Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1-5 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day."

Structure

Ancient literature was often organized with the first sentence describing what will be further detailed in the supporting sentences. If you have ever written an academic paper, you are aware of the need for a thesis which describes the overall argument. Each supporting sentence must point back to the initial thesis. Usually there will also be a concluding paragraph, within which will be a repitiion of the thesis. Therefore, the paper may be described as a sandwich, with each piece of bread being the thesis and the insides being the supporting arguments, pointing back to the thesis. A brief look at Genesis 1:1-2:1 includes an introductory "thesis" (1:1) and then repeats it (2:1).

Notice this similar organization:

• Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
• Genesis 1:2-31
• Genesis 2:1 "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished."

Why might structure be so important in the book of Genesis? Because for the last 100 years, an attack against the bible has been attempted by liberals seeking to discredit the claim that the bible is inspired and inerrant in its original manuscript. That argument began as what was called the "Documentary Hypothesis". In short, this theory questioned the validity of the pentateuch (first 5 books of the bible) as being authored by Moses. Instead, the Documentary Hypothesis said four different "redactors" (a fancy word for editors) have altered the pentateuch for their own political or personal gain. These editors were called "J", "E", "D", "P". Each letter was a person or group of people that had their part in changing the document over the millenia. Nowadays, the arguments have changed and so have the letters, so be aware of anything involving letters like those as a similar theory to the Documentary Hyposthesis.

The primary "evidence" that proponents of this theory or similar ones point to is the seeming repetition of phrases in the pentateuch. I do not feel it beneficial to go into their specific arguments here and challenge them point by point. I simply ask you keep in mind two things:

1. Jesus attributes the first five books to Moses 17 times in the gospels. (Mt 8:4; 19:8; Mk 1:44; 7:10; 10:3; 12:26; Lk 5:14; 16:29, 31; 20:37; 24:27, 44; Jn 3:14; 5:45, 46; 7:19, 22, 23)
2. The structure of many ancient works are repetitive. This is not evidence that they went through editing by later sources. It means the structure of ancient texts is slightly different than modern ones.

So the structure of Genesis is certainly worth looking at if we may defend the word of God from those who would discredit it.

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Gen 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

God created the world out of nothing. In Latin, the phrase is "ex nihilo". This is a theological doctrine of the church and contradicts many Eastern religions that claim the universe simply has always existed. Heb 11:3 "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen is not made out of things that are visible."

"In the beginning..." -- [See Genesis Chapter 1 Overview]

"...God..." - Heb: "Elohim" - A name for God, translated "God" into English. This word is also used in the bible for other "gods" and also used to refer to judges. The word only occurs in the plural form. Why might the plural form refer to God? Two possible reasons:

1. Expressing the doctrine of the trinity in the first verse of the bible!
2. A term in the Hebrew language called the "Plural of Majesty." It means when the ancient Hebrews used this term, they were not thinking of God is being plural, but esteemed him so great, his "name" could not simply be in the singular.

It is possible the Holy Spirit's intent was for this plural form of God to cause the ancient Israelites' minds to be thinking about a triune God. Though we do not know how the ancients took this word, by the time Hebrew Rabbis began to write "commentary" on their scripture, the thought of a triune God had become offensive to them. Therefore, they strongly argue [2] to this day.

"...created..." - Heb: "bara" - Verb: "To create (from nothing)" This verb is only used when God is the subject. In contrast, the word "asa" refers to the type of creation man can acoomplish. (Ex: Molding a pot out of clay.) It also occurs in the singular form though "God" is plural in the Hebrew.

The two words put together are meant to surprise us. If I made a statement such as "The dogs runs to their food." You might either suspect I do not have a very high education or that I made a mistake. Yet Genesis 1:1 is planned an perfect. It is meant to draw our attention to the "error", causing us to think deeper. Can you see God's heart for the ancient Israelites as he speaks loudly through this text, "I am not simply one God, but Three in One." Yet, perhaps understanding will not be theirs until the Holy Spirit comes into their hearts and shows them the truth.

"...the heavens and the earth..." - A Hebrew idiom (figure of speech) referring to all creation.