Genesis 1
1
The Beginning of the World
1In the beginning, when God created the earth and sky,#1:1 Or “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” “God” in this first section (1:1-2:3) is the most general word for God in the Old Testament. It is a plural form. See verse 26. 2the earth was without life and not yet useful for anything. Deep waters covered the earth, and darkness covered the water. God’s Spirit#1:2 God’s Spirit Or “A wind from God” or “A mighty wind.” was moving like a storm over the surface of the water.
The First Day—Light
3Then God said, “Let there be light!” And light began to shine.#1:1-3 Or “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. While 2 the earth had no special shape, and darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit hovered over the water, 3 God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Or “When God began to create the sky and the earth, 2 while the earth was completely empty, and darkness covered the ocean, and a powerful wind blew over the water, 3 God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” 4He saw the light, and he knew that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5God named the light “day,” and he named the darkness “night.”
There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.
The Second Day—Sky
6Then God said, “Let there be a space#1:6 space Or “firmament.” The Hebrew word can refer to a piece of metal that has been hammered into the shape of a bowl. to separate the water into two parts!” 7So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it. 8God named that space “sky.” There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.
The Third Day—Dry Land and Plants
9Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the dry land will appear.” And it happened. 10God named the dry land “earth,” and he named the water that was gathered together “seas.” And God saw that this was good.
11Then God said, “Let the earth grow grass, plants that make grain, and fruit trees. The fruit trees will make fruit with seeds in it. And each plant will make its own kind of seed. Let these plants grow on the earth.” And it happened. 12The earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw that this was good.
13There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the third day.
The Fourth Day—Sun, Moon, and Stars
14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings#1:14 special meetings The Israelites used the sun and moon to decide when the months and years began. Many Israelite festivals and special meetings began at the time of the new moon or full moon. begin and to show the days and years. 15They will be in the sky to shine light on the earth.” And it happened.
16So God made the two large lights. He made the larger light to rule during the day and the smaller light to rule during the night. He also made the stars. 17God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth. 18He put them in the sky to rule over the day and over the night. They separated the light from the darkness. And God saw that this was good.
19There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fourth day.
The Fifth Day—Fish and Birds
20Then God said, “Let the water be filled with many living things, and let there be birds to fly in the air over the earth.” 21So God created the large sea animals.#1:21 large sea animals Or “sea monsters.” He created all the many living things in the sea and every kind of bird that flies in the air. And God saw that this was good.
22God blessed all the living things in the sea and told them to have many babies and fill the seas. And he blessed the birds on land and told them to have many more babies.
23There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the fifth day.
The Sixth Day—Land Animals and People
24Then God said, “Let the earth produce many kinds of living things. Let there be many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling animals of every kind. And let all these animals produce more animals.” And all these things happened.
25So God made every kind of animal. He made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling things. And God saw that this was good.
26Then God said, “Now let’s make humans#1:26 humans The Hebrew word means “man,” “people,” or the name “Adam.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red clay.” who will be like us.#1:26 Now let’s make … like us Or “Now let’s make humans in our image and in our likeness.” They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth.”
27So God created humans in his own image. He created them to be like himself.#1:27 So God created humans … himself Or “So God created them in his image. In the image of God he created them.” Compare Gen. 5:1, 3. He created them male and female. 28God blessed them and said to them, “Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29God said, “I am giving you all the grain bearing plants and all the fruit trees. These trees make fruit with seeds in it. This grain and fruit will be your food. 30And I am giving all the green plants to the animals. These green plants will be their food. Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, and all the little things that crawl on the earth will eat that food.” And all these things happened.
31God looked at everything he had made. And he saw that everything was very good.
There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the sixth day.
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 1
1
The Story of Creation.#This section, from the Priestly source, functions as an introduction, as ancient stories of the origin of the world (cosmogonies) often did. It introduces the primordial story (2:4–11:26), the stories of the ancestors (11:27–50:26), and indeed the whole Pentateuch. The chapter highlights the goodness of creation and the divine desire that human beings share in that goodness. God brings an orderly universe out of primordial chaos merely by uttering a word. In the literary structure of six days, the creation events in the first three days are related to those in the second three.
The seventh day, on which God rests, the climax of the account, falls outside the six-day structure.Until modern times the first line was always translated, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Several comparable ancient cosmogonies, discovered in recent times, have a “when…then” construction, confirming the translation “when…then” here as well. “When” introduces the pre-creation state and “then” introduces the creative act affecting that state. The traditional translation, “In the beginning,” does not reflect the Hebrew syntax of the clause. 1In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth#Gn 2:1, 4; 2 Mc 7:28; Ps 8:4; 33:6; 89:12; 90:2; Wis 11:17; Sir 16:24; Jer 10:12; Acts 14:15; Col 1:16–17; Heb 1:2–3; 3:4; 11:3; Rev 4:11.—2#This verse is parenthetical, describing in three phases the pre-creation state symbolized by the chaos out of which God brings order: “earth,” hidden beneath the encompassing cosmic waters, could not be seen, and thus had no “form”; there was only darkness; turbulent wind swept over the waters. Commencing with the last-named elements (darkness and water), vv. 3–10 describe the rearrangement of this chaos: light is made (first day) and the water is divided into water above and water below the earth so that the earth appears and is no longer “without outline.” The abyss: the primordial ocean according to the ancient Semitic cosmogony. After God’s creative activity, part of this vast body forms the salt-water seas (vv. 9–10); part of it is the fresh water under the earth (Ps 33:7; Ez 31:4), which wells forth on the earth as springs and fountains (Gn 7:11; 8:2; Prv 3:20). Part of it, “the upper water” (Ps 148:4; Dn 3:60), is held up by the dome of the sky (vv. 6–7), from which rain descends on the earth (Gn 7:11; 2 Kgs 7:2, 19; Ps 104:13). A mighty wind: literally, “spirit or breath [ruah] of God”; cf. Gn 8:1. and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters—#Jer 4:23.
| 1. | light (day)/darkness (night) | = | 4. | sun/moon |
| 2. | arrangement of water | = | 5. | fish + birds from waters |
| 3. | a) dry land | = | 6. | a) animals |
| b) vegetation | b) human beings: male/female |
3Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.#2 Cor 4:6. 4God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.#In ancient Israel a day was considered to begin at sunset.
6Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. 7God made the dome,#The dome: the Hebrew word suggests a gigantic metal dome. It was inserted into the middle of the single body of water to form dry space within which the earth could emerge. The Latin Vulgate translation firmamentum, “means of support (for the upper waters); firmament,” provided the traditional English rendering. and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened.#Prv 8:27–28; 2 Pt 3:5. 8God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed—the second day.
9Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared.#Jb 38:8; Ps 33:7; Jer 5:22. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and the basin of water he called “sea.” God saw that it was good. 11#Ps 104:14. Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened: 12the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. 13Evening came, and morning followed—the third day.
14Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years,#Jb 26:10; Ps 19:2–3; Bar 3:33. 15and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: 16God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars.#Dt 4:19; Ps 136:7–9; Wis 13:2–4; Jer 31:35. 17God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day.
20#Jb 12:7–10. Then God said: Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. 21God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of crawling living creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good, 22and God blessed them, saying: Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.#Gn 8:17. 23Evening came, and morning followed—the fifth day.
24#Sir 16:27–28. Then God said: Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: tame animals, crawling things, and every kind of wild animal. And so it happened: 25God made every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, and every kind of thing that crawls on the ground. God saw that it was good. 26#Gn 5:1, 3; 9:6; Ps 8:5–6; Wis 2:23; 10:2; Sir 17:1, 3–4; Mt 19:4; Mk 10:6; Jas 3:7; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10. Then God said: Let us make#Let us make: in the ancient Near East, and sometimes in the Bible, God was imagined as presiding over an assembly of heavenly beings who deliberated and decided about matters on earth (1 Kgs 22:19–22; Is 6:8; Ps 29:1–2; 82; 89:6–7; Jb 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). This scene accounts for the plural form here and in Gn 11:7 (“Let us go down…”). Israel’s God was always considered “Most High” over the heavenly beings. Human beings: Hebrew ’ādām is here the generic term for humankind; in the first five chapters of Genesis it is the proper name Adam only at 4:25 and 5:1–5. In our image, after our likeness: “image” and “likeness” (virtually synonyms) express the worth of human beings who have value in themselves (human blood may not be shed in 9:6 because of this image of God) and in their task, dominion (1:28), which promotes the rule of God over the universe. human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth.
27God created mankind in his image;
in the image of God he created them;
male and female#Male and female: as God provided the plants with seeds (vv. 11, 12) and commanded the animals to be fertile and multiply (v. 22), so God gives sexuality to human beings as their means to continue in existence. he created them.
28God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.#Fill the earth and subdue it: the object of the verb “subdue” may be not the earth as such but earth as the territory each nation must take for itself (chaps. 10–11), just as Israel will later do (see Nm 32:22, 29; Jos 18:1). The two divine commands define the basic tasks of the human race—to continue in existence through generation and to take possession of one’s God-given territory. The dual command would have had special meaning when Israel was in exile and deeply anxious about whether they would continue as a nation and return to their ancient territory. Have dominion: the whole human race is made in the “image” and “likeness” of God and has “dominion.” Comparable literature of the time used these words of kings rather than of human beings in general; human beings were invariably thought of as slaves of the gods created to provide menial service for the divine world. The royal language here does not, however, give human beings unlimited power, for kings in the Bible had limited dominion and were subject to prophetic critique. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth.#Gn 8:17; 9:1; Ps 8:6–9; 115:16; Wis 9:2. 29#According to the Priestly tradition, the human race was originally intended to live on plants and fruits as were the animals (see v. 30), an arrangement that God will later change (9:3) in view of the human inclination to violence. #Gn 9:3; Ps 104:14–15. God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; 30and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened. 31God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.#1 Tm 4:4.
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