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Genesis 1:2-31

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2 The earth was [a]1formless and void, and 2darkness was over the [b]surface of the deep, and 3the Spirit of God 4was [c]moving over the [d]surface of the waters.
3 Then 5God said, "Let there be light "; and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was 6good; and God 7separated the light from the darkness.
5 8God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And 9there was evening and there was morning, one day.
6 Then God said, "Let there be [e]an 10expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
7 God made the [f]expanse, and separated 11the waters which were below * the [g]expanse from the waters 12which were above * the [h]expanse; and it was so.
8 God called the [i]expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 Then God said, "13Let the waters below * the heavens be gathered into one place, and let 14the dry land appear "; and it was so.
10 God called the dry land earth, and the 15gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout [j]16vegetation: [k]plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after [l]their kind [m]with seed in them"; and it was so.
12 The earth brought forth [n]vegetation, [o]plants yielding seed after [p]their kind, and trees bearing fruit [q]with seed in them, after [r]their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 Then God said, "Let there be [s]17lights in the [t]18expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for 19signs and for 20seasons and for days and years;
15 and let them be for [u]lights in the [v]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth "; and it was so.
16 God made the two [w]great lights, the 21greater [x]light [y]to govern the day, and the lesser [z]light [aa]to govern the night; He made 22the stars also.
17 23God placed them in the [ab]expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18 and [ac]to 24govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 Then God said, "Let the waters [ad]teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth [ae]in the open [af]expanse of the heavens."
21 God created 25the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24 26Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after [ag]their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after [ah]their kind "; and it was so.
25 God made the 27beasts of the earth after [ai]their kind, and the cattle after [aj]their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let 28Us make 29man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them 30rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [ak]sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 God created man 31in His own image, in the image of God He created him; 32male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "33Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [al]sky and over every living thing that [am]moves on the earth."
29 Then God said, "Behold, 34I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the [an]surface of all the earth, and every tree [ao]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
30 and 35to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the [ap]sky and to every thing that [aq]moves on the earth [ar]which has life, I have given every green plant for food "; and it was so.
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very 36good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
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Genesis 1:3
In what ways do you think we are in the likeness of God? - Genesis 1:26

Genesis 1:2-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS

This book, in the Hebrew copies of the Bible, and by the Jewish writers, is generally called Bereshith, which signifies "in the beginning", being the first word of it; as the other four books of Moses are also called from their initial words. In the Syriac and Arabic versions, the title of this book is "The Book of the Creation", because it begins with an account of the creation of all things; and is such an account, and so good an one, as is not to be met with anywhere else: the Greek version calls it Genesis, and so we and other versions from thence; and that because it treats of the generation of all things, of the heavens, and the earth, and all that are in them, and of the genealogy of men: it treats of the first men, of the patriarchs before the flood, and after it to the times of Joseph. It is called the "first" book of Moses, because there are four more that follow; the name the Jewish Rabbins give to the whole is hrwt yvmwx hvmx, "the five fifths of the law", to which the Greek word "pentateuch" answers; by which we commonly call these books, they being but one volume, consisting of five parts, of which this is the first. And that they were all written by Moses is generally believed by Jews and Christians. Some atheistical persons have suggested the contrary; our countryman Hobbes {a} would have it, that these books are called his, not from his being the author of them, but from his being the subject of them; not because they were written by him, but because they treat of him: but certain it is that Moses both wrote them, and was read, as he was in the Jewish synagogues, every sabbath day, which can relate to no other writings but these, Joh 1:45-47, Ac 15:21. And Spinosa, catching at some doubts raised by Aben Ezra on De 1:1 concerning some passages which seemed to him to have been added by another hand, forms objections against Moses being the author of the book of Genesis; which are sufficiently answered by Carpzovius {b}. Nor can Ezra be the author of the Pentateuch, as Spinosa suspects; since it is plain these writings were in being before his time, in the times of Josiah, Amaziah, yea, of David, and also of Joshua, 2Ch 34:14 \2Ch 25:4 1Ki 2:3 Jos 8:34\ nay, they are even referred to in the book of Ezra as the writings of Moses, Ezr 3:2, 6:18 to which may be added, in proof of the same, De 31:9,24. Nor are there any other writings of his authentic; what are ascribed to him, as the Analepsis of Moses, his Apocalypse, and his Last Will and Testament, are apocryphal. That this book of Genesis particularly was written by him, is evident from the testimony of Philip, and even of our Lord Jesus Christ, who both testify that he wrote concerning the Messiah, Joh 1:45, 5:46 as he did in this book, where he speaks of him as the seed of the woman that should break the serpent's head; as the seed of Abraham, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed; and as the Shiloh, to whom the gathering of the people should be, \Ge 3:15 22:18 49:10\. Nor is there any reason to believe that he wrote this book from the annals of the patriarchs, since it does not appear, nor is it very probable, that they had any; nor from traditions delivered down from one to another, from father to son, which is more probable, considering the length of the lives of the patriarchs: but yet such a variety of particulars respecting times, places, persons, their genealogies and circumstances, so nicely and exactly given, can scarcely be thought to be the fruit of memory; and much less is it to be imagined that he was assisted in it by Gabriel, when he lived in solitude in Midian: but it is best of all to ascribe it to divine inspiration, as all Scripture is by the apostle, 2Ti 3:16 for who else but God could have informed him of the creation, and the manner and order in which every creature was brought into being, with a multitude of things recorded in this book? the design of which is to lead men into the knowledge and worship of the one true God, the Creator of all things, and of the origin of mankind, the fall of our first parents, and their posterity in them; and to point at the means and method of the recovery of man by the Messiah, the promised seed; and to give an account of the state and case of the church of God, in the times of the patriarchs, both before and after the flood, from Adam, in the line of Seth, to Noah; and from Noah to the times of Joseph, in whose death it ends: and, according to Usher {c}, it contains an history of two thousand, three hundred, and sixty nine years.

{a} Leviath. par. 3. c. 33. {b} Introduct. ad Libr. Bib. V. T. c. 4. sect. 2. {c} Annal. Vet. Test. p. 17.

\\INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 1\\

This chapter contains an account of the creation of the universe, and all things in it; asserts the creation of the heaven and earth in general, and describes the state and condition of the earth in its first production, Ge 1:1-2 and then proceeds to declare the work of each of the six days of creation, and to give an account of light, its separation from darkness and the names of both, the work of the first day, Ge 1:3-5 of the firmament, its use and name, the work of the second day, Ge 1:6-8 of the appearance of the earth, and the production of grass, herbs, and trees in the earth, the work of the third day, Ge 1:9-13 of the sun, moon, and stars, their situation, and use, the work of the fourth day, Ge 1:14-19 of the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, the work of the fifth day, Ge 1:19-23 of all kinds of cattle, and beasts, and creeping things, Ge 1:24-25 and then of man, created male and female, after the image of God, having a grant of dominion over the rest of the creatures, the fruit of divine consultation, Ge 1:26-28 and of a provision of food for man and beast, Ge 1:29-30. And the chapter is concluded with a survey God took of all his works, and his approbation of them; all which were the work of the sixth day, and closes the account of the creation in that space of time, Ge 1:31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 36

  • 1. Jeremiah 4:23
  • 2. Job 38:9
  • 3. Psalms 104:30; Isaiah 40:13, 14
  • 4. Deuteronomy 32:11; Isaiah 31:5
  • 5. Psalms 33:6, 9; 2 Corinthians 4:6
  • 6. Psalms 145:9, 10
  • 7. Isaiah 45:7
  • 8. Psalms 74:16
  • 9. Psalms 65:8
  • 10. Isaiah 40:22; Jeremiah 10:12; 2 Peter 3:5
  • 11. Job 38:8-11
  • 12. Psalms 148:4
  • 13. Psalms 104:6-9; Jeremiah 5:22; 2 Peter 3:5
  • 14. Psalms 24:1, 2; Psalms 95:5
  • 15. Psalms 33:7; Psalms 95:5; Psalms 146:6
  • 16. Psalms 65:9-13; Psalms 104:14; Hebrews 6:7
  • 17. Psalms 74:16; Psalms 136:7
  • 18. Psalms 19:1; Psalms 150:1
  • 19. Jeremiah 10:2
  • 20. Psalms 104:19
  • 21. Psalms 136:8, 9
  • 22. Job 38:7; Psalms 8:3; Isaiah 40:26
  • 23. Jeremiah 33:20, 25
  • 24. Jeremiah 31:35
  • 25. Psalms 104:25-28
  • 26. Genesis 2:19; Genesis 6:20; Genesis 7:14; Genesis 8:19
  • 27. Genesis 7:21, 22; Jeremiah 27:5
  • 28. Genesis 3:22; Genesis 11:7
  • 29. Genesis 5:1; Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; James 3:9
  • 30. Psalms 8:6-8
  • 31. Genesis 5:1; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10
  • 32. Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6
  • 33. Genesis 9:1, 7; Leviticus 26:9; Psalms 127:3, 5
  • 34. Psalms 104:14; Psalms 136:25
  • 35. Psalms 145:15, 16; Psalms 147:9
  • 36. Psalms 104:24, 28; Psalms 119:68; 1 Timothy 4:4

Footnotes 44

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