<P> Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar, pretending to be brother and sister (they are half - siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her, and he obeys . God sends Sarah a son to be named Isaac, through whom the covenant will be established . At Sarah's insistence, Ishmael and his mother Hagar are driven out into the wilderness, but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation . </P> <P> God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac . As Abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, God restrains him, promising him numberless descendants . On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac, and Rebekah is chosen . Other children are born to Abraham by another wife, Keturah, among whose descendants are the Midianites, and he dies in a prosperous old age and is buried in his tomb at Hebron . </P> <P> Isaac's wife Rebecca gives birth to the twins Esau, father of the Edomites, and Jacob . Through deception, Jacob becomes the heir instead of Esau and gains his father's blessing . He flees to his uncle where he prospers and earns his two wives, Rachel and Leah . Jacob's name is changed to Israel, and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the Children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah . </P> <P> Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, is sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers . But Joseph prospers, after hardship, with God's guidance of interpreting Pharaoh's dream of upcoming famine . He is then reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him, and plead for food . After much manipulation, he reveals himself and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them the land of Goshen . Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies . Joseph lives to an old age and exhorts his brethren, if God should lead them out of the country, to take his bones with them . </P>

Who is the author of the book of genesis in the bible