GENESIS 1
1 In the beginning the Godhead created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and empty and darkness was over the surface of the great deep – the Spirit of the Godhead fluttered over the face of the waters.
3 Then the Godhead said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. 4 And the Godhead saw that the light was good, so the Godhead separated the light from the darkness. 5 The Godhead called the light “day,” and he called the darkness “night.”
So there was evening and then there was morning: day one.
6 Then the Godhead said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it be there to divide waters from waters.” 7 So the Godhead made the expanse, and he divided between the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above it. And so it was. 8 And the Godhead called the expanse “Heaven”.
So there was evening and then there was morning: a second day.
9 Then the Godhead said, “Let the waters below the heaven be gathered into one set place. Let dry ground appear.” And so it was. 10 So the Godhead called the dry ground “land”, and the gathered waters he called “seas”. And the Godhead saw that it was good.
11 Then the Godhead said, “Let the land sprout shoots: vegetation which produces seed, and fruit trees yielding fruit with their seed in them according to their kinds, on the land.” And so it was. 12 So the land brought forth shoots of vegetation which produces seed according to its kind and trees yielding fruit with their seed in them according to their kinds. And the Godhead saw that it was good.
13 So there was evening and then there was morning: a third day.
14 Then the Godhead said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens in order to divide between the day and the night. They will be for signs and for appointed times, as well as for days and years. 15 They will provide lights in the expanse of the heavens in order to shine on the earth.” And so it was. 16 So the Godhead made two great lights – the great light to patrol the day and the small light to patrol the night – as well as the stars. 17 The Godhead placed them in the expanse of the heavens for light on the earth 18 and to patrol throughout the day and night and to divide between the light and the darkness. And the Godhead saw that it was good.
19 So there was evening and then there was morning: a fourth day.
20 Then the Godhead said, “Let the waters teem with swarming creatures which breathe to live, and let the winged animals fly above the earth across the face of the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So the Godhead created the great sea creatures, and everything living and breathing with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, as well as every animal that flies with wings according to its kind. And the Godhead saw that it was good. 22 So the Godhead blessed them by saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the sea, and let the winged animals multiply on the earth.”
23 So there was evening and then there was morning: a fifth day.
24 Then the Godhead said, “Let the land bring forth breathing creatures according to their kinds: the quadruped, the reptile and the land animal according to its kind.” And so it was.
25 So the Godhead made the earth’s quadrupeds according to their kinds, the land animals according to their kinds, and all the ground’s reptiles according to their kinds. And the Godhead saw that it was good.
26 Then the Godhead said, “Let us make mankind in our image, as our resemblance, and they shall rule over the fish of the sea, over the winged animals of the heavens, over the land animals and over all the earth – even over every reptile which crawls on the earth.”
27 So the Godhead created the man in his image;
in the image of the Godhead he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And the Godhead blessed them and he said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue her. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the winged animals of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 Then the Godhead said, “See I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. This will be your food. 30 So to every animal of the earth, and to every winged animal of the heavens, and to every crawler on the earth – everything which breathes to live – green plants shall be for food.” And so it was.
31 So the Godhead saw all that he had made, and wow – it was very good!
So there was evening and then there was morning: the sixth day.
v1)
Godhead. Yep, controversy from the first verse! See my reasoning here.
v5)
Day One. Or ‘one day,’ which would be a very explicit way to describe the types of days being used in this section (if evening and morning comments weren’t obvious enough already). Either way they are clearly 24-hour days more or less as we experience them. Those who disagree with this are generally putting man’s wisdom ahead of God’s. We really don’t want to be doing that.
v7)
waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above it. Literally ‘waters which were from below the expanse from the waters which were from above it’.
v9)
one set place. The word is מָק֣וֹם which literally means ‘from standing,’ so it appears to carry some nuance of appointment, like being designated a place (see Job 38:11).
v11)
land. Used in preference to ‘earth’ to link with previous verse.
The tree stuff has been pluralized to fit in with modern English style. I hate doing that but it really is misleading to do otherwise.
v20)
breathe to live. The Hebrew word ‘nephesh’ is often translated elsewhere as ‘soul’, but appears to refer to creatures which use oxygen to live (so living things that aren’t plants, basically), whether they breathe as humans do or not. So fish would be included. See https://answersingenesis.org/biology/plants/do-leaves-die/
winged animals. It would be really nice to just say ‘birds’ here, and this word very often does mean simply ‘birds’. But in this context we need to include everything that flies (insects, bats, flying dinosaurs…) to be consistent with the Bible’s own elaboration in the next verse: ‘every animal that flies with wings’.
v26)
us…our… The reason for the use of the plural here has been debated for as long as this has been written, no doubt. It does fit perfectly with the idea that there is plurality within the Godhead, though.
v27) created the man.
The definite article is distinctively there and as such seems to refer specifically to Adam. The poetic nature of the verse is evident, with the order being clarified: Adam created – in what manner he was created (in the image of the triune God) – and all humans likewise.
v31) the sixth day.
The definite article used here doesn’t appear on any of the other days. Not sure why that is…? Some long-age folks (e.g. http://godandscience.org/youngearth/yom_with_number.pdf) try and make a big thing of this, as though it supports the evolutionary long ages. Besides the fact that evolution (in the sense of ‘molecules to man’) is by all measures completely impossible (mathematically, genetically, logically…), their argument is way too full of maybes to be convincing.
Wow. Indeed!
Godhead. Yep, controversy from the first verse! See my reasoning here.
v5)
Day One. Or ‘one day,’ which would be a very explicit way to describe the types of days being used in this section (if evening and morning comments weren’t obvious enough already). Either way they are clearly 24-hour days more or less as we experience them. Those who disagree with this are generally putting man’s wisdom ahead of God’s. We really don’t want to be doing that.
v7)
waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above it. Literally ‘waters which were from below the expanse from the waters which were from above it’.
v9)
one set place. The word is מָק֣וֹם which literally means ‘from standing,’ so it appears to carry some nuance of appointment, like being designated a place (see Job 38:11).
v11)
land. Used in preference to ‘earth’ to link with previous verse.
The tree stuff has been pluralized to fit in with modern English style. I hate doing that but it really is misleading to do otherwise.
v20)
breathe to live. The Hebrew word ‘nephesh’ is often translated elsewhere as ‘soul’, but appears to refer to creatures which use oxygen to live (so living things that aren’t plants, basically), whether they breathe as humans do or not. So fish would be included. See https://answersingenesis.org/biology/plants/do-leaves-die/
winged animals. It would be really nice to just say ‘birds’ here, and this word very often does mean simply ‘birds’. But in this context we need to include everything that flies (insects, bats, flying dinosaurs…) to be consistent with the Bible’s own elaboration in the next verse: ‘every animal that flies with wings’.
v26)
us…our… The reason for the use of the plural here has been debated for as long as this has been written, no doubt. It does fit perfectly with the idea that there is plurality within the Godhead, though.
v27) created the man.
The definite article is distinctively there and as such seems to refer specifically to Adam. The poetic nature of the verse is evident, with the order being clarified: Adam created – in what manner he was created (in the image of the triune God) – and all humans likewise.
v31) the sixth day.
The definite article used here doesn’t appear on any of the other days. Not sure why that is…? Some long-age folks (e.g. http://godandscience.org/youngearth/yom_with_number.pdf) try and make a big thing of this, as though it supports the evolutionary long ages. Besides the fact that evolution (in the sense of ‘molecules to man’) is by all measures completely impossible (mathematically, genetically, logically…), their argument is way too full of maybes to be convincing.
Wow. Indeed!