Genesis 1:1
Encyclopedia
Shamayim
Shamayim is the Hebrew word for "heaven"-Heaven in the Old Testament:Shamayim comes from shameh, a root meaning to be lofty. It literally means the sky."Shamayim" is a crucial concept in the Bible...
ve'et ha'aretz.. Its translation and interpretation are of major theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
significance.
The first word in the original Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
is בְּרֵאשִׁית,
transliterated
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
as Bereishit or similar. Its main elements are be- ("at/in") and -reish/rosh- ("head"): the complete word means literally "at the head", or more colloquially, "in the beginning".
The second word is the verb bara; this verb is used fairly infrequently in the Hebrew bible, and always takes God as its subject (in other words, only God can bara something).
The remaining words make up the phrase "the heavens and the earth". This is a figure of speech meaning "everything" rather than literally the heavens and the earth. The word et (אֵת) is a Hebrew particle that points to the direct object of the verb - in this case, it means that it is "the heavens and the earth" that are being bara-ed by God.
The translation of this phrase has proven difficult and contentious, and is of great importance to the question of the intention of the original author(s) of Genesis as well as to the development of the concept that God created universe out of nothing (creation ex nihilo)
Text
The verse in the Masoretic textMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
is as follows:
- Unvocalized: בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
- Vocalized and punctuated: בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
- Transliterated: Bereishit bara Elohim et hashamayimShamayimShamayim is the Hebrew word for "heaven"-Heaven in the Old Testament:Shamayim comes from shameh, a root meaning to be lofty. It literally means the sky."Shamayim" is a crucial concept in the Bible...
ve'et ha'aretz.
The word et (אֵת) is a Hebrew particle that points to the direct object that it comes in front of. The word ha preceding shamayim and aretz is equivalent to the English definite article "the"
THE
THE is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:*Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven , a Dutch university of technology...
.
Names of God
The Hebrew name of GodNames of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
used in , like in all of Genesis's first chapter, is Elohim
Elohim
Elohim is a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language. When used with singular verbs and adjectives elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially, the God. When used with plural verbs and adjectives elohim is usually plural, "gods" or...
. This word choice may be contrasted with the Tetragrammaton
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
which appears throughout the second telling of creation in . The documentary hypothesis
Documentary hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis , holds that the Pentateuch was derived from originally independent, parallel and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of redactors...
usually attributes to the priestly source
Priestly source
The Priestly Source is one of the sources of the Torah/Pentateuch in the bible. Primarily a product of the post-Exilic period when Judah was a province of the Persian empire , P was written to show that even when all seemed lost, God remained present with Israel...
.
The verb in the verse is bara ("filled" or "fattened"). The verb bara typically signifies a divine activity and it occurs 48 times in the Hebrew Bible (Even-Shoshan concordance
Even-Shoshan concordance
A New Concordance of the Bible by Avraham Even-Shoshan is a concordance of the Hebrew text of the Hebrew Bible, first published in 1977...
).
Meaning of the first word: Bereishit
The opening word of the verse, b'reishit (or Bereishit), has a known meaning, though the precise meaning is open to interpretation, which is highly significant because it contributes to both biblical thought and subsequent religious doctrines. The word b'reishit lacks the definite articleDefinite Article
Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on VHS. It was recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre...
("the"). Various English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translations put it as "in the beginning," "in the beginning when," "at the beginning," "during the beginning," or "when [God] began." The root of the first word Bereishit בראשית is ראש "head"—being the central core word (ראש can be pronounced as rosh which is the Hebrew for "head"). Furthermore, the first letter ב means "in" or "at", and the last letters ית imply "of". The use of the word "head" implies something "at the top", as in "head" of something. In this case it is the "head" or "start" of Creation, which is possibly where the idea to translate it as "in the beginning" originates.
Genesis Rabbah
Classical JudaismJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
's exegesis of the verse begins with the first letter, Bet ב. In midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
, Genesis Rabbah 1:10 recognizes that the letter is closed on three sides, and accordingly reads this as a sign to not speculate about the beginning of God or whatever preceded the creation account. Also, as Bet is the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet, it implies that the creation story starts slightly after the true beginning.
Midrashic
Rabbinic Judaism considered why the TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
begins with verse 1:1ff. at all. Rhetorically, midrashic sources hypothesize that the Torah could begin with another key point, such as the first commandment to Israel. In the end, some suggest that the world was created for the sake of the Torah itself.
Similarly, midrash Genesis Rabbah (1:1) actually opens by declaring that the first word of the verse means "with the Torah" and it suggests that the Divine Architect used the Torah as a blueprint. (Cf. Philo
Philo
Philo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
, De opificio mundi 17-20 and ).
Midrashic and medieval rabbinic commentary also focus on the different word choices for the divine in and . Thus, God in the first creation account acts from the attribute of "Judgment" in contradistinction to "Mercy". For instance, Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
declares that the world could not survive under pure judgment and hence, as seen by , God gave precedence to divine mercy.
In midrash, the schools of Shammai
Shammai
Shammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
and Hillel
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
disagree about the order of creation, due to the conflicting ordering of the heavens and earth in and . Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai
Simeon bar Yohai
Simeon bar Yochai, , also known by his acronym Rashbi, was a famous 1st-century tannaic sage in ancient Israel, active after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE...
reportedly tries to reconcile this conflict, arguing for simultaneous creation "like a pot and a lid". (Cp. the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitiones 1:27, per Urbach
Ephraim Urbach
Ephraim Elimelech Urbach was a distinguished scholar of Judaism. He is best known for his landmark works on rabbinic thought, The Sages, and for research on the Tosafot...
).
Rabbi Akiva's view
Rabbi AkivaRabbi Akiva
Akiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century . He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha...
reportedly is challenged to explain the two uses in of the word ‘et (this word marks the accusative state (direct object) and cannot be directly translated in English). Rabbi Akiva declares that each ‘et amplifies the creation account by hinting at specific celestial and earthly entities.
For many, indicates not so much the literal order or manner of creation as much as the foundational claim that there is a God who created the world. Rabbi Akiva argued that just as a house proves the existence of the builder and a garment of the weaver, so the world testifies to God as the creator. Rabbi Akiva was one of the first postulators of this hypothesis, known as the "first cause
Cosmological argument
The cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of a First Cause to the universe, and by extension is often used as an argument for the existence of an "unconditioned" or "supreme" being, usually then identified as God...
" (or "prime mover") arguments for the existence of God.
Rashi's view
The foremost medieval rabbinic commentatorRabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
, Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
argues that the verse does not signify the order of creation, or else it would have used other wording (barishonah or "at first"):
- ...It was not necessary to begin the Torah except from "This month is to you," ...the first commandment that the IsraeliteIsraeliteAccording to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s were commanded, (for the main purpose of the Torah is its commandments)...Now for what reason did He commence with "In the beginning?" Because of [the verse] "The strength of His works He related to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations." For if the nations of the world should say to Israel, "You are robbers, for you conquered by force the lands of the seven nations [of CanaanCanaanCanaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
]," they will reply, "The entire earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whomever He deemed proper When He wished, He gave it to them, and when He wished, He took it away from them and gave it to us." http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=8165&showrashi=true
Furthermore, he notes, were the verse to signify order, then the waters would be deemed to have been created before the heavens and earth.
Kabbalah
Those who hold to the ex nihiloEx nihilo
Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing"—chiefly in philosophical or theological contexts, but also occurs in other fields.In theology, the common phrase creatio ex...
hypothesis
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it...
believe that God created matter
Matter
Matter is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically, matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume...
itself, through the creation of atom
Atom
The atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...
s, molecule
Molecule
A molecule is an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms held together by covalent chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from ions by their electrical charge...
s, heat
Heat
In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...
, and star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s. Others disagree and view God as "ordering" the matter, such as in a multi-dimensional space-time continuum. This is in line with the view of God as "master architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
" rather than "creator." Some kabbalists
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
suggest that God must have withdrawn some of his own being (tzimtzum) in order to create or order the universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
.
The opening of the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
suggests that the unpronounceable ein sof created God, elohim.
Christian views
Gerhard von RadGerhard von Rad
Gerhard von Rad was a German Lutheran pastor, University professor and an Old Testament scholar.With the experience of two World Wars, the German-speaking world began to turn "anti-Old Testament"...
commented that the use of the verb in the verse (rather than other words such as qanah or yatzar) "contains the idea both of complete effortlessness and creatio ex nihilo
Ex nihilo
Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing"—chiefly in philosophical or theological contexts, but also occurs in other fields.In theology, the common phrase creatio ex...
[a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
phrase meaning "creation out of nothing"], since it is never connected with any statement of the material...[Genesis 1] moves not so much between the poles of nothingness and creation as between the poles of chaos and cosmos." Some Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
scholars agree; Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
wrote that: "the Bible says: 'In the beginning God made heaven and earth.' It must be inferred that God has created nothing before that; 'in the beginning' must refer to whatever he made before all his other works. Thus there can be no doubt that the world was not created in time but with time." (Confessions IX:6).
Not unlike the later rabbinic midrash that envisions God as creating with a pre-existent Torah, some early Christian exegesis of put the emphasis on a logocentric account of creation. Hence, the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
begins with "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."
Sources
- Curzon, David. Modern poems on the Bible: an anthology. Phila: Jewish Publication Society, 1994.
- Full translation of Rashi on Genesis 1:1
- "Genesis 1:1." Online Parallel Bible. http://bible.cc/genesis/1-1.htm
- Jewish Publication Society. The Torah: The Five Books of Moses (3rd ed). Philadelphia: 1999.
- Kselman, John S. “Genesis” in Harper’s Bible Dictionary.
- Rosenbaum and Silberman. Pentateuch with Rashi’s Commentary.
- The Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha
- Torat Chaim Chumash. Mossad HaRav Kook. 1986
- Urbach, Ephraim E. The Sages: the world and wisdom of the rabbis of the Talmud.
- Von Rad, Gerhard. Genesis: A commentary. Phila: The Westminster Press, 1972
External links
- avoision.com: An attempt to recreate the verse from a random assortment of letters.