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Exegesis:Genesis 1:1
Translation of Genesis 1:1
In the beginning YHWH created the heavens and the Earth.
Comments
Some people believe that here it is told about Big Bang and formation of stars and planets before the biblical story of creation begins. Some people think God created Earth literally on the first day of creation (so called "creation from nothing").
However, assuming that "planet Earth" is here referred to does not logically follow, being rather a NASA view than a Biblical view, and may be an artifact of chronological snobbery, as C.S. Lewis might have called it. The statement: "the heavens and the earth" are likely a merism, which is a common device used in many languages, to include Biblical Hebrew. This view is reinforced in verse ten regarding the third day where the Creator names the dry land eretz. In the Scriptures eretz refers to habitable land, and not bodies of water which cover nearly 75% of the globe.
Analyzing of information presented on this page is complete (even with spaces hypothesis). That is, all variants of translation were considered carefully. No warranty however, that nothing is missing.