This detailed study of the Book of Genesis explores the oldest Hebrew, Greek and Latin manuscript traditions and explains how the narrative was likely to have been understood by its original audience. With extensive references to relevant archaeological evidence, this work challenges the conventional opinion that Genesis was the product of a convoluted redaction process, and instead finds that apparent repetitions and inconsistencies are resolved by a deeper understanding of the literary conventions and cultural circumstances of the Hebrews in the second millennium BC. Practically every disputed reading and exegetical difficulty is examined here in detail, with an approach that Christian and Jewish readers will find refreshingly respectful of their traditions, yet still unflinchingly sincere in its scholarship. This volume is a valuable reference for those interested in problems of Biblical analysis, as well as those curious about the relationship between Genesis and modern scientific knowledge.