Genesis

Quick info on Genesis

Author: Moses
Original audience: Israelites who came out of Egypt under Moses
Date written: 1300s or 1500s
Genre: Historical narrative
Theme(s): Creation-fall-redemption
Chapters: 50
Verses: 1533

Outline of Genesis

Primeval History (1:1-11:26)
1. Creation (1:1-2:24)
  1. Creation of universe and Earth (1:1-1:25)
  2. Creation of humans (1:26-31)
  3. INTERLUDE: God rests (2:1-2:3)
  4. Creation of Adam and Eve (2:4-2:25)
2. The Fall (3:1-3:24)
  1. Serpent tempts Eve (3:1-3:7)
  2. God punishes sin (3:8-24)
3. Cain (4:1-4:26)
  1. Cain and Abel (4:1-4:16)
  2. Cain’s descendents (4:17-4:26)
4. GENEALOGY: Adam to Noah (5:1-5:32)
5. Noah (6:1-9-29)
  1. Corrupt humanity (6:1-6:8)
  2. The flood (6:9-8:19)
    1. Noah’s ark (6:9-6:22)
    2. The Lord floods the earth (7:1-7:24)
    3. The water subsides (8:1-8:12)
    4. People and animals exit the ark (8:13-8:19)
    5. Noahic covenant (8:20-9:17)
    6. Noah gets drunk (9:18-9:27)
    7. Noah dies (9:29-9:29)
6. Noah’s descendents inhabit the earth (10:1-11:9)
  1. The table of nations (10:1-10:32)
  2. The tower of Babel (11:1-11:9)
7. GENEALOGY: Shem to Abram (11:10-11:26)
Patriarchal History (11:27-50:26)
1. Abram(Abraham)/Isaac/Jacob(Israel) (11:27-36:43)
  1. Terah’s family (11:27-11:32)
  2. Abrahamic covenant (12:1-12:9)
  3. Abram and Sarai in Egypt (12:10-12:20)
  4. Abram and Lot (13:1-14:16)
    1. Abram and Lot separate (13:1-13:13)
    2. INTERLUDE: Abrahamic covenant (13:14-13:18)
    3. Lot kidnapped (14:1-14:12)
    4. Abram rescues Lot (14:13-14:16)
  5. Abram meets Melchizedek (14:17-14:24)
  6. INTERLUDE: Abrahamic covenant (15:1-15:20)
  7. Birth of Ishmael (16:1-16:16)
    1. Sarai and Hagar (16:1-16:6)
    2. The Lord speaks with Hagar (16:7-16:16)
  8. INTERLUDE: Abrahamic covenant (17:1-27)
    1. Covenant of circumcision (17:1-17:14)
    2. Isaac’s birth promised (17:15-17:21)
    3. Abraham and family circumcised (17:22-17:27)
  9. Sodom and Gomorrah (18:1-19:38)
    1. The Lord comes to Abraham and Sarah (18:1-21)
    2. Abraham talks to God about Sodom (18:22-18:33)
    3. Lot in Sodom (19:1-19:38)
      1. Angels come to Sodom (19:1-19:3)
      2. Angels strike men of Sodom with blindness (19-4-19:11)
      3. Lot and family escape Sodom (19:12-19:22)
      4. Destruction of Sodom (19:23-19:29)
      5. Lot’s deceptive daughters (19:30-19:38)
  10. Abraham meets Abimelech (20:1-20:18)
  11. Isaac (21:1-22:24)
    1. Isaac’s birth (21:1-21:7)
    2. Hagar and Ishmael (21:8-21:21)
    3. Covenant between Abraham and Abimelech (21:22-21:34)
    4. The near sacrifice of Isaac (22:1-21:24)
  12. Sarah dies and is buried (23:1-23:20)
  13. Isaac meets Rebekah (24:1-24:67)
  14. Abraham dies and is buried (25:1-25:18)
  15. Esau and Jacob (25:19-26:5)
    1. Born to Rebekah (25:19-25:28)
    2. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob (25:29-25-34)
    3. God promises descendants to Isaac (26:1-26:5)
  16. Isaac and Abimelech (26:6-26:34)
  17. Isaac blesses Jacob (27:1-27:45)
    1. Rebekah’s plot (27:1-27:13)
    2. Jacob deceives Isaac (27:1-27:25)
    3. Isaac’s blessing (27:26-27:29)
    4. Esau discovers the deception (27:30-27:45)
  18. Jacob in search of a wife (27:46-29:30)
    1. Jacob told to go to Laban’s house (27:46-28:5)
    2. Esau’s marriage (28:6-28:9)
    3. Jacob dreams about a ladder (28:10-28:17)
    4. Jacob builds an alter (28:18-28:22)
    5. Jacob marries Leah and Rachel (29:1-29:30)
  19. Jacob has 12 children, 11 boys and 1 girl (29:31-30:24)
  20. Jacob prospers, prepares to return home (30:25-30:43)
  21. Jacob flees from Laban (31:1-31:55)
  22. Jacob reunites with Esau (32:1-33:20)
    1. Jacob fears Esau’s wrath (32:1-32:21)
    2. Jacob wrestles with God (32:22-32:32)
    3. Jacob and Esau reunite peacefully (33:1-33:20)
  23. Dinah’s rape (34:1-34:31)
    1. Shechem rapes Dinah (34:1-34:4)
    2. Hamor negotiates with Jacob (34:5-34:17)
    3. Dinah’s rape is avenged (34:18-34:31)
  24. God renames Jacob, Israel (35:1-35:15)
  25. Rachel and Isaac die (35:16-35:29)
  26. Esau’s descendants (36:1-36:43)
2. Joseph’s life
  1. The many-colored robe (37:1-37:4)
  2. Joseph’s prophetic dreams (37:5-37:11)
    1. Joseph’s first dream (37:5-37:8)
    2. Joseph’s second dream (37:9-11)
  3. Joseph sold into slavery (37:12-37:36)
  4. INTERLUDE: Judah and Tamar (38:1-38:30)
  5. Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (39:1-39:23)
    1. Joseph purchased by Potiphar, gains respect (39:1-39:6)
    2. Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce Joseph and fails (39:7-39:18)
    3. Joseph thrown in prison (39:19-39:23)
  6. Joseph interprets two dreams (40:1-40:23)
    1. Joseph meets the cupbearer and the baker(40:1-40:8)
    2. The cupbearer’s dream (40:9-40:15)
    3. The baker’s dream (40:16-40:19)
    4. Joseph’s interpretations come true (40:20-22)
  7. Joseph interprets Pharoah’s two dreams (41:1-41:36)
    1. Pharoah’s magicians fail to interpret (41:1-41:8)
    2. The cupbearer tells Pharoah of Joseph (41:9-41:13)
    3. Joseph interprets Pharoah’s dreams (41:14-41:36)
  8. Joseph rises in power and marries Asenath (41:37-45)
  9. Joseph’s interpretation of Pharoah’s dream comes true (41:46-41:57)
  10. Joseph’s and his brothers (42:1-45:28)
    1. Jacob’s sons come to Egypt (42:1-42:11)
    2. Joseph accuses his brothers (42:12-42:17)
    3. Joseph’s brothers return home (42:18-42:38)
    4. Jacob’s sons return to Egypt (43:1-43:15)
    5. Joseph has a meal with his brothers (43:16-43:34)
    6. Joseph accuses Benjamin (44:1-44:34)
    7. Joseph reveals his true identity (45:1-45:15)
    8. Pharoah is kind to Jacob’s family (45:16-45:28)
  11. Jacob’s family comes to Egypt (46:1-46:27)
  12. Joseph reunited with his father (46:28-46:34)
  13. Jacob’s family settles in Goshen (47:1-47:12)
  14. The famine runs its course (47:13-47:31)
  15. Jacob’s final days (48:1-50:14)
    1. Jacob becomes sick (48:1-48:7)
    2. Jacob blesses Joseph (48:8-48:22)
    3. Jacob blesses his children (49:1-49:27)
    4. Jacob’s death (49:28-49:33)
    5. Jacob’s burial (50:1-50:14)
  16. God’s purpose in Joseph’s trials (50:15-50:21)
  17. Joseph’s death (50:22-50:26)