Genesis 1:1

From Textus Receptus

Revision as of 13:10, 15 September 2009

Creation of Light (illustration by Gustave Doré)

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 is the first Bible verse of the first chapter in the Book of Genesis, and contains the first words of the Bible. The verse begins the account of creation according to Genesis and its translation and interpretation is a major theological issue.

The first word in the original Hebrew is בְּרֵאשִׁית, transliterated as Bereishit, B'reishit, or Breishis. In Judaism it begins the Torah portion (parshah) Bereishit, which ends at Genesis 5:31. In Hebrew, בְּרֵאשִׁית (bereishit) translates literally as "At/in [a] head [of]," implying "in [a] beginning." The three middle letters of the Hebrew alphabet within the word בְּרֵאשִׁית, Bereishit, are ר, א, and ש, which are pronounced as reish when part of the word, but can also be read as rosh when read without the vowels. Rosh is the word for "head" as spelled and pronounced in Hebrew (as in Rosh Hashanah, ראש השנה, ro'sh hash-shānāh, "the head (beginning) [of] the year".)

The word "Genesis" in English is from the Greek word Γένεσις, having the meanings of "birth," "creation," "cause," "beginning," "source," and "origin."

Hebrew

בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ

Transliterated: Bereishit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.

External Links

• Wikipedia article on Genesis 1:1
• Wikipedia article on Bereishit (parsha)