saying: “Truly I say to you, All these things will come upon this generation.” History recounts that about thirty-seven years later (in 70 C.E.) that contemporary generation personally experienced the destruction of Jerusalem, as foretold.—Matt. 23:36.

Later that same day, Jesus again used practically the same words, saying “Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.” (Matt. 24:34) In this instance, however, Jesus was not speaking only of the things that would befall natural Israel. He was answering a question as to what “sign” would mark his “presence” and “the conclusion of the system of things.” Therefore, he outlined things that would befall the Jewish nation during the execution of Jehovah’s judgment upon Jerusalem at the hands of the Roman general Titus. (Dan. 9:26) But his words also were evidently to have a later and larger fulfillment upon the system of things that would be in existence during his second presence, when he would come “in his glory.” (Matt. 25:31-33; Rev. 1:7) In both instances Jesus was using the word “generation” in a literal sense, not in a symbolic or figurative sense, for the events Jesus described in the context were literal.—Matt. chap. 24.

The people of this twentieth-century generation living since 1914 have experienced these many terrifying events concurrently and in concentrated measure—international wars, great earthquakes, terrible pestilences, widespread famine, persecution of Christians, and other conditions that Jesus outlined in Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13 and Luke chapter 21.

GENEROSITY

That noble, warmhearted readiness to bless others by freely giving out of an open hand, unstintingly. This is the meaning Bible writers often expressed in their writings, a deeper meaning than is usually conveyed by our English words ‘generous’ or ‘liberal.’ Jehovah himself is the personification of generosity, the One who fully supplies all the needs of his obedient creatures “according to his will.” (1 John 5:14; Phil. 4:19) Every good gift and perfect present is from him, including such an intangible gift as wisdom.—Jas. 1:5, 17.

Moses urged his fellow Israelites to cultivate this divine quality of generosity, even when making a loan on pledge. “You must not harden your heart or be closefisted toward your poor brother. For you should generously open your hand to him. . . . You should by all means give to him, and your heart should not be stingy in your giving to him. . . . That is why I am commanding you, saying, ‘You should generously open up your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.’”—Deut. 15:7-11.

Says the proverb: “The generous soul [literally, “the soul with a blessing gift”] will itself be made fat [prosperous], and the one freely watering others will himself also be freely watered.” (Prov. 11:25) Jesus Christ expressed it this way: “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” (Acts 20:35) Again he said: “Practice giving, and people will give to you. They will pour into your laps a fine measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing. For with the measure that you are measuring out, they will measure out to you in return.”—Luke 6:38.

IN THE CHRISTIAN CONGREGATION

The apostle Paul also stated this proverbial truth in yet another way: “He that sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and he that sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Since this is so, the apostle reasons, “let each one do just as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:6, 7) Paul continues, pointing to Jehovah’s great example of generosity, not only in abundantly supplying seed for the sower and bread for food, but also in how He enriched the Corinthian brothers “for every sort of generosity,” that they might be generous toward others. Such gestures of generosity, Paul declared, resulted in “an expression of thanks to God.”—2 Cor. 9:8-13.

Paul, encouraging this same godly generosity, wrote the Romans (12:8): “He that distributes, let him do it with liberality.” To the Hebrews (13:16) he wrote: “Moreover, do not forget the doing of good and the sharing of things with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” The congregations in Macedonia were outstanding examples of generous giving. The fact that they had even joyfully gone “beyond their actual ability,” contributing out of their poverty, made “the riches of their generosity abound.”—2 Cor. 8.1-4.

Let it be noted that these scriptures on generosity and liberality are not in conflict or out of balance with others that condemn ingrates, sluggards and lazy persons. For example, the lazy one who will not plow in cold weather deserves nothing when begging in harvesttime; he that refuses to work is not entitled to the generosity of others. (Prov. 20:4; 2 Thess. 3:10) Widows were not to be put on the list for relief unless they qualified. (1 Tim. 5:9, 10) The contributions made by the congregations throughout Galatia, Macedonia and Achaia were not for the needy ones among pagan worshipers in general, but for “the holy ones” that were in need.—1 Cor. 16:1; 2 Cor. 9:1, 2.

GENESIS, BOOK OF

[Gr., origin; generation; coming into existence].

The first book of the Pentateuch (Greek for “five rolls” or “fivefold volume”). “Genesis” is the name given to the first of these books by the Septuagint translation, whereas its Hebrew title B^ereʹshithʹ (“In the beginning”) is taken from the first word in its opening sentence.

WHEN AND WHERE WRITTEN

Since the book of Genesis was evidently part of the one original writing (the Torah), it was possibly completed by Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the year 1513 B.C.E. After Genesis 1:1, 2 (relating to the creation of the heavens and the earth) the book evidently covers a span of thousands of years involved in the preparation of the earth for human habitation, the creation of marine creatures, land animals and birds (see CREATION [Length of Creative Days]; DAY), and thereafter covers the period from man’s creation (either 4027 or 4026 B.C.E., according to the method of calculation employed) on down to the year 1657 B.C.E., when Joseph died.—See ABRAHAM (Sojourn in Canaan); Chronology (Counting from the Time of Human Creation to the Present).

WRITERSHIP

The objection once raised by some skeptics that writing was not known in Moses’ day is today generally discounted. P. J. Wiseman, in his book New Discoveries in Babylonia About Genesis, points out that archaeological research gives ample proof that the art of writing began in the earliest historical times known to man. Virtually all modern scholars acknowledge the existence of writing a thousand years or more before the time of Moses (in the second millennium B.C.E.). Expressions such as that found in Exodus 17:14, “Write this as a memorial in the book,” substantiate very soundly that writing was in common use in Moses’ day. It was no doubt an ability Adam possessed, God having given him, as a perfect man, a language, with the ability to handle it perfectly, even to composing poetry.—Gen. 2:19, 23.

SOURCE OF MATERIAL

All the information contained in the book of Genesis relates to events that took place prior to Moses’ birth. It could have been received directly by divine revelation. It is obvious that someone had to receive the information relating to the events prior to man’s creation in that way, whether Moses or someone prior to him. (Gen. 1:1-27; 2:7, 8) This information and the remaining information, however, could have been transmitted to Moses by means of oral tradition. Due to the long life-span of men of that period, the information could have been passed from Adam to Moses through just five human links, namely, Methuselah, Shem, Isaac, Levi and Amram. A third possibility is that Moses obtained much of the information for Genesis from already existing writings or documents. As far back as the eighteenth century the Dutch Dr. Campegius Vitringa held this view, basing his conclusion upon the frequent occurrence in Genesis (ten times) of the expression (in AV) “these are the generations of,” and once “this is the book of the generations of.” (Gen. 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2) In this expression the Hebrew word for “generations” is toh·le·dhohthʹ, and it is better rendered “histories” or “origins.” For example, “generations of the heavens and of the earth” would hardly be fitting, whereas “history of the heavens and the earth” is meaningful. (Gen. 2:4) In harmony with this the Catholic Confraternity version, the German Elberfelder, the French Crampon and the Spanish Bover-Cantera all use the term “history,” as does the New World Translation. There is no doubt that, even as men today are interested in an accurate historical record, so they have been from the start.

For these reasons, Vitringa and others since have understood each use of toh·le·dhohthʹ in Genesis to refer to an already existing written historical document that Moses had in his possession and which he relied upon for the majority of the information recorded in Genesis. They believe that the persons named in direct connection with such ‘histories’ (Adam, Noah, Noah’s sons, Shem, Terah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau and Jacob) were either the writers or original possessors of those written documents. This, of course, would still leave unexplained how all such documents came to be in the possession of Moses. It also leaves unexplained why documents obtained from men who were not distinguished as faithful worshipers of Jehovah (such as Ishmael and Esau) should be the source of much of the information used. It is entirely possible that the expression “This is the history of” may be simply an introductory phrase serving conveniently to divide off the various sections of the long overall history. Compare Matthew’s use of a similar expression to introduce his Gospel account.—Matt. 1:1; see WRITING.

No definite conclusion can be arrived at, therefore, as to the immediate source from which Moses obtained the information he recorded. Rather than just by one of the methods discussed, the information may have been received by all three, some through direct revelation, some through oral tradition, some by written records. The important point is that Jehovah God guided the prophet Moses so that he wrote by divine inspiration.—2 Pet. 1:21.

The material was to serve as an inspired guide to future generations. It was to be read to the people on frequent occasions (Deut. 31:10-12; 2 Ki. 23:2, 3; Neh. 8:2, 3, 18) and Israel’s kings were to take instructions from it.—Deut. 17:18, 19.

THE “DOCUMENTARY THEORY” OF CRITICS

A theory has been invented by some Bible critics that Genesis is not the work of one writer or compiler, namely, Moses, but, rather, represents the work of several writers, some of these living long after Moses’ time. On the basis of supposed differences of style and word usage, they have advanced the so called “documentary theory.” According to this theory there were three sources, which they call “J” (Jahwist), “E” (Elohist) and “P” (Priest Codex). Because of a double mention of a certain event or because of similarity of accounts in different parts of Genesis some would add still further sources to the list, going so far in dissecting the book of Genesis as to claim that there were up to fourteen independent sources. They contend that these various sources or writers held different views and theologies, yet that, nevertheless, Genesis as an amalgamated product of these sources somehow forms a connected whole. There are many absurdities to which they go to support their theories, a few of which may be mentioned.

The original basis for the documentary theory was that the use of different titles for God indicated different writers. The unreasonableness of such view, however, can be seen in that in just one small portion of Genesis we find the following titles: “the Most High God” (ʼEl ʽEl·yohnʹ, Genesis 14:18); “Producer of heaven and earth” (14:19); “Lord” (ʼAdho·nayʹ, 15:2); “God of sight” (16:13); “God Almighty” (ʼEl Shad·dayʹ, 17:1); “God” (ʼElo·himʹ, 17:3); “the [true] God” (ha-ʼElo·himʹ, 17:18); “the Judge of all the earth” (18:25). Trying to use this as a basis for attributing each of these sections to a different writer produces insurmountable difficulties and becomes absurd. Rather, the truth is that the different titles applied to God in Genesis are used because of their meaning, revealing Jehovah in his different attributes and his various works and dealings with his people.

Other examples are: Because of the use of the word ba·raʼʹ,“created,” Genesis 1:1 is said to be written by the source called “P.” Yet we find the same word at Genesis 6:7 in the source supposed to be “J.” The expression “land of Canaan” appearing in several texts (among which are Genesis 12:5; 13:12a; 16:3 and 17:8) is said to be a peculiarity of the writer known as “P” and therefore these critics hold that “P” wrote these passages. But in chapters 42, 44, 47 and 50 we find the same expression in the writings attributed by the same critics to “J” and “E.” Thus, while the critics claim that their theories are needed to account for supposed inconsistencies in Genesis, examination shows that the theories themselves are riddled with inconsistencies.

If the material attributed to each theoretical source is extricated portion by portion, and sentence by sentence, from the Genesis account and then reassembled, the result is a number of accounts each one of which by itself is illogical and incoherent. If we should believe that these various sources were used and put together by a later compiler, we would be forced to believe that these incoherent accounts, before being amalgamated, were accepted as historical and were used for centuries by the nation of Israel. But what writer, especially a historian, would even construct such narratives, and, if he did, what nation would accept them as a history of its people?

Illustrating the unreasonableness of the advocates of the “documentary theory,” is this statement by Egyptologist K. A. Kitchen: “In Pentateuchal criticism it has long been customary to divide the whole into separate documents or ‘hands’. . . . But the practice of Old Testament criticism in attributing these characteristics to different ‘hands’ or documents becomes a manifest absurdity when applied to other ancient Oriental writings that display precisely similar phenomena.” He then cites an example from an Egyptian biography that might, using the theoretical methods employed by the critics of Genesis, be attributed to different “hands” but which work the evidence shows “was conceived, composed, written, and carved within months, weeks, or even less. There can be no ‘hands’ behind its style, which merely varies with the subjects in view and the question of fitting treatment.” (Douglas, The New Bible Dictionary, p. 349) The weakness of the critics’ theories actually gives added strength to the evidence that only one man, Moses, recorded the connected, coherent account found in Genesis as inspired by God.

THE HISTORICAL CHARACTER OF GENESIS

Genesis is the only source known to humans providing a logical, coherent history of things back to the beginning. Without its factual history of the first man and woman, we would be left with the fanciful stories or allegorical explanations of man’s beginning found in the creation accounts of pagan nations. A comparison of the book of Genesis with the pagan creation accounts clearly demonstrates the superiority of the Bible account.

Thus, the principal Babylonian myth says that the god Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, killed the