INTRODUCTION

The honour of being the most important book in the OT should probably go to Deuteronomy; it shaped the theological and spiritual contours of the rest of the OT like no other. If Deuteronomy serves as the spine of the OT, then Genesis is its head; from it flows all the foundational assumptions the rest of the OT makes about God, about the world, about who Israel was and how they became the chosen people. In this way, of course, Genesis becomes the foundational work for our understanding of the gospel and of God's dealing with us in Christ.

The English name of the book, Genesis, is derived from the Latin, which was itself taken from the Greek word for 'source,' 'origin,' 'creation.' The Hebrew name is bereshit, 'in the beginning,' being the first word of the Hebrew text. Both names describe the book aptly, for the book is about the origins of all that we take for granted about the world. Thus Chaps.1 narrates the origin/beginnings of the cosmos, of the human race, Chaps 2-11 the origin/beginings of the nations, while Chaps 11-50 take up the origin/beginnings of Israel as an elect/chosen people (Israel's constitution into a chosen nation would be taken up in the book of Exodus).

These reports of beginnings are not, however, presented as dry academic theses but related in the context of a relationship initiated by God, who remains the ever-present (even if not mentioned by name) protagonist throughout the book. For the author repeated points out that with the beginnings, there was always also the need—often desparately dire need—for new beginnings. Adam and Eve needed a new beginning after eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (though often called "the forbidden fruit" it is a word we think is best avoided—the reason is explained in the commentary on the verse). Cain needed a new beginning after killing his brother Abel. The men and women in the antediluvian days needed a new beginning though, to their own loss, didnot think so and jeered Noah about it. So was Abram who, without a son because his wife was barren, at the end of his line without a new beginning. And Jacob, and Joseph, and the children of Israel in the land of Egyptn who eventually—though here the book leaves it to the book of Exodus to carry on the second half of the story—ended up as slaves. Genesis is, therefore, as much about new beginnings as it so obviously is about beginnings. Indeed, theologically speaking, to read Genesis is to feast on the grace of new beginnings. Gladly, therefore, do we affirm Gordan Wenham's conclusion in an article that:

The book of Genesis is, above all, about grace. It is a story of God's love for sinful humanity, a love that triumphs despite and indeed through human sin. Despite its grim analysis of humanity's plight without God, Genesis is a fundamentally optimistic book, for the God who created human beings in his own image will not give up until his promises to humanity are fulfilled. Reading Genesis is demanding, but most rewarding, for the more I read it, the more hope it gives me that the tragedies of the twentieth century can, through God's mercy, work out for good.

"Reading Genesis Today," Word & World, 14/2 (1994): 135.