Word Study:
In the beginning([FONT="]rê'shı̂yth[/FONT]pronouncedray-sheeth'[FONT="])[/FONT]:
This phrase is used two different ways in the Holy Bible. First, it is used as a first division of a larger period of time. We can easily determine, Biblically, this by the use of the word “of” after the phrase “in the beginning”. http://www.christianforums.com/#_edn1
One argument that comes up often at this point is: Was this an “exact moment of time” or more like “the first era of time”? Did God take million of years to create the heaven and earth up to this point (before verse 2), all covered in the phrase, “in the beginning” OR was it instantaneous in the same way God later “speaks” different parts of Creation into existence? I have heard very good arguments from both sides of the debate and though I believe that “in the beginning” was instantaneous; I also believe the real answer is found in Job 38:4.
God ('ĕlôhı̂ym pronounced el-o-heem')created (bârâ' pronounced baw-raw'):
The root meanings of the Hebrew word for God are words like everlasting, binding, firm, strong, power, worship and mighty[ii]. All are very good descriptive words for God but the one word study for God I like best of all is from Scofield:
To me, that is just about the best way to say it. Even His name demands us to surrender ourselves and our “ways” to Him, in order to be receptive when God offers that non-breakable relationship to us.
Another key point about 'ĕlôhı̂ym is that it is a plural noun when used as a proper noun as in “Eternal Powers”[iv]. Add to this plural noun the singular verb bârâ(created) and not only do we have the Trinity hinted at, but we also have the relationship of the Trinity to Himself. Even though the Godhead is Three, we speak of Them (Him) as one. It is like saying “They that are One is”. Stop and think for a moment: This is Moses; thousand of years before the prophets speak of a Messiah, thousand of years before Jesus Christ was born and the Holy Spirit was given to Christians; using a plural name for the great “I AM”. From the fourth word of the Bible, the Trinity is established.
The wordbârâ DOES NOT mean “something out of nothing”, because if that was the case then it could not be used in Gen 1:20-21 and Gen 1:27,2:7 because life and man are not created out of nothing.
The heaven ([FONT="]shâmayim[/FONT] pronounced shaw-mah'-yim[FONT="]) [/FONT]and the earth ([FONT="]'erets pronounced [/FONT]eh'-rets[FONT="])[/FONT]:
There are three definitions of heaven and three definitions of earth as they are used in the Bible:Now, most commentaries agree that “heaven” used here is outer space and “earth” is the planet Earth. So God created space and the planet we reside on in it. Both of these were in very simplistic forms. Outer space, in the beginning, was both star-less and planet-less, not a void per say, but simply the blackness we see at night between the stars and planets. It is not until the fourth day (Gen 1:14-19) that the stars and planets are formed. And the earth was a shapeless mass of water (Gen 1:2). This brings up a metal picture of an old video I saw when I was young of an astronaut squirting water in zero gravity…of how this glob of liquid just floated around with no real shape and the astronaut, smiling the whole time, was using his hands and his breath to move.
Keeping with our theme, “how does this relate to man”? Heaven is everything that is above us and the earth is everything that is below us. The Hebrew language does not have a single word the “world”, so two are used: heaven and earth.[viii] Looking at the Hebrew text, scholars claim that there is something else to note and has to do with the Hebrew word את that is set before the phrase heaven and earth. This word signifies “the substance or particle of”.[ix] As Adam Clarke explains:
[FONT="][ii][/FONT] Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible by Albert Barnes (1798-1870); John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible by Dr. John Gill (1690-1771); A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
[FONT="][iii][/FONT] Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition) by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921)
[FONT="][iv][/FONT] Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible by Albert Barnes (1798-1870)
[FONT="][v][/FONT] John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible by Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)
[FONT="][vi][/FONT] Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions
[FONT="][vii][/FONT] Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions
[FONT="][viii][/FONT] Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament by Johann (C.F.) Keil (1807-1888) & Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890)
[FONT="][ix][/FONT] John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible by Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)
[FONT="][x][/FONT] Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible by Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A., (1715-1832)
In the beginning([FONT="]rê'shı̂yth[/FONT]pronouncedray-sheeth'[FONT="])[/FONT]:
This phrase is used two different ways in the Holy Bible. First, it is used as a first division of a larger period of time. We can easily determine, Biblically, this by the use of the word “of” after the phrase “in the beginning”. http://www.christianforums.com/#_edn1
Jdg 7:19So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. (KJV)
Rth 1:22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. (KJV)
The other way “in the beginning” is used is more absolutely; that is, in relation to the origins of the world (heaven and earth) around us. Four times in the Bible this shows up, first being Genesis 1:1, then in:
Joh 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. (KJV)
Heb 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: (KJV)
Two by-products of “in the beginning” are time, itself, and natural law. Time can not begin until the world (heaven and earth) which is measured by time is created. Laws of the natural world are non-existent until the first substances are created.
One argument that comes up often at this point is: Was this an “exact moment of time” or more like “the first era of time”? Did God take million of years to create the heaven and earth up to this point (before verse 2), all covered in the phrase, “in the beginning” OR was it instantaneous in the same way God later “speaks” different parts of Creation into existence? I have heard very good arguments from both sides of the debate and though I believe that “in the beginning” was instantaneous; I also believe the real answer is found in Job 38:4.
Job 38:4: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you know so much. (NLT)
This goes back to the “how” question I discussed earlier as unimportant in the sense that if I am wrong, my faith will not be shaken one bit. God does not answer these questions (and many more) simply because knowing the answers will not strengthen our relationship with Him. We need to focus on what God DOES reveals to us, and quit worrying about what He does not reveal. No matter how long or even how magnificent “in the beginning” was, it is nothing compared to God. God is the subject; God is the focus; God is the answer.
God ('ĕlôhı̂ym pronounced el-o-heem')created (bârâ' pronounced baw-raw'):
The root meanings of the Hebrew word for God are words like everlasting, binding, firm, strong, power, worship and mighty[ii]. All are very good descriptive words for God but the one word study for God I like best of all is from Scofield:
"El", means "strength", or "the strong one", and "Alah", "to swear", "to bind oneself by an oath", so implying "faithfulness"[iii]
God, the strong one to whom I should bind myself to by oath.
To me, that is just about the best way to say it. Even His name demands us to surrender ourselves and our “ways” to Him, in order to be receptive when God offers that non-breakable relationship to us.
Another key point about 'ĕlôhı̂ym is that it is a plural noun when used as a proper noun as in “Eternal Powers”[iv]. Add to this plural noun the singular verb bârâ(created) and not only do we have the Trinity hinted at, but we also have the relationship of the Trinity to Himself. Even though the Godhead is Three, we speak of Them (Him) as one. It is like saying “They that are One is”. Stop and think for a moment: This is Moses; thousand of years before the prophets speak of a Messiah, thousand of years before Jesus Christ was born and the Holy Spirit was given to Christians; using a plural name for the great “I AM”. From the fourth word of the Bible, the Trinity is established.
The wordbârâ DOES NOT mean “something out of nothing”, because if that was the case then it could not be used in Gen 1:20-21 and Gen 1:27,2:7 because life and man are not created out of nothing.
Gen 1:20-21 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. (21) And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (KJV)
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (KJV)
The word created was used in Gen 1:1 simply because there is no word in the Hebrew language that means “something out of nothing”.[v] What CAN be said about bârâ is that “created” is only used in the Holy Word with God as the subject, as The One doing the creating. Only God can create, whether out of nothing like He did in Gen 1:1 or with already present material (water to life and dust to man), Keep in mind though that this present material did not exist until after God created the heaven and the earth … out of nothing … AND this water to life/dust to man was a CREATIVE ACT OF GOD, not a result of some mixture of Creation by-products such as natural law and time.
The heaven ([FONT="]shâmayim[/FONT] pronounced shaw-mah'-yim[FONT="]) [/FONT]and the earth ([FONT="]'erets pronounced [/FONT]eh'-rets[FONT="])[/FONT]:
There are three definitions of heaven and three definitions of earth as they are used in the Bible:Now, most commentaries agree that “heaven” used here is outer space and “earth” is the planet Earth. So God created space and the planet we reside on in it. Both of these were in very simplistic forms. Outer space, in the beginning, was both star-less and planet-less, not a void per say, but simply the blackness we see at night between the stars and planets. It is not until the fourth day (Gen 1:14-19) that the stars and planets are formed. And the earth was a shapeless mass of water (Gen 1:2). This brings up a metal picture of an old video I saw when I was young of an astronaut squirting water in zero gravity…of how this glob of liquid just floated around with no real shape and the astronaut, smiling the whole time, was using his hands and his breath to move.
Keeping with our theme, “how does this relate to man”? Heaven is everything that is above us and the earth is everything that is below us. The Hebrew language does not have a single word the “world”, so two are used: heaven and earth.[viii] Looking at the Hebrew text, scholars claim that there is something else to note and has to do with the Hebrew word את that is set before the phrase heaven and earth. This word signifies “the substance or particle of”.[ix] As Adam Clarke explains:
“This particle, having the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet in it, is supposed to comprise the sum and substance of all things.” “The particle [FONT="]את[/FONT] eth (says Buxtorf, Talmudic Lexicon, sub voce) with the cabalists is often mystically put for the beginning and the end, as α alpha and ω omega are in the Apocalypse.” On this ground these words should be translated, “God in the beginning created the substance of the heavens and the substance of the earth,” i.e. the prima materia, or first elements, out of which the heavens and the earth were successively formed.[x]
[FONT="][/FONT] See also 2Sa 21:9, Ezr 4:6, Pro 8:22, Jer 26:1, Jer 27:1, Jer 28:1, Jer 49:34, Lam 2:19, Eze 40:1, Amo 7:1, Php 4:15
[FONT="][ii][/FONT] Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible by Albert Barnes (1798-1870); John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible by Dr. John Gill (1690-1771); A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
[FONT="][iii][/FONT] Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition) by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921)
[FONT="][iv][/FONT] Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible by Albert Barnes (1798-1870)
[FONT="][v][/FONT] John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible by Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)
[FONT="][vi][/FONT] Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions
[FONT="][vii][/FONT] Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions
[FONT="][viii][/FONT] Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament by Johann (C.F.) Keil (1807-1888) & Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890)
[FONT="][ix][/FONT] John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible by Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)
[FONT="][x][/FONT] Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible by Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A., (1715-1832)
