Genesis 1: 1-10 : RHS Commentary

 

Gen 1:1

The rabbis say that these 7 Hebrew words contain all that we need to know: the rest of the Bible is commentary

 

“God” translates the Hebrew word elohim, which is a plural word.  But the verb, “created,” comes from bara which is singular.   In order to make sense in English (and many other languages), one of them has to be changed since “they was” is poor grammar. A translator has to either change the verb to plural to agree with the plural subject – which is how Joseph Smith translated these words in the book of Abraham (see Ab 4:1) – or change the subject to a singular “God.”  Since most translators of the Bible are monotheists (believe in ONE God, not many gods), this is the word that got changed.

 

Gen 1:2

Note that the earth already existed BEFORE God spoke : “ the earth was without form (chaotic) and void (empty).”  “The deep” or waters were part of the already existing disorganized matter. Thus the idea that NOTHING existed until God spoke – “creatio ex nihilo” - is not true. 

The Hebrew word for “Spirit” is ruach, a feminine word also meaning “breath” or “wind.”

The Hebrew verb describing the action of the Spirit is rākhaph, meaning  “to hover or flutter like a bird,” thus the first description of the Spirit of God suggests a bird, or dove.

 

Gen 1:3

“Light” in Hebrew is ‘or or ‘ur .  The plural of this is Urim (as in the Urim and Thummim).  A THING that holds lights – a candlestick - is called a menorah.

 

Gen 1:4

The Hebrew word badal – here translated as “divided” – is better understood as “distinguished between.”  This is a priestly word often used in Leviticus to describe one of the major jobs of the temple priests : distinguishing between that which is clean – and thus acceptable for offering at the temple, holy – and that which is unclean – or unacceptable for temple worship, profane.  This Temple-word is used 5X in this chapter.

 

Gen 1:5

Note the order of day and night, light and darkness, is reversed at the end of this verse: evening and morning.  This is a common form of poetry in Hebrew : the first is last and the last is first. 

Since the ‘evening’ is mentioned first and the ‘morning’ is second, this established how a day was measured in Jewish culture.  A ‘day’ begins at sunset and proceeds through darkness and then into light, ending at sunset 24 hours later.  This makes New Testament comments about an event happening on a particular day of the week a bit ambiguous.

 

Gen 1:6

“Firmament” is a good translation of the Hebrew raqiya’ , which means something firm or solid, like metal or brass, hammered out into a thin sheet, like gold leaf.  This idea, that something solid is placed between the “waters which were above” (clouds/rain) and the “waters which were below” (oceans/seas/rivers/lakes) will later be used poetically by authors who describe famine by saying the “heavens are as brass” (Deu 28:23) or “opening the windows of heaven”  (Gen 7:11; Mal 3:11) in order to pour out rain.

 

Gen 1:9

This verse reinforces the idea that the waters of the deep covered the already existing rocks and land.

 

Gen 1:9-10

Both of these verses use the Hebrew word qavah, to gather.  The waters are gathered together and the dry land appears.  In Judaism, a place where fresh waters are gathered together for rituals of cleansing is called a miqveh.  It is interesting that a baptismal font, a gathering of water for a ritual of cleansing, becomes the location for the “Gathering of Israel.”