The Book of Genesis is traditionally attributed to Moses as its author. According to Jewish and Christian tradition, Moses wrote Genesis along with the other first four books of the Old Testament, collectively known as the Pentateuch. Moses was a prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt and is believed to have received the information in Genesis through divine revelation and possibly historical sources available to him, since the events described occurred before his time

. However, modern biblical scholarship often questions Mosaic authorship. Many scholars propose that Genesis, along with the rest of the Pentateuch, was composed over a long period by multiple authors or sources, a theory known as the documentary hypothesis. This hypothesis identifies four main sources (Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and Priestly) that were later combined into the current form of Genesis, which likely reached its final form after the Babylonian Exile (6th century BC or later)

. Despite scholarly debates, the New Testament and early Jewish tradition consistently credit Moses with the authorship of Genesis. Jesus and the apostles refer to the Pentateuch as "Moses' Law," implying his integral role in its composition, even if not every word was directly written by him

. In summary:

• Traditional view: Moses wrote Genesis, receiving the content through revelation and historical records

• Scholarly view: Genesis was composed from multiple sources over centuries and finalized after the Babylonian Exile

• New Testament and Jewish tradition support Moses as the author or principal figure behind Genesis

Thus, Moses is traditionally regarded as the author of Genesis, but modern scholarship recognizes a more complex compositional history.