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Chapter 11 - Translation and Commentary

Chapter 11 - Translation and Commentary

Table of Contents
Chapter 10 - Science and the Narrative of Creation
Chapter 12 - Conclusion

VERSE 1. "In the Beginning"

In the beginning, at the commencement of time. It does not say when this was, but does imply that there was a beginning. No date is given, it expresses the earliest time imaginable, and is equivalent to 'at the beginning of time'.

It is not to be understood in a merely relative sense as 'first of all', or 'first in order' to a second or subsequent thing, for 'heaven and earth' include all. It is not here used adverbially in the sense of 'first of all God', or 'in the first place God'. It is the beginning of all material things in the indefinite past. Compare John i. i where the words translated 'in the beginning' in the Septuagint version of Genesis and the Greek of the Gospel are the same, but there is an addition in the Gospel, the Word 'was in the beginning with God'.

"God."

There is no attempt to explain the existence of God, this is not considered necessary, His reality is simply stated. Some scholars translate the Hebrew word 'Elohim' by 'The Eternal'. Elohim is always in the plural, but accompanied by a verb in the singular. God is before all time and all material; the heavens and the earth had a beginning but no beginning is of course suggested in regard to God. The emphasis is on the word 'God'; note the continued repetition of the Divine title in this narrative, it occurs 35 times. This first sentence implies that God is other than His universe and beyond it, it is the foundation of all Biblical philosophy of creation.

"Created."

Hebrew 'Bara'. In its Primary form it is used only of an act of God, never of a human production, or to describe the work of man. In this exclusive use, it is probably unique in any language of the world. The root of this word is commonly considered to mean 'to cut', 'to hew', or 'to fashion by cutting', and its use in this sense may be seen in Joshua xvii. 15 and 18.

The word 'bara' does not invariably mean creation from nothing, this idea is not necessarily inherent in it, but may imply it and there is no other single word in Hebrew which could express creation out of nothing. No word is stronger in expressing absolute creation. Perhaps fix its Biblical use it implies effortless (but not necessarily instantaneous) production. The word is sparingly used even, in this chapter; it occurs again in verse 21 in connection with living organisms, and in verse 27 in regard to the creation of man.

The statement that God created shows that the universe is not an emanation from God as pantheists have taught It implies that matter is not eternal and that the heaven and earth are not the result of art accident, or series of accidents, or 'a fortuitous concourse of atoms'. It obviously means that the heavens and the earth have not existed throughout all eternity past. In Hebrews xi 3, we read that the "things which are seen were not made of things which do appear ". 'Bara' is one of three words used in this chapter to describe God's work, the others are ysar formed and asah made.

"The Heaven and the Earth."

In the Hebrew the word 'heaven' is in the plural, form. This phrase is often used to describe created things apart from the earth, as there is no single Hebrew word which expresses the totality of all created things. Even in the New Testament the phrase is retained, "a new heaven and a new earth". Its meaning may be seen from Genesis xv. 5, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them." The heavens and the earth later became the acknowledged phrase for the universe.

The majority of scholars regard the first verse as an independent sentence, summarising the whole creative process narrated in this chapter. It has been stated thus:"The verse gives a summary of the description which follows stating the broad general fact of the universe, the details of the process then form the subject of the rest of the chapter." Rashi, Schrader, and others, however, regard the word 'created' as a noun and not as a verb, and read it as follows: 'in the beginning of God's creating the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and void and then . . .

VERSE 2. "And."

The simple Hebrew conjunction; it cannot mean 'in contrast to'; it could mean, 'but the earth was waste'.

"The Earth."

The Hebrew word translated earth is emphasised by its position in the sentence. It is the common word for land or earth as contrasted with the sea or heavens. As the sequel shows, the reference is to this planet earth in its state before God brought about the condition successively described in verses 3-31.

" Was."

Some have wished to translate this 'became' or 'had become'; but such a rendering is not permissible here. 'Was' is correctly given in both the A.V. and R.V. and is so translated by the overwhelming majority of Hebrew scholars. We should not assume that a thought, such as a catastrophe, has been dropped out or intentionally riot mentioned, and that the subsequent words cannot be properly understood, unless we introduce it.

"Without Form and Void."

Tohu-wa-bohu : tohu expresses formlessness, nothingness, something unsubstantial; bohu means void, empty, tenantless, unfinished. The words are almost synonymous, and in Hebrew this repetition is one of the methods used to express intensity of meaning. The like sounding Hebrew words can be rendered in English by 'formless and void'. Absence of form and order is conveyed by their use, rather than shapelessness and disorder. The word 'tohu' is used in the Old Testament of a desert and expresses emptiness. As Dr. Lange remarks, "The first word denotes rather the lack of form, the second the lack of content in the earliest condition of the earth; uncompleted as regards order, and bareness as regards life. " The chapter gives an account of God's creative work relating to this earth, and also of the heavens as they affect the earth. The opening words of this verse refer therefore to the earth in a state of emptiness and the AN. and R.V. translation expresses the sense as nearly as possible. Spurrell translates the words as 'bareness and emptiness'. The A.V. and the R.V. use the latter word in Isaiah xxxiv 11

There is no reason (except as a theory in attempting to reconcile the narrative with science) for introducing the idea that something or someone wrecked the earth as created by God. Isaiah xlv. 18 expressly refers to the earth which God had made and established, that is, the completed earth referred to in the chapter as a whole. The prophet says of this completed earth, "he created it riot in vain ( tohu), He formed it to be inhabited". As Whitelaw wrote in his Commentary on Genesis (P. 4), "He created it not tohu, he formed it to be inhabited", i.e. the Creator did riot intend the earth to be a desolate region, but an inhabited planet. There can scarcely be a 'doubt, then, that the expression portrays the condition in which the newly created earth was, not innumerable ages, but very shortly, after it was summoned into existence. It was formless and lifeless; a huge shapeless, objectless, tenantless mass of matter, the gaseous and solid elements commingled, in which neither organised structure, nor animated form, nor even distinctly traced outline of any kind appeared." Delitzsch (New Commentary, p. 8o) says, "being only a means to an end only the substratum and not properly such a creative work itself; God made it the foundation of His creative agency ".

"And Darkness."

The absence of light.

"And the Spirit of God."

The idea is of a manifestation of an invisible power. It is the usual word for the Spirit of God. just as God is mentioned in the first verse without any attempt at explanation, so here the Spirit of God (who throughout Scripture is represented as the Source of life) is not defined. It would be idle to suggest 'wind' as the creative agent affecting the change in the state of the earth. There is no indication whatever how long the earth was in the state described in this verse, during which the creative Spirit of God was active.

"Was Upon."

It is the same Hebrew word as is used in Deuteronomy xxxii. ii, of a bird 'hovering over'. On this formless and bare earth the Spirit of God moved in controlling motion.

"The Face of the Waters."

The Hebrew word is 'Tehom'; it means, not merely the sea, but the undefined, unformed watery mass.

WHAT GOD SAID-THE FIRST DAY. Verses 3-5.

"And God Said."

These words are placed at the beginning of each day's narrative. On this first day there follows the narrative of what God said. God speaks and this implies that He speaks to some person. To whom? We do not know to whom God spake these words on the six successive days, but in, Chapter VIII we have seen that the narrative bears unmistakable evidence of having been a revelation given and written down at the very earliest period.

"Let there be Light and there was Light."

These words constitute the creative flat. Creation by fiat is referred to throughout Scripture. It implies the effortless realisation of His thought and purpose. " In the beginning was the Word . . . all things were made by Him" (John i. 1-3). In Hebrew only two very short words are used, yehi 'or, let light be, or 'let light exist'. The words used are as simple as it is possible for them to be; there is no reference to any scientific hypothesis regarding the nature or source of light and no astronomical explanation. Light is the indispensable conditon to the life of the things which are stated in the succeeding verses to have been successively created.

In regard to the alleged contradiction of this verse with verses 14-18 see chapter ii and the comment on the fourth day's narration. " The exigencies of the text, as well as the ascertained facts of physical science, require the first day's work to be the original production of light throughout the universe and in particular throughout the planetary system " (Whitelaw, Genesis).

"And God saw the Light."

This phrase 'and God saw 'occurs each day.

" That it was Good."

These words are also repeated regarding each day. The Hebrew word includes the idea of beauty with goodness.

"And God Divided the Light from the Darkness."

Better 'And God separated' we divide one thing and separate two. No mention is made of the origin of darkness because it is simply the absence of light, and here it is not regarded in itself as evil. In fact God had a specific use for darkness, and assigned to both light and darkness their own proper sphere, purpose and limits.

"And God Called."

Dr. Ryle says, "That God should give names to things is to our minds a strange and almost unintelligible thought", and commentators have hither-to been perplexed as to its meaning. When, however, it is realised that the names were being given for the sake of man, it is neither strange nor unintelligible, but obviously necessary for an intelligent being. Compare chapter ii. 19-2o and xxxi. 47. God gave things names in order to reveal, so that these words indicate that God is telling the story of creation to man. A name is given in order to communicate a thought by language. This narrative is therefore a record, in simple terms, of God's explanation of the origin of the heaven and earth. Naming is necessary as a notion for sake, not God's.

"The Light 'Day'."

That is the part of the day when light shone on a particular part of the earth.

"And the Darkness He called 'Night'.''

'Night' was the name God gave to the period which preceded or succeeded daylight. Again the only conceivable reason for God giving names to such phenomena is for man's instruction.

"And the Evening and the Morning."

Or more exactly 'and evening came and morning came'. This phrase has been the subject of considerable debate. It occurs six times, dividing the narrative into six days. It has been wrongly assumed that it sets a time limit to the acts of creation described, consequently numerous attempts have been made to explain the 'day' as a sufficiently long period. As Bullinger says, "The word 'day' may refer to a prolonged period, when used without qualifying words. But when qualified by a numeral (cardinal or ordinal) it is defined and limited by it to a day of twenty-four hours. It is further limited here by its boundaries 'evening and morning' as well as by the seventh day." So Delitzsch, etc.

That a normal 'evening and morning' is intended may be seen by the words used; the word for 'evening', like the relative words in the Assyrian and Arabic, means 'to go in', that is the setting of the sun. While the root idea of the Hebrew word translated 'morning' means 'a penetration' of light of day into the darkness of night, a breaking forth, daybreak, the coming of dawn, sunrise, it is never used in the sense of the English forenoon or morning. As Delitzsch says, "The Hebrew word means without doubt properly 'the breaking', viz. 'of light', the first appearance, the early, is everywhere the fundamental notion ". So that 'evening and morning' combined means the period between sunset and sunrise.

"The Hebrew words 'Erebh and Boker do not signify night and day, but the early evening (say between sunset and actual darkness) and early morning (say between dawn and sunrise). These do not make up a 'day' of twenty-four hours." (A. H. Finn, Creation, Fall and Deluge, p. 151.)

It was an ancient custom for the 'day', that is the twentyfour-hour period, to begin at sunset, but, of course, it does not finish at sunrise the next morning, but at sunset. As Skinner writes, " It is impossible to take the words as meaning that the evening and the morning formed the first (second, etc.) day. The sentence must refer to the close of the first day with the first evening and the night that followed"; so Delitzsch, Holzinger, Dillman, etc.

Was the earth, as yet, astronomically arranged for a normal sunset and sunrise? The source of the light is not stated, for until the relation of the sun and moon to the earth as described in verses 14-18 have been introduced there could have been no daily sunset or sunrise as required by these words 'evening and morning'. There can therefore be no question of an evening and morning dividing the acts of creation. These six days must have been days on which the revelation was given, the narrative of the creative acts of God long ages before, for the reason why God ceased as each of the six evenings, or sunsets came on, was for man's sake.

"Were the First Day.

More literally, 'day one', or 'one day', as in the R.V. The cardinal is used instead of the ordinal; this is customary to indicate the first of a series.

WHAT GOD SAID-SECOND DAY. VERSES 6-8.

"And God said, Let there be a Firmament, etc. "

The Hebrew word is 'rakia', and its root meaning is 'to stretch out', 'to extend'. A more accurate translation would be, 'Let there be an expanse'. It refers to the atmosphere surrounding the earth which bears up the clouds. Compare Psalm cxlviii. 4. "Praise Him ye heaven of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens," and Proverbs Viii. 28 where mention is made of the 'clouds above' instead of the 'waters above '. Elsewhere scripture often refers to clouds as waters. (See ii. Sam. xxii. I?; job xxxvi. 8; xxxvii. II; xxxviii. 37.)

"And God made the Firmament."

The process is not stated, only the fact.

"And Divided."

Lit.: 'let it be dividing', expressing continuity of action and describing more fully its purpose.

"And it was so."

The Hebrew root means 'to be fixed' and thus indicates that it was right, honest, true. God's expressed will was truly accomplished.

"And God called the Firmament Heaven."

The word heaven is always in the plural and apparently comes from a root which means 'to be high'.

WHAT GOD SAID--THIRD DAY. VERSES 9-13.

"And God Said, Let the Waters under the Heaven be Gathered Together in one Place."

That is the waters on the earth; how this was effected is not stated, whether by elevation or a subsidence, nor is it stated how long the procedure took. There is a poetical description in Psalm civ. 6-8, "Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which Thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may riot pass over, that they turn again to cover the earth. "

"And Let the Dry Land Appear.''

Lit.: 'the dry', hitherto covered with water.

"And God Called the Dry Land Earth."

Lit.: God called 'the dry' earth. Again, God gives a name for the information of man.

"And the Gathering Together of the Waters Called He Seas."

The account is brief, there is no specific mention of rivers, lakes, etc.

There is a second 'And God said' on this third day.

"Let the Earth Bring Forth Grass."

Lit.: let the earth sprout 'green', a comprehensive term for all young verdure. God does not say 'let there shoot forth on the earth', but 'let the earth cause to shoot forth or sprout'. This is the beginning of life on the earth.

"The Herb Yielding Seed."

Plants, vegetables and grain crops, seed-forming plants.

"And the Fruit Tree Yielding Fruit."

Self-propagating or producing fruits whose seed is within them.

"After his Kind."

The word used is antique; it can very well mean 'species'; the word is not used in the plural.

"Whose Seed is in Itself."

The distinction is in the method of seeding, the vegetation which produces seed and the fruit which contains the seed.

WHAT GOD SAID-FOURTH DAY. VERSES 14-19.

"And God Said, Let there be Lights in the Firmament of Heaven."

Luminaries, the word is different from that translated 'light' in verse 3. That word means light itself, this means 'bearers of light', or 'places of light', the 'instruments of light', though the word is a simple one referring to light derived from an instrument.

There is an entire absence of personification and deification which occurs in almost every other ancient account of the sun and moon and stars. Those best acquainted with the old accounts handed down from Babylonia and Egypt will recognise how pure this record is.

On this day God appears to have ceased to give names to the things He had created. No more is it stated 'And God called', no name is assigned to the greater and lesser lights, nor are animals named in this narrative. In the second narrative there is an account how God arranged for first man to give the names to animals and birds.

There is no necessity, in view of what has been written in Chapters II and III, to discuss, as all commentators have felt bound to do, the mention of the sun and the moon on the fourth day, seeing that this narrative gives the order of revelation, and the things revealed on each of the last three days are parallel with the first three, so that the first and the fourth are connected.

"To Divide the Day from the Night."

This is the first time that the purpose is explained at any length. The 'greater and lesser lights' are the regulators of the day and night referred to in verse 5.

"And Let Them be for Signs."

Hebrew toth, means 'marks', or 'tokens', and presumably means to mark off the days. S. R. Driver says, " by their appearance betokening the future state of the weather", but surely in Palestine, and still less in Babylonia, where the weather is fixed, can this be the meaning here. In Babylonia neither the sun nor the moon indicate a change in the weather on 3oo days in the year. The cloud formation before the rare rain is sufficiently noticeable apart from the sun and the moon. Neither can Spurrell's interpretation, " through eclipses of the sun and moon, the appearances of comets as showing extraordinary events," be accepted. The account is free from anything like astrology.

"And for Seasons and for Days and Years."

The word translated seasons means 'to appoint', 'to fix'. Although some have stated that the record was written in order to introduce the seven days ending with the Sabbath, it should be noted that there is no mention here of a week, as the sun and the moon has no direct relation to a week of seven days.

"And Let Them be for Lights in the Firmament of the Heavens to Give Light Upon the Earth."

The reference is to the way the sun and the moon affect the earth; the account admittedly has the earth as its viewpoint; what other point of view would or should it have for man?

"And God Made Two Great Lights," etc.

Note the extreme simplicity of the statement, there is no suggestion that these are the only or even the largest lights.

"And God set Them."

It conveys the idea of 'placing , in such a way as to accomplish the purpose of giving light to the earth.

"To Rule," etc.

To control, and so dominate. Compare Job xxxviii. 33.

"The Stars Also."

The original is short, almost abrupt, being two Hebrew words only. There is nothing of the ancient superstition about stars and their supposed influence on persons and creatures.

WHAT GOD SAID-FIFTH DAY. Verses 20-23.

"And God Said, Let the Waters Bring Forth Abundantly,'' etc.

Lit.: 'let the waters swarm forth with a swarm of sea creatures', to teem in abundance. A new form of life different in kind and degree to vegetation. The word 'swarm' conveys the impression of a great multitude.

"The Fowl that may Fly above the Earth," etc.

Every flying thing; this probably included insects.

"And God Created Great Whales."

More accurately reptile; the idea behind the word is of a long and big animal. It includes big land, as well as sea monsters.

"And every living creature that moveth."

Lit.: and every soul of life or living thing; the principal of life and sensibility, something which moves lightly along or glides, as the swimming movement of fish.

WHAT GOD SAID-SIXTH DAY. Verses25-31.

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living thing after his kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth after his kind."

Lit.: the earth shall cause to go forth living soul.

(1) Cattle, chiefly four-footed domestic animals.
(2) Creeping animals.
(3) Untamed animals.

"And God Said, Let us Make Man."

There is a significant difference between the statements introducing the preceding acts of creation and this last and supreme act, the creation of man. Previously there had been a fiat such as, 'let the waters go forth' . . . 'let the earth bring forth'. . . . Here there is no 'let there be man', or 'let the earth bring forth man'. It is, 'Let us make man'. If words mean anything they surely imply that God did a new thing when He created man; a new order of being was brought into existence by means which made him distinct from that of animals.

Let US. The first person plural is used. The Jews attempt various explanations to account for this plural. Maimonides and Ibn Ezra say that the angels are referred to, but angels are not mentioned in this record. Philo speaks of "the Father of all things addressing His own powers", but such an explanation is far-fetched and generally unacceptable. Some have said that here the plural of majesty is used; just as some modem monarchs use the plural on official occasions. This explanation cannot be accepted seeing that it is not a usual Biblical custom for kings to do this. It is normal for the singular to be used, for instance, 'is not this great Babylon which I have built', I am Pharaoh', etc. This use of the plural is in accord with the prologue of the Fourth Gospel which indicates the presence of the creative Word. (See Appendix I I.) " All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made." The 'us' is used also in Genesis iii. 22, "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us", and in Genesis xi. 7, "Go to, let us go down and there confound their language", and Isaiah vi. 8, "And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? " It is a remarkable testimony to the care with which the text of Scripture has been handed down to us that this plural occurs. The Jews with their knowledge that 'the Lord our God is one Lord' had difficulty in explaining this plural, yet did not attempt to alter the text. The coming of Christ, and the opening statement of the Fourth Gospel makes the meaning plain.

"Man."

Hebrew, 'Adam', the name given by God. As there is no definite article, the word is here used in a general sense, and denotes mankind.

"In Our Image, After Our Likeness."

'Image' and 'likeness' are almost synonymous words. What in man constituted the image and likeness of God? Before this question can be answered we must ask what is God like? We are told that He is Spirit (John iv. 24), Light (I John i. 5), He is the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible (i Tim. i. 17). No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son hath declared Him (John i. 18). Paul speaks of him as "dwelling in light which no 'man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see" (i. Tim. vi. 16). It is in the Word, the Son of God, that we have the answer, for He, before being made 'in the likeness of man', when He came to this earth at Bethlehem, was in 'the form of God' (Phil. ii. 6). First man saw and talked with the Word who 'Was in the beginning with God', and without Him 'was not anything made that was made' (John i).

He was the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Col. i. 15), and man was made in His image.

The image refers to the outward form, and usually expresses the idea of shape or resemblance as to body while 'likeness' is applied to immaterial resemblance or the things of the mind, but perhaps the distinction cannot be pressed. "By Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible . . . all things were created by Him " (Col. i. 16). The Son being 'the express image of His person, and upholding all things' (Heb. i. 3) created man as an intelligent bein with a capacity for communion with the Eternal God Dr. S. R. Driver says of this image and likeness that "it can be nothing but the gift of self-conscious reason which is possessed by man".

"Male and Female Created He Them."

The creation of the female is more fully stated in chapter ii. 18-25, and it seems obvious that after the creation of man several events which occupied much time happened before the woman was created.

"And Let Them have Dominion," etc.

The impression conveyed is that the dominion or rule is consequent upon the creation of man in the image and likeness of God. We know that man's outstanding position is not due to his greater physical strength, or size; his superiority was due to the mental qualities with which he was endowed by God. The thought is repeated in Psalm viii. 6, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands, Thou hast put all things under his feet."

"Replenish."

The root word means 'to be full', or 'to fill'; the same Hebrew word is translated 'fill' in verse 22.

"And Subdue it."

A strong word, man has been placed in a position of supremacy on the earth, and authority has been given to him (see Ps. cxv. 16). "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the earth bath He given to the children of men."

"I have Given you it every Herb," etc.

The word includes plants, vegetables and green crops.

"For Meat."

Means, 'for food': meat was an old English term for food.

"And Behold It was Very Good."

There is purpose in the world; matter and material things are not in themselves, as originally created, hostile to God. His creation is very good. Evil appeared on earth later.

"The Sixth Day."

Here, unlike the other five days, the article is used.

The colophon, or appendix to this record (ii. 1-4), has been dealt with in Chapter V.

Chapter 11 - Part II

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