Genesis 1

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the surface of the deep. The Spirit of God moved over the surface of the waters.

3God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and he called the darkness “night.” So there was evening, and then the morning, making day one.#1:5. It is significant that the “day” is measured from darkness to light, which is still the Jewish method of calculating days.

6God said, “Let there be an expanse#1:6. “Expanse.” Older translations have often rendered this word as “firmament,” borrowing from the Latin “firmamentum.” That this referred to some ancient belief that the sky was like a dome of hammered metal, and therefore a tangible physical object, has now been shown to be mistaken. In fact, Latin translations from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries usually use the word “expansionem.” in the middle of the waters to divide the waters.” 7So God made an expanse to divide the waters that were above from the waters that were below. And that's what happened. 8God called the expanse, “sky.” So there was evening, and then the morning, making day two.

9God said, “Let the waters below the sky collect together in one place so that the land may appear.” And so it was. 10God called the land “earth” and the waters “seas.” God saw that it was good.

11God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation—plants that produce seeds and trees that produce seeded fruit—each one according to its own kind.” And that's what happened. 12The earth produced vegetation—plants that produce seeds and trees that produce seeded fruit—each one according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. 13So there was evening, and then the morning, making day three.

14God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night, and to provide a way to mark seasons, days, and years. 15They shall be lights in the sky to shine on the earth.” And that's what happened. 16God created two great lights:#1:16. Hebrew has words for sun and moon, but they are not used here, perhaps to avoid any temptation to worship the sun and the moon. the larger one in charge of the day, and the smaller one in charge of the night. He created the stars too. 17God placed these lights in the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to be in charge of the day and in charge of the night, and to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good. 19So there was evening, and then the morning, making day four.

20God said, “Let the waters be full of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the sky.” 21So God created huge sea creatures and all the living things that swim and fill the waters, each one according to its own kind; and every bird that flies, each one according to its own kind. God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them and said, “Reproduce and increase, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23So there was evening, and then the morning, making day five.

24God said, “Let the land produce living creatures, each one according to its own kind—the livestock, the creatures that run along the ground, and the wild animals, each one according to its own kind.” And that's what happened. 25God made the wild animals, the livestock, and the creatures that run along the ground, all according to their own kind. God saw that it was good.

26God said, “Let us make human beings in our image who are like us.#1:26. This aspect of being “like” God conveys the idea of being “patterned” after God. The word is also translated “similitude,” “figure” or “form.” The most essential aspect of this resemblance is surely that of character. They will have authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over the whole of the earth and every creature that moves on it.” 27So God created human beings in his own image. He created them in the image of God. He created them male and female.#1:27. The repetition of “created” in this verse is surely significant, which is why this is placed first in each sentence. 28God blessed them and told them, “Reproduce, increase, and spread throughout the earth and control it; exercise authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the earth.”

29God said, “Look, I'm giving you as your food every seed-bearing plant anywhere on earth, and every tree that produces fruit with seeds. 30I'm giving all the green plants to all the land animals, to the birds, and to every creature that moves on the earth—to every living thing.” And that's what happened.

31God saw everything that he had created, and yes, it was very good. So there was evening, and then the morning, making day six.

Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com

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Genesis 1

The Creation

1In the beginning God (#This is originally a plural form based on el (root meaning: strength), which itself is used to refer to God in compounds like El Shaddai (Almighty God). The word el is also used to refer to false gods, so the context determines whether Elohim means “God” or is better understood as “gods” (elohim).Elohim) #Heb bara. Here and in 1:21, God created from nothing which is something only He can do. In 1:27, God used preexisting materials (man from the dust of the ground; Eve from Adam’s rib); each use of the word bara (“create”) must be considered in its specific context.created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was #The Hebrew text here has two rhyming words, tohu and bohu, which have similar meanings of “wasteness” and “emptiness.” The construction is a figure of speech called hendiadys, in which two words are used together to express the same idea. The meaning is that the earth had no clearly discernible features at this point in creation but essentially was a mass of raw materials. This proves to be very important from philosophical and scientific viewpoints, because it documents the fact that the raw matter of the earth—and by extension, of the universe—did not coexist eternally with God, but was created by Him ex nihilo (Latin “out of nothing”).formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. 3And God said, #This is not in the imperative mood (the ordinary grammatical form for a command), but God willed these creative events into existence. It is the voluntative mood in Hebrew. This translates, “It is My will that this happen.” English does not have the voluntative mood, which includes the jussive and cohortative forms. When “let” is used in this way, it represents a command not in the imperative mood, but rather an expression of God’s will, the jussive form. God literally commanded (willed) the world into existence.“Let there be light”; and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and #“He affirmed and sustained it” is understood (deduced) from the context. The italic “and” alerts the reader or student of Hebrew that the word or words that follow are amplifications not found in the Hebrew text itself, but implied by it or by contextual factors.He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness. 5And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was #The Hebrew word translated “evening” indicates dusk or sunset.evening and there was #The Hebrew word translated “morning” indicates the time when it is getting light (dawn).morning, one day.

6And God said, “Let there be an #Or a firmament.expanse [of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below the expanse] from the waters [above the expanse].” 7And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded]. 8God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that this was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it. 11So God said, “Let the earth sprout [tender] #Or grass.vegetation, #Or herbs.plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind, whose seed is in them upon the earth”; and it was so. 12The earth sprouted and abundantly produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it. 13And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14Then God said, “Let there be light-bearers (sun, moon, stars) in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be useful for signs (tokens) [of God’s provident care], and for marking seasons, days, and years; 15and let them be useful as lights in the expanse of the heavens to provide light on the earth”; and it was so, [just as He commanded]. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night; He made the [galaxies of] stars also [that is, all the amazing wonders in the heavens]. 17God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to provide light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it. 19And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20Then God said, “Let the waters swarm and abundantly produce living creatures, and let birds soar above the earth #Lit over the face of.in the open expanse of the heavens.” 21God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it. 22And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds”; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation]. 25So God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and everything that creeps and crawls on the earth according to its kind; and God saw that it was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.

26Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.” 27So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29So God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30and to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that moves on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so [because He commanded it]. 31God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

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