Date, Authorship And Historical Setting Of The Creation Story – Genesis 1:1-2:4

1. Date, Authorship And Historical Setting Of The Creation Story (Genesis 1:1-2:4a) What concerns might the writers have been trying to communicate to their audience

Like the other Pentateuch books, the authorship of the book of Genesis; and in particular the creation story, is anonymous. This is because there lacks both external and internal indication that would rationally identify the author. There may exist references in the New Testament that point to the ‘law’ or the ‘books’ of Moses but there exists not an express link to the book of Genesis. The Pentateuch books of Exodus to Deuteronomy may be attributed to as the works of Moses because portions of the records indicate the strategic role that Moses played in their making, for instance Exodus 24:3-7(Common English Bible, 2014)the passage on the Sinai covenant. Since the New Testament attributes to Moses all the books of the Pentateuch, a Mosaic authorship of the book of Genesis is thus implied.

If a Mosaic authorship were to be assumed, the book of Genesis would have to have been written between the date of the exodus and the death of Moses that is 1446 B.C and 1406 B.C respectively.

From the creation story itself, the historical setting of those events is not indicated but based on the Mosaictime period, the historical setting of the writing of the early part of the book of Genesis would be placed between the redemption of Israel and Exodus from Egypt.

The main concern of the writers of this creation part of the book of Genesis to their audience is the fundamental presupposition of God’s existence; that God is eternal and self-existing, that he created everything that exists, and that He transcends creation.

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