NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 21
GENESIS
1:1 a Jn 1:1-2
Ps 90:2;
Isa 42:5; 44:24; 45:12,
18; Ac 17:24; Heb 11:3;
Rev 4:11
1:2 c Jer 4:23
d Ps 104:30
1:3 e Ps 33:6, 9; 148:5;
Heb 11:3 f 2Co 4:6*
1:5 g Ps 74:16
b Job 38:4;
The Beginning
1
In the beginning a God created the heavens and the e
arth. b 2 Now the e
arth was
formless and empty, c darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of
God d was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, e “Let t here be l ight,” and t here was l ight. f 4 God saw that the l ight was
good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and
the darkness he called “night.” g And there was evening, and there was morning — the
first day.
1:1 — 11:26 The Primeval History. The Bible
begins by telling the story of how the world
began, how humanity fell into sin, and how
God began to address that sin. This story
describes God’s creation of the world and
all of life, the harmony that was in the
world, the sin that destroyed that perfect
harmony between God and his creation, the
spiral of sin and violence, the judgment and
salvation in the flood, the covenant that re-
sulted, the common heritage of all people,
the tower of Babel, and the family line to
Abram. The cycle begins: God creates, and
humanity sins. As the violence of humanity
increases, God punishes peopl e with a flood
and delivers Noah and his family. Humans
continue to sin. Yet God does not give up
but brings hope in the family line that leads
to Abram.
1:1 — 2:25 The opening chapters of Genesis
contain two complementary descriptions of
creation: one panoramic, one close-up. The
first creation account (1:1 — 2:3) describes
God as the creator of the universe and of
all life in it. The second account (2:4 – 25)
focuses on God’s creation of the man and
woman and their home. While it is possible
that the account in ch. 2 continues the story
of ch. 1, it may be that these are two cre-
ation accounts from different perspectives.
Compare, e.g., the fact that each of the four
Gospels has its own particular emphasis. Set-
ting Gen 1 and Gen 2 side by side, we see God
at once as sovereign Creator and as person-
ally involved with the first people. The more
general creation of the world is followed by
the more specific focus on the first man and
woman. The term “account” in 2:4a suggests
that the creation accounts are related to
the “accounts” of the lines of Cain and Seth
(chs. 4 – 5) and of Noah’s sons (chs. 10 – 11).
In each case the accounts appear as a pair,
where the second account tends to zoom in
on a specific line and move the story forward.
1:1 — 2:3 In the Beginning. The biblical account
of creation presents the one God as Creator
of all. It emphasizes how God creates life,
establishes rest, and forms humanity in his
image. The scientific information as to how
this came about is not in the text.
1:1 In the beginning. This single Hebrew word
(bĕrēšît) denotes the start of a sequence of
events (cf. Isa 46:10). God. Hebrew ʾ ĕlōhîm,
used of Israel’s deity and of other gods. It de-
scribes divinity, power, and the object of wor-
ship; it is the only word for God in ch. 1, which
emphasizes God’s power as creator of the uni-
verse. created. God is the subject of this verb
every time it appears in the Bible (e.g., 1:21,27;
2:3 – 4). This is something that only God does.
Although creation out of nothing is implicit in
Gen 1, for more complete statements see Isa
45:7 – 18; Rom 11:36; Col 1:16 – 17. the heavens
and the earth. Describes all creation by iden-
tifying the extremes, i.e., from the heavens
above to the earth below, and everything be-
tween them. God creates the heavens and the
earth, and he will create the new heavens and
the new earth. Isaiah repeatedly stresses that
the heavens and earth are created by God
(Isa 40:12,22; 42:5; 45:12,18; 51:13,16), who will
also form the new heavens and the new earth
that will never pass away (Isa 65:17; 66:22). For
some, Gen 1:1 summarizes the account that
follows; therefore, v. 2 is not subsequent to
the events of v. 1 but is the first point in the
unfolding of the creation. Others understand
it as the creation of an unformed and empty
heavens and earth that God forms and fills in
the remaining verses of ch. 1.
1:2 the earth. The focus of God’s creation in
ch. 1. formless and empty. This phrase occurs
elsewhere only in Jer 4:23, where it identifies
the judgment of God so that the land is un-
productive, out of order, and incapable of ful-
filling its purpose of producing life-sustaining
food. Gen 1 is less concerned with the produc-
tion of things and more concerned with the
creation of life. This expression describes the
world before the creation of life, before there
was even a background or context in which
life could flourish. In days 1 – 3, God creates
the structure of that background, while in
days 4 – 6, he fills this world with living crea-
tures. darkness was over the surface of the
deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering
over the waters. Further portrays this time
before creation in a pictorial manner. dark-
ness. Anticipates the coming light. deep. This
is a common noun in Hebrew that describes
the deep waters. Elsewhere, it parallels the
waters or seas (Job 38:16). These waters por-
tray the potential of one of the mightiest
destructive powers that the ancient world
knew (Gen 7:11; 8:2). Spirit of God was hover-
ing over. The Spirit hovers over all potential
threats as God prepares to create life. Spirit.
Identical to the word for “wind” in both the
OT and NT. God’s Spirit appears at this first
act of creation and is found again at the be-
ginning of the great creative and redemptive
acts of God through history: the turning of
the destructive flood waters (“wind,” 8:1), at
the “birth” of Israel in crossing the Red Sea
(Exod 14:21; 15:8,10), the coming of the day
of the Lord (Joel 2:28 – 29), the conception
of Jesus (Matt 1:18,20; Luke 1:35), the act of
coming to God the Father (John 3:5,8), and
the advent of the church at Pentecost (Acts
2:1 – 4,16 – 21). Although the term “Holy Spirit”
occurs only a few times in the OT (Ps 51:11; Isa
63:10 – 11), his creative and redemptive activ-
ity associate the Spirit of God with the NT
Holy Spirit.
1:3 God said. All of creation and each part of it
begins with the Word of God as in John 1:1 – 4,
which also connects creation with light (both
spiritual and physical). John’s identification
of the Word of God with Jesus Christ (John
1:14) draws out a doctrine that is not explicit
in this text. Let there be light. Although God
does not explicitly create light by using the
terms “created,” “formed,” and “made” (as in
the remainder of the six days), see Isa 45:7 for
God creating light. and there was light. This
response repeats the words of the command.
Here, and throughout ch. 1 where the phrase,
“there was” recurs, creation completely
obeys God’s command.
1:4 God saw. This describes the notice God
takes of his own acts, as well of those of
others (1:10,12,18,21,25,31; 6:2,12; Jonah 3:10).
The quality of the light being “good” im-
plies more than an aesthetic or moral judg-
ment. The creation is good (1:10,12,18,21,25)
because its creator is good (Pss 34:8; 100:5;
Jer 33:11; Nah 1:7; 1 Pet 2:3). It follows God’s
plan exactly. he separated the light from the
darkness. This characterizes the first three
days of creation. Separating involves both
distinguishing and purifying. God distin-
guishes between different items (here light
and darkness) and thereby gives them an
identity and integrity of their own. With light
and darkness, the created order has daytime
and nighttime.
1:5 called. This action repeatedly occurs in
the accounts of creation (1:8,10; 2:19 – 20,23).
“day.” Here, as elsewhere, the name given
identifies the purpose of the object (or per-
son) so named even as the Creator God estab-
lishes its purpose by his authority. With light
and darkness, this means that the day and
night do not occur simultaneously, but in a
sequence. Further, day does not intrude into
night and vice versa. In this way time begins
on the first day with “evening” (followed by
night) and “morning” (followed by day). Time
is logically the first element or dimension
necessary for creating the world and for life
to exist in it. The sun and moon are created
on day four. first day. Or “day one.” The term
can be used interchangeably with “first” to
denote the initial element in an assumed se-
quence, especially a sequence denoting days
(e.g., Ezra 3:6; 10:16 – 17; Neh 8:2; Hag 1:1). The
Hebrew word for “day” can refer to a 24-hour
period or a larger period of time. For example,
Gen 2:4 uses the same Hebrew word for “day”
when it refers to the “account” of the heav-
ens and the earth, that is, “on the day when
they were created.” Thus, seven days become
one day. On the other hand, the Hebrew word
“day” often refers to a 24-hour period (e.g.,
7:11,13; 8:4 – 5,14).