DID YOU KNOW?

In the Hebrew Bible the first book is not called Genesis. It is called Bereshit. Where does that name come from?

The answer

Its first word. Bereshit is the opening word of Genesis in Hebrew, and it can be translated "In the beginning." Jewish tradition names the book after it. Naming a book after its opening words was normal in the ancient world. Babylon's creation poem, Enuma Elish, got its name the same way.

Why it’s interesting

Our name, Genesis, comes from the ancient Greek translation of the Torah. It means "origin" or "birth," and the Greek uses that word for the family lists that run through the book. Neither name says who wrote it.

Scholarly consensus

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