Genesis 1
Genesis 1:1-5 First Day
In the beginning Elohim
- created the heavens and the earth.
- And Elohim said //breathing out//, “Let light come to be,”
- and light came to be.
- And Elohim saw the light,
- that it was good.
- And Elohim separated
- the light
- And Elohim called the light ‘day’ //morning//
- from the darkness.
- And Elohim called the darkness ‘night.’ //evening//
- And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, one day.
- the light
These opening lines are set out in three parts. The opening and closing parts mention Elohim's involvement in creation. And then the center two lines refer to the pre-creation state. I'm trying to imagine the blank canvas of nothingness with which Elohim started.
The first condition of life, in the house of the Lord as well as elsewhere, is light; and the prerequisite of that is oil. Light is the spirit in action, symbolized by oil, which is a symbol of the spiritual life itself. The first business of the priest was to be to prepare and produce light -- even in the OT. - John Lange
Let there be light First thing mentioned in regard to the Tabernacle after the blueprint of how to build it is about letting there be light. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:4:5
Revelation 22:5 There shall be no light there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Expanse/Heaven
- in the midst of the waters,
- separating between waters and waters.'
- between the waters which [are] under the expanse, and the waters which [are] above the expanse
- calleth to the expanse `Heavens;'
Luminaries
- to make a separation between the day and the night,
- for signs,
- for seasons, //appointed times//
- for days and years,
- to give light upon the earth
- two great luminaries,
- the great luminary for the rule of the day,
- the small luminary and the stars for the rule of the night;
- to make a separation between the light and the darkness
Rule = same word used when used to tell Man to rule over ...
Fowl
- fly on the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens.'
Waters under expanse
- Let the waters under the heavens be collected unto one place
- collection of the waters He hath called `Seas;
Sea creatures
- teem with the teeming living creature //nephesh chayyah//, and
- prepared the great monsters,
- prepared every living creature that is creeping, which the waters have teemed with, after their kind
- And God blesseth them, saying, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas
These are the creations filling the waters under the expanse (Seas) and flying in the face of the expanse of the heavens (the waters above the expanse)
Dry land/Earth
- ,dry land be seen:'
- calleth to the dry land `Earth,'
Plants
- yield tender grass,
- yield herb sowing seed,
- yield fruit-tree (whose seed [is] in itself) making fruit after its kind, on the earth
Earth creatures:
- Fowl
- fly on the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens.'
- every fowl with wing, after its kind
- And God blesseth Barekh them, saying, `Be fruitful, and multiply, multiply in the earth:'
Make fruit and make more of yourselfs and fill with life the waters and let the birds fly. When God says something it brings about what is said. He says - and it happens. Same command given to man.
Any order or life, is summoned forth from God. Life doesn’t just happen God’s spirit generates and animates life. God is the producer, the blessing is reproducing.
God is behind all muliplication and abundance, then the flip side when humans try to take it into their own hands is mulipliying will be in a painful, uncomfortable environment.
- living creature ,
- after its kind
- cattle
- creeping thing,
- beast of the earth after its kind:'
- Man //Adam//
- Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,
- let them rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over cattle,
- let them rule over all the earth,
- let them rule over every creeping thing that is creeping on the earth.'
- prepareth the man in His image; in the image of God He prepared him,
- a male and a female He prepared them.
- blesseth Barekh them, saith to them,
- `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth,
- subdue it,
- rule over fish of the sea,
- rule over fowl of the heavens,
- rule over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'
- I have given to you every herb sowing seed,
- I have given to you every tree in which [is] the fruit of a tree sowing seed, to you it is for food;
- I have given to you to every beast of the earth,
- I have given to you to every fowl of the heavens,
- I have given to you to every creeping thing on the earth, in which [is] breath of life, //nefesh, soul//
- I have given to you every green herb [is] for food:'
Humans have responsibility over the creatures which God has blessed. They become stewards of other creatures blessings. Ruling means to oversee the creatures AND the blessing. God wants to partners with humans to carry out his blessings. How well something flurishes in the blessing is based upon how well they do at ruling. He has already set the process in motion and we do not control it. But we can hinder or help it.
The thought continues into Genesis 2 Seventh Day Rest
- And the heavens and the earth are completed, and all their host;
- completeth by the seventh day His work which He hath made,
- ceaseth by the seventh day from all His work which He hath made.
- blesseth Barekh the seventh day, and sanctifieth it, for in it He hath ceased from all His work which God had prepared for making.
there is not evening or morning, it’s the unending day, it over flows, it is the culminating act of perpetual abundance and rest.
TLV
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [a] 2 Now the earth was chaos and waste, darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim was hovering upon the surface of the water.[b]
3 Then God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. So God distinguished the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” So there was evening and there was morning—one day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water! Let it be for separating water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and it separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was over the expanse. And it happened so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” So there was evening and there was morning—a second day. 9 Then God said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered to one place. Let the dry ground appear.” And it happened so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the collection of the water He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout grass, green plants yielding seed, fruit trees making fruit, each according to its species with seed in it, upon the land.” And it happened so. 12 The land brought forth grass, green plants yielding seed, each according to its species, and trees making fruit with the seed in it, each according to its species. And God saw that it was good. 13 So there was evening and there was morning—a third day.
14 Then God said, “Let lights in the expanse of the sky be for separating the day from the night. They will be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. 15 They will be for lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the land.” And it happened so. 16 Then God made the two great lights—the greater light for dominion over the day, and the lesser light as well as the stars for dominion over the night. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to shine on the land 18 and to have dominion over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So there was evening and there was morning—a fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures! Let flying creatures fly above the land across the expanse of the sky.” 21 Then God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that crawls, with which the water swarms, according to their species, as well as every winged flying creature, according to their species. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them by saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas. Let the flying creatures multiply on the land.” 23 So there was evening and there was morning—a fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the land bring forth living creatures according to their species—livestock, crawling creatures and wild animals, according to their species.” And it happened so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their species, the livestock according to their species, and everything that crawls on the ground, each according to its species. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the sky, over the livestock, over the whole earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the land.” 27 God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. [c] 28 God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land, and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and over every animal that crawls on the land.”
29 Then God said, “I have just given you every green plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the whole land, and every tree, which has the fruit of a tree yielding seed. They are to be food for you. 30 Also for every wild animal, every flying creature of the sky and every creature that crawls on the land which has life, every green plant is to be food.” And it happened so. 31 So God saw everything that He made, and behold it was very good.
So there was evening and there was morning—the sixth day.
Footnotes
Genesis 1:2 cf John 1:1-2.
Genesis 1:2 cf “Spirit of God” 1 John 4:2.
Genesis 1:28 cf Matt. 19:4.
OJB
1 In the beginning Elohim created hashomayim (the heavens, Himel) and haaretz (the earth).
2 And the earth was tohu vavohu (without form, and void); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Ruach Elohim was hovering upon the face of the waters.
3 And Elohim said, Let there be light: and there was light [Tehillim 33:6,9].
4 And Elohim saw the light, that it was tov (good); and Elohim divided the ohr (light) from the choshech (darkness).
5 And Elohim called the light Yom (Day), and the darkness He called Lailah (Night). And the erev (evening) and the boker (morning) were Yom Echad (Day One, the First Day, Mk 16:2).
6 And Elohim said, Let there be a raki’a (expanse, dome, firmament) in the midst of the mayim (waters), and let it divide the mayim from the mayim.
7 And Elohim made the raki’a, and divided the waters under the raki’a from the waters which were above the raki’a; and it was so.
8 And Elohim called the raki’a Shomayim (Heaven). And the erev and the boker were Yom Sheni (Day Two, the Second Day).
9 And Elohim said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the yabashah (dry land) appear; and it was so.
10 And Elohim called the yabashah Eretz (Earth); and the mikveh (gathering together of the waters) called He Seas; and Elohim saw that it was tov.
11 And Elohim said, Let the earth bring forth vegetation, the herb yielding zera (seed), and the fruit tree yielding pri (fruit) after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth vegetation, and herb yielding zera (seed) after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was tov (good).
13 And the erev and the boker were Yom Shlishi (Day Three, the Third Day).
14 And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the raki’a of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for otot (signs), and for mo’adim (seasons), and for yamim (days), and shanim (years);
15 And let them be for lights in the raki’a of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.
16 And Elohim made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; He made the kokhavim (stars) also.
17 And Elohim set them in the raki’a of the 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 Elohim saw that it was tov.
19 And the erev and the boker were Yom Revi’i (Day Four, the Fourth Day).
20 And Elohim said, Let the waters bring forth an abundance of living creatures, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open raki’a of heaven.
21 And Elohim created great sea creatures, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth in abundance, after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was tov.
22 And Elohim blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the erev and the boker were Yom Chamishi (Day Five, the Fifth Day).
24 And G-d said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind; and it was so.
25 And G-d made the beast of the earth after its kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and G-d saw that it was tov.
26 And G-d said, Let Us make man in Our tzelem, after Our demut: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon ha’aretz (the earth).
27 So G-d created humankind in His own tzelem, in the tzelem Elohim (image of G-d) created He him; zachar (male) and nekevah (female) created He them.
28 And G-d blessed them, and G-d said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And G-d said, Hinei, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of kol ha’aretz (all the earth), and every etz (tree), in the 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 fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so.
31 And G-d saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was tov me’od (very good). And the erev and the boker were Yom Shishi (Day Six, the Sixth Day).
Notes:
- Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden About 4000 BC (Pattern of Tabernacle)
- Psalm 104 meditation on the nature of creation using the language and imagery of Genesis 1
NOTES:
Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.
Genesis 1:27 tells us clearly that only God himself does the creating. In the Hebrew, all the verbs of creation in the passage are singular in form: “So God created humankind in his image, in the likeness of God he created him.” The other members of the council do not participate in the creation of humankind. They watch, just as they did when God laid the foundations of the earth (Job 38:7).
This last example directs us to what the Hebrew preposition translated in means in Genesis 1:26. Humankind was created as God’s image. If we think of imaging as a verb or function, that translation makes sense. We are created to image God, to be his imagers. It is what we are by definition. The image is not an ability we have, but a status. We are God’s representatives on earth. To be human is to image God.
We are to create more imagers (“be fruitful and multiply … fill”) in order to oversee the earth by stewarding its resources and harnessing them for the benefit of all human imagers (“subdue … rule over”).
The verse has Yahweh proclaiming, “Let us go down and confuse their language.” As was the case in Genesis 1:26, the plural announcement is followed by the actions of only one being, Yahweh: “So Yahweh scattered them” (Genesis 11::8).