Genesis

Genesis is the book of beginnings. The first eleven chapters deal with the origin of everything — the creation of the world, the first couple, the entry of evil, the flood and the scattering of peoples — in language that answers "who" and "why", not "how" in the sense of a science manual. From chapter 12 on, the camera closes in on one family: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. That is where the idea of covenant is born, a promise that will run through the whole Bible. The characters are portrayed without retouching: they lie, quarrel, favor children, reconcile. The book ends in Egypt, with Joseph forgiving his brothers and a line that sums up its theology: "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good".