translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: The translation assumes that the form translated “beginning” is in the absolute state rather than the construct (“in the beginning of,” or “when God created”). In other words, the clause in v. 1 is a main clause, v. 2 has three clauses that are descriptive and supply background information, and v. 3 begins the narrative sequence proper. The referent of the word “beginning” has to be defined from the context since there is no beginning or ending with God. sn In the beginning . The verse refers to the beginning of the world as we know it; it affirms that it is entirely the product of the creation of God. But there are two ways that this verse can be interpreted: (1) It may be taken to refer to the original act of creation with the rest of the events on the days of creation completing it. This would mean that the disjunctive clauses of v. 2 break the sequence of the creative work of the first day. (2) It may be taken as a summary statement of what the chapter will record, that is, vv. 3-31 are about God’s creating the world as we know it. If the first view is adopted, then we have a reference here to original creation; if the second view is taken, then Genesis itself does not account for the original creation of matter. To follow this view does not deny that the Bible teaches that God created everything out of nothing (cf. John 1:3 ) – it simply says that Genesis is not making that affirmation. This second view presupposes the existence of pre-existent matter, when God said, “Let there be light.” The first view includes the description of the primordial state as part of the events of day one. The following narrative strongly favors the second view, for the “heavens/sky” did not exist prior to the second day of creation (see v. 8 ) and “earth/dry land” did not exist, at least as we know it, prior to the third day of creation (see v. 10 ).


text: The English verb “create” captures well the meaning of the Hebrew term in this context. The verb בָּרָא ( bara ’) always describes the divine activity of fashioning something new, fresh, and perfect. The verb does not necessarily describe creation out of nothing (see, for example, v. 27 , where it refers to the creation of man); it often stresses forming anew, reforming, renewing (see Ps 51:10 ; Isa 43:15, 65:17 ).


text: Or “the entire universe”; or “the sky and the dry land.” This phrase is often interpreted as a merism, referring to the entire ordered universe, including the heavens and the earth and everything in them. The “heavens and the earth” were completed in seven days (see Gen 2:1 ) and are characterized by fixed laws (see Jer 33:25 ). “Heavens” refers specifically to the sky, created on the second day (see v. 8 ), while “earth” refers specifically to the dry land, created on the third day (see v. 10 ). Both are distinct from the sea/seas (see v. 10 and Exod 20:11 ).


text: The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3 ). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction ( vav [ ו ] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2 a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3 ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1 , the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.


text: That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10 . Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.


text: Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ ( tohu ) and בֹּהוּ ( bohu ), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment ( Isa 34:11 ; Jer 4:23 ). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2 .


text: The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם ( tÿhom , “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 7:11 ). sn The watery deep . In the Babylonian account of creation Marduk killed the goddess Tiamat (the salty sea) and used her carcass to create heaven and earth. The form of the Hebrew word for “deep” is distinct enough from the name “Tiamat” to deny direct borrowing; however, it is possible that there is a polemical stress here. Ancient Israel does not see the ocean as a powerful deity to be destroyed in creation, only a force of nature that can be controlled by God.


text: The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38 ; Exod 31:3; 35:31 ; Num 24:2 ; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23 ; Ezek 11:24 ; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20 ).


text: The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11 ). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10 . (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1 .)


text: Heb “face.”


text: The prefixed verb form with the vav ( ו ) consecutive introduces the narrative sequence. Ten times in the chapter the decree of God in creation will be so expressed. For the power of the divine word in creation, see Ps 33:9 , John 1:1-3 , 1 Cor 8:6 , and Col 1:16 . sn God said . By speaking, God brings the world into existence. The efficacious nature of the word of the Lord is a prominent theme in this chapter. It introduces the Law, the words and commandments from the Lord that must be obeyed. The ten decrees of God in this chapter anticipate the ten words in the Decalogue ( Exod 20:2-17 ).


text: “Let there be” is the short jussive form of the verb “to be”; the following expression “and there was” is the short preterite form of the same verb. As such, יְהִי ( yÿhi ) and וַיְהִי ( vayÿhi ) form a profound wordplay to express both the calling into existence and the complete fulfillment of the divine word.


text: Heb “And God saw the light, that it was good.” The verb “saw” in this passage carries the meaning “reflected on,” “surveyed,” “concluded,” “noted.” It is a description of reflection of the mind – it is God’s opinion.


text: The Hebrew word טוֹב ( tov ) in this context signifies whatever enhances, promotes, produces, or is conducive for life. It is the light that God considers “good,” not the darkness. Whatever is conducive to life in God’s creation is good, for God himself is good, and that goodness is reflected in all of his works.


text: The verb “separate, divide” here explains how God used the light to dispel the darkness. It did not do away with the darkness completely, but made a separation. The light came alongside the darkness, but they are mutually exclusive – a theme that will be developed in the Gospel of John (cf. John 1:5 ). sn The idea of separation is critical to this chapter. God separated light from darkness, upper water from lower water, day from night, etc. The verb is important to the Law in general. In Leviticus God separates between clean and unclean, holy and profane ( Lev 10:10, 11:47 and 20:24 ); in Exodus God separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place ( Exod 26:33 ). There is a preference for the light over the darkness, just as there will be a preference for the upper waters, the rain water which is conducive to life, over the sea water.


text: Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.” sn God called . Seven times in this chapter naming or blessing follows some act of creation. There is clearly a point being made beyond the obvious idea of naming. In the Babylonian creation story Enuma Elish, naming is equal to creating. In the Bible the act of naming, like creating, can be an indication of sovereignty (see 2 Kgs 23:34 ). In this verse God is sovereign even over the darkness.


text: Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.” sn The first day . The exegetical evidence suggests the word “day” in this chapter refers to a literal twenty-four hour day. It is true that the word can refer to a longer period of time (see Isa 61:2 , or the idiom in 2:4 , “in the day,” that is, “when”). But this chapter uses “day,” “night,” “morning,” “evening,” “years,” and “seasons.” Consistency would require sorting out how all these terms could be used to express ages. Also, when the Hebrew word יוֹם ( yom ) is used with a numerical adjective, it refers to a literal day. Furthermore, the commandment to keep the sabbath clearly favors this interpretation. One is to work for six days and then rest on the seventh, just as God did when he worked at creation.


text: The Hebrew word refers to an expanse of air pressure between the surface of the sea and the clouds, separating water below from water above. In v. 8 it is called “sky.” sn An expanse . In the poetic texts the writers envision, among other things, something rather strong and shiny, no doubt influencing the traditional translation “firmament” (cf. NRSV “dome”). Job 37:18 refers to the skies poured out like a molten mirror. Dan 12:3 and Ezek 1:22 portray it as shiny. The sky or atmosphere may have seemed like a glass dome. For a detailed study of the Hebrew conception of the heavens and sky, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 37-60.


text: Heb “the waters from the waters.”


text: Heb “the expanse.”


text: This statement indicates that it happened the way God designed it, underscoring the connection between word and event.


text: Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”


text: When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.


text: Heb “earth,” but here the term refers to the dry ground as opposed to the sea.


text: The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created. sn Vegetation . The Hebrew word translated “vegetation” ( דֶּשֶׁא , deshe ’) normally means “grass,” but here it probably refers more generally to vegetation that includes many of the plants and trees. In the verse the plants and the trees are qualified as self-perpetuating with seeds, but not the word “vegetation,” indicating it is the general term and the other two terms are sub-categories of it. Moreover, in vv. 29 and 30 the word vegetation/grass does not appear. The Samaritan Pentateuch adds an “and” before the fruit trees, indicating it saw the arrangement as bipartite (The Samaritan Pentateuch tends to eliminate asyndetic constructions).


text: The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.


text: The language describing the cosmos, which reflects a prescientific view of the world, must be interpreted as phenomenal, describing what appears to be the case. The sun and the moon are not in the sky (below the clouds), but from the viewpoint of a person standing on the earth, they appear that way. Even today we use similar phenomenological expressions, such as “the sun is rising” or “the stars in the sky.”


text: The text has “for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” It seems likely from the meanings of the words involved that “signs” is the main idea, followed by two categories, “seasons” and “days and years.” This is the simplest explanation, and one that matches vv. 11-13 . It could even be rendered “signs for the fixed seasons, that is [explicative vav ( ו )] days and years.” sn Let them be for signs . The point is that the sun and the moon were important to fix the days for the seasonal celebrations for the worshiping community.


text: Heb “and the stars.” Now the term “stars” is added as a third object of the verb “made.” Perhaps the language is phenomenological, meaning that the stars appeared in the sky from this time forward.


text: Heb “them”; the referent (the lights mentioned in the preceding verses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.


text: The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.


text: For the first time in the narrative proper the verb “create” ( בָּרָא , bara ’) appears. (It is used in the summary statement of v. 1 .) The author wishes to underscore that these creatures – even the great ones – are part of God’s perfect creation. The Hebrew term תַנִּינִם ( tanninim ) is used for snakes ( Exod 7:9 ), crocodiles ( Ezek 29:3 ), or other powerful animals ( Jer 51:34 ). In Isa 27:1 the word is used to describe a mythological sea creature that symbolizes God’s enemies.


text: While the translation “blessed” has been retained here for the sake of simplicity, it would be most helpful to paraphrase it as “God endowed them with fruitfulness” or something similar, for here it refers to God’s giving the animals the capacity to reproduce. The expression “blessed” needs clarification in its different contexts, for it is one of the unifying themes of the Book of Genesis. The divine blessing occurs after works of creation and is intended to continue that work – the word of blessing guarantees success. The word means “to enrich; to endow,” and the most visible evidence of that enrichment is productivity or fruitfulness. See C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).


text: There are three groups of land animals here: the cattle or livestock (mostly domesticated), things that creep or move close to the ground (such as reptiles or rodents), and the wild animals (all animals of the field). The three terms are general classifications without specific details.


text: The Hebrew word is אָדָם (’ adam ), which can sometimes refer to man, as opposed to woman. The term refers here to humankind, comprised of male and female. The singular is clearly collective (see the plural verb, “[that] they may rule” in v. 26 b) and the referent is defined specifically as “male and female” in v. 27 . Usage elsewhere in Gen 1-11 supports this as well. In 5:2 we read: “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and called their name ‘humankind’ ( אָדָם ).” The noun also refers to humankind in 6:1, 5-7 and in 9:5-6 .


text: The two prepositions translated “in” and “according to” have overlapping fields of meaning and in this context seem to be virtually equivalent. In 5:3 they are reversed with the two words. The word צֶלֶם ( tselem , “image”) is used frequently of statues, models, and images – replicas (see D. J. A. Clines, “The Etymology of Hebrew selem ,” JNSL 3 [1974]: 19-25). The word דְּמוּת ( dÿmut , “likeness”) is an abstract noun; its verbal root means “to be like; to resemble.” In the Book of Genesis the two terms describe human beings who in some way reflect the form and the function of the creator. The form is more likely stressing the spiritual rather than the physical. The “image of God” would be the God-given mental and spiritual capacities that enable people to relate to God and to serve him by ruling over the created order as his earthly vice-regents. sn In our image, after our likeness . Similar language is used in the instructions for building the tabernacle. Moses was told to make it “according to the pattern” he was shown on the mount ( Exod 25:9, 10 ). Was he shown a form, a replica, of the spiritual sanctuary in the heavenly places? In any case, what was produced on earth functioned as the heavenly sanctuary does, but with limitations.


text: Following the cohortative (“let us make”), the prefixed verb form with vav ( ו ) conjunctive indicates purpose/result (see Gen 19:20; 34:23 ; 2 Sam 3:21 ). God’s purpose in giving humankind his image is that they might rule the created order on behalf of the heavenly king and his royal court. So the divine image, however it is defined, gives humankind the capacity and/or authority to rule over creation.


label: NET textual note

text: The MT reads “earth”; the Syriac reads “wild animals” (cf. NRSV).


text: Heb “creep” (also in v. 28 ).


text: The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun ( הָאָדָם , ha ’ adam ). The article does not distinguish man from woman here (“the man” as opposed to “the woman”), but rather indicates previous reference (see v. 26 , where the noun appears without the article). It has the same function as English “the aforementioned.”


text: The third person suffix on the particle אֵת (’ et ) is singular here, but collective.


text: As in v. 22 the verb “bless” here means “to endow with the capacity to reproduce and be fruitful,” as the following context indicates. As in v. 22 , the statement directly precedes the command “be fruitful and multiply.” The verb carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); Gen 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).


text: Heb “and God said.” For stylistic reasons “God” has not been repeated here in the translation.


text: Elsewhere the Hebrew verb translated “subdue” means “to enslave” ( 2 Chr 28:10 ; Neh 5:5 ; Jer 34:11, 16 ), “to conquer,” ( Num 32:22, 29 ; Josh 18:1 ; 2 Sam 8:11 ; 1 Chr 22:18 ; Zech 9:13 ; and probably Mic 7:19 ), and “to assault sexually” ( Esth 7:8 ). None of these nuances adequately meets the demands of this context, for humankind is not viewed as having an adversarial relationship with the world. The general meaning of the verb appears to be “to bring under one’s control for one’s advantage.” In Gen 1:28 one might paraphrase it as follows: “harness its potential and use its resources for your benefit.” In an ancient Israelite context this would suggest cultivating its fields, mining its mineral riches, using its trees for construction, and domesticating its animals.


text: The text uses הִנֵּה ( hinneh ), often archaically translated “behold.” It is often used to express the dramatic present, the immediacy of an event – “Look, this is what I am doing!”


text: The phrase “I give” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: The Hebrew text again uses הִנֵּה ( hinneh ) for the sake of vividness. It is a particle that goes with the gesture of pointing, calling attention to something.