PREFACE TO GENESIS

The law and divine books of Genesis were written by the pre-prophet Moses, who descended from the house of Abraham. During the time of his servitude in Egypt, he became worthy of the grace of prophecy. Taught by the Spirit of God, he learned of the pre-existence of created things and of other ancient events which he narrates in these books. Because he is the first prophet, and because he was the first to put divine matters into writing, he was the first to write divine books. For this reason, we have placed him among the elders. First, we must ask: what is prophecy, for what reason was prophecy given, what was the need for books, and why did God give the law in writing? Then, we must seek the reasons for the book of Genesis and the subsequent matters in order. Prophecy is the knowledge of unknown things, not only of the future but also of the past and of immediate things. There are types of prophecy: one is by word, and one is by deed. By word, there is foretelling, narrative, and legislation. By deed, such as the sacrifice, the departure, grace, and glorification.

The reason for giving prophecy: first, that God might guide humanity. He gave the original writing, like the ancestral goodness that Adam possessed, which was raised in his children. Second, that He might resolve the confusion of those who deceived people, claiming they possessed foreknowledge, which only God possesses and those to whom He reveals it, namely, the prophets. Third, that they might foretell to people the salvation that was to come. As for the reason for giving the law in writing: tradition without writing was the law and worship of God. For Adam, it was hearing from the knowledge of the tree; for Seth, it was the mountain; and for the house of Noah, it was hearing about the survival of the living creatures; for Abraham, it was nobility. But through the hand of Moses, it was written down. First, because from then on, there were many duties and interpretations that were not capable of being held in the mind without writing. Furthermore, as humans moved away from the face of God, it became necessary to provide the law in writing.

The reason for the book of Genesis is this: as people had strayed from God, some said that there is no God at all; others worshipped the elements; others called the world immortal; and others claimed that the world is self-sustaining and unchanging. From this, they derived that the world is godless and denied the providence of God, saying that the world comes to be by chance. Wishing to correct such errors, he wrote in this book that the world is created and transient, and that God created the world and all things, bringing the heavens, the earth, and everything else into being from nothing by His word. He Himself created man in His own image and placed him in the garden, to keep the commandment of God. But he was deceived by the serpent, sinned, and left the garden for this miserable life. Following the judgment against the fallen, he was also burdened by the fact that the firstborn son killed the brother, and a great penalty was inflicted upon the parents. He himself was judged by God through curses. As people multiplied, evils increased, for which God judged them with the flood, preserving the house of Noah as the seed for the second multiplication of mankind, from which, as they multiplied, He again divided their languages at the tower. Later, from the descendants of Shem, God-fearing Abraham goes, following the command of God, from the Chaldeans to the Canaanites. Becoming a centenarian, he begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, who, having gone to Haran, returned with wives and children to inherit from Isaac. Then Joseph, son of Jacob, betrayed by his brothers, is sold into Egypt and is glorified by interpreting the dream of Pharaoh. Because of the famine, Jacob goes down to Egypt with his house, is fed by Joseph, and dies there. Then Joseph and his brothers die. The book of Genesis narrates all this, which is a chronology from the departure of Adam from the garden until the death of Joseph, which comprises 22 generations and the time of the years according to the traditions: 3600.

Chapters of Genesis:

• a. Divine discourse on the six-day creation of the world by God and the placing of man in the garden.
• b. On the serpent deceiving Eve, man's sins, and the punishment.
• c. The descendants of Cain, the killing of Abel, his punishment, and the genealogy of his house until the seventh generation.
• d. Genealogy and chronology of the house of Seth until Noah, including the giants.
• e. The command to Noah to build the ark, by which he and his house are saved from the flood.
• z. Noah's sacrifice to God and the receiving of laws and covenants from God.
• e. The house of Canaan is cursed for mocking Noah.
• ը. The descendants of the three sons of Noah, the three-part division and the two nations, including the first kings.
• t. The building of the tower, the division of languages, and the scattering of the nations throughout the earth.
• j. Census and chronology of the descendants of Shem until Abraham.
• ja. The departure of Abraham from the Chaldeans, coming to Mesopotamia, dwelling in Haran, going from there with Lot following God's promise to Canaan, and going down to Egypt because of famine.
• jb. God defends Pharaoh regarding Sarah, and Abraham returns to Canaan.
• jg. On Lot separating from Abraham and going to live in Sodom.
• jd. The second promise of God to Abraham to give him the land, and his dwelling in Mamre.
• je. Being taken captive among the Sodomites by the Chedorlaomerites, whom Abraham pursues, defeats, and returns the plundered goods.
• jz. Melchizedek: encountering Melchizedek, he blesses Abraham and receives the tithe of the sacrifice.
• je. The fourfold promise of God to Abraham, and through the sacrifices, He foretells to him the suffering of his descendants in Egypt and sets the time of the exodus.
• jy. That Abraham took Ishmael from Hagar the handmaid into the covenant at the age of five as his need required.
• jt. Abraham is glorified by God by the naming of his name, and by God's command, the covenant of circumcision is established for his house.
• i. God appears to him with three angels in the form of men, and having received his guests, He confirms the news of Sarah's birth in that same year.
• ia. Sodom is destroyed, and Lot, having escaped to the mountain, begets Moab and Ammon from his daughters.
• ib. Abimelech asks for Sarah from Abraham, and by God’s punishment, he preserves her along with the gifts he gives away.
• ig. The news from God to Sarah that she bore Isaac, the covenant of joy, and Abraham at one hundred years old.
• id. By the cunning of Sarah, Abraham sends away the handmaid and the son to Haran.
• ie. Abraham swears to Abimelech at the well of the oath, and he confirms to him the ownership of the well, which he also called God, the Eternal God.
• iz. God tests Abraham, and having found him chosen through the sacrifice, he receives the promise of his son, from whom all the nations of the earth are blessed.
• ie. The generations of Nahor, brother of Abraham, from whom comes Rebekah.
• iy. Sarah dies in Hebron, and Abraham buys the field of Ephron, in which is the double cave, where he buries Sarah.
• it. Abraham sends his servant to Haran, and he takes Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, as wife for his son Isaac.
• l. Abraham begets other sons by Keturah, and he dies in a good old age and is buried in the double cave.
• la. The descendants of Ishmael, son of Hagar, and his death.
• lb. As Isaac was about to die, he begat Jacob and Esau, and on the selling of his birthright for food by Esau to Jacob with an oath.
• lg. The promise and fertility given by God to Isaac, he dwells among the Philistines, and Abimelech’s guards protect Isaac because of Rebekah, where Isaac, having found a hundredfold return, is driven out by them.
• ld. He digs the wells that had been filled, and new ones. Concerning which, turning away from the Philistines...