• The stories of the patriarchs, for the most part sagas with
a historical core, relate the origins of Israel.
• Genesis 12-36: three cycles of sagas about the patriarchs Abraham,
Isaac (and Ishmael), and Jacob (and Esau).
• Twelve sons of Jacob (“Joseph and his brothers”) father
the twelve tribes of Israel.
• The rise of a loose tribal federation that in time settled in Palestine, with places of Yahweh worship and a Yahwist priesthood.
