The Book of Genesis tackles such themes as "love" "jealousy", "anger", "the manifestations of God and his Angels" and "the complex relationship between them and humankind." It includes images of nature and the animal world as it appears in Genesis. For visual inspiration, The Artist looked to the figurines and art from the Mediterranean Basin, Mesopotamia and the culture of the Egyptian Nile – the cultures that surrounded the Hebrews at the time of Genesis. The images from these cultures are divided into several types: gods, kings and queens (demi-gods), goddesses of fertility, and humans. The gods in these cultures embodied human characteristics such as love, hate, power and their behavior viewed through human experience. They were both vindictive and merciful, and this is how they are portrayed visually.

Originally created as a hand-painted, calligraphied book by Israeli artist Avner Moriah as part of his project on the Five Books of Moses, the Illuminated Book of Genesis was then carefully transcribed into a Limited Edition, a treasure to be handed down from generation to generation.