Chapters 1-11 of Genesis are like a poetic prologue to the early history of the Jewish people and to their religion. For Christianity also they later fulfil a similar purpose. Professor Davidson takes these chapters as a separate unity, comments on them, and explains their religious significance and their place in the Bible as a whole. Introductory sections on the sources and purpose of the book, and the meaning of myth, lead straight into the text and commentary which alternate with each other in the style of the series.

Davidson is professor emeritus of Old Testament language and literature, University of Glasgow, Scotland.