it. God brought forth the vegetation through rain and then created man from dust and
breathed into him life and placed him in Eden Garden for dwelling where He had grown every sort of
beautiful fruit yielding trees and also the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life, the
former of which man was forbidden to eat from, the transgression would result in death. As Man was
strolling about the Eden alone, God intended to create a mate as his partner and helper. God named the
animals after what Man called them and then put him to deep sleep and created woman out of his rib and
Man was ecstatic on seeing her and called her “Woman.” Both were naked but oblivious of the same.
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Genesis 3: A serpent tries to convince the Woman to eat from the Tree of Knowledge who initially
resists, but the serpent incentivizes her with gaining the power of God, in an attempt to tempt the Woman
to eat of its fruit. Ultimately, she gives in and, eats it and also makes her husband eat it. As a result, they
realize of being naked, and attempt to cover their loins with fig leaves. Being sensible of God’s approach,
and filled with shame and conscience of their own guilt, and dread of judgment, both hide themselves but
are eventually summoned by God. Man admits of being naked, and God inquires of former’s sense of the
same. Man accuses Woman of making him eat of the fruit and the Woman in turn blames the serpent for
the same. Angered, God curses the serpent and puts an enmity between Woman and the serpent and their
offspring. As a punishment to Woman for instigating her husband, He awards her the pangs of childbirth
and makes her subservient to her husband. For his sin, Man is charged with toiling to bring forth food
from the ground in contrast with the pleasures of Eden, and ground too would yield less, and Man’s life
will revolve around this tiring labor until he dies. Man, names his wife Eve and God gives them clothes
made out of skin to wear. Man, and Eve having wisdom of good and evil, an attribute of God, could now
easily eat from the Tree of Life and be immortal, so God expels them from Eden and puts an angel near
its entrance in the east to guard it.

Genesis 4: Eve gives birth to Cain and Abel who respectively make offerings to God who rejects the
former’s and accepts the latter. God warns Cain that malice and revenge could take birth in his heart
which he must overcome. Cain is overtaken by animosity and jealousy for his brother and slays him. God
inquires about Abel and Cain feigns ignorance. God curses Cain for his crime to be a fugitive and as a
result, earth is to yield less than before. After Cain pleads mercy, God puts a mark on him so that people
won’t dare attack him due to his wrongdoing. Cain and his wife settle in Nod; build a city and name it
Enoch after their son. Then continues their lineage till Lamech and his sons. Lamech confesses to his two
wives that he had killed a man for wounding him and that if anybody tries to avenge him (Lamech), God
will punish him seventy-seven times. Adam and Eve have another son, Seth, who is substituted for Abel
as Adam’s successor in righteousness. Seth’s fathered Enosh around whose time people started to
worship God in a more public and solemn manner.

Genesis 5: God named the humankind “Adam” and also the first man. Then is related the genealogy from
Adam (first man) to Noah: When he passed, Adam passed at 930 years of age and his son Seth lived for
912 years during which he fathered many children, and Enos. Enos fathered Cainan, among others.
Cainan, among others, fathered Mahalaleel. Mahalaleel fathered many, including Jared. Jared’s fathered
Enoch, and others. Enoch’s fathered Methusaleh. He was close to God and died earlier compared to
others. Methusaleh fathered many including Lamech. Lamech fathered Noah and prophesized him to
redeem humanity along with the earth that had been cursed. Noah fathered Shem, Ham and Japhet when
he was 500 years old.

Genesis 6: Mankind began to multiply rapidly as posterity of Seth married that of Cain, an act disdained
by God. The Spirit tries to contend with them but they wouldn’t relent. So, it gives them an ultimatum of
120 years to repent. The wickedness of men is widespread and inherent and man is perpetually either
doing or contriving wickedness and God feels remorse for creating man and He decides to destroy earth
and all living therein but Noah is able to obtain God’s mercy and favor to save his family and other
creatures. As Noah is different from others and is righteous, God informs him about His intention to
destroy men on earth. God commands Noah to build an ark, instructs him how to build it, and permits
Noah and his family to take refuge in the ark, and re-establish the covenant after the flood would subside.
God also commands Noah to put a pair—male and female—of all creatures (except fish) to ensure
continuation of their survival.

Genesis 7: God instructs Noah to take into the ark seven pairs of birds and clean beasts and of unclean
animals, one pair. After seven days, God makes it rain for 40 days and 40 nights and also the springs
come gushing their waters forth, which destroys every living thing in the earth. At the time, Noah was
600. God preserves the ark as the only remaining (God’s) breath of life upon earth. The floods remain on
earth for 40 days covering even the mountains while the ark is afloat, killing every creature on land. Only
Noah and those on the ark survive. The whole affair, from the start of rains, then 40 days of floods and

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then the subsiding of waters, take a total of 150 days.

Genesis 8: God makes the rains and springs to stop and the waters continue to subside for 10 months
when mountain tops are uncovered. The ark rests upon Mt. Ararat in the 7 th month. After 40 days of
floods, Noah sends a raven and a dove periodically to look for dry lands and after some attempts, he finds
that the earth is becoming dry. Noah and family and all the animals and birds are instructed by God to
leave the ark and spread across the earth and again multiply. 51 In gratitude for saving him and his family,
Noah builds an altar and offers sacrifices to God of clean birds and animals, which God accepts and
seeing the humility of Noah, decides not to send again a global calamity as a curse for the sins of men and
that the earth shall continue with its natural course, as was decided at the time of creation.

Genesis 9: God blesses Noah and his sons, and renews the covenant with them and instructs them to
multiply and restores the command of mankind over all the animals. 52 God also makes all the live, clean
animals and birds permissible but forbids their blood, for food 53 for the animals have blood common with
men and God personally takes responsibility to avenge the killing of manslaughter. 54 God establishes his
covenant55 with Noah (which is also extended to his progeny) and the creatures of earth that there will be
no more a global calamity to destroy the earth and seals it through a rainbow that would appear on the sky
occasionally to remind mankind of the covenant. 56 The whole earth is repopulated through the three sons
of Noah. Noah gets intoxicated from the vineyard he planted and loses his clothing in the state. Ham sees
him naked and informs his brothers who cover him while averting their eyes. Noah regains his senses and
comes to know about Ham’s conduct, curses Canaan 57 to be a Servant to Shem and Japhet, both of whom
he blesses. Noah dies 350 years later.

Genesis 1058: Sons of Noah father many children after the flood. Japhet’s progeny is mentioned first
followed by Ham’s and then comes Shem’s. Their progenies spread throughout the earth separately after
differences in their tongue develop and form into families and nations. Ham’s grandson, the delinquent
Nimrod is also prominent whose dominion is from Babel to other parts.

Genesis 11: All the people yet had only one language and Nimrod and his people settle in Shinar where
they make a city (Babel) out of bricks and slime and build a tall tower therein. God inspects it and it was
evident that these people were one community and they could only be restrained from their enterprise by
divine power. So, God creates a confusion among them so as their one common language become
incomprehensible on account of which they migrate to other parts. Then is given the pedigree of Abram
and his brothers beginning from Shem to the 10 th generation. Abram marries Sarai but she couldn’t bear
children. Abram, his father Terah, wife Sarai and nephew lot migrate from Ur towards Canaan but Terah
dies on the way, at Haran.

Genesis 12: God instructs Abram to migrate towards a promised land where he is promised great things.
He embarks on the journey with Sarai and Lot along with belongings and reach Canaan. Abram builds an
altar east of Bethel to worship God but isn’t satisfied with its location and as there was a famine in
Canaan, so he journeys south to Egypt. As his wife was pretty, Abram connives a plot to save his life and
wife’s honor against the lustful Egyptians. The Egyptians apprehend Sarai and take her to Pharaoh who is
overwhelmed by her and intends to have a relationship with her but God afflicts Pharaoh with disease.
Pharaoh is forced to releases Abram and Sarai with gifts.

Genesis 13: With riches from the Pharaoh, Abram returns to his altar near Bethel and prays to God. After
some altercation between his and Lot’s herdsmen, both separate amicably. Lot chooses to dwell in the
fertile Jordan at Sodom but the ways of those living there were sinful. To Abram, Canaan is reassured by
God that all of Canaan would belong to him and his progeny and promises him a posterity beyond count.
He moves to Hebron and builds there an altar for worship.

Genesis 14: Several kings attack Sodom and Gomorrah, whose kings flee, and pillage the cities and take
Lot prisoner. Abram receives the news and prepares his 318 servants to pursue the attackers and is
successful in retrieving Lot, his property that was confiscated, as well as other people. Hearing of
Abram’s victory, King of Sodom and King of Salem felicitate and thank him and his God. Sodom King
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requests Abram to hand his freed subjects to him but allows him to keep the booty. Abram credits his
victory to his prayers to God and refuses to keep anything from the booty since he does not believe that it
belonged to him. However, he only forfeited his claim to the spoils, not his men’s.

Genesis 15: Abram expresses his desire to have a son to be his heir or else all would be taken over by
Eliezer. God promises him of an heir and a progeny as many as the stars in the sky. To assure him of the
same, God commands him to take some animals for sacrifice, cut each of them in half and lay each half
with the other. Abram falls asleep and has a vision in which God foreshadows his descendants’ slavery in

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Egypt for 400 years and subsequent redemption and return to Canaan. God formally establishes a
covenant with Abram that Canaan will be inherited by his descendants along with all the communities
living therein.

Genesis 16: As Sarai was bare, she advises Abram to take her handmaid, Hagar, as his wife and further
his progeny through her. Abram obliges and consummates the marriage and Hagar conceives a baby.
However, Sarai now becomes jealous of her handmaid now but blames Abram for the same. Abram does
not own up to it and Sarai punishes Hagar on account of which Hagar flees. An angel of God finds her
near a well and convinces her to return and gives her the tidings of Ishmael in the backdrop of her
afflictions. Hagar expresses her gratitude to God for taking notice of her and names the well Beerlahairoi.
Ismael is born when Abram is 80. (Sunday; 23.02.2020; 9:20 pm)

Genesis 17: God commands Abram to obey Him in all respects and then renews the covenant with
Abram that he shall have numerous progeny and as a token of it, renames him as Abraham meaning, the
father of a multitude, and commands him to get circumcised. The same command is for his progeny too as
God wants the covenant to be sealed through a visible mark on man’s flesh. He who does not get
circumcised has broken the covenant. To Abraham’s befuddlement, God also renames Sarai as Sarah and
gives the glad tidings of Isaac and the covenant He would establish with him. He also blesses Ishmael to
beget multitudes and among whom there would be 12 princes. The same day, Abraham has all the male
inmates of his house circumcised including himself and Ishmael.

Genesis 18: Three men visit Abraham whom he greets with respect, hosts them under a tree, has their feet
washed and serves them a nice meal, prepared by Sarah. To their befuddlement, the three men give
Abraham and Sarah the glad tidings of a son. As they leave, God informs Abraham about his intention to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in the backdrop of their sins. Abraham implores God to spare the righteous
within the cities which he at first guesses to be fifty. Then he starts bargaining bringing down the number
to ten, and to all the numbers, God concedes to his request that He will not destroy the cities for even ten
righteous people.

Genesis 19: The two men reach Sodom at night and are hosted by Lot, even though they refuse at first,
and entertains, serves and feeds them. The residents of the city gather outside his house and demand to
see them. Lot pleads with them and offers his two daughters to them but the men remain adamant. The
visitors rescue Lot and affect the men to be unable to enter the house and advise Lot to remove himself,
his belongings and family from the city as they are to destroy it. At morning, the visitors ferry Lot, his
wife and daughters out the city and advise them to flee. Lot expresses gratitude to God and takes refuge in
the city of Zoar, which is spared for him by God. God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah but Lot’s wife was
left behind and she too dies. Lot and daughters take refuge in a cave outside Zoar. The elder daughter
devises a plan to have sex with her father in order to further his progeny, and successfully convinces the
younger one also to do the same. They make Lot drunk, the elder one lays with him first and the younger
one does the same the second night. Both bear sons of their father.

Genesis 20: Abraham journeys with Sarah to Gerar where he denies her to be his wife, but sister and
Abimelech apprehends her. God informs Abimelech of the truth and the latter pleads for his people and
himself to be spared. God commands him to return Sarah to Abraham which he does along with gifts after
Abraham explains his conduct. He also gives them silver, offers them land and advises Sarah to own her
identity. As a result of this detention of Sarah, Abimelech’s family was unable to conceive but later
Abraham prays for them and they get healed.

Genesis 21: God fulfills His promise to Sarah and she conceives and gives birth to Isaac, whom Abraham
has circumcised on the 8th day. Sarah revels and Abraham throws a feast when Isaac is weaned. Sarah
grows jealous of Hagar and her son 93 and asks Abraham to get rid of them. Abraham is unwilling but is
commanded by God to oblige after being given solace about Ishmael’s future. Abraham provides
provisions to Hagar and she leaves with Ishmael. They run out of water in Beer-sheba and the child cries
in agony. God answers her prayers as a well appears near Ishmael. Growing up, his mother marries him to

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an Egyptian woman. After Ishmael is expelled, Abimelech visits Abraham and latter complains to him
about a well which the former’s men had hogged on. Abimelech pleads ignorance and they strike a
covenant of truce. As a result, Abraham stays at Gerar for many years.

Genesis 22: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, at Mt. Moriah. Abraham quietly
obliges and reaches there with Isaac who was oblivious to the plan and Abraham too projects it as a lamb
to be sacrificed. After binding Isaac to an altar atop Mt. Moriah, Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac when
an angel stops him and a lamb appears behind Abraham caught in bushes. Abraham takes the lamb and
sacrifices it in the place of his son. Abraham names the place Jehova-jire for his faith in God, God blesses
Abraham and his progeny and promises him a multitude of descendent. Abraham returns and Sarah
informs him of the birth of Rebekah, his brother Nahor’s granddaughter at Ur.

Genesis 23: Sarah passes away at 127 years at Hebron and Abraham mourns for her. He requests the
natives to intercede for him to Ephron who owns a field with a cave in Machpelah, to sell it to him to bury
Sarah away from his sight. Ephron offers it for free but Abraham insists and pays him. Thereafter,
Abraham buries Sarah therein.

Genesis 24: Abraham gives the task of finding a wife for Isaac from Ur to his eldest servant but ensure
that Isaac stays at Canaan and doesn’t leave if for his wife. Servant arrives at Nahor’s city and stays by
the well at evening when women come to draw water. He prays to God that the woman who agrees to
give him and his camels water be the one for Isaac. To the well comes Rebekah and upon Servant’s
request, she gives him and his camels water. Moved by her humility, he gifts her jewelry while inquiring
of her lineage and upon receiving a desirable answer, requests her lodging at their house. She courteously
agrees. They arrive at her house and her brother, Laban, proves hospitable, and then the Servant reveals
his purpose of visit. On hearing Abraham’s name, Bethuel and Laban readily agree and Servant gives
presents and gifts and more jewelry to the family. Rebekah is sent off with Servant and her nurse. They
reach Lahai-roi, where Isaac was, and when Rebekah sees him, she veils herself, gets off her ride and is
introduced to him. The two fall in love and Isaac consummates his marriage inside late Sarah’s tent, and
his sorrow for his mother subsides.

Genesis 25: After Sarah’s passing, Abraham weds Keturah who bears him 6 children. Isaac inherits
Abraham’s possessions while other sons are given gifts and sent away from Isaac. Abraham passes at 175,
and is buried by Isaac and Ishmael with Sarah. Ishmael dies 48 years later (at 137) in the presence of his
brothers leaving behind 12 sons who later father huge nations. Rebekah was also barren but later
conceives twins after Isaac prays to God. She delivers the babies: the first one being very red and hairy is
named Esau while his brother is born clinging to his heel and is named Jacob. Esau grew to be more
active and shrewder while Jacob was relatively simpler. Thus, Isaac favored the former while Rebekah
the latter. Jacob has Esau—the firstborn—forfeit his birthright to him for some pottage when the latter is
once famished. Esau gives in.

Genesis 26: After a famine strikes Canaan, Isaac is directed by God to dwell at Philistine. On being asked
by natives about Rebekah, like his father, Isaac projects her as his sister, but Abimelech soon figures out
the truth and issues a death penalty for anybody who would lay a hand upon Rebekah. Isaac cultivates a
lucrative yield and becomes rich but is envied by locals. Seeing him as a threat, he is expelled from there
and he settles in Gerar where he gets into a tussle with locals about wells. He returns to Beersheba after
the famines. He is visited by Abimelech who, seeing that he is blessed by God, offers reconciliation,
which Isaac accepts. Esau weds a Canaanite, a practice that was strictly forbidden by Abraham, and hence
the wedding was a source of trouble for Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 27: Isaac nears death and craves savory meat, his favorite, and asks Esau for the same. Rebekah
overhears and instructs Jacob to fulfill his father’s wish and get blessed instead of Esau. She has Jacob
don Esau’s clothes and present the meat to Isaac. Isaac is thus deceived and blesses Jacob. Later, Esau
also returns with the dish and both realize Jacob’s deception. Esau is shattered. Esau intends to kill Jacob
after Isaac’s passing. Rebekah advises Jacob to take asylum with Laban in Haran. Feigning a matrimonial

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prospect for Jacob in Haran, Rebekah persuades Isaac to send Jacob away.

Genesis 28: Isaac blesses Jacob and sends him to Laban, his maternal uncle. To woo his father, Esau too
marries Ishmael’s daughter, Mahalath. Jacob, on the way, dreams of a ladder thronged with angels,
stretching from heaven to earth. God addresses him and renews with him the covenant of Abraham. Jacob
wakes and anoints the stone he was sleeping on with oil and names the place Bethel, the House of God.
Jacob also vows to offer tenth of his earnings and possessions to God.

Genesis 29: Jacob reaches Mesopotamia and encounters Rachel, Laban’s daughter. Laban is ecstatic to
meet him. Jacob explains his predicament and works for Laban for 7 years in return for marrying Rachel.
But unbeknownst to Jacob, Laban makes him lie with Leah. When Jacob realizes, Laban still makes him
spend the week with Leah and marries Jacob to Rachel but demands he work for him another 7 years.
Jacob prefers Rachel over Leah and as a result, God makes Rachel barren and Leah bares a son she names
Reuben. She again delivers a boy naming him Simeon. Later she bares another son she names Levi. She
then conceives yet another calling him Judah.

Genesis 30: Being barren, Rachel envies her sister and proposes to Jacob to lie with Bilhah, her
handmaid, so that what she conceives be projected as Rachel’s children. Jacob obliges. A son is born,
whom Rachel calls Dan. Bilhah bears a son again and Rachel calls him Naphtali. To compete with
Rachel, Leah also gives Jacob her handmaid, Zilpah to bed. Zilpah bears a son whom Leah calls Gad.
Then Zilpah delivers another son whom Leah calls Asher. Leah “buys” Jacob’s night for Reuben’s
mandrakes and conceives a fifth son, whom she calls Issachar. Later a sixth son is born whom she names
Zebulun. She also delivers a daughter named Dinah later. God made Rachel also conceive a boy whom
she named Joseph. After his birth, Jacob requests Laban to pay him his wages, by virtue of which he
takes the single-colored animals among the flock of Laban to rear them. By divine direction, after some
gimmicks, the flock starts conceiving spotted young ones until the spotted and freckled outnumber
Laban’s flock and Jacob becomes rich.

Genesis 31: God directs Jacob to return to Canaan after Jacob senses hostility from Laban and sons. He
informs his wives too and they begin the journey without informing Laban. Latter pursues Jacob and
apprehends him at Mt. Gilead. Upon divine providence, Laban does not punish him but only inquires of
idols of his stolen. He, however, does not find it. Jacob reprimands Laban for his uncouth conduct in
return for his sincere 20 years’ service. He owns God as his defense in the day of his affliction. They
conclude a covenant with a pillar of stones and God as witnesses. The covenant entailed that Jacob takes
no other wives besides Leah and Rachel, treats them well and that both won’t cross to the other side of the
pillar with hostility. To seal the covenant, Jacob offers a sacrifice on the altar and Laban bids farewell.

Genesis 32: Jacob is visited by angels whom he calls God’s hosts. He sends them to Esau with request to
have pity on him for his exile. Anticipating an impending attack from Esau, Jacob tries to secure his
possessions. He also sends many animals to Esau as gifts and prays to God too. He also sends his wives,
maidens, and children and possessions over Jabbok for protection. Jacob has a vision in which he wrestles
with a man till dawn and prevails. Jacob asks for being blessed, and the man gives Jacob the title of Israel,
the prince that prevailed with God. As he moves, he senses the pain in his sinew that was held by the
man, and to this day, in commemoration of which, Jews do not eat that part of the thigh of animals.

Genesis 33: When Esau arrives, Jacob comes to the forefront of his family, and bows to his brother 7
times. Esau is ecstatic to meet him and kisses him and both weep on reconciliation. On Esau’s inquiry,
Jacob introduces his family to him who greet him cordially. Esau also politely declines the animals Jacob
had sent but Jacob insists and compares to seeing Esau’s face to that of God’s. Esau proposes return to
Seir together but Jacob requests that former go ahead as Jacob’s flock and children are weak to travel.
Jacob later goes to Succoth144 and stays there for some time. Then he settles in Shalem, where Shechem
lived, buys their land and erects there an altar, El-elohe-Israel (God, the God of Israel).

Genesis 34: Shechem falls for Dinah and takes her by force, and later he and his dad Hamor request
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Jacob and his sons for her hand in return for anything. They apparently agree in return for the whole town
getting circumcised to facilitate social integration. The entire city’s men get circumcised and when they
are sore with pain, Simeon and Levi massacre them all and rescue Dinah from Shechem’s house and then
ravage the city. Jacob does not condone this act and anticipates a reaction from the city.

Genesis 35: On God’s command to return to Bethel and build an altar there, Jacob instructs his family
and servants, and they journey to Luz (Bethel) under God’s protection. Jacob builds an alter there, El-
Beth-el. God renews his covenant with Jacob, and Jacob erects a pillar there anointing it with wine and
oil. They journey again and reaching Bethlehem, Rachel dies while giving birth to a son she names Ben-
Oni. Jacob, however, names him Benjamin.150 Jacob reaches Hebron to Isaac who passes away at 180.

Genesis 36: This chapter gives a genealogical account of Esau's family, of his wives and sons, with
whom he moved to Seir as the enormous properties of Jacob and Esau were not suitable to let them live
together. It mentions his grandsons, who were dukes in the land of Edom (like Teman, Omar, etc.), after
which is inserted a genealogy of Seir the Horite, into whose family Esau married, of his children, and the
dukes among them (like Dishon, Ezer, etc.). Then follows a list of the kings of Edom (like Bela, Jobab,
etc.), before there were any in Israel, and the chapter is closed with a brief narration of the dukes of Esau,
according to their families (like Timnah, Alvah, etc.).

Genesis 37: Jacob lives in Canaan when Joseph is envied by his brothers for being loved the most by
Jacob. Joseph relays two dreams to his brothers that indicate his dominance over them all. Jacob is
surprised at it but doesn’t dismiss it. He sends Joseph to his brothers who were tend to the flock. The
brothers conspire to kill him but on Reuben’s proposal, they throw him in a pit, taking his coat off first.
Joseph is rescued by a merchant who sells him to an Ishmaelite caravan to Egypt. Judah proposes a
similar plan but not finding him there, the brothers stain his coat with blood and tell Jacob that he was
taken by an animal. Jacob is devastated while Joseph is sold to Potiphar.

Genesis 38: Judah marries a Canaanite, Shuah. 3 sons are born, Er, Onan, Shelah. He marries Er to
Tamar. Er was sinful in God’s eyes and was killed by God. Judah directs Onan to marry the widow to
preserve Er’s name but he does not lay with her. God kills him too. Judah sends Tamar back home till
Shelah grows up. Shuah dies and Tamar disguises herself and lays with Judah and leaves. When Judah is
told of Tamar’s conception, he summons her but realizing the child is his, he is ashamed. She gives birth
to twins and Judah names them Pharez and Zarah.

Genesis 39: God makes Joseph do well at Potiphar’s house. Potiphar realizes this and favors him and
makes him in-charge of the affairs of his house. As a result, Potiphar’s house is blessed with abundance of
riches. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph but he refuses. When she tries again, he flees leaving his
coat behind. She alleges to Potiphar of Joseph having tried to rape her and produces the coat as evidence.
Potiphar throws him in jail. In prison too, God makes the jailor favor Joseph and he is made a prefect
among prisoners.

Genesis 40: Potiphar also throws the head butler and head baker in the same prison as Joseph, for
offending the Pharaoh. Both of them have a dream which they relate to Joseph. To the butler, Joseph
interprets that he will be reinstated in his job after 3 days. Joseph also requests butler to intercede for him
to Pharaoh to have him released. To the baker, he interprets that after 3 days, he will be beheaded by the
Pharaoh and his body would be hung which the birds would eat. On the third day, which is Pharaoh’s

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birthday, Joseph’s interpretations are proven true but upon release, the butler fails to remember Joseph’s
request.

Genesis 41: After two years while Joseph is still in prison, the Pharaoh has two thematically similar
dreams which perturb him. The best interpreters of Egypt are unable to interpret his dream when the
butler remembers about Joseph. He is summoned and interprets the dream as 7 years of plenty followed
by 7 years of famine. He also advises Pharaoh on how to tackle with the problem. Pharaoh appoints
Joseph as his advisor, seeing his wit and God’s grace with him.163 Pharaoh calls him Zaphnath-paaneah
and weds him to Asenath. Joseph implements the plan and during 7 years of plenty, 2 sons are born to
him, Manasseh and Ephraim. The famine begins engulfing all the regions (including Canaan) and people
from all countries start coming to Egypt to buy food grains.

Genesis 42: Jacob hears of the stored corn in Egypt and sends his sons except Benjamin to Egypt. They
approach Joseph for corn but don’t recognize him and Joseph does. Seeing that Benjamin is missing, he
accuses them of spying and arrests them for 3 days and in prison, they feel ashamed of putting Joseph in
the well, as they now face a similar treatment. Then Joseph let’s all but Simeon go with corn so that they
bring Benjamin too. He also does not take their money and has it secretly put in their sacks which they
discover later and are puzzled. They reach Canaan and relate everything to Jacob. Jacob was skeptical of
his sons’ story of Joseph years ago and now of Simeon and thus unwilling to send Benjamin away, even
after Simeon insists.

Genesis 43: When their grains finish, Jacob directs them to go to Egypt again. They ask for Benjamin as
Joseph had demanded. Initially reluctant, Jacob later agrees upon Judah’s request and sends them with
gifts for Joseph. After arriving, Joseph has them brought to his house for a meal, unbeknownst to them.
Joseph arrives and they present the gifts who asks of the well-being of Jacob. Joseph sees Benjamin and is
overwhelmed by love for him, yet does not reveal it to them. Egyptians, Hebrews, and Joseph eat
separately, the brothers seated in order of their age. Joseph feeds Benjamin 5 times more out of affection,
and all their uneasiness dissipates.

Genesis 44: Joseph has their money put again in their sacks with corn and his silver cup in Benjamin’s
sack. When the brothers leave, Joseph has them apprehended and frisked out of the city. The brothers
contest the charge and agree the guilty to be taken bondsman. The cup is recovered from Benjamin’s sack
and thus Judah pleads for him and informs Joseph of their father’s strong attachment toward Benjamin
and requests that he be substituted in Benjamin’s stead.

Genesis 45: Upon hearing of his father’s misery, Joseph is overwhelmed, asks his staff to leave and
reveals himself to his brethren and the news soon reaches Pharaoh. The brothers are ashamed but Joseph
doesn’t blame them, for the entire scheme was divine providence. He invites them to move all the family
including Jacob to Egypt in a life of luxury amid famine. The Pharaoh ratifies the idea and also offers
them land in Egypt. Joseph sends 20 asses of gifts, eatables, grains and meat for Jacob. They reach
Canaan and inform Jacob of everything who is left befuddled. Once he realizes the veracity of the story,
he at once desires to leave for Egypt.

Genesis 46: Jacob goes to Beer-sheba to offer sacrifice to God. God reassures him of his journey, the
covenant and his progeny’s eventual exit from Egypt. Then the entire family with all their belongings—
cattle and flocks—arrives at Goshen from where Judah is sent to inform Joseph of their arrival. Joseph
arrives and is reunited with his father. Joseph instructs his brothers to be articulate but honest about their
profession, as Egyptians abhorred shepherds (see footnote 168), so that the Pharaoh settles them in
Goshen, the best for shepherds as it was replete with pastures.

Genesis 47: When Pharaoh asks them of their occupation, they reply honestly and he graciously offers
them Goshen to settle in and also appoints one of the brothers in charge over his shepherds. Upon being
asked of his age by Pharaoh, Jacob replies 130. For having honored Jacob, he blesses the Pharaoh. They
are settled in the land of Rameses and Joseph takes care of his father and family. Jacob and family live
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prosperously in Egypt. At 147, when Jacob is nearing death, he has Joseph swear to have him buried in
Canaan where his father and grandfather rested. Jacob bows down to God in gratitude. When the famine
is at its peak and people have no money left to buy corn, Joseph devises a plan to sell them corn for their
cattle and herds. Next year when the issue presents itself again, when proposed by the subjects, he buys
the people along with all their lands, except the priests’ as it was given to them by Pharaoh, in Pharaoh’s
name and Egypt becomes his property. Pharaoh has people shift their dwellings and Joseph gives them
seeds to bow allotting them 80% ownership of produce and 20% as tax.

Genesis 48: Jacob adopts Joseph’s two children as his own so that they receive their inheritance as his
sons and gives Joseph the privilege of being his first-born. He blesses Joseph and his children 183 and
Joseph kneels before his father. He gives Joseph his land in Shechem, in addition to his other inheritance
at Canaan, to confirm his first-born status.

Genesis 49: Jacob gathers all his sons to prophecies of their progeny’s fate. He condemns Reuben for
incest (Gen 35:22); foretells disunity between Simeon and Levi for spilling innocent blood (Gen 34:25);
praises Judah as a lion and gives him authority over his brothers and enemies; foretells the arrival of
Shiloh (Moses); Zebulun shall dwell near the sea; Issachar, being a strong man, shall be content with
agriculture; Dan would defend all other tribes against invaders; Gad will ultimately overcome his
enemy; Asher’s progeny will grow high-quality yield from whom Kings would eat; Naphthali would be
peaceful with all for his good disposition; calls Joseph fruitful, even though he was ill-treated by all, and a
“stone” that supported the people of Israel, blesses him with multitude of children and cattle and
prosperity, and places him above his brethren; and considers Benjamin as a wolf. Jacob blesses all
according to their merit. Lastly, he wills to be buried with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah in
the Cave of Machpelah and then passes away.

Genesis 50: Joseph has Jacob embalmed and Egyptians mourn him for 70 days. After taking permission
from Pharaoh to bury Jacob in Canaan, Joseph is accompanied by elders of Pharaoh, his servants, elders
of Kingdom and his brothers. They reach Atad in Canaan where the Egyptians begin mourning and the
locals are so moved by it that they name the place Abel-mizraim. Jacob is then buried in the Cave. Joseph
and company then return to Egypt. Fearing Joseph’s retribution, his brothers appeal Joseph that Jacob
willed mercy for them from him and bow down to him and forgives them. Joseph and brothers live
happily in Egypt the rest of their lives. Joseph lives 110 years to see Ephraim’s grandchildren and also of
Manasseh toward whom he was affectionate. Joseph reaffirms God’s pledge of Israel’s return to Canaan
to his brothers and to the younger generation, makes them swear that they bury his bones in Canaan, when
they leave Egypt.

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Epilogue
While going through the Book of Genesis, one cannot help but notice between the lines several themes
that run concurrently throughout the book. From the very beginning we come to realize that God created
the world only for the sake of man. He is a personal God who enters into a relationship with mankind as
He only blesses Man after creating him “in His own image” and not the other creation. This God of
Israel has infinite love for his beloved—humankind. As stated in the Prolegomena, He establishes a series
of covenants with mankind through various patriarchs which, in a condensed form, were a promise from
God that He will take care of their needs but demands in return that they should not forget Him. They
should take none other than Him as their God.

We also come to discern that when God establishes these covenants with humankind, the humans never
constantly remain faithful to the covenant. We see that while God holds His end of the bargain—
rewarding Abraham and his progeny with the Promised Land, protecting the patriarchs and their
progenies, etc.—the humankind often falters and forsake God along the way. But after they have
transgressed, they feel remorse and repent and turn to God and again with the passage of time violate the
laws and again repent and the cycle continues. But we find that God so loves the world that He continues
to forgive them, albeit with warning and slight punishments to rein humankind in whenever they begin to
transgress His set of approved ways to make them aware of the repercussions of their mistakes. The exile
of Adam from Eden and Cain from his father’s land as punishments serve as suitable examples.

As stated elsewhere, it was only man that was blessed by God and not the other creation and He made all
the creation—the animals, birds, vegetation, waters, land—subservient to him and made him in-charge or
steward of them. God trusted the job of creation that He had started to His creation, especially
humankind. However, humankind misused this authority and mistook this stewardship as overpowering
them which ultimately knocked the “it was good” world into total disarray.

Throughout the Book, one can also find the origin of various human feelings and expressions like free
will, temptation, sin, guilt, punishment, etc. All of these terms have been dealt with at their respective
places in the summary. Guilt, for example, was experienced by Adam when he ate from the fruit and
therefore hid himself behind the tree. Likewise, Jacob feels guilty robbing Esau of his birthright and their
father’s blessing and expresses extreme humility when on return to Esau from Padanaram. The brothers of
Joseph feel guilt when they are detained inside the room for three days for having trapped Joseph inside
the well. However, every time the culprit feels guilt, they find redemption in the end in the Bible.

Inferring from Chapter 2, comes the central Jewish observance of keeping the Sabbath, the time from
sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Jews rest on the Sabbath in imitation of God’s resting on the
seventh day of creation. At the Sabbath meal on Friday evening, the mother of an observant family will
light the Sabbath candles and welcome Queen Sabbath. Observant Jews also generally attend a service
at the synagogue on Saturday morning or on Friday evening. This service consists of readings from the
Bible, prayers, and songs.

Perfection and imperfection seem to be a recurrent theme in the Book. God makes humankind realize
that man is imperfect and perfection belongs only to God. In the beginning, humankind was made
perfect in God’s image, but God chooses imperfect people to do His bidding—Abraham was
commanded to observe circumcision so that it leaves a mark on his, rendering him imperfect; although
inadvertent, Lot committed incest with his own daughters; Jacob would limp after he wrestled with the
angel; and Moses would stutter and yet was made one of the mightiest prophets in the entire Bible; and
David committed adultery and homicide and yet was made a powerful king.

We also notice between the lines that the Laws that God gives humankind to follow were not arbitrary but
behind all the religious and charismatic dogmas, we realize that there was one reason or the other that
God put these laws in place, these may be out of health concerns, or geographic location or for

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demographic considerations. Since the reasoning power of the humankind at the time was not as
developed, the element of sin was incorporated to scare them away from doing anything harmful to them.
One such law that the Bible is every critical about is the spilling of blood. Genesis 9:6 very clearly
forbids the spilling of innocent blood as mankind was still in its nascent stage and the primary object at
the time was to “be fruitful and multiply” and spilling blood would have been counterproductive.
Similarly, Jacob condemns the actions of Simeon and Levi for their massacres in the city of Shechem.

The Noachian Laws (Gen 9) also take precedence over those of Moses’ 10 Commandments as they
were extended to the entire humanity. All humans, irrespective of their faiths are to follow them as they
lay a basis for a mutually beneficial and compassionate society. As basic statutes safeguarding
monotheism and guaranteeing proper ethical conduct in society, these laws also provided a link
between Judaism and Christianity, as universal norms of ethical conduct, as a basic concept
in international law, or as a guarantee of fundamental human rights for all.

The blessing of God in the form of the covenants becomes a source of enmity among the patriarchs and
their progenies. For example, the episodes of the sons of Isaac (Genesis 27) as well as the enmity among
the sons of Jacob with Joseph also supplement this issue. The same covenant also makes Abraham put in
place the rule to keep his bloodline pure and not marry outside the relation. This fundamentally creates a
void between God’s Chosen Ones and the rest of the world. Laban makes Leah sleep with Jacob instead
of the intended Rachel to make both of his daughters a part of the bloodline that was closely associated
with God. This indicates a series of events that are found in the Book that give us the idea the patriarchs
would do anything to protect their family. There were other mutual enmities with the Chosen people as
well on account of one reason or the other: Cain and Abel; Sarah and Hagar; Esau and Jacob, Rachel
and Leah; Joseph and brothers, etc.

We also find that there is an immense importance of names throughout the Book. God names the man he
created “Adam” which means “to be red” with many connotations—red due to blood or due to the color
of the skin. When Adam sees the Woman, he calls her Eve—the mother/giver of life—as they had been
commanded by God to multiply. Similarly, God gave new names to Abram and Jacob and Abraham and
Jacob’s sons were named by their mothers that had deep meanings (refer to Gen 25, 29 & 30 for
explanations). Similarly place names were also changed by Abraham and Jacob after the important event
that transpired with them at those respective places. This signifies that naming has tremendous
significance in Judaism a person who is given a name is expected to live up to their name. Example: Eve
was expected to mother many children as her name meant “mother of life” and she did do exactly that.

Barrenness of women is also recurrent in the Book. We find that first they were barren but after some
prayer by their husbands of by God’s will, they are healed and easily produce children. For instance,
Sarah is barren but later gives birth to Isaac. Similarly, Rebekah, the wife of Isaac is also barren and so is
Rachel, the wife of Jacob. All of whom ultimately become mothers. Even during their time of barrenness,
they found ways to have their husbands the pleasure of fathering children. Sarah, Leah and Rachel give
their handmaidens to the husbands to bed with to have children.

We also come to realize that in addition to the Book of Genesis, the Bible as a whole does not leave its
reader in despair. There is always hope that succeeds the days of darkness. The theme is that no matter
how dark and scary and filled with tribulations your days will be, there is always hope in the end. And it
is the righteousness and justice and goodness that will ultimately triumph over darkness. It lifts the hopes
up by relating the accounts of such mighty patriarchs like Abraham, Lot, Jacob and Jonah sometimes
could not bring themselves to fully believe or trust God’s omnipotence and devise ways on their own and
indirectly encourages humankind to understand that even the best of us can make mistakes. Thus, God
will come to the rescue of humankind and will guide them whenever in need, as He has done before.

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