In our English Bibles, the Old Testament has four main divisions: the Law (Genesis – Deuteronomy), Historical books (Joshua – Esther), Poetical books (Job – Song of Solomon), Prophetical books (Isaiah – Malachi). Since the Law is composed of five books, Jewish scholars called it “the five-fifths of the Law,” and Greek scholars called it the “Pentateuch” – the five books. Elsewhere in the Bible, we find frequent references to “the law” or “the law of Moses.” In some cases, this may refer to the whole Pentateuch; in others, to only part of it. The titles of these five books, which appear in the Authorized Version and other versions, “The first book of Moses, commonly called Genesis,” etc., are no part of the text. But, they express the well-grounded belief of the Church, both Jewish and Christian, that the Pentateuch was written by Moses, “the man of God.”
The Pentateuch covers the period of sacred history from the Creation to the death of Moses. It falls naturally into two parts. Genesis deals with the pre-Mosaic period to the death of Joseph. The other four books contain the history, laws, and institutions of the Mosaic age: Exodus describes the oppression, the deliverance, the journey to Sinai, the giving of the law, the erection of the Tabernacle; Leviticus is a manual of laws given at Sinai for the priests who were to be the ministers of the Tabernacle; Numbers covers the period from the dedication of the Tabernacle at Sinai, in the second year, to the arrival at Jordan, in the fortieth year; Deuteronomy consists, largely, of the farewell address of Moses, delivered just before his death.
The Book of Genesis is the longest of the “five books,” and its fifty chapters divide readily into four nearly equal parts: the pre-patriarchal history (1:1 – 11:32); Abraham (12:1 – 25:11); Isaac and his sons (25:12 – 36:32); Joseph (37:1 – 50:26). The death of Abraham (25:8) divides Genesis into two nearly equal parts. The history is told, largely, in terms of biography. Three-quarters of the book are, mainly, concerned with the lives of three men: Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph.
From: God Spake by Moses: An Exposition of the Pentateuch by Oswald T. Allis (Phillipsburg: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1951), pp. 7-8.
Oswald T. Allis (1880-1973) was Professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary for seven years after teaching for nineteen years in the Department of Semitic Philology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He held academic degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Berlin.
