The Book of generations is a partially lost text that the modern documentary hypothesis claims was used by the redactor of the torah to connect up parts of the priestly source and the JE source. The text thus, in the hypothesis, forms part of the torah, in particular, the text is believed to be fragmented across several portions of the text, since it was used as a filler for several joins. It was Frank Moore Cross who first demonstrated that the text was seperate to the other sources, which are substantially larger in comparison. The documentary hypothesis is a hypothesis proposed by many historians and academics in the field of linguistics and source criticism that the Five Books of Moses (the Torah) are in fact a combination of documents from different sources rather than authored by one individual. ... The Torah redactor (R) is, according to the documentary hypothesis, the figure who assembled hypothetical source texts of the Torah—the Deuteronomist text (D), the Priestly text P, and JE (an earlier joining of the Jahwist text [J] and the Elohist text [E])—into a single work. ... Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... The Priestly Source (P) is one of the sources of the Torah postulated by the documentary hypothesis. ... JE is an intermediate source text postulated by the documentary hypothesis for the torah. ... Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ...

The standard reconstructed version of the text, formed by collecting together the various fragments, indicates that its presence is usually announced in the torah by the words "and these are the generations of [insert name of biblical figure here]". The text itself appears to be a basic genealogy of the main ancestors of the israelites, putting emphasis on the main line that leads from Adam, to Noah, then to Abraham, Jacob, and to Moses. However, there also appear to be a few asides to detail significant lines apart from this, such as that concerning Edom. Genealogy the study and tracing of family pedigrees. ... This article is about the biblical Adam and Eve. ... Noah or Nóach (Rest, Standard Hebrew נוֹחַ Nóaḥ, Tiberian Hebrew נֹחַ Nōªḥ; Arabic نوح Nūḥ), is a Biblical figure who, according to Genesis, built an ark to save his family and each species of the worlds animals from the Deluge (an example of Divine retribution). ... Abraham (אַבְרָהָם Father/Leader of many, (circa 1700 BCE) Standard Hebrew Avraham, Tiberian Hebrew ; Arabic ابراهيم ; Geez አብርሃም ) is the regarded as a patriarch of Israelite religion, recognized by Judaism and later Christianity, and a very important prophet in Islam. ... Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (יַעֲקֹב Holder of the heel, Standard Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ; Arabic يعقوب Yaʿqūb), later known as Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל Prince with God, Standard Hebrew Yisraʾel, Tiberian Hebrew Yiśrāʾēl; Arabic اسرائيل Isrāʾīl) is a Biblical... Moses or Moshe (מֹשֶׁה, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew , Arabic موسى , Ethiopic ሙሴ Musse, Latin ), son of Amram (Imran in Arabic) and his wife, Jochebed, a Levite. ... Edom (אֱדוֹם, Standard Hebrew Edom, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔḏôm, Assyrian Udumi, Syriac ܐܕܘܡ), a Hebrew word meaning red, is a name given to Esau in the Hebrew Bible, as well as to the nation that purportedly traced their ancestry to him. ...

Variations on a theme

Both the priestly source (P), and the Jahwist (J) and Elohist (E) sources, also seem to have included portions of the book of generations, albeit variant editions. Frequently, when portions of the book of generations occur in the torah, they are nearby to similar lists of descendants and family trees which are ascribed to the other sources (i.e. J, E, or P). It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Jehovist. ... The Elohist (E) is one of the sources of the torah postulated by the documentary hypothesis Nature of the Elohist text In this source Gods name is always presented as Elohim (Hebrew for God, or Power) until the revelation of Gods name to Moses, after which God is...

Although, due to the nature of its use, many parts of the book of generations do not survive, much of the genealogy that is missing is covered by the other sources. Consequently it is possible that in the future the text might be fully reconstructed, although there is very little agreement on the matter in the present day.

The book of generations as a template

It is also the case that the in the sources, the genealogy for certain individuals appear to have a large number of properties in common with those for others. This may be an indicator that at least one of these genealogies is an accidental corruption of a copy of another, or a deliberate but subtle alteration.

For example, in the Jahwist (J) text (Genesis 4:17 - 18), the family tree descending from Cain has the following properties (amongst others) In stories common to the Abrahamic religions, Cain or Káyin (קַיִן / קָיִן spear Standard Hebrew Qáyin, Tiberian Hebrew Qáyin / Qāyin; Arabic قايين Qāyīn in the Arabic Bible; قابيل Qābīl in Islam) is the eldest son of Adam and Eve, and the first man born in creation...

• Cain and Enoch are father and son
• Enoch and Irad are father and son
• Irad and Mehujael are father and son
• Methusael is Irad's grandson
• Lamech is Methusael's son

Wheras in the book of generations the descendants of Seth(Genesis 5:3-26) have the following properties Seth or Shet (שֵׁת Placed; appointed, Standard Hebrew Šet, Tiberian Hebrew Šēṯ, Arabic ÔíË), in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, is the third son of Adam and Eve mentioned by name, and brother of Cain and Abel. ...

• Enos and Cainan are father and son
• Jared and Enoch are father and son
• Mehalaleel and Jared are father and son
• Methuselah is Jared's grandson
• Lamech is Methuselah's son

External links

• The book of generations, in isolation, at wikisource