Chapters 12-50 of the book of Genesis may be considered as enshrining the patriarchal traditions of the Jewish people. Besides the elements of poetry and legend embodied in these traditions, Professor Davidson shows that there can be a historical basis for the narratives and offers guidelines for exploring it. The Genesis stories cannot simply be seen as a reading back into earlier times of the background to the social customs and religious outlook of their later editors. Introductory sections deal with the sources, historicity and general character¬istics of the narratives, and are followed by a section-by-section presentation of the text with commentary in the established style of the series.