Genesis, with an Introduction to Narrative Literature is Volume I of The Forms of the Old Testament Literature, a series that aims to present a form-critical analysis of every book and each unit in the Hebrew Bible. Fundamentally exegetical, the FOTL volumes examine the structure, genre, setting, and intention of the biblical literature in question. They also study the history behind the form-critical discussion of the material, attempt to bring consistency to the terminology for the genres and formulas of the biblical literature, and expose the exegetical process so as to enable students and pastors to engage in their own analysis and interpretation of the Old Testament texts.

In the introduction to this volume, George Coats discusses narrative in general and the principal Old Testament narratives in particular. He then sets the book of Genesis in its larger Old Testament context, analyzing its major sections and subsections. Each of the succeeding chapters treats one of the major sections. A bibliography heads each chapter, and a shorter bibliography of relevant works appears at the end of each unit. The book concludes with genre and formula files, which list all the relevant genres and formulas and the texts in which they occur.