Where Is Genesis Located in the Old Testament?

***The bulk of this information was paraphrased from Jensen's Survey of the Old Testament.***

The book of Genesis is located in what is called the "Pentateuch", here's some information about what this "Pentateuch" is...

     It's Title - The word "Pentateuch" refers to the first five books of the OT, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The early church theologian Origen (who lived from 185-254 A.D.) might have been the first person recorded as using "Pentateuch" in reference to these five books. The word literally means "fivefold vessel". The Jews referred to it as the Torah, or books of the Law.

- OT titles for the first five OT books: Book of the Law (Josh. 8:34), Book of the Law of God (Josh. 24:26), Law of the Lord (1 Chron. 16:40), Book of the Law of the Lord (2 Chron. 17:9), Book of Moses (Ez. 6:18), Book of the Law of Moses (Neh. 8:1), Book of the Law of the Lord their God (Neh 9:3), Law of God (Neh. 10:28), Law of Moses(Dan. 9:11).

- NT titles for the first five OT books: Law (Matt. 12:5), Book of Moses(Mk. 12:26), Law of Moses (Lk. 2:23).

These titles show that the main purpose of these five books is to convey God's laws, or ways, to His chosen people Israel. They also show that the method of communication was through writing; God's laws were written down leaving less room for error as the laws were passed down from generation to generation. Lastly, these are the books of GOD's laws transcribed by the man Moses.

     Their Unity and Authorship- These five books are commonly assumed to have been written by the man Moses (except for the narrative of his death and perhaps a few other areas that may have been copied from existing manuscripts). This is fairly easily justified by observing that all five demonstrate a common purpose and similar qualities and very often are referred to throughout the rest of Scripture (see above) as one unit.

     Their Theme - The theme is threefold: Historical (the beginning of mankind and specifically the beginning and early history of the nation Israel), Legislative (the laws of God), and Spiritual (D. A. Hubbard, "It is the record of God's revelation in history and His Lordship over history. It testifies both to Israel's response and to her failure to respond. It witnesses to God's holiness, which separates Him form men, and His gracious love, which binds Him to them on His terms."