Banner Image: Sombrero Galaxy
A revolutionary, conservative, word-for-word translation of Genesis 1, best viewed as a preamble to the Pentateuch written by Moses. This translation is based on the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, (the standardized Masoretic Hebrew text of the Old Testament). The words of God are in red and words attributed to Moses (the writer) are identified. Words in italics are not in the Hebrew text and are added for grammatical and explanatory purposes similar to the KJV.
1. Moses: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2. And the earth was vacant and empty of life. And darkness was over the surface of the waters of the deep. And the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters.
3. And God said, "There is light, and light is."
4. Moses: And God saw that the light was good. And God distinguished between the light and the darkness.
5. And God called the light "day" and called the darkness "night." And evening was, and morning was—day one.
6. And God said, "There is an expanse in the middle of the water, and it exists to separate between water and water."
7. Moses: And God is the one who made the expanse and separated between the waters under the expanse and the waters over the expanse. And this is true.
8. And God called the expanse "sky." And evening was, and morning was—second day.
9. And God said, "The waters under the sky wait in one place and the dry ground can be seen."
10. Moses: And this is true. And God called the dry ground "land" and called the collection of waters "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11. And God said, "The land is sprouting sprouts: plants seeding seeds and the fruit trees making fruit―to which kind is in the seed―over the land."
12. Moses: And this is true. And the land indeed brings forth sprouts: plants seeding seeds according to their kind, and the trees making fruit―in which seed is to kind. And God saw that it was good.
13. And evening was, and morning was—third day.
14. And God said, "There are luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to distinguish between the day and the night, and they are a sign for appointed times and for days and years."
15. "And luminaries exist in the expanse of the heavens to give light over the earth."
16. Moses: And this is true. And God is the one who made two great luminaries: the greater luminary to rule the day and the smaller luminary to rule the night and the stars.
17. And God is the one who set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light over the earth.
18. And to rule in the day and in the night and to distinguish between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19. And evening was, and morning was—fourth day.
20. And God said, "The waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and fliers flying over the land and over the surface of the expanse of the sky."
21. Moses: And God is the one who created the great reptiles and every moving living creature with which the waters swarm according to their kinds, and every winged flier according to its kind. And God saw that they were good.
22. And God blessed them saying, "Increase and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas and multiply the fliers on the land."
23. Moses: And evening was, and morning was—fifth day.
24. And God said, "The land brings forth living creatures according to their kind: beasts and moving things and animals of the land, according to their kind."
25. Moses: And this is true. And God is the one who made the animals of the land according to their kind: the beasts according
to their kind and every moving thing upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that they were good.
26. And God said, "Mankind, made in our image and after our likeness, has dominion on fish of the sea and on fliers in the sky and on beasts and on all the earth and on all the moving things that move over the earth."
27. Moses: And God is the one who created mankind in his image, in God's image he created them, male and female God created them.
28. And God blessed mankind and God said to them, "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue and dominate the fish of the sea and on fliers in the sky and on all living things that move over the earth."
29. And God said, "Behold, to you has been given every plant seeding seed which is over the surface of all the land, and every tree in which fruit is seeding seed. To you they are for food."
30. "And to every animal of the land and to every flier in the sky and to every moving thing over the land, which is a living creature, every green plant is for food."
31. Moses: And this is true. And God saw all that he had made, and it looked very good. And evening was, and morning was—the sixth day.
2:1. Moses: And so ends the record of the heavens and the earth and all their multitude of things.
2:2. And God ended on the seventh day work that he did, and rested on the seventh day from all work that he did.
2:3. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it God rested from all work that he created to do.
Genesis Chapter 1 (Gen. 1:1–2:3) is best viewed as a preamble, similar to the Preamble of the United States Constitution. This 52-word document sets forth fundamental ideals upon which our constitution is founded. In a similar manner, Moses wrote a preamble (introduction) to the Pentateuch to set forth two principal ideas.
The primary purpose of the Mosaic preamble was to establish Yahweh God as a powerful, omnipotent, creator. The preamble opens with the strong statement, "God created the heavens and the earth." Subsequently, during a six-day period God describes features of his creation. Following each description, Moses then adds his comments and in some cases attributes God as the creator or maker of the feature described.
A secondary purpose of the Mosaic preamble was to support the Sabbath. Moses structured most of the preamble in a seven-day format to support Sabbath observance. The preamble closes with God resting on the seventh day. If God rested on the Sabbath, so should the children of Israel. The Sabbath was unknown to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (there is no mention in scripture of them observing the Sabbath). It was unknown to the children of Israel until introduced by Moses. Moses used his preamble to promote Sabbath observance.
The Mosaic preamble translation carefully harmonizes the Hebrew language of Genesis 1 with the remainder of the Old Testament. All special definitions and grammar unique to Genesis 1 are disallowed. Word usage in the Hebrew text of Genesis 1 must be supported by its usage elsewhere in the Old Testament. The language of the Hebrew text is elevated above embellished explanations and traditional inherited interpretations.
Traditional verse divisions are slightly altered in the Mosaic preamble translation. The original Hebrew text did not have chapter and verse divisions. Although quite useful, these are manmade additions to the Bible. In 1448, a Jewish scholar by the name of Nathan divided the Old Testament into verses. In 1555, Robert Estienne published the Latin Vulgate, the first complete Bible to contain chapter and verse divisions. Estienne used Nathan's verse divisions for the Old Testament. In 1560, Sir Rowland Hall published the Geneva Bible—the first complete English Bible to use chapter and verse divisions developed by Nathan. All subsequent Bibles have used the same chapter and verse divisions.
The Hebrew text does not use a period to define the end of a sentence. In Hebrew each new sentence or thought begins with "and." So, in keeping with a word-for-word translation of the Hebrew text, the word "and" typically occurs at the beginning of each sentence or thought. The word "and" is also used as a conjunction to connect two words together such as "increase and multiply."
Moses is the author of Genesis. The first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are referred to as the Law of Moses. Today we refer to them as the Pentateuch. Moses had the education, means, opportunity, and influence as leader of the Israelite people to write the Pentateuch. Strong evidence supports Moses as the specific writer of Genesis 1.
The Pentateuch was written by Moses after the exodus from Egypt and during the forty years of wilderness wanderings. The Thiele-McFall chronology dates the beginning construction of the first temple at 967 BC during king Solomon's reign. According to 1 Kings. 6:1, the exodus by the children of Israel from Egypt occurred 480 years prior to the start of temple construction. This gives an exodus date of 1447 BC.
All history recorded from Genesis 2:5 and onward occurred before Moses was born. The Bible does not tell us how Moses obtained this information. However, we can readily theorize that Abraham somehow acquired information passed down about Adam, Noah, and other events recorded in Genesis Chapters 2 through 11. He wrote this information down and kept it with his family history. Abraham then began writing down family history as it occurred. This practice was continued by Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The descendants of Jacob kept these records and safeguarded them during the time the children of Israel lived in Egypt. When Moses became their leader, these writings were given to him. Moses compiled, arranged, and edited this historical material which now comprises Genesis 2:5-50:26.
Genesis can be divided into the Mosaic preamble, prehistory, and written history.
When properly interpreted, Genesis 1 is highly relevant today. God in his foreknowledge knew that man's understanding of the world about him would increase with time. God knew man would develop isotope dating methods for determining age, explore the geological record, measure the distance to distant galaxies, identify genetic information, and model the DNA molecule. God inspired Moses to write a preamble that would withstand the test of time and still be relevant in the twenty-first century.
Moses begins his preamble with an absolute statement declaring God as creator of the heavens and earth. No specific time, time frame, sequence, or method of creation are given.
Although mankind's understanding in Moses' time of the heavens and earth was significantly less than ours today, this did not limit God from inspiring Moses to make a correct statement. In Moses' time, the heavens were all that man could see with the naked eye looking upward into the sky. The earth was all land that man could walk upon, see from the highest mountain, and which extended beyond the horizon. From our perspective today, the heavens are all that man can see from earth using powerful telescopes. The earth's surface that mankind walks upon has been comprehensively explored and measured.
By clearly identifying God as the one who created the heavens and earth, Moses rejects the pagan beliefs of early cultures. This verse stands in stark contrast to the polytheistic beliefs of the Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians prevalent during the time of Abraham and Moses. These cultures worshiped many pagan gods and goddesses. For example, the Amduat, an ancient Egyptian religious book, lists 908 Egyptian gods and goddesses. All Egyptian books of the underworld combined list a total of around 2,500 deities.
These two verses occur in chronological order. Based on scripture alone, the time between the events in Genesis 1:1 and the description of earth in Genesis 1:2 is not specified. However, based on scientific knowledge significant time elapsed between the beginning of the universe and the formation of earth.
Moses describes an earth that is vacant and empty. Moses uses the two rhyming Hebrew words tohu (Strong's 08414) and bohu (Strong's 0922) which have a similar meaning (they are synonyms) to strongly emphasize the emptiness of earth. The style of using two synonyms, joined by a conjunction, to emphasize a point is also used in Genesis 1: 22 and 1:28 (increase and multiply), Genesis 1:26 (image and likeness), and Genesis 1:28 (subdue and dominate).
What was the earth vacant and empty of? The logical answer is that the earth was empty of life since living things are a primary topic of the six-day portion of the Mosaic preamble. God did not create the earth to be empty (bohu) but rather to be inhabited (Isa. 45:18, ESV).
Genesis 1:2 is an accurate description of early earth. At this point, the earth is: (1) vacant and empty of life, (2) covered by deep waters, and (3) enveloped in darkness. The earth had the same shape, mass, and size we are familiar with today; however, its atmosphere and surface environment were significantly different. Scientific evidence supports this statement. No special or metaphorical meanings need be applied to any of the words.
These two verses also occur in chronological order. Based on scripture alone, the elapsed time between the two verses is not specified. Based on scientific knowledge, significant time elapsed between early earth and the appearance of a breathable atmosphere, plants, animals, and mankind.
A massive transition takes place between Genesis 1:2 and 1:3. In Genesis 1:2 the earth is described as void of life, covered by water, and enveloped in darkness. From Genesis 1:3 and onward the earth is described as full of light, life, and order. A major change in the state of the earth occurs between the two verses.
No creating takes place on any of the six days. All of the actual creating occurred in the past. God's creative activity has brought the earth from being empty of life, covered with water, and enveloped in darkness (Genesis 1:2) to a state that is full of light, life, and order.
On each of the six days God makes a descriptive statement about some feature of his creation. Following God's descriptive statement, Moses then comments and in some instances attributes God as creator or maker of the described feature. This pattern is repeated for each of the six days. On day one and three, the terms "create" and "make" are not used. On the remainder of the days, Moses attributes God as the creator and maker of the features described as follows:
God is totally silent on the seventh day and makes no statements. Moses narrates how God rested on this day from work he "did." Moses tells how God blessed and sanctified this day. By implication, if God rested on the seventh day, the children of Israel should also rest.
A study of origins is not a simple subject. Even more so when treating the book of Genesis as truthful and trustworthy, while at the same time keeping in mind scientific evidence that has been discovered about the past. The Mosaic preamble translation represents a major advance in understanding Genesis 1 and can help students of scripture and science move forward in their quest for solid answers.
Strictly speaking, Genesis 1:1–2:3 does not give any information about the age of the earth. Genesis 1 (the Mosaic preamble) tells us who created the heavens and earth, but not how he created them. The Mosaic preamble can be accepted regardless of whether one believes in an old earth or young earth. However, firm scientific evidence clearly shows the earth is significantly older than 4004 BC.
Christians must acknowledge that we live in an age of growing scientific information about the past and present. Special revelation (the Bible) and general revelation (the physical universe) when properly integrated give us the best picture about how the heavens and earth came about. When accurately understood science (solid empirical evidence) and scripture (properly interpreted) will not conflict. If there is a conflict, the problem is with man and not God.
Problems with the traditional seven-day, young-earth interpretation/translation of Genesis 1 are discussed in the 7 days of creation, and its reading is recommended.
The above is a small sampling of material found in The Real Genesis Creation Story by J. Gene White. Visit the author's website to see how this book came about. For your personal copy of this explosive book, click to order from AMAZON or BARNES & NOBLE. The suggested retail price is $15.95.