Recent scholarship points to an understanding of Genesis as containing four blocks of literature: primeval history (Gen 2:4b-11:9), the Abraham cycle (Gen 11:27-25:11), the Jacob cycle (Gen 25:19-35:29), and the Joseph Story (Gen 37-50). These are bound together by genealogies that make connections between them. While some would include Gen 1 within the primeval history, Galvin thinks it is better to view it as an introduction to that opening section of Genesis. Scholars have spoken about introduction through revision, which Gen 1 appears to be doing. The writer of Gen 1 certainly shares part of the viewpoint found in primeval history, but Gen 1 projects an overarching perspective of goodness, blessing, and order that is rare in the rest of primeval history. This hopeful perspective appears in elements of the four blocks of literature. Galvin examines how the final editor accomplishes this through documenting the spiritual journey and development of the fathers and mothers in faith. Genesis helps people to understand their beginnings in goodness and blessing, which are disrupted by sin. This tension between blessing and sin marks the subsequent stories that move toward an ever-deepening bond between God and Israel.
