Genesis 1:1

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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."

Heaven or Heavens

The King James Bible says:

"In the beginning God created the Heaven (singular) and the earth."

This is also the reading of Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1599, Webster's 1833, the Revised Version 1881, the Jewish translations of 1917 and 1936, Bible in Basic English 1960, the Italian Diodati, KJV 21st Century and the Third Millenium Bible. The second heaven was not created until the second day as recorded in Genesis 1:6-8 when God made the firmament to divide the waters above from the waters below the firmament. "And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Because we have that place - "heaven" - now, we assume that it is always there. But a translator must put themselves into the time in which there was no heaven..

The NKJV joins such versions as the RSV, NASB, NIV, ESV and Holman Standard and says: "In the beginning God created the heavens (plural) and the earth. And the earth was without form and void."

Heaven (singular) is more accurate. The main argument is that the "IM" on the end of Hebrew words makes it plural, but not always - eg.. Elohim is plural, but more accurate as God. Hashamayim is very similar.

Masoretic text

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.

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

Genesis 1
Genesis 1:1 Genesis 1:2 Genesis 1:3 Genesis 1:4 Genesis 1:5 Genesis 1:6 Genesis 1:7 Genesis 1:8 Genesis 1:9 Genesis 1:10 Genesis 1:11 Genesis 1:12 Genesis 1:13 Genesis 1:14 Genesis 1:15 Genesis 1:16 Genesis 1:17 Genesis 1:18 Genesis 1:19 Genesis 1:20 Genesis 1:21 Genesis 1:22 Genesis 1:23 Genesis 1:24 Genesis 1:25 Genesis 1:26 Genesis 1:27 Genesis 1:28 Genesis 1:29 Genesis 1:30 Genesis 1:31

English Translations

In the bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe. Wycliffe
In the begynnynge God created heaven and erth. Tyndale
1568 In the beginnyng GOD created ye heauen and the earth. (Bishops')
In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. Douay-Rheims Bible
1898 In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth-- (Youngs)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. American Standard Version
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Revised Standard Version
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. New American Standard Version
When God began to create heaven and Earth … Jewish Publication Society (3rd ed.)
In the beginning, when God created the universe … Good News Bible
In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The Living Torah
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth … New Revised Standard Version
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth – all you see, all you don't see. The Message