De Genesi ad litteram (; Literal Commentary on Genesis) is an exegetical reading of the Book of Genesis written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo. Likely completed in AD 415, this work was Augustine's second attempt to literally interpret the Genesis narrative. "De Genesi ad litteram" is divided into 12 books and discusses the (books 1–5), the (books 6–11), and the "Third Heaven" mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (book 12).
While "De Genesi ad litteram" does not reject allegorical exegesis, it does argue that this cannot be the only approach a theologian takes. In this way, Augustine breaks from the interpretive methods favored by Philo and Origen. Throughout this work, Augustine argues that objections brought against the literal truth of the first chapters of Genesis invariably rest upon the baseless assumption that the objector has found the true meaning of the text.
One of the more notable assertions made by Augustine in "De Genesi ad litteram" is the idea that everything in the universe was created simultaneously in eternity by God and that the six-day structure presented in the book of Genesis represents how creation manifested itself in a temporal sense. This work also saw Augustine reject the transmigration of souls, Tertullian's idea that the soul is corporeal, and the idea of pre-existent souls.
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