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Genesis 1

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The Initial Act of Creation 1–2

1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ​
2
And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ​

Day One: Light and Darkness 3–5

3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. ​
4
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. ​

Day Two: The Firmament 6–8

6
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. ​
7
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8
And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Day Three: Land and Vegetation 9–13

9
And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. ​
10
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11
And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. ​
12
And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good.
13
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Day Four: The Celestial Lights 14–19

14
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: ​
15
and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16
And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he madethe stars also. ​
17
And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth,
18
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Day Five: Birds and Sea Creatures 20–23

20
And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. ​
21
And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind: and God saw that it was good. ​
22
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. ​
23
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

Day Six: Animals and Humanity Created 24–31

24
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so. ​
25
And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ​
27
And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ​
28
And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. ​
29
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food: ​
30
and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.
31
And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 1

Verse 1

In the beginning God created — Bara, 'to create', is used of God alone, in vv.1, 21 and 27 (three times in v.27). John opens with the same words, 'In the beginning was the Word' (John 1:1), and adds 'All things were made by him' (John 1:3), and Hebrews says 'The worlds were framed by the word of God' (Heb 11:3).

Verse 2

without form, and void — Tohu and bohu, 'waste' and 'empty'; bohu occurs only here, in Isa 34:11 and in Jer 4:23. Yet the LORD 'created it not in vain' (tohu), but 'formed it to be inhabited' (Isa 45:18). 'Moved' is rachaph, to hover, as an eagle 'fluttereth over her young' (Deut 32:11).

Verse 3

Let there be light — This is the first word God speaks, and creation answers it: 'By the word of the LORD were the heavens made' (Ps 33:6); 'he spake, and it was done' (Ps 33:9). Light is called into being on the first day, three days before the sun and moon (v.16). Paul uses it of new birth: 'God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts' (2 Cor 4:6).

Verse 5

the evening and the morning — 'Evening' (ereb) is named before 'morning' (boqer), so the day is reckoned from evening, as the sabbath is kept 'from even unto even' (Lev 23:32). 'The first day' is literally 'one day' (echad); the later days take ordinals, 'the second day' (v.8). God names day and night himself (v.5), and both are his (Ps 74:16).

Verse 6

a firmament — Raqia, 'expanse', from the verb raqa', to beat out or spread: gold is 'beat… into thin plates' (Ex 39:3), and the sky is 'spread out' (Job 37:18). God calls it Heaven (v.8), sets the lights in it (v.17), and the birds fly in 'the open firmament of heaven' (v.20). 'Waters that be above the heavens' are praising him in Ps 148:4.

Verse 9

the dry land appear — The waters that once covered the earth are gathered by command into one place, which God names 'Seas' (v.10). Ps 104 recalls it: 'At thy rebuke they fled' (Ps 104:7), and he 'set a bound that they may not pass over' (Ps 104:9; Job 38:10–11). Peter says the earth stood 'out of the water and in the water' by the word of God (2 Pet 3:5).

Verse 11

after his kind — Min, 'kind', is the limit within which each plant and creature reproduces, 'whose seed is in itself'; it recurs in vv.12, 21, 24, 25. 'Bring forth' is dasha, to sprout, found only here and in Joel 2:22, 'the pastures of the wilderness do spring'. The earth yields at his word; the Psalms credit him with it: 'He causeth the grass to grow' (Ps 104:14).

Verse 14

for signs, and for seasons — 'Seasons' is moed, an appointed time, the word used of 'the feasts of the LORD' (Lev 23:2, 4). The lights mark appointed times: 'He appointed the moon for seasons' (Ps 104:19). 'Signs' is oth, a token or mark.

Verse 16

two great lights — The sun and moon are not named here; they are 'lights' (maor), each given a rule over day or night, and then 'he made the stars also'. Moses later warns against being 'driven to worship them' (Deut 4:19), and the Psalms give thanks to him 'that made great lights' (Ps 136:7–9). The stars are numbered and named by him (Ps 147:4).

Verse 20

the moving creature that hath life — Sherets is a swarm, and 'bring forth abundantly' is sharats, to swarm, the verb used of Israel in Egypt, 'increased abundantly' (Ex 1:7). 'Creature that hath life' is nephesh chayyah, the two words rendered 'living soul' of man in Gen 2:7. The sea is 'wherein are things creeping innumerable' (Ps 104:25).

Verse 21

great whales — Tannin, a great creature of the sea; the same word is rendered 'dragons' in Ps 148:7, which calls them to 'Praise the LORD from the earth', and 'serpents' in Ex 7:12. The verb is bara for the second time (vv.1, 21, 27): the first living creatures are called into being by the verb of v.1. Leviathan is one 'whom thou hast made to play therein' (Ps 104:26).

Verse 22

God blessed them — This is the first blessing (barak) in Scripture, and the verb is not used earlier in Genesis. It is a word of increase to the creatures, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill', given again to man (v.28) and to Noah (Gen 9:1). 'Fill' is male, the verb rendered 'replenish' in v.28.

Verse 24

Let the earth bring forth — Land creatures come from the ground, as Gen 2:19 repeats: 'out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field'. The verse names three groups, each 'after his kind' (v.11): 'cattle' (behemah), 'creeping thing' (remes, what moves low and quick) and 'beast of the earth'. The earth brings forth, but only at his command.

Verse 26

Let us make man in our image — The plural has been read since the early church as the Father speaking with the Son and the Spirit (cf. John 1:3; Col 1:16), the Spirit already present in v.2. Tselem, 'image', and demuth, 'likeness', are used again of Adam's son (Gen 5:3); after the flood man is still 'in the image of God' (Gen 9:6; cf. James 3:9).

Verse 27

male and female — Bara is used three times in this one verse. The image is stated of man as a whole, then 'male and female created he them'; Gen 5:2 adds that God 'called their name Adam'. Christ quotes the verse of marriage, 'made them male and female' (Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6). Christ himself is 'the image of the invisible God' (Col 1:15).

Verse 28

subdue it — Kabash, to tread down, and 'have dominion' (radah) is the rule of v.26. The charge follows the blessing. Ps 8:6–8 gives its scope: 'Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands', sheep, oxen, beasts, fowl and fish. After the flood it is renewed to Noah, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth' (Gen 9:1).

Verse 29

for meat — 'Meat' is oklah, food. Man is given the seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, and the beasts the green herb (v.30). Flesh is added after the flood: 'Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things' (Gen 9:3). All are fed by his hand: 'thou givest them their meat in due season' (Ps 145:15).

Verse 31

very good — 'Good' (tov) is said of the work seven times in the chapter (vv.4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31), and here meod, 'very', is added to it for the whole. Paul draws on it: 'every creature of God is good' (1 Tim 4:4). The six days are the ground of the sabbath command: 'in six days the LORD made heaven and earth' (Ex 20:11).