This book invites readers to reconsider what they think they know about the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis, from the creation of the world, through the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel, to the introduction of Abraham. Edwin M. Good offers a new translation of and literary commentary on these chapters, approaching the material as an ancient Hebrew book. Rather than analyzing the chapters in light of any specific religious position, he is interested in what the stories say and how they work as stories, indications in them of their origins as orally performed and transmitted, and how they do and do not connect with one another. Everyone, from those intimately familiar with Genesis to those who have never read it before, will find something new in Genesis 1-11: Tales of the Earliest World.

"There exist innumerable commentaries on Genesis, and yet, there are surprisingly few that are broadly accessible. Tales of the Earliest World fills this gap nicely. Written in clear, smooth-flowing prose, it introduces the reader to the challenges of the Hebrew text of Genesis 1–11." - Stanford University

"This accessible, informed volume is ideal for undergraduate courses or adult education programs on the opening chapter of Genesis. Good's translation yields new insights even for those who have worked with the Hebrew. His relating knowing good and evil to sexual ability (cf. 2 Sam 18:26) is an intriguing hypothesis; his reading of Cain's failure in light of a gendered desire subtle but plausible; and his recognition that, for the Bible, the status of "hero" is ambiguous spot-on." - Choice