Genesis chapter 1
1:1 In the beginning (Hebrew bereshit): Creation marks the absolute beginning of the temporal and material world.
The traditional Jewish and Christian belief is that Genesis 1:1 declares that God created the original heaven and
earth from nothing (Latin ex nihilo) and that verse 2 clarifies that when it came to the Creator's hand, the mass was
"without form, and void," unformed and without any life. The rest of the chapter then explains the process of Creation
in detail. There is no evidence in the Hebrew text for long ages of evolutionary development or a gap of time between
verse 1 and verse 2. God (Hebrew Elohim): This form of the divine name occurs 2,570 times in the Old Testament.
The plural ending im indicates a plural of majesty and takes a singular verb. This verb is used exclusively with God
as its subject. It refers to the instantaneous and miraculous act of God by which He brought he universe into
existence. Thus, the Genesis account of Creation refutes atheism, pantheism, polytheism, and evolution.
1:2 Without form, and void (Hebrew tohu wabohu, "unformed and unfilled") describes the condition of earth after the
initial act of Creation. It does not describe a chaotic condition as a result of judgment. Thus was (Hebrew hayetah) is
correct and should not be translated became. How the earth became formed and filled is described in verses 3-31.
Darkness is not always a symbol of evil (Psalms 104:19-24). Here it simply refers to the absence of light. Deep refers
to the waters covering the earth, not some primitive cosmogony. The Spirit of God is a clear reference to the creative
activity of the Holy Spirit. John 1:3 indicates that Christ actually created all things for the Father. Thus, all three
persons of the Trinity are active in the Creation. This undoubtedly accounts for the plural pronouns us and our in
verse 26 which take singular verbs in expressing the tri-unity of God.
1:3 And God said: This is the first of a highly structured series of succinct and formulaic sentences expressing the
creative commands of God. Thus, Creation is accomplished by His word. Each command consists of (1) an
announcement, "God said"; (2) a creative command, "Let there be"; (3) a summary word of accomplishment, "And it
was so"; (4) a descriptive word of accomplishment, "The earth brought forth"; (5) a descriptive blessing, "God
blessed."; (6) an evaluative approval, "It was good"; and (7) a concluding temporal framework, numbering each day.
1:4 Light: Not the sun which was created on the fourth day (verse 16), but some fixed light source outside of the
earth. The earth passed through a day-and-night cycle in reference to this light. Good: The word contains less an
aesthetic judgment than a designation of purpose and correspondence to God's will, indicating the moral goodness
of the Creation.
1:5 God called: This act demonstrates His sovereign dominion over His Creation. In the Semitic world the naming of
something or someone was the token of lordship. Reuben changed the names of the cities of the Amorites after he
had conquered them (Numbers 32:38). Likewise, Pharaoh Necho changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim after he
defeated the Judean king (2 Kings 23:34). Day (Hebrew yom): Apart from the use of the word day in verses 5, 8, 13,
19, 23, and 31, where it describes the days of Creation, it is used in at least four ways in the first two chapters of
Genesis: (1) the 12-hour period of daylight as opposed to night (verses 14, 16, 18); (2) a solar day of 24 hours
(verse 14); (3) the period of light that began with the creation of light on the first day (verse 5); and (4) the entire, six-
day creative period (2:4). Everywhere in the Pentateuch the word day when used (as here) with a definite article or
numerical adjective means a solar day or a normally calibrated, 24-hour day. Thus, the biblical account of Creation
clearly indicates that God created the world in six lateral days (Exodus 20:11).
1:6 Firmament is an "expanse" between the waters suspended by God in vapor form over the earth. Most likely,
approximately half of the waters upon the earth were supernaturally elevated above the atmosphere, perhaps in the
form of an invisible vapor canopy. This would have trapped the earth's heat with a "greenhouse effect" and would
have provided a uniformly tropical climate everywhere, until it collapsed upon the earth during the universal rainfall at
the time of the great Flood (7:11). This might explain the longevity described in Genesis 5, in addition to providing a
water source for the Flood of chapters 6-9.
1:11 Contrary to the modern evolutionists (who insist that all plants and animals developed over hundreds of millions
of years from a single speck of life in the ocean) and theistic evolutionists (who claim the Bible allows for such
processes by use of such phrases Let the earth bring forth), Genesis not only dates the creation of marine life (verse
20) as being after the creation of plants and fruit trees, but also reveals that fruit trees were created already bearing
fruit whose seed is in itself. God produced a functioning and mature Creation. Plants were created full-grown, as
mature and adult organisms, with a superficial appearance of age. Similarly Adam and Eve were created as adults.
The phrase after his [or their] kind is repeated 10 times in this chapter, and demands that adults of each "kind" would
have to be created supernaturally to begin the life cycle. Moses uses the word kind 30 out of 31 times it appears in
the Old Testament. The word may not require the separate creation of each species by God, but it does require at
least the separate creation of families within orders.
:16 And God made two great lights refers to the sun and moon. They did not appear (a different verb and stem) as
the dry land in verse 9, but were actually made ('asah, synonymous with bara') at this time. God makes it clear that
He, not the sun, is the earth's Creator, and that God is not dependent upon the sun either for the earth's material
substance or for the sustaining of life. Fro the standpoint of astronomy, the sun and the moon are obviously not "the
two great lights" of the universe. This is the language of appearance, as seen from man's viewpoint. Genesis is
written in geocentric (rather than heliocentric) terms. "Signs" in verse 14 might refer to unusual sights in the heavens,
such as eclipses of the sun, rather than suggest that God designed the celestial bodies to determine the destinies of
individual men as modern astrologers proclaim (2 Kings 23:12; Jeremiah 19:13; Zephaniah 1:5, where God
condemns such practice).
1:20 Let the waters bring forth is better translated and understood as "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living
creatures," so as not to misleadingly suggest that the waters themselves produced marine life. This text also implies
that aquatic life and fowl appeared simultaneously, denying the evolutionary sequence of reptiles before birds.
1:21 Great whales is not the best translation; better is the term "great sea creatures" to include the great fish as well
as whales. Taninim is used elsewhere to describe the serpent (Exodus 7:9, 10, 12) and the dragon (Psalms 148:7;
Isaiah 51:9; Ezekiel 29:3). There is no evidence whatever, either from paleontology or genetics, that whales or great
sea monsters could have developed from land animals. The theory of evolution claims that the first animals in the
oceans were microscopic, single-celled creatures, and that whales (sea cows) had to evolve from four-legged land
mammals, which in turn evolved from cold-blooded marine creatures. Thus, they would have devolved!
1:24 Living creatures is the same Hebrew expression used for man in 2:7, translated 'living soul."
1:26-28 In contrast to animals in verses 20 and 24 where God said, "Let the waters bring forth" and "Let the earth
bring forth," He now says, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. All others reproduce after "their kind,"
but man is the only one made in the image of God and reproducing in that image (5:3). The terms image and
likeness are used synonymously, and refer primarily to man's spiritual resemblance (rationally and morally) to his
Maker. God place a great chasm between man and beast, for only man has the capacity for eternal life, fellowship,
moral discernment, self-consciousness, speech, and worship. Even after the Fall, man retains this image of God (9:6;
James 3:9), though it has been marred. The plural pronoun us is most likely a majestic plural from the standpoint of
Hebrew grammar and syntax. Man is used in a generic sense which is amplified by the phrase male and female, even
though Eve's physical formation is not detailed until 2:18-24. These words are not the usual Hebrew words for "man"
('ish) and woman ('ishah). The words used here specifically distinguish the sexes--male and female. Sexes only
implied with regard to animals, but not here. The reason is that a completely unique relationship was to develop,
namely, holy marriage (2:22-24). Dominion is not the content but the consequence of the divine image (1 Corinthians
6:3; 15:27, 28; Hebrews 2:7-10; James 3:7, 8). And God blessed them: To "bless" is not only to bestow a gift, but
also to assign a function. Replenish is better translated "fill the earth," indicating the first time. It cannot be used in
support of the refashioning of an already judged earth, for it always means to fill something the first time.
1:29-31 Meat meant "food" in the early seventeenth century, when the King James Version was translated. No actual
animal flesh was condoned until after the Flood in Genesis 9:3. God saw is an expression in anthropomorphic terms
relating His evaluation of His Creation (6:5; 11:5). Now at the end of His Creation work, He says it was very good,
"exceedingly good" and not simply "good" as before in the chapter. In the light of this statement, it is difficult to
believe that the earth was already under the control of a fallen angel, Satan, and that the crust of the earth was filled
with the fossils of creatures that had previously been destroyed (The Gap Theory).
Genesis chapter 2
2:1-3. The process of “filling” and “forming” is now finished (cf. 1:1) Host of them refers to all the things that God
created, as opposed to stars in Nehemiah 9:6 and angels in 1Kings 22:19. He rested employs the root for “Sabbath”
that later relates to Israel in Exodus 16:29 , 20:10 , 11; and Deuteronomy 5:15 . It implies He ceased or desisted from
His creating work. No weariness is suggested. John 5:17 indicates the Father is always at work. Sanctified: That is,
He set it apart from the other days (Ex. 20:11 ).
2:4-7. Generations is the first of 10 section-headings in Genesis (cf. 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1; 37:2),
which may be better understood as narrating the “histories” or “stories” of various people or events. Nowhere in
Genesis does the word include the birth of the individual (except in 25:19, where Isaac is mentioned as the son of
Abraham). Genesis 5:1 indicates there may have been a “book” (or tablet) of the histories relating to Adam, to which
Moses had access under inspiration. In the day is idiomatic, conveying the idea “when the Lord God made.” Made is
‘asah, used synonymously with bara’ (cf. 1:1). Lord is likely pronounced “Yahweh.” It is the most significant name for
God in the Old Testament, appearing 6,823 times. The name refers to God as the self-existent active One, as it is
related to the verb to be in Exodus 3:14. It also indicates Israel ’s Redeemer in Exodus 6:6. This name is associated
with God’s holiness in Leviticus 11:44 , 45, His hatred of sin in Genesis 6:3-7, and His graciousness in providing
redemption for all in Isaiah 53:1, 5, 6, and 10. God (Elohim), which is used to the exclusion of other names for God in
chapter 1, indicates His omnipotence, whereas this name emphasizes His care and personal concern for His Creation
and His intimate and close relationship to it. Beginning with verse 4, there is a change in the narrative’s flow as it
centers on the garden just before man’s arrival. A mist: Some relate this word to an Akkadian root meaning “canals,”
“subterranean waterways,” and not “mist,” which is mere conjecture. The root verb of verse 6’s watered is used in
verse 10 for a kind of irrigation relating to the four rivers. The verb “rise up” is used of the Nile River in Amos 8:8 and
9:5. As described in verse 15, keeping the garden well-irrigated and watered for these special types of plants was
part of Adam’s work.
Formed man: The verb is used on occasion for the "potter" par excellence setting the design and pattern. The
corporeal part was the dust of the ground (which is not a symbol of the animal kingdom from which Adam evolved;
not its use in 3:19), and the non-corporeal part was the breath of life. The word breath (Hebrew ruach) is "spirit." Life
is a plural, but Hebrew frequently uses the plural without meaning a numerical plural. Living soul (Hebrew nepesh
chayah) should be translated "living creature" as the same phrase appears in 1:21-24 applied to animals. Here the
reference stands for the entire person, and is not used in just the metaphysical, theological sense in which we tend
to use the term soul today.
2:16 God’s command was thou mayest freely eat, and this included every tree except the tree of the “knowledge of
good and evil” in the next verse. The Hebrew conveys very emphatically “you may freely eat (strengthened
permission construction) to your heart’s content,” emphasizing the freedom and permission of a loving, gracious
God. Note Satan’s subtle assertion in 3:1 as he fed on the “one” tree they could not eat from. In so doing, he
excluded the abundance in this verse.
2:17 Thou shalt not eat is in strongest Hebrew form of prohibition. Surely die: The construction emphasizes in the
strongest way the certainty of death upon eating. (Note 3:4 and Satan’s “Ye shall not surely die.”) In the Bible there
are three deaths: (1) physical death, separation of body and spirit; (2) spiritual death, separation of the individual
from God: and (3) eternal death, the final estate of the lost person in the “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:10, 14; termed the
“second death,” separation from God forever).
2:18 Not Good: The negative is extremely emphatic. It is not the construction for expressing a mere negative
preference. In the context of chapters 1 and 2, it is the only thing “not good.” After man and woman are completed,
God said in 1:31 it was “very (exceedingly) good.” God’s plan for man was less than ideal and not complete without
woman, the emphasis being alone. Help is a word frequently used in reference to the Lord in the Psalms ( 10:14 ; 22:
11 ; 28:7; 46:1; 54:4; 72:12; 86:17; 119:173; 175; 121:1,2). Thus it is not a degrading position for the woman. The
verb form basically means to aid or supply that which the individual cannot provide for himself. The Septuagint
translates if boethos, a word the New Testament uses in the sense of “physician”(Matt. 15:25 ; Mark 9:22 , 24; Acts
16:9; Rev 12:16 ). It conveys the idea of aiding someone in need, such as the oppressed. Certainly a godly woman
meets this need of man. Meet comes from the Hebrew word meaning “opposite.” Literally it is “according to the
opposite of him,” meaning that she will complement and correspond to him. The Septuagint has kat auton
(“according to him”). This relates to a “norm” or “standard.” She is to be equal to and adequate for man. She is also
made in the image of God, thus again equal to man and not on the animal level of being.