The crucial importance of the Hebrew Bible within the Qumran community can hardly be overstated. Manuscripts of the books of the Old Testament form a major part of the manuscripts found at Qumran. Study and observance of the law represented one of the basic aims of the community, as we have noticed several times. The sectarian writings, such as the Damascus Document or the Community Rule, were profoundly influenced by the Hebrew Bible and quote from it, or allude to it, in practically every line of text. In these circumstances it is perhaps hardly surprising that the Qumran writings should include a number of works that may be described as exegetical. These vary considerably in character. Some represent a reworking or elaboration of biblical material, as for example the Words of Moses (1Q22, also known as 1QDM), a farewell speech inspired by various passages in Deuteronomy, or the New Jerusalem (found in several fragmentary manuscripts, particularly 5Q15 (5QJN ar)), a description in Aramaic of the Jerusalem of the eschatological period that draws its inspiration from Ezek. 40–8. One of the most important writings of this kind is the work in Aramaic known as the Genesis Apocryphon, a reworking of material in the book of Genesis.

The Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen) is one of the seven major manuscripts that were found in Qumran Cave 1 in 1947 and was thus one of the first of the scrolls to be discovered.