Changes

The oldest extant Masoretic (i.e. Hebrew) manuscripts of Genesis are the Aleppo Codex dated to ca. 920 AD, and the Westminster Leningrad Codex dated to 1008 AD. There are also fragments of unvocalized Hebrew Genesis texts preserved in some [[Dead Sea scrolls]] (2nd century BC to 1st century AD). According to tradition the Torah was translated into Greek (the [[Septuagint]], or 70, from the traditional number of translators) in the 3rd century BC. The oldest Greek manuscripts include 2nd century BC fragments of Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Rahlfs nos. 801, 819, and 957), and 1st century BC fragments of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the [[Minor Prophets]] (Rahlfs nos. 802, 803, 805, 848, 942, and 943). Relatively complete manuscripts of the LXX (i.e.e, the Septuagint) include the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century and the Codex Alexandrinus of the 5th century - these are the oldest surviving nearly-complete manuscripts of the [[Old Testament]] in any language. There are minor variations between the Greek and Hebrew texts, and between the three oldest Greek texts.

The oldest extant Masoretic (i.e. Hebrew) manuscripts of Genesis are the Aleppo Codex dated to ca. 920 AD, and the Westminster Leningrad Codex dated to 1008 AD. There are also fragments of unvocalized Hebrew Genesis texts preserved in some [[Dead Sea scrolls]] (2nd century BC to 1st century AD). According to tradition the Torah was translated into Greek (the [[Septuagint]], or 70, from the traditional number of translators) in the 3rd century BC. The oldest Greek manuscripts include 2nd century BC fragments of Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Rahlfs nos. 801, 819, and 957), and 1st century BC fragments of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the [[Minor Prophets]] (Rahlfs nos. 802, 803, 805, 848, 942, and 943). Relatively complete manuscripts of the LXX (i.e.e, the Septuagint) include the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century and the Codex Alexandrinus of the 5th century - these are the oldest surviving nearly-complete manuscripts of the [[Old Testament]] in any language. There are minor variations between the Greek and Hebrew texts, and between the three oldest Greek texts.

For a number of reasons the traditional Jewish, and later Christian, belief that Genesis was written by [[Moses]] and inspired by [[God]] is no longer accepted by modern biblical scholars. ([http://religion.ucumberlands.edu/hebrewbible/hbnotes/taunotes.htm Here] is an outline of the Mosaic authorship tradition). Contemporary academic debate centers instead on proposals which seek the origins of the Torah in the specific conditions of Jewish life and society in the 1st millennium BC. For much of the 20th century the field was dominated by the documentary hypothesis advanced by Julius Wellhausen in the late 19th century. This sees Genesis as a composite work assembled from various sources: the J text, named for its use of the term YHWH (JHWH in German) as the name of God; the E text, named for its characteristic usage of the term "Elohim" for God; and the P, or Priestly source. These texts were composed independently between 950 BC and 500 BC and underwent numerous processes of redaction, emerging in their current form in around 450 BC. A number of anomalous sources not traceable to any of the three major documents have been identified, notably Genesis 14 (the battle of Abraham and the "Kings of the East"), and the "Blessing of Jacob" contained in the Joseph narrative. One such work, the Book of Generations, was used by the Redactor (final editor of the Pentateuch) to provide the narrative framework for Genesis, ten occurrences of the ''toledot'' (Hebrew "generations") formula introducing as ten units of the book. The ''toledot'' are:

For a number of reasons the traditional Jewish, and later Christian, belief that Genesis was written by [[Moses]] and inspired by [[God]] is no longer accepted by modern biblical scholars. Contemporary academic debate centers instead on proposals which seek the origins of the Torah in the specific conditions of Jewish life and society in the 1st millennium BC. For much of the 20th century the field was dominated by the documentary hypothesis advanced by Julius Wellhausen in the late 19th century. This sees Genesis as a composite work assembled from various sources: the J text, named for its use of the term YHWH (JHWH in German) as the name of God; the E text, named for its characteristic usage of the term "Elohim" for God; and the P, or Priestly source. These texts were composed independently between 950 BC and 500 BC and underwent numerous processes of redaction, emerging in their current form in around 450 BC. A number of anomalous sources not traceable to any of the three major documents have been identified, notably Genesis 14 (the battle of Abraham and the "Kings of the East"), and the "Blessing of Jacob" contained in the Joseph narrative. One such work, the Book of Generations, was used by the Redactor (final editor of the Pentateuch) to provide the narrative framework for Genesis, ten occurrences of the ''toledot'' (Hebrew "generations") formula introducing as ten units of the book. The ''toledot'' are:

# The ''generations'' of the heavens and the earth (2:4).

# The ''generations'' of the heavens and the earth (2:4).