A Study of Genesis 1:1
History is always written by the victor and the histories of the losing parties belong to the shrinking circle of those who were there – quoted by Joachim Peiper. This is a study about the unadulterated biblical creation. This study will be controversial to mainstream beliefs of what is being taught around the world by pseudo scientists and so-called conservative churches. Let us begin with Genesis 1 and delve into the scriptures. It is believed that Moses wrote the book of Genesis, or as others call it, the book of beginnings or the book of origins. Commentary of the Holy Bible by William Jenks says, the title of this book is borrowed from the Greek translation. It signifies origin, generation, or production. With propriety is it so named; for it is a history of originals. It is also a history of generations. Annotations on the Pentateuch by Henry Ainsworth says, Genesis, that is, Generation; so the Greek version calleth this book, because it setteth forth the generations of the heavens and earth, and of Adam, or mankind, 2:4 and 5:1.
Gen 2:4 – These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
Gen 5:1 – This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Generations is the OT Hebrew word towledah. Complete Biblical Librarysays, a feminine plural form of a noun which never appears in the singular, toledhoth is derived from the causative form of the verb yaladh, meaning to bear children. While there may have been a basic sense of the word, such as begetting or fathering, it is clear that its use in the Hebrew Bible has to do with the people who were related to a common ancestor (1 Ch 1:29). Its use with reference to the heavens and earth in Gen 2:4 is unique in that the word elsewhere always refers to humans. Theological Dictionary of the OT says, from the basic sense of the substantive it really means begetting, fathering, from which there has been a linguistic development to mean people who are related: offspring, descendants. In the toleḏoṯ formula, however, which sometimes appears apart from the genealogy proper with its list of names, the contextual meaning is more like (family/clan) history. In Gen 2:4 the meaning is actually beginnings.
The Introduction to Genesis ascribes everything to the living God (creating, making, forming, acting, moving, and speaking). McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia says, “Genesis, Septuagint Genesis, generation, the first book of the Law or the Pentateuch, is in Hebrew called Bereshith, from the word with which it begins.” There is no room for the big bang theory, the evolution theory nor the Darwinism theory without a flat denial of the Divine creation of God. One must be true and the others false. All of the theories out there cannot co-exist with the divine creation of God. A theory, by definition of the word, is a speculation or an opinion, which is not based on evidence of truth. Webster’s Dictionary says, theory comes from Latin theoria; from Greek to see or contemplate. A doctrine or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice. It is here taken in an unfavorable sense, as implying something visionary. So if your pastor says that the big bang theory or any theory is better than no theory, stay away from them, they are compromising the truth of God. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Ernest Klein says, theory, noun from Late Latin theoria, from Greek theoria, spectacle, contemplation, consideration. From theoros, spectator, from the stem of theasthai, to see, behold, whence also theatron, theater, literally a place for seeing.
Gen 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
The Hebrews call the first book of the bible, by the first Hebrew word bereshith (In the beginning). It is the Book of all beginnings. The Book of Genesis is the great foundation upon which the entire revelation of God rests. It is a foundational truth. The first translation of the Hebrew Bible (Masorah/Masoretic Text) was made into Greek during the third and second centuries B.C. It was made for the benefit of the Greek-speaking Jewish community of Alexandria, and was called the Septuagint (LXX). Most of the subsequent translations of the Bible into European languages were made from the LXX, rather than from the original Hebrew version.
The next word is God, which is the word elohiym. Iym is always plural, regardless of what others may say. You will find many groups (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Anti-Trinitarians, Christadelphians, Unitarians, United Pentecostal Church International, etc…) saying that elohiym does not mean a plurality of individuals, but a so-called plurality of majesty and they use the following texts.
Gen 1:26 – And God (elohiym) said, Let us make (na’aseh – plural) man in our image (besalmenu – plural), after our likeness (kidmutenu – plural): and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 3:22 – And the LORD (yhwh – Yahweh, Yahoweh, Yehowah or Yehovah – there are no vowels in Hebrew and the waw is a vav – LXX word is kurios) God (elohiym) said, Behold, the man is become as one of us (mimmennu – plural), to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen 11:7 – Go to, let us go down (nereda – plural), and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
Gen 35:7 – And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God (elohiym) appeared (niglu – they appeared – plural) unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Isa 6:8 – Also I heard the voice of the Lord (‘Adonay), saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us (yelek-lanu – masculine, plural)? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Plural of Majesty comes from the Latin (the Roman language) pluralis maiestitis, it is also known as the royal we. Notice if you will, that it is a Latin word and not a Hebrew word as it should if it were of Hebrew origin. Hint, hint. T-V Distinction says, “the pluralis maiestatis can be explained by the historical development of the Roman Empire, which had an enormous impact on the history of Europe. After the death of Emperor Theodosius I., the empire was split into a Western and an Eastern Empire, generating two emperors at the same time while imperial power was still understood as a whole. This duality of power encouraged the use of the plural pronoun, which was first only used for and by the emperor but then also for and by other people in positions of power”. Plural of Majesty did not exist historically among the Jews until after the OT was written in about 200 AD. The apostolic fathers had never heard of plural of majesty, much less believe it. They unanimously interpreted Gen 1:26 as the Father speaking to the Son. The earliest we find this poetic device being used is in about the 4th century during the Byzantine era. Other cultures that lived during the time of Moses never used the plural Elohim, the way the Bible does, but instead used the simple singular el. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason Leonard Archer says, “Genesis 1:26 quotes God (elohim) as saying, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. This first person plural can hardly be a mere editorial or royal plural that refers to the speaker alone, for no such usage is demonstrable anywhere else in biblical Hebrew. Therefore we must face the question of who are included in this us and our. It could hardly include the angels in consultation with God, for nowhere is it ever stated that man was created in the image of angels, only of God. Verse 27 then affirms: And God [elohim] created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male female He Created them. God–the same God who spoke of Himself in the plural–now states that He created man in His image. In other words, the plural equals the singular. The one true God (judge) subsists in three Persons, Persons who are able to confer with one another and carry their plans into action together–without ceasing to be one God”. Against Heresies by Irenaeus (180 A.D.) says, “It was not angels, therefore, who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor anyone else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, “Let Us make man after Our image and likeness; [Gen 1:26]”. It is wrong to take modern day terminology (the royal we) and read them back into a period of history when they did not exist. This is called Nosism, which comes from the Latin nos, and we get the Spanish word nosotros, which means we or us. This usage is said to have its origin in the mediaeval notion of the Divine Right of Kings—since royal status came with divine approval, a sovereign spoke both personally and on behalf of God. The term nosismdenotes the habit of monarchs to refer to themsleves as “we” (pluralis majestatis). Nos is the plural form of ego (“I”). Nosism is a form of egoism in a group of people. The best Hebraists will affirm that a plural of majesty (the royal “we”) of earthly potentates, have no existence in the Scriptures and one does not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that plural means more than one period.
Ps 149:2 – Let Israel rejoice in him that made (original text says, in their makers – masculine plural) him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
Pro 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy (the holy ones – masculine, plural) is understanding.
Eccl 12:1 – Remember now thy Creator (thy creators – masculine, plural) in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Isa 54:5 – For thy Maker (thy makers – masculine, plural) is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the NT says, “Christ is instituted and equipped by God the father. He is himself the bearer of the divine office”. By definition God is an office just like Melchizedek and the Priesthood is an office. Many priests and yet “one” office. Theological Wordbook of the OTsays, Office is the word pequddah. The basic meaning is to exercise oversight over a subordinate, either in the form of inspecting or of taking action to cause a considerable change in the circumstances of the subordinate, either for the better or for the worse. Half of the occurrences involve positive action by a superior in relation to his subordinates strongly suggests that such action is a vital part of the meaning of the word, an idea that is supported by the fact that the LXX most frequently translates it by episkopeo (an overseer) or a similar word. Pequddah most common use is to express the primary idea of that verb–intervention by a superior power (usually God or a king) in order to make a great change in the situation of a subordinate. A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT by Joseph Henry Thayer says, “God is elohiym, meaning judge or magistrate”. Hebrew and English Lexicon by John Parkhurst says, The Messiah seems to be once called by the plural name elohim, Ps 45:7, (comp. Heb 1:8) as being, in respect of his regal office, which is the subject of the psalm. Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the NT says, the words El, Eloah, and Elohiym as generic names, which as it were denote his title and office. Theological Wordbook of the OT says, “when adon appears in the special plural form, with a first common singular pronominal suffix (adonay), it always refers to God. Just as elohim (God) is plural in Hebrew, so this word might also be called an intensive plural or plural of majesty. To avoid the risk of taking God’s name (Yhwh) in vain, devout Jews began to substitute the word adonay for the proper name itself. Most translations use all capital letters to make the title LORD. Exceptions are the American Standard Version and New World Translation which use Jehovah, Amplified Bible which uses Lord, and JB (Jewish Bible) which uses Yahweh”. In the LXX it is the word theos and it has the same meaning. From theos we get the word theology(theos and logos), meaning the study of the word of God. The Complete Word Study Dictionary by Spiros Zodhiates says, the Septuagint (LXX) constantly translated the Hebrew plural name Elohiym, when used for the true God, by the singular theos, never by the plural theoi, gods. The reason for this was that at the time the Septuagint translation was made, Greek idolatry was the prevailing superstition, especially in Egypt under the Ptolemies. Their gods were regarded as demons, i.e. intelligent beings totally separate and distinct from each other. By translating the Hebrew Elohiym as God, they inculcated the unity of God and at the same time did not deny a plurality of persons in the divine nature. In the NT and the Septuagint, Theos, God generally answers to the OT plural name Elohiym and so denotes God”. Many explain God as the following, God is father, God is son and God is Holy Spirit. By explaining it this way, this would imply three individual Gods. God (the office) is or God (the office) equals Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This does not mean that all three are one and the same person, which is called the Oneness doctrine (Nosism). These three members are one in equality, in judgment, in agreement. They are one. When the bibles says, The LORD our God is one LORD in Dt 6:4, it is not saying that they are numerically one being. They are one in unity, just like the people were one in unity in the following verse.
Gen 11:6 – And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Just like we, the body of Christ are many members but one.
Rom 12:5 – So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
John 17:21 – That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 – And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 – I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
The same thing applies when a man and woman unite in marriage and become one.
Gen 2:23 – And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 – Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Mt 19:4 – And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 – And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Mk 10:6 – But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 – For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 – And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
Eph 5:30 – For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 – For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 – This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
John Gill’s Expositor says, “It was usual with the ancient Jews to introduce Jehovah speaking, or doing anything, in this form, I and my house of judgment (remember, elohiym means judge or magistrate); and it is a rule with them, that wherever it is said, and Jehovah, he and his house or judgment are intended; and Jarchi frequently makes use of this phrase to explain texts where a plurality in the Godhead is intended, as Gen 1:26, Song 1:11; and it is to be observed, that a house of judgment, or a Sanhedrim, among the Jews, never consisted of less than three”. And that is why there is the law of the two or three witnesses.
II Co 13:1 – This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established (histemi – a prolonged form of stao, meaning to stand, hold up).
Dt 19:15 – One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established (quwm – to stand, to abide, accomplish).
Num 35:30 – Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of two witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
In our American/Babylonian court system, we only need one witness, but God says, it has to be at least two witnesses not one. They altered (added and deleted) the word of God, whom they say they trust.
Dt 17:6 – At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
7 – The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of the people. So that thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
Jn 8:1 – Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 – And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 – And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery (they were trying to trip him up in his words); and when they had set her in the midst,
4 – They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 – Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned (Lev 20:10, Dt 22:22): but what sayest thou?
6 – This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 – So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her (Dt 17:7 – he didn’t say, let him that is without sin cast the first stone).
8 – And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground (What do you think he was writing? He wrote something on the ground, twice. Maybe the law of two witnesses, twice? Just speculation).
9 – And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 – When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 – She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Where is the other witness to put her to death? If you accuse a man of something and you did not have witnesses to it (bearing false witness), you had to suffer the fate of the crime that you were accusing him of and that’s why they walked away.
Dt 19:16 – If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17 – Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
18 – And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19 – Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
In John 8 there were no witnesses to testify against this matter and plus they only brought the woman and they were supposed to bring the woman and the man so that they may judge the matter, and if they couldn’t prove it… Jesus said, where are the two or three witnesses? Step forward and cast the first stone, but you’re in trouble and you’re going to die if you bear false witness. They weren’t getting humbled as many suppose, they were getting scared. This is what the two witnesses are for, it’s about declaring Gods righteous judgment, which is his word upon the earth.
Jn 8:17 – It is also written in your law (in their writings, which is called halakah, meaning oral or verbal tradition), that the testimony of two men is true.
I Tim 5:19 – Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
Heb 10:28 – He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
I John 5:5 – Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus (The Word – the 1st witness in this subject) is the Son of God (Son of The Father, which is the 2nd witness)?
6 – This is he that came by water (1st witness) and blood (2nd witness), even Jesus Christ (The Word); not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit (of God – the 3rd witness) that beareth witness (martureo), because the Spirit (of God) is truth (the Spirit is the truth – compare John 17:17 and Ps 119:142).
7 – For there are three (treis – masculine gender) that bear record(martureo – plural, masculine gender) in heaven, the Father (pater – singular, masculine gender), the Word (logos – singular, masculine gender), and the Holy Ghost (hagios pneuma – singular, neuter gender, but grammatically speaking, the law of Lexical Intrusion in seminaries enters here and because the beginning of the verse says that there are 3 masculines that bear record, ghost automatically becomes masculine – these 3 that bear record is the antecedent, meaning that which comes before): and these three (treis – masculine gender – these 3 is talking about the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost) are (eisi) one (eis – singular, neuter gender, not one person. Keeping it in context, these are the same three witnesses from verse 5 and 6 and that is why the Lord our God is ONE).
8 – And there are three that bear witness (martureo) in earth, the Spirit (truth), and the water (living water), and the blood (blood baptism): and these three agree (eisi – it actually says are) in one. (These are the three witnesses from verse 6. These verses must be kept in context to understand why there are witnesses in heaven and on earth).
These 3 witnesses are one in unity, one in agreement, and one in judgment. Here are a couple more verses regarding the 3 witnesses.
John 14:26 – But the Comforter (parakletos – one who was called/kaleo near/para to assist or defend another in a court of law who has been accused of something – masculine gender), which is the Holy (hagios) Ghost (pneuma – neuter gender, but the Comforter/the parakletos, which is the antecedent grammatically makes this masculine), whom the Father will send in my name (onoma – in his authority), he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 15:26 – But when the Comforter (the parakletos) is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify (martureo) of me:
The holy ghost/comforter/the spirit of truth is the 1st witness, the father is the 2nd witness and Jesus, the one speaking here is the 3rd witness. You don’t have to use just I Jn 5:7 (which many Westcott and Hort proponents say is not in the original text) to prove that there are three in the Godhead. Other scriptures teach us the plurality in the Godhead. Plural of majesty does not work nor fit in scripture. The father, the son and the holy spirit were undeniably all involved in the creation. The Father is the creator.
Eph 3:9 – And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by (dia – through) Jesus Christ:
The Word (or the Son of God, the Messiah, the Lord, Yahovah, Yahweh or Yahveh) is the creator. No, I did not misspell Jehovah.
Heb 1:8 – But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 – Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 – And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
Col 1:16 – For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
The Holy Spirit is the creator as well.
Ps 33:6 – By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath (ruwach – same word as spirit – same word used in Gen 1:2 when the spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep – LXX word is pnuema) of his mouth.
Job 26:13 – By his spirit (ruwach) he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Job 33:4 – The Spirit (ruwach) of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Now if elohiym is not a plurality of persons then you are going to have to deal and struggle with these scriptures regarding the creation. And when did these 3 witnesses create if it wasn’t in the beginning of Gen 1:1? You guys who deny the plurality of Elohiym, need to study…a lot more than what you think you have concluded to.
Many want to get technical with the using and the pronouncing of the name of God. Name is the word shem in the OT and onoma in the NT, meaning authority or character. When the authorities stop someone running from a crime, don’t they say, STOP “in the name” of the law? What is the name of the Law? Is the law called by a name of a person? Does the law have a name? The name of the law is the authority of the law and that’s what that means and anyone with common sense will tell you that. God’s name is his authority, his law, which is his Word. God/Elohiym is an office and this is the title that they hold and not a name. Commentary on the Gospel of John by E.W. Hengenstenberg says, the name of God is His character. Theological Wordbook of the OT says, God’s name identifies his nature, so that a request for his name is equivalent to asking about his character (Ex 3:13, Hos 12:5). John Gill’s Expositor says, “Dt 26:17 is rendered by the Jerusalem Targum after this manner; ye have made the word of the Lord king over you this day, that he may be your God: and this is frequent with Philo the Jew, who says, the name of God is his word, and calls him, my Lord, the divine word; and affirms, that the most ancient word is God (Rev 19:13)”.
Rev 19:13 – And he was clothed with a vesture dipped (bapto – related to baptizo, meaning baptize) in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
His name is not Jesus, Jehovah or Yahweh. His name is his authority from forever.
Ex 3:14 – And God (elohiym) said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
I am in this verse is exactly the word ‘ehyeh. CBL says, hayah is the basic Hebrew word for being, and it can be translated to be, to become, to exist, to happen and to have. There is ongoing controversy about how to translate ‘ehyeh ʾăsher ʾehyeh (I am that I am), but the passage clearly teaches that the Lord is essential to the existence of his people. The name Yahweh comes from the same root as hayah, which is the most essential word of the Hebrew language. The idea of being is the central idea of every language. TDOT says, “the LXX renders it as I am the being one, I am he who is (Ego eimi ho on). According to this interpretation, Yahweh characterizes himself more precisely as the only one who is real (for Israel), the only one among the gods who exists. This situation suggests that the correct translation of Ex 3:14 should be I will be who I will be. The ancient versions of Aquila and Theodotion understood the Hebrew text in this sense (ésomai hós ésomai).” John Gill’s Expositor says, “And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. This signifies the real being of God, his self-existence, and that he is the Being of beings; as also it denotes his eternity and immutability, and his constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, for it includes all time, past, present, and to come; and the sense is, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am. The Platonists and Pythagoreans seem to have borrowed their to on from hence, which expresses with them the eternal and invariable Being; and so the Septuagint version here is o on: it is said, that the temple of Minerva at Sais, a city of Egypt, had this inscription on it, I am all that exists, is, and shall be. And on the temple of Apollo at Delphos was written ei, the contraction of eimi, I am. Our Lord seems to refer to this name, (John 8:58), and indeed is the person that now appeared; and the words may be rendered, I shall be what I shall be the incarnate God, God manifest in the flesh: thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you; or as the Targum of Jonathanhas it, I am he that is, and that shall be. This is the name Ehjeh, or Jehovah.” In this verse it is a verb, not a noun as many suppose. Gleanings in Exodusby Arthur Pink says, at first sight this may strike us as strange and mysterious, yet a little reflection should discover its profound suggestiveness to us. I am is the great Jehovistic name of God. Dr. Pentecost says, It contains each tense of the verb to be, and might be translated, I was, I am, and I shall always continue to be.
The Hebrew/Chaldee alphabet was invented in the last 5000 years or so. The I AM of eternity, the self-existent one from eternity is way older than the Hebrew language and mankind. So, what was his name before the beginning, in eternity, if he is to be called by a name? Yahweh is the same as Jehovah, because in the Hebrew alphabet the letter v (the vav) is the same as the letter w (the waw). There are no vowels in the Hebrew alphabet, so it is actually spelled Yhwh. Yahweh is the same as Yahveh or Ya-ho-weh is the same as Ya-ho-veh, or Ye-ho-wah is the same as Ye-ho-vah, which means self-existent. Jesus comes from Yeshua, which is a translation of the OT Joshua, which means Jehovah or yhvh saves, or savior. These are all one and the same.
The next word in Genesis 1:1 is created, which is the OT Hebrew word Hebrew bara. Same word used in the following verses.
Gen 1:21 – And God created (bara) great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:27 – So God created (bara) man in his own image, in the image of God created (bara) he him; male and female created (bara) he them.
Gen 2:3 – And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created (bara) and made (asah – in the original text is says, God created to make).
God created the heavens, the earth, man and all that are in his creation, to make it. He created it to asah it. Whatever asah means. Theological Dictionary of the OT says, like Greek, poieo and Latin facere (we also get the Spanish word hacer), ʿasa combines the two meanings do and make. A potter makes a vessel (Jer 18:3-4). Here ʿasa becomes a catchword: just as the potter makes his vessel as seems good to him, so Yahweh can do with(ʿasa le, v6) his people. TWOT says, the word occurs with great frequency in the Genesis account of creation, which is the first great act of God in history. The significant interchange between the words bara, create and ‘asa is of great interest. The word bara carries the thought of the initiation of the object involved. It always connotes what only God can do and frequently emphasizes the absolute newness of the object created. The word ‘asa is much broader in scope, connoting primarily the fashioning of the object with little concern for special nuances. The use of bara in the opening statement of the account of creation seems to carry the implication that the physical phenomena came into existence at that time and had no previous existence in the form in which they were created by divine flat. The use of ‘asa may simply connote the act of fashioning the objects involved in the whole creative process. The word ‘asa is also used elsewhere in Scripture to describe aspects of the creative work of God (Ps 86:9, 95:5, 96:5).
Gen 2:4 – These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created (bara), in the day that the LORD God made(asah) the earth and the heavens,
Gen 5:1 – This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created (bara) man, in the likeness of God made (asah) he him;
2 – Male and female created (bara) he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created (bara).
Gen 6:7 – And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created(bara) from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made (asah) them.
Ex 34:10 – And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done (bara – created) in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do (asah) with thee.
Num 16:30 – But if the LORD make (bara) a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
Dt 4:32 – For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created (bara) man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
Jos 17:15 – And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, thenget thee up to the wood country, and cut down (bara) for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
Jos 17:18 – But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down (bara): and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, andthough they be strong.
I Sam 2:29 – Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat (bara) with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
Ps 51:10 – Create (bara) in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Ps 89:12 – The north and the south thou hast created (bara) them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
Ps 89:47 – Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made (bara) all men in vain?
Ps 102:18 – This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created (bara) shall praise the LORD.
Ps 104:30 – Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created (bara): and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Ps 148:5 – Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created (bara).
Eccl 12:1 – Remember now thy Creator (bara) in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Isa 4:5 – And the LORD will create (bara) upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
Isa 40:26 – Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created(bara) these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Isa 40:28 – Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator (bara) of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isa 41:20 – That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created (bara) it.
Isa 42:5 – Thus saith God the LORD, he that created (bara) the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isa 43:1 – But now thus saith the LORD that created (bara) thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
Isa 43:7 – Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created(bara) him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Isa 43:15 – I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator (bara) of Israel, your King.
Isa 45:7 – I form the light, and create (bara) darkness: I make peace, and create (bara) evil: I the LORD do all these things.
8 – Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created(bara) it.
Isa 45:12 – I have made (asah) the earth, and created (bara) man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
Isa 45:18 – For thus saith the LORD that created (bara) the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made (asah) it; he hath established it, he created (bara) it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Isa 48:7 – They are created (bara) now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
Isa 54:16 – Behold, I have created (bara) the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created (bara) the waster to destroy.
Isa 57:19 – I create (bara) the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
Isa 65:17 – For, behold, I create (bara) new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 – But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create (bara): for, behold, I create (bara) Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Jer 31:22 – How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created (bara) a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
Ezk 21:19 – Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose (bara) thou a place, choose (bara) it at the head of the way to the city.
Ezk 21:30 – Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created (bara), in the land of thy nativity.
Ezk 23:47 – And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch (bara) them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
Ezk 28:13 – Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created (bara).
Ezk 28:15 – Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created (bara), till iniquity was found in thee.
Amos 4:13 – For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth(bara) the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
Mal 2:10 – Have we not all one father? hath not one God created (bara) us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
TWOT says, the root bara has the basic meaning to create. It differs from yasar, to fashion (shape or form) in that the latter primarily emphasizes the shaping of an object while bara emphasizes the initiation of the object. The root bara denotes the concept of initiating something new. The word also possesses the meaning of bringing into existence in several passages (Isa 43:1, Ezk 21:30, 28:13, 15). It is not surprising that this word with its distinctive emphases is used most frequently to describe the creation of the universe and the natural phenomena (Gen 1:1, 21, 27, 2:3). The magnitude of God’s power is exemplified in creation. Creation displays the majesty, (Am 4:13) orderliness, (Isa 45:18) and sovereignty (Ps 89:12) of God. Since the word never occurs with the object of the material, and since the primary emphasis of the word is on the newness of the created object, the word lends itself well to the concept of creation ex nihilo (a Latin word), although that concept is not necessarily inherent within the meaning of the word. The Jewish Encyclopedia by Isidore Singer says, “the bringing into existence of the world by the act of God. Most Jewish philosophers find in bara (Gen 1:1) creation ex nihilo. The etymological meaning of the verb bara, however, is to cut out and put into shape, and thus presupposes the use of material. It is clear that the Prophets and many of the Psalms accept without reservation the doctrine of creation from nothing by the will of a super mundane personal God (Ps 33:6-9, 102:25, 121:2, Jer 10:13, Isa 42:5, 45:7-9): By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. To such a degree has this found acceptance as the doctrine of the Synagogue that God has come to be designated as He who spake and the world sprang into existence. God is the author of creation, bereshit having become the technical term for creation.” Ex is a Latin word (the Roman Language), which is where we get the English word exit, meaning out. Nihilo is also a Latin word. An Elementary Latin Dictionary by Charlton T. Lewis says, nihilum or nilum, ne+hilum; not a shred, nothing: ex nihilo. A Complete English Latin Dictionary by J.E. Riddle says, to Create – to call into being; rem ex nihilo. Pulpit Commentarysays bara, one of three terms employed in this chapter, and in Scripture generally, to describe the Divine activity; the other two being yatzar, formed, and asah, made. Both signifying to construct out of preexisting materials (cf. for yatzar, Gen 2:7, 8:19, Ps 33:15, Isa 44:9; for asah, Gen 8:6, Ex 5:16, Dt 4:16), and predicable equally of God and man. Bara is used exclusively of God. Though not necessarily involved in its significance, the idea of creation ex/out of nihilo/nothing is acknowledged by the best expositors to be here intended. Thus, according to the teaching of this venerable document, the visible universe neither existed from eternity, nor was fashioned out of pre-existing materials, nor proceeded forth as an emanation from the Absolute, but was summoned into being by an express creative fiat. The NT boldly claims this as a doctrine peculiar to revelation (Heb 11:3).
Heb 11:3 – Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Ps 33:9 – For he spake, and it was (hayah) done (done is in italics, meaning it is not in the text); he commanded, and it stood fast.
Ps 148:5 – Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created (bara).
John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 – The same was in the beginning with God.
3 – All things were made by (dia – through) him; and without (choris – without assistance from a person – Complete Biblical Library) him was not any thing made that was made.
Pulpit Commentary continues to say, “modern science explicitly disavows it as a discovery of reason. The continuity of force admits of neither creation nor annihilation, but demands an unseen universe, out of which the visible has been produced “by an intelligent agency residing in the unseen,” and into which it must eventually return (‘The Unseen Universe,’ pp. 167, 170).” Alberto Rivera, a former Jesuit Priest, claimed the goal of the Jesuit order was to create a one world religion by influencing all institutions of thought. Their goal was not to make everyone belong to just one church, but for all churches to adhere to their cosmology and thought form. By taking over the sciences they can cut out any greater divine beliefs in the creation of earth. Lawrence Krauss (an Athiest – from theosand the “alpha” in front of theos, gives theos an opposite meaning, atheos/atheist means no god), physicist, cosmologist and foundation professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona state university states: the laws of physics allow the earth to begin from nothing, so you don’t need a deity (god or goddess).
In John 1:3 the words were made is not the common word for made, poieo, meaning to make or do, but it is the word ginomai. CBL says, “ginomai has a range of definitions, but its essential meanings include: to come into being or into existence or to become, to come into a certain state. Thus it can refer to the birth of individuals, to events that happen, or to objects or results produced. In its second sense someone or something may be said to become some condition (e.g., rich, poor, angry, separated, etc.) or to be in some state, place, or process (Liddell-Scott). In John’s Gospel ginomai is the language of creation. Everything comes into existence through the Word, (1:3; cf. verse 10) and life itself exists in Him (1:4). Ginomai describes the Word who became flesh (14) and believers who have the authority to become God’s children through Him (12).” Ginomai is mentioned 3 times in John 1:3, were made and made are aorist (past) tense, was made is perfect tense. The Perfect tense in Greek corresponds to the perfect tense in English, and describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated. Jesús’ last cry from the cross, tetelestai (It is finished!) is a good example of the perfect tense used in this sense, namely It (the atonement) has been accomplished, completely, once and for all time. Ginomai is the same word used in these verses,
Gen 1:3 – And God (elohiym) said, Let there be (hayah – ginomai – Qal/active voice, Jussive/imperative mood, a command) light: and there was (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect, it expresses an action, process or condition which is incomplete as opposed to the Qal, perfect, which is a completed action as in God created. Created is Qal, perfect, which expresses a completed action), light (it would actually say, and light proceeded to come into being or it became light– compare II Co 4:6).
Genesis is a derivative of ginomai. Kittel’s TDNT says, the basic meaning is birth or genesis (Mt 1:18, Lk 1:14). Derivative meanings are what has come into being.
Gen 1:5 – And God (elohiym) called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were (hayah – ginomai– Qal, Imperfect) the first day (it actually says, and it became evening and it became morning, day one).
6 – And God (elohiym) said, Let there be (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Jussive) a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Jussive) divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:8 – And God (elohiym) called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) the second day (it actually says, and it became evening and it became morning, day second).
9 – And God (elohiym) said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – it became) so.
Gen 1:11 – And God (elohiym) said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding (asah – making or producing) fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – it became) so.
Gen 1:13 – And the evening and the morning were (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) the third day (it actually says, and it became evening and it became morning, day third).
14 – And God (elohiym) said, Let there be (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Jussive) lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect) for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 – And let them be (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect) for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was(hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – it became) so.
Gen 1:19 – And the evening and the morning were (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) the fourth day (it actually says, and it became evening and it became morning, day fourth).
Gen 1:23 – And the evening and the morning were (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) the fifth day (it actually says, and it became evening and it became morning, day fifth).
24 – And God (elohiym) said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – it became) so.
Gen 1:30 – And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there islife, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – it became) so.
31 – And God (elohiym) saw every thing that he had made (asah – poieo – Qal, Perfect), and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) the sixth day (it actually says, and it became evening and it became morning, day sixth).
Gen 2:4 – These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created (bara – ginomai – Niphal/passive voice, Infinitive/a verbal noun ending with “ing” – when they were being created), in the day that the LORD God made (asah – poieo – Qal, Infinitive) the earth and the heavens,
5 – And every plant of the field before it was (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – before it came to be) in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD (yehovah) God (elohiym) had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
Gen 2:7 – And the LORD (yehovah) God (elohiym) formed man of the dust of the ground (I Tim 2:13), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) a living soul.
Formed is the word yatsar (Qal, Imperfect), and the LXX word is plasso. Kittel’s TDNT says, “plasso and plassomai originally denote the art or craft of fashioning.” We get the word plaster and plastic. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Ernest Klein says, from Latin emplastrum, from Greek emplastron, plaster, salve, a word used by Galen instead of the more usual emplaston, from emplastos, daubed on or over, verbal adjective of emplasso, to plaster up, stuff in, form in, from em, en, in and plasso, to mold or form. The adjective plastic comes from Latin plasticus (Spanish word is plastico), from Greek plastikos, of molding, of forming, from plastos, molded, formed, verbal adjective of plasso.
Gen 2:8 – And the LORD (yehwa) God (elohiym) planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed(yatsar – plasso – Qal, Perfect).
Gen 2:19 – And out of the ground the LORD (yehovah) God (elohiym) formed (yatsar – plasso – Qal, Imperfect) every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
II Sam 17:28 – Brought beds, and basons, and earthen (yatsar – keramos, our word ceramic) vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,
The New International Dictionary of NT Theology by Colin Brown says, in antiquity a complex of words clustered around the basic term kerameia, which designates the potter’s craft. From Homer onward keramiondenotes vessels of clay, and especially earthenware jars for storing wine or water. The potter was a familiar figure in every village, and in the larger cities potters were organized as a trade guild. The potters’ quarter in Athens was called the kerameikos. McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia says (under Pot), the trade of the potters, called yetsurim or cheres yatsar (Jer 19:1), in Greek keramein, was a separate pursuit, to whose mysteries allusions are often made (Jer 18:2). It was necessary first to work the clay with the feet, to make it plastic (Isa 41:25), and then to shape it with the hand (Jer 18:4, 6) and the Oriental potter’s wheel. (Under Potter) Yotser, a fashioner; Chaldee, pechdr; kerameun. In one place, the power of the potter to form with his clay, by the impulse of his will and hand, vessels either for honorable or for mean uses, is employed with great force by the apostle to illustrate the absolute power of God in molding the destinies of men according to his pleasure (Rom 9:21). The potter’s wheel is mentioned only once in the Bible (Jer 18:2); but it must have been in use among the Hebrews long before the time of that allusion; for we now know that it existed in Egypt before the Israelites took refuge in that country. The art of pottery is one of the most common and most ancient of all manufactures. The clay, when dug, was trodden by men’s feet so as to form a paste (Isa 41:25); then placed by the potter on the wheel beside which he sat, and shaped by him with his hands. It consisted of a wooden disk placed on another larger one, and turned by the hand by an attendant, or worked by a treadle (Isa 45:9, Jer 18:3). The ancient potters frequently kneaded the clay with their feet, and after it had been properly worked up, they formed it into a mass of convenient size with the hand, and placed it on the wheel, which, to judge from that represented in the paintings, was of very simple construction, and turned with the hand.
II K 19:25 – Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed (yatsar – plasso) it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
I Ch 4:23 – These were the potters (yatsar – kerameus), and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work.
Ps 2:9 – Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s (yatsar – kerameus) vessel.
Ps 33:15 – He fashioneth (yatsar – plasso) their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
Ps 74:17 – Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made(yatsar – plasso) summer and winter.
Ps 94:9 – He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed(yatsar – plasso) the eye, shall he not see?
Ps 94:20 – Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth (yatsar – plasso) mischief by a law?
Ps 95:5 – The sea is his, and he made it (asah – poieo): and his hands formed (yatsar – plasso) the dry land.
Ps 104:26 – There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made (yatsar – plasso) to play therein.
Ps 139:16 – Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned (yatsar – plasso), when as yet there was none of them.
Isa 22:11 – Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker (asah – poieo) thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned (yatsar – ktizo) it long ago.
CBL says, in classical Greek the word ktizo is used to talk about something that is conceived or existing in the mind. It also refers to things actually brought into being or established. It could refer to the establishment of a city, a building, a town, or some other structure. Ktizo is used by Homer to talk about the settling or populating of a piece of land. It is also used to refer to an intellectual act that produces an invention (Liddell-Scott). In the Septuagint ktizo generally means to create and is used in reference to the creative activity of God. Thus in Gen 14:19, 22 God is spoken of as the One who created (and is the possessor of) the heavens and the earth. In Dt 32:6 God is described as having made (created) Israel. Ktizo is also used to refer to the setting up, establishing, or founding of something such as the tabernacle or a nation of people (Ex 9:18, Lev 16:16). In the NT and other Christian literature ktizo is used to speak only of God and His creative activity (Mk 13:19, Col 1:16, Rev 10:6). There are a series of statements in the NT which carefully point out the fact that God is the Creator of heaven and earth and all that is to be found therein. Ktizo is used several times to refer back to the beginning of the world (Mt 19:4, Mk 10:6, Rom 1:20, II Pet 3:4). All of these statements are designed to point out that there was nothing in existence before God created it. Paul made it clear that the creative activity of God was due to His spoken word by which He created something out of nothing (Rom 4:17, II Co 4:6). Ktizo is also used to describe the creative activity of God in the making of spiritual (new) men in Christ (Eph 2:10, 4:24).
Isa 27:11 – When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made (asah – poieo) them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed (yatsar – plasso) them will shew them no favour.
Isa 29:16 – Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s (yatsar – kerameus) clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed(yetser – a derivative of yatsar – plasma, a derivative of plasso – Rom 9:20, Job 40:19, Ps 103:14) say of him that framed (yatsar – plasso) it, He had no understanding?
Isa 30:14 – And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters (yatsar– keramion) vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
Isa 37:26 – Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed (yatsar – poieo) it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
Isa 41:25 – I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter (yatsar – kerameus) treadeth clay.
Isa 43:1 – But now thus saith the LORD (yehovah) that created (bara – poieo) thee, O Jacob, and he that formed (yatsar – plasso) thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
Isa 43:7 – Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created(bara – kataskeuazo – to carefully prepare – Heb 3:4, built) him for my glory, I have formed (yatsar – plasso) him; yea, I have made (asah – poieo) him.
Isa 43:10 – Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD (yehovah), and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed (yatsar– ginomai), neither shall there be after me.
Isa 43:21 – This people have I formed (yatsar – peripoieomai, purchased, Acts 20:28) for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
Isa 44:2 – Thus saith the LORD (yehovah) that made (asah – poieo) thee, and formed (yatsar – plasso) thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
Isa 44:9 – They that make (yatsar – plasso) a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they aretheir own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
10 – Who hath formed (yatsar – plasso) a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
Isa 44:12 – The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth (yatsar – ergazomai, to labor, toil or work as in ye that work iniquity in Mt 7:23) it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
Isa 44:21 – Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed (yatsar – plasso) thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
Isa 44:24 – Thus saith the LORD (yehovah), thy redeemer, and he that formed (yatsar – plasso) thee from the womb, I am the LORD(yehovah) that maketh (asah – sunteleo – completing) all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Isa 45:7 – I form (yatsar – kataskeuazo) the light, and create (bara – poieo) darkness: I make (asah – poieo) peace, and create (bara – ktizo) evil: I the LORD (yehovah) do (asah – poieo) all these things.
Isa 45:9 – Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker (yatsar – poieo)! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth (yatsar – kerameus) it, What makest (asah – poieo) thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Isa 45:11 – Thus saith the LORD (yehovah), the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker (yatsar – poieo), Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
Isa 45:18 – For thus saith the LORD (yehovah) that created (bara – poieo) the heavens; God (elohiym) himself that formed (yatsar – katadeixe – to introduce) the earth and made it (asah – poieo); he hath established it, he created (bara – poieo) it not in vain, he formed(yatsar – poieo) it to be inhabited: I am the LORD (yehovah); and there is none else.
Isa 46:11 – Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed (yatsar – ktizo) it, I will also do it(asah – poieo).
Isa 49:5 – And now, saith the LORD (yehovah) that formed (yatsar – plasso) me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD (yehovah), and my God (elohiym) shall be my strength.
Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed (yatsar – skeuos – an object) against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD (yehovah), and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD (yehovah).
Isa 64:8 – But now, O LORD (yehovah), thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter (yatsar); and we all are the work of thy hand.
Jer 1:5 – Before I formed (yatsar – plasso) thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 10:16 – The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former(yatsar – plasso) of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD (yehovah) of hosts is his name.
Jer 18:2 – Arise, and go down to the potter’s (yatsar – kerameus) house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 – Then I went down to the potter’s (yatsar – kerameus) house, and, behold, he wrought (asah – poieo) a work on the wheels.
4 – And the vessel that he made (asah – poieo) of clay was marred in the hand of the potter (yatsar): so he made (asah – poieo) it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter (yatsar) to make (asah – poieo) it.
Jer 18:6 – O house of Israel, cannot I do (asah – poieo) with you as this potter (yatsar – kerameus)? saith the LORD (yehovah). Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s (yatsar – kerameus) hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD (yehovah); Behold, I frame (yatsar – plasso) evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jer 19:1 – Thus saith the LORD (yehovah), Go and get a potter’s (yatsar– plasso) earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
Jer 19:11 – And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD (yehovah) of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s (yatsar – ostrakinos – earthen clay) vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
Jer 33:2 – Thus saith the LORD (yehovah) the maker (asah – poieo) thereof, the LORD (yehovah) that formed (yatsar – plasso) it, to establish it; the LORD (yehovah) is his name;
Jer 51:19 – The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former(yatsar – plasso) of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD (yehovah) of hosts is his name.
Lam 4:2 – The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter (yatsar – kerameus)!
Amos 4:13 – For, lo, he that formeth (yatsar – stereo, make firm or solid) the mountains, and createth (bara – ktizo) the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh (asah – poieo) the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD (yehovah), The God (elohiym) of hosts, is his name.
Amos 7:1 – Thus hath the Lord (adonay) GOD (yehovah) shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed (yatsar) grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.
Hab 2:18 – What profiteth the graven image that the maker (yatsar – plasso) thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker (yatsar – plasso) of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
Zec 11:13 – And the LORD (yehovah) said unto me, Cast it unto the potter (yatsar – choneuterion – foundry furnace): a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter (yatsar – choneuterion) in the house of the LORD(yehovah).
Zec 12:1 – The burden of the word of the LORD (yehovah) for Israel, saith the LORD (yehovah), which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth (yatsar – plasso) the spirit of man within him.
Let’s continue with more ginomai verses.
Ps 33:9 – For he spake, and it was (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – it became) done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Ps 90:2 – Before the mountains were brought forth (yalad – birth or beget – ginomai – Pual/passive, Perfect), or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou artGod.
Ps 148:5 – Let them praise the name of the LORD (yehovah): for he commanded, and they were created (bara – ginomai – Niphal/passive, Perfect).
Eccl 1:9 – The thing that hath been (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect), it is that which shall be (hayah –ginomai – Qal, Imperfect); and that which is done (asah – poieo – Niphal, Perfect) is that which shall be done (asah – poieo – Niphal, Imperfect): and there is no new thingunder the sun.
10 – Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect) already of old time, which was(hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect) before us.
Eccl 3:15 – That which hath been (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect) is now; and that which is to be (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Infinitive) hath already been (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect); and God requireth that which is past.
These 3 Ecclesiastical verses are the best descriptions for hayah, perfect and imperfect.
Isa 46:10 – Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done (asah – ginomai – Niphal, Perfect), saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Jer 50:6 – My people hath been (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Perfect) lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.
Whenever the scriptures say, “and it came to pass (mentioned 386 times)” or anything similar to it, in the OT, which are too many to put in this study, came to pass is the word ginomai, the majority of the time.
Gen 4:3 – And in process of time it came to pass (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect), that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:8 – And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass(hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect), when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Lam 3:37 – Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect), when the Lord commandeth it not?
Whenever the scriptures say, “and the word of the Lord came unto me (mentioned 46 times)”, came is the word ginomai.
Jer 1:11 – Moreover the word of the LORD came (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Ezk 3:16 – And it came to pass (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) unto me, saying,
Zec 4:8 – Moreover the word of the LORD came (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect) unto me, saying,
Hayah (perfect and imperfect) is extremely important in understanding Gen 1. It will wipe out any preconceived opinions, conclusions and any teachings we have learned in the past, whether it be government, school or churches (all are part of our World Babylonian system), that we have had of the creation of God. So, if you learn anything, please learn this word above all, regarding the creation of God.
Created in Gen 1:1 or bara is also in the Qal. What is Qal? Qal is the most frequently used verb pattern. It expresses the simple or causal (cause) action of the root in the active voice. Examples: he sat, he ate, he went, he said, he rose, he bought. Bara is also Perfect. The Perfect expresses a “completed” action. In reference to time, such an action may be one just completed from the standpoint of the present, I have come to tell you the news: one completed in the more or less distant past, in the beginning God created. TDOT says, “this verb does not denote an act that somehow can be described, but simply states that, unconditionally, without further intervention, through God’s command something comes into being that had not existed before. He commanded and they were created (Ps 148:5).” Create/bara is mentioned 7 times between Gen 1 and Gen 2 and they are all regarding chapter 1. Please keep in mind that when the scriptures were written, they were written on scrolls and didn’t have any chapter headings nor verses. The chapter headings and the verses were put there by the translators for us to find them. Chapter 2 is a continuation of chapter 1, it is a continual thought.
Gen 1:1 – In the beginning God (elohiym) created (bara – Qal, Perfect) the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:21 – And God (elohiym) created (bara – Qal, Imperfect – began creating) great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:27 – So God (elohiym) created (bara – Qal, Imperfect – began creating) man in his own image, in the image of God (elohiym) created(bara – Qal, Perfect) he him; male and female created (bara – Qal, Perfect) he them.
Gen 2:3 – And God (elohiym) blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created (bara – Qal, Perfect) and made (Qal, Imperfect – which he created to make).
Gen 2:4 – These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created (bara – Niphal, Infinitive – in their creating), in the day that the LORD (yehovah) God (elohiym) made (Qal, Infinitive – in making) the earth and the heavens,
The next word is heaven, which is the OT Hebrew word shamayim, it is plural, meaning it is more than one heaven, hence the heavens, which verse 8 describes it as the firmament. Shamayim is mentioned 10 times in this chapter.
Gen 1:6 – And God (elohiym) said (and God said is mentioned 10 times in this chapter, which is the number of completion), Let there be a firmament (raqiya) in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 – And God (elohiym) made the firmament (raqiya), and divided the waters which were under the firmament (raqiya) from the waters which were above the firmament (raqiya): and it was so.
8 – And God (elohiym) called (and God called is mentioned 3 times in this chapter and 3 is the number of resurrection and the 3 witnesses) the firmament (raqiya) Heaven (shamayim – plural, heavens). And the evening and the morning were the second day.
More firmament verses.
Gen 1:14 – And God (elohiym) said, Let there be lights in the firmament of (raqiya) the heaven (shamayim – heavens) to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 – And let them be for lights in the firmament of (raqiya) the heaven(shamayim – heavens) to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
Gen 1:17 – And God (elohiym) set them in the firmament of (raqiya) the heaven (shamayim – heavens) to give light upon the earth,
Gen 1:20 – And God (elohiym) said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of (raqiya) heaven (shamayim– heavens).
Ps 19:1 – The heavens (shamayim) declare the glory of God; and the firmament (raqiya) sheweth his handywork.
Ps 150:1 – Praise ye the LORD (yahh). Praise God (‘el) in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of (raqiya) his power.
Ezk 1:22 – And the likeness of the firmament (raqiya) upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 – And under the firmament (raqiya) were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
Ezk 1:25 – And there was a voice from the firmament (raqiya) that wasover their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
26 – And above the firmament (raqiya) that was over their heads wasthe likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Ezk 10:1 – Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament (raqiya) that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
Dan 12:3 – And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament (raqiya); and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
CBL says, related to the verb raqaʿ, to stamp, to spread out, to hammer out, raqiaʿ refers to the gigantic heavenly dome which was the source of the light that brooded over the heavenly ocean and of which the dome arched above the earth. This expanse was said to separate the earthly waters from the heavenly waters (Gen 1:6). Lights could be seen in this expanse (v14, 17). In v20, raqiaʿ is synonymous with sky or atmosphere. In Ezk 1, Ezekiel sees a vision in which heavenly creatures are covered by something that looks like the expanse of the sky (v20, 25). TWOT says, the basic concept in raqa‘is stamping, as with the foot, and what results, i.e. a spreading out or stretching forth. It may be used figuratively to describe beaten and crushed enemies (II Sam 22:43). In the Piel and Pual stems, the verb raqa‘acquires the sense of beating out precious metals, and of the spreading that results, e.g. to spread over an image (Isa 40:19). For the gold of Ex 39:3 riqqa’, hammer out, is rendered beat thin; for the silver in Jer 10:9, spread into plates; and for the bronze in Num 16:39, make broad (plates). raqa‘ then comes to denote God’s spreading forth the tangible earth (Isa 42:5, 44:24), stretching out its land above the water (Ps 136:6), or spreading out the intangible sky (Job 37:18). raqia‘, firmament. NASB renders more correctly as expanse; cf. riqqu‘e pahim (Num 16:38), literally an expansion of plates, i.e. broad plates, beaten out. raqia‘ may refer to a limited space, such as that of the canopy over the cherubim, under the throne in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezk 1:22, 26). Or it may refer to the broad expanse of heaven (Dan 12:3) as it does in thirteen of its seventeen occurrences. raqia‘ is the most important derivative of raqa‘. It identifies God’s heavenly expanse. The Mosaic account of creation uses raqia‘ interchangeably for the open expanse of the heavens in which birds fly (Gen 1:20), i.e. the atmosphere, and that farther expanse of sky in which God placed the lights…for signs and for seasons(v14, 17, referring apparently to their becoming visible through the cloud cover; the stars, sun, and moon presumably having been created already in v3), i.e. empty space, over which, as Job said, He stretches out the north (Job 26:7). Pulpit Commentary says, And God said, Let there be a firmament(rakiya, an expanse, from rakah, to beat out; LXX, stereoma; Vulgate, firmamentum) in the midst of the waters. To affirm with Knobel, Gesenius, and others that the Hebrews supposed the atmospheric heavens to be a metallic substance (Ex 24:10), a vault fixed on the water-flood which surrounds the earth (Pro 8:27), firm as a molten looking-glass (Job 37:18), borne by the highest mountains, which are therefore called the pillars and foundations of heaven (II Sam 22:8), and having doors and windows (Gen 7:11, 28:17, Ps 78:23).
Jewish Encyclopedia by Isidore Singer says, Shamayim, (the heavens), from shama (the high place): chiefly, the upper part of the universe in contradistinction to the earth (Gen 1:1); the region in which sun, moon, and stars are placed (Gen 1:17). It is stretched out as a curtain (Isa 40:22) and is founded upon the mountains as on pillars sunk into the waters of the earth (II Sam 22:8, Pro 8:27-29). It is the dwelling-place of God, from which He looks down upon all the inhabitants of the earth (Ps 11:4, 33:13-14), though the heavens and heaven’s heaven do not contain Him (Isa 66:1, I K 8:27). It is the dwelling-place also of the angels (Gen 21:17, 22:11, 28:12). From heaven comes the rain, the hail, and the lightning (Gen 8:2, 19:24, Ex 9:23, Dt 11:11, Job 38:37). Yhwh, the God of Israel, is eminently the God of heaven (Gen 24:3); the possessor of heaven and earth, of the world above and the world below (Gen 14:19); Lord of the hosts of heaven (I K 8:15, Isa 26:21, compare Gen 2:1). Toward heaven as the seat of God the hands are stretched forth in prayer (I K 8:22, 30, II Ch 30:27; compare Ex 9:29, 33), because there the prayer is heard. Hence the expression prayed before the God of heaven (Neh 1:4, 2:4). During the Persian rule, and possibly under Persian influence, the name God of heaven becomes quite frequent (Ez 1:2, 6:9, 7:21, Neh 2:20, Dan 2:19, 37, 4:34. The conception of a plurality of heavens was evidently familiar to the ancient Hebrews (Dt 10:14, I K 18:15, Ps 148:4); while rabbinical and Apocryphal literature speaks of seven or of ten heavens. Inasmuch as heaven stands for the seat of God, whither prayer is directed, and where the destinies of men are decided, it came to be used as an equivalent for God. In rabbinical terminology, especially, shamayim, without the article, became the regular expression for the name of God, which was, from motives of reverence, avoided as far as possible; hence the words mora or yir’at shamayim, fear of heaven; shem shamayim, the name of heaven; and malkut shamayim, kingdom of heaven. This last expression is used in the sense of sovereignty of God. Matthew’s kingdom of heaven (Mt 3:2, and elsewhere), where the other gospels have kingdom of God. Complete Biblical Library says, shamayim refers to the idea of a canopy, a covering of the sky above the earth. In the LXX it is the word ouranos. Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the NT says, “οuranos in the Cosmological Sense, in Homer, the vault of heaven is a hollow half-globe resting above the earth on pillars and held up by Atlas”. CBL says, this substantive occurs in Greek literature from Homer onward. Its exact etymology is unclear; however, some conjecture that it has an Indo-European root meaning water, or that it derives from horos meaning boundary and ano meaning above, thus the boundary above.
The next word in Gen 1:1 is earth, which is the OT Hebrew word erets. CBLsays, its two main meanings refer to the earth in a cosmological sense, and to the land in a territorial sense. The first use includes references to the ground or the surface of the earth (Gen 18:2, 38:9, Jud 6:37), and to the productive soil (Gen 1:11-12). Erets also denotes the piece of land Abraham bought to bury Sarah (Gen 23:15). It further refers to the whole earth, which was created by God (Gen 1). The second main use of ʾerets refers to the land in a territorial sense, particularly the land which God gave to Israel. It refers to many heathen lands, including the land of Havilah (Gen 2:11), the land of Ethiopia (Gen 2:13), the land of Nod (Gen 4:16), the land of Shinar (Gen 10:10), the land of Canaan (Gen 11:31, 12:5), the land of Egypt (Gen 13:10, 21:21) and the land of the Philistines (Gen 21:32, 34). It also refers to various districts or regions (Gen 19:28, 22:2, Josh 11:3, Ps 42:6). However, it most commonly refers to the land God gave to his covenant people, which included the territory known as Canaan (Gen 12:7). It is even used of tribal territories (Dt 34:2, Jud 21:21), and family territories (I Sam 9:4-5) within Canaan.
Notice if you will that the age of the earth is not mentioned. Some will say that the earth is no more than 10,000 years old (Young Earth Creationism) and others say it is millions or billions or even trillions of years old (Darwinism, Evolution, Big Bang Theory, Gap theory). The former (thousands) makes more sense scripturally, then the latter, millions. No one really knows and no one will never ever know just how old or how young the earth is and we should just leave it at that. There are just some things in scripture that we will never know and that is ok, that’s what God wants. If he wants us to know something, he will put it in scripture. If it is not in scripture, then go on to the next subject. There is no room for adding opinions and theories to scripture nor guessing games. Gleaning’s in Genesis by Arthur Pink says, “the manner in which the Holy Scriptures open is worthy of their Divine Author. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and that is all that is here recorded concerning the original creation. Nothing is said which enables us to fix the date of their creation; nothing is revealed concerning their appearance or inhabitants; nothing is told us about the modus operandi of their Divine Architect. We do not know whether the primitive heaven and earth were created a few thousands or many millions of years ago.” Scriptually, I believe it is thousands of years of age, not the popular belief of millions of years and this will be explained in Gen 1:2.
As far as the shape of the earth is concerned, many, including churches, say that the earth is round (globe theory). And their proof is photos taken from NASA and only from NASA with all their so-called many trips to “outer-space”.
Robert Simmon from NASA created the Blue Marble Earth in 2004. He said (in 2015), “My role is to make imagery from Earth sciences data. “I” turn data into pictures. The last time anyone took a photograph from above low Earth orbit that showed an entire hemisphere (one side of a globe) was in 1972 during Apollo 17. By 2002, we finally had enough data to make a snapshot of the entire Earth. So we did. The hard part was creating a flat map of the Earth’s surface with four months of satellite data. Reto Stockli, now at the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, did much of this work. Then we wrapped the flat map around a ball (the heliocentric/globe model). “My” part was integrating the surface, clouds, and oceans to match people’s expectations of how Earth looks from space. That ball became the famous Blue Marble (from CGI = Computer generated imagery)”.
So, this was about matching the people’s expectations of how earth should look like to them. In order to see the earth from above, one has to get passed the firmament and no one has ever done that yet, many have tried but no success. The sun, the moon and the stars, which our Babylonian system calls planets (which is not in the Bible), are inside the firmament.
Gen 1:6 – And God said, Let there be a firmament (an expansion or something that is solid) in the midst (or in the middle) of the waters, and let it divide (let the expansion divide or separate) the waters from the waters.
7 – And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which wereunder the firmament (which are the oceans, seas, rivers, etc..) from the waters which were above the firmament (where we get rain from): and it was so.
8 – And God called the firmament Heaven (shamayim – heavens). And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 – And God said, Let the waters under the heaven (shamayim – heavens) be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry landappear: and it was so.
10 – And God called the dry land Earth (but not “planet” earth); and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:14 – And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament (not in outer space, where it is always dark, never even see the sun according to NASA photos and NASA vids and hollywierd movies) of the heaven(shamayim – heavens) to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 – And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven(shamayim – heavens) to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 – And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 – And God set them in the firmament of the heaven (shamayim – heavens) to give light upon the earth,
He did not say that he set them in “outerspace”. So who is telling the truth, God or our Babylonian system? Do you believe that all the photos from “outerspace” from NASA are real? Some (like JB) will say that no one can keep a lie going that long, then brushes it off by saying, it’s a conspiracy, it’s nothing, just study your bible. Really???? Not everything is a conspiracy. Define conspiracy. Complete Etymology of the English Languageby Willian W. Smith says, Plot, a conspiracy; a scheme. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Ernest Klein says, conspiracy, noun Middle English conspiracie, from Old French conspiracie, from Latin conspirare. See conspire. Conspire, intransitive and transitive verb. French conspirer, from Latin conspirare, to breathe together, agree, act in concert, plot together. From con and spirare, to breathe, blow. See spirit and aspire and words there referred to.
Is not Satan the father of all lies and is not Babylon Satan’s children? And how long have they been deceived? Is this a conspiracy as well? Lies, lies, lies but it’s all a conspiracy, right? Every time you research and study and find out that Babylon’s lies can’t hold water, they turn around and make you the trouble maker and make you into a conspirator, “your just into conspiracy theories Willie”. Really? Wait til the study on Gen 1:2 and we’ll see who is into conspiracy theories, you bunch of lying Babylonian bible teachers.
Mt 24:24 – For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mk 13:22 – For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Lk 21:8 – And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
II Tim 3:13 – But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Rev 18:23 – And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 19:20 – And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 20:10 – And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
II Th 2:11 – And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Barack Obama was asked, more than once, can we get past low earth orbit (the van Allen Belts)? And his answer was NO. NASA admitted they can only fly low earth orbit. If we can’t get past low earth orbit, then how did they get to the moon in 1969 and no one questions anything and today they are flying to Mars? The churches prove the earth as round/globe with just one verse (below) and they believe that it is the answer to the shape of the earth and no one questions anything, let alone study it?
Isa 40:22 – It is he that sitteth upon the circle (chuwg) of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
What is a circle? Elements of Euclid (a mathematical book) by I. Todhuntersays, a circle is a plane figure contained by one line, which is called the circumference, and is such, that all straight lines drawn from a certain point within the figure to the circumference are equal to one another. Greek Geometry From Thales to Euclid by George Johnston Allman says, one of Pythagoras’ doctrines was, that of all solid figures the sphere (from the Greek sphaira, meaning ball – not in the Bible – the orb, a symbol of imperial power used in the ancient world) was the most beautiful (a globe is solid); and of all plane figures, the circle (a circle is not a globe).
Chuwg is also mentioned in the following verses,
Job 22:14 – Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit (chuwg) of heaven (if the earth is a ball, then so is the heavens, right?).
What is a circuit? Now keep in mind that this was the translation of the 1611 KJV translators, so they used words that were more or less equivalent in their day and time to Hebrew OT words. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Ernest Klein says, from Latin circuitus, from circulre, circumire, to go round, from circum, round. Online Etymology Dictionary says, circuit, late 14c., a circumference; a periphery, a line going around (an area), whether circular or not; a circular or circuitous course, from Old French circuit (14c.) a circuit; a journey (around something), from Latin circuitus a going around, from stem of circuire, circumire go around, from circum round. What is a periphery (an earlier formation was peripherial in 1670s)? Online Etymology Dictionary says, “late 14c., atmosphere around the earth, from Old French periferie (Modern French périphérie), from Medieval Latin periferia, from Late Latin peripheria, from Greek peripheria, circumference, outer surface, line round a circular body, literally a carrying around, from peripheries, rounded, moving round, revolving, peripherein carry or move round, from peri round about + pherein to carry, meaning outside boundary of a surface attested in English from 1570s; general sense of boundary is from 1660s.” Keep a close eye on that time period, 1660’s during this study.
Pro 8:27 – When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass (chuwg) upon the face of the depth (tehowm – same word used in Gen 1:2, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, meaning water – if the earth is a ball, then so is the water, right?):
What is a compass? Online Etymology Dictionary says, compass, c. 1300, space, area, extent, circumference, from Old French compass, circle, radius; size, extent; pair of compasses (12c.), from compasser, to go around, measure (with a compass); divide equally, from Vulgar Latin compassare, to pace out, from Latin com, with, together + passus, a step. The mathematical instrument for describing circles was so called in English from mid-14c. The mariners’ directional tool (so called since early 15c.) took the name, perhaps, because it’s round and has a point like the mathematical instrument. Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language says, “a passing round; a circular course; a circuit.” So you can say that circle, circuit and compass are synonyms, right?
Sirach 24:5 – I alone compassed the circuit (chuwg) of heaven, and walked in the bottom of the deep.
It comes from the verb, spelled the same way, chuwg.
Job 26:10 – He hath compassed (chuwg – verb) the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
Sirach 43:11 – Look upon the rainbow, and praise him that made it; very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof.
12 – It compasseth (chuwg – if earth is a ball, then so is the rainbow, right?) the heaven about with a glorious circle, and the hands of the most High have bended it.
Isa 44:13 – The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass (mᵉchuwgah – a derivative of chuwg – Keil and DelitzschCommentary of the OT says, the tool used for making a circle), and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
Going back to Isa 40:22, is a circle the same thing as a ball or a globe? If you are going to define chuwg as a ball or a globe, then you have to refer it also to the heavens, the deep and the rainbow as well. Upon the circle once again is the word chuwg (a noun). CBL says, “occurring in Pro 8:27 and Isa 40:22, chugh refers to a circle or the horizon (chuwg, the verb), although the KJV of Pro 8:27 employs the word compass. The noun means circle in its cognates in Syriac, Targumic and Middle Hebrew. Some conservative scholars have seen the reference in Isaiah as evidence of the earth’s global structure or sphericity, supernaturally revealed to the prophet before the scientific age (pseudo science, which is a pretended knowledge, not actual science/knowledge and this will be explained in verse 2) could verify this fact (see also Job 26:7). However, this is a dubious way to understand this verse. The reference to a circle would have been understood in ancient Near Eastern cosmology as implying a flat, disk-shaped earth, bounded by its circular horizon. Alternatively, and in keeping with some ancient cosmologies, the earth was considered to be delimited above by a hemispherical dome, which contained the windows or floodgates of heaven, which God would open to allow the rains, or other calamities or blessings, to fall (cf. Gen 7:11, Isa 24:18, Mal 3:10). The term also occurs in Job 22:14, where the Jerusalem Bible renders the word rim. The rendering of the KJV, RSV and NEB here is the vault (of heaven), also the translation offered by BDB. This verb means to form a circle and occurs in the OT only in Job 26:10. It is a denominative from chugh. The object of this action, performed by God, is the Hebrew word choq, indicating some prescribed limit, which is here translated circle or the horizon. Since this boundary is set at the point between light and darkness, the translation horizon is often preferred. Alternative suggestions indicate that the sea’s boundary should be understood as the shoreline, based on such verses as Job 38:11, Jer 5:22. Derived from chugh, circle, mechughah is attested in Middle Hebrew, with the meaning gesture (i.e., semantic development of drawing circles in the air). The sole context for this noun is the well-known passage of Isaiah concerning the foolishness of creating a god from the same tree used for heating or cooking (44:13). The mechughah is a tool, likely used for marking arcs (given the basic nuance of circularity for this root). Most take the term to mean a compass. TDOT says, The root chugh is attested six times in the OT: Isa 40:22, 44:13, Job 22:14, 26:10, Pro 8:27, Sir 43:12 (cf Si. 24:5). It appears four times as a nominal infinitive, once as a finite verb (Job 26:10; denominative?), and once (Isa 44:13) as the derivative mᵉchûghāh, whence it was borrowed by the Aramaic of the Targumim and by Syriac (hughthaʾ, circle) and Middle Hebrew (ʿugh). Structurally, chugh belongs with the words built on the basic syllable ḥg, such as chaghar, bind, gird(Phoenician, Old South Arabic enclosure, wall); chaghal, hop about; choggaʾ, confusion (Isa 19:17); hgh, hide; Aramaic ḥgw/y, with the fundamental meaning describe a curve (in order to flee or take refuge); Syriac and Nab. ḥgtʾ (cf. Arabic mahgaʾ, protection, asylum); chaghabh, locust; Aramaic mhgt, ring; and above all chaghagh, dance, celebrate, and chagh, procession, (round) dance, festival. Most of these appear to incorporate the semantic element of circular movement. Within the semantic field of circles and circular motion, the meaning of chugh exhibits a highly specific profile. In contrast to the usual expressions for turn, circle, go around, surround, (sometimes used in technical senses, e.g., Josh 6:3, Lev 19:27, round off hair, or metaphorically, e.g., Isa 29:1, the round of festivals), and chaghagh, which designates the festival dance and procession, the verb chugh in combination with choq means describe a circle, i.e., incise a circular line. Keil and Delitzsch Commentary of the OT says, He who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants resemble grasshoppers; who has spread out the heavens like gauze, and stretched them out like a tent-roof to dwell in. He, the manifested and yet unknown, is He who has for His throne the circle of the heavens (chug shamayim, Job 22:14), which arches over the earth, and to whom from His inaccessible height men appear as diminutive as grasshoppers (Num 13:33); He who has spread out the blue sky like a thin transparent garment (doq, a thin fabric, like daq, fine dust, in v 15), and stretched it out above the earth like a tent for dwelling in (ohellashebheth). Pulpit Commentary says, It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth; rather, above the vault of the earth; above the vault of sky which seems to arch over the earth. As grasshoppers; i.e. minute, scarcely visible (comp. Num 13:33). That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain. So in Ps 104:2, only that here the curtain is represented as one of thin gauze. The idea is common to Isaiah with Job (Job 9:8), Jeremiah (Jer 10:12, 51:15), and Zechariah (Zec 12:1), and is a favorite one in these later chapters (comp. Isa 42:5, 44:24, 45:12, 51:13). As a tent (comp. Ps 19:4, where God is said to have set in the heavens a tabernacle — ‘ohel, the word used here for the sun).
The LXX word is guron, which is our word gyro. What is gyro? A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Ernest Klein says, gyro, combining form meaning circle, circular, spiral. Greek guron, from guros, circle. See gyre, a circular motion. Latin gyrus, from Greek guron, circle, ring, which is related to guros, rounded, curved. We get the word gyrate, which means to turn around in a circle. TDOT says, to render chugh, the LXX strangely uses the rare word gýros, ring, circle, used especially for a circular trench around a tree, gyroo, bend, make round, make a circular trench (cf. gyrosis). The image conveyed by this word appears to express the classic Babylonian idea of the ring of water surrounding the earth’s surface (cf. Sir 24:5; 43:12 twice, used differently in Pro 8:27).
Now, there is a verse in scripture that denotes a ball/circle and it just happens to be in the book of Isaiah as well.
Isa 22:18 – He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house.
It is also mentioned in the following verses.
Isa 29:3 – And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
Ezk 24:5 – Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
The words ball, round about and burn are all the same word duwr. TWOTsays, occasionally there is a Hebrew word wherein etymology, as a route to discovery of ancient thought patterns, is all-important in discovering the true life-situation in which the word must be understood. Such is the case here. Authorities all agree that dor, the noun, is derived from dur, the verb. The simple primitive sense, not expressly found in any biblical text, is to move in a circle, surround. Since ashes, grain, meal, etc., when heaped up form a circle on the floor, ancient Semites used this word for to heap up or to pile something-thinking graphically of the shape of the heap at its base, rather than as we, of the height or outline of the elevation created. Also, since houses were usually a group of rooms surrounding a central court, and perhaps since some very early houses were circular, the word was employed with the meaning, to dwell. This analysis is provided strong support by the fact that dur, a noun appearing only twice, and likewise from dur (verb) must be translated a ball (Isa 22:18), round about (Isa 29:3) and pile (Ezk 24:5). In this manner an original meaning of go in a circle (as attested by its appearance in cognate Arabic and Assyrian, and inferred by a posteriori reasoning for a common link between the ideas of pile and dwell), though apparently out of use in OT times, provide the basis for a word of important theological meaning. Dor, generation. By a thoroughly understandable figure, a man’s lifetime beginning with the womb of earth and returning thereto (Gen 3:19) is a dor; likewise from the conception and birth of a man to the conception and birth of his offspring is a dor. A period of extended time and several other related meanings would be inevitable in a language prone to metaphors. Thus the following analysis of the actual use of dor in the OT unfolds quite naturally. 1. The circle of a man’s lifetime, from birth to death. This is the apparent meaning at Gen 15:16, where four generations cover an epoch of 400 years (cf. Gen 15:13). This conforms to the long length of life among the Hebrew patriarchs (Keil, Commentary). In the times of the patriarchs it was reckoned at a hundred years … So among the Romans the word seculum originally signified an age or generation of men and was later transferred to denote a century (Gesenius Lexicon). This idea is present in the passages which speak of a generation as passing away, rather than as being succeeded by another (Dt 1:35, 2:14). 2. More frequently, of the circle of a man’s life from his conception and birth until the conception and birth of his offspring, Familiar examples are in the recurring phrase, Even to the tenth generation(DT 23:2-3) and the children of the third generation (Dt 23:8). Extended uses listed below rest on this. 3. A period or age of time. Dor is used in various combinations to express this: dorot shelamim (Isa 51:9); dor wador (Dt 32:7); ledor dor (Ex 3:15), bekol dor wador (Ps 45:17); ’ad dor wador (Ps 100:5); bedor dorim (Ps 102:25). There are others. In some dor indicates an age or period of past time (Isa 51:9), future time (Ex 3:15), past and future (Ps 102:24). Many occurrences are employed to indicate endless time, i.e. eternity, often paralled with other concrete terms as ‘ôlam, forever (Ps 89:1) or ’im shemesh and welipne yareah, literally, with the sun and before the moon. 4. One group as opposed to a single person as related to another by natural descent (Jud 2:10). This is a group of posterity, as in the case of four generations of Job’s offspring (Job 42:16) and in references such as throughout their generations (Gen 17:7, 9) and throughout your generations(Gen 17:12; see also Ex 12:14, 17, 42). 5. A special use of the fourth sense above is to mean simply contemporaries, and of his generation, who considered (Isa 53:8) cf. Gen 6:9 dorotayw, in his own generation and those immediately contiguous (BDB). 6. By a natural transition this word is used widely with a metaphorical sense to indicate a class of men distinguished by a certain moral or spiritual character. Thus God is in the generation of the righteous (Ps 14:5) and those whose hands and heart are clean are the generation of them that seek God’s face (Ps 24:6). The wicked fathers of Israel were a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright (Ps 79:13). This usage is frequently employed (see Pro 30:11-14, Jer 2:31, 7:29). This usage via LXX becomes, in the word genea (we get the word genesis from genea), a Hebraism of frequent striking occurrence in the mouth of Jesus in the Greek NT (Mt 11:16, 12:29, 45, 16:4, 17:17). John the Baptist and Jesus employed gennema, genema similarly (Mt 3:7, 12:34, 23:33, Lk 3:7). In the LXX dor is most frequently rendered genea, rarely genesis; never gennema, genema. In the OT, the chronological use is predominant, (number three above) though the metaphorical (number five) is the most significant theologically. It ought to be noted that this word in the chronological sense is only one of the many biblical terms for time demonstrating that revelation presents time as a durative, measurable phenomenon. Duration may not be excluded from the biblical idea of time. TDOT says, The basic meaning underlying Hebrew dor is circle. According to Albright, the meaning of dor is to be explained on the basis of the older dahru (daru > dor), meaning lap in a race, cycle of time, lifetime; doher is a driver in a chariot race and daharot, chariot racing. Dor, lifetime, is an exact parallel to darum in an inscription of Shamshi-Adad I (18th century b.c.), who says that seven daru had elapsed between the šulum Akkadîmand his own time. The cognate noun dur took the meaning circle or ball, while dor refers more specifically to a circle of people, viz., an assembly or generation. A denominative verb also developed meaning either to move in a circle or to belong to an assembly.
If anything the globe mongers should have used this word ball (dur) as opposed to circle, but then again they couldn’t (duh), because this word ball doesn’t mean globe either.
In 1931 Professor Auguste Picard and Charles Kipfer went almost 10 miles (52,000 ft) in the air in an airtight black and silver aluminum ball and this was in Popular Science. And guess what they saw?
The highlighted portion says the following, “through portholes, the observers saw the earth through copper colored, then bluish haze. It seemed a flat disk with upturned edge. At the ten mile level the sky appeared a deep dark blue.”
Here is how the map of earth was before they changed it to a globe.
The maps are the same symbol of the United Nations.
Right in our faces, but we still want to believe Babylon and their globe hoax. Another thing is that what surrounds the map is this white thing called Antartica, which no man is allowed to enter as per all the nations with the Antartica Treaty. No one but scientist’s and military forces are allowed there. I wonder why? They can keep their secret, God will judge them. Extreme wickedness.
Let’s define the word globe. Late 14c., a large mass; mid-15c., spherical solid body, a sphere, from Middle French globe (14c.) and directly from Latin globus, round mass, sphere, ball, which is related to gleba, clod, lump of soil (see glebe) and perhaps also to glomus, a ball, ball of yarn. Sense of the planet earth, also map of the earth or sky drawn on the surface of an artificial sphere are attested from 1550s. Meaning globe-shaped glass vesselis from 1660s (keep an eye on this date). A globe is often solid, a sphere often hollow. Glebe, late 14c., soil of the earth; cultivated land; also a piece of land forming part of a clergyman’s benefice, from Old French glebe, from Latin gleba, glaeba, clod, lump of earth, possibly from a glem- or glom-, which might mean contain, embrace or ball, or might be two different roots.
Below is how the Jews saw the heavens and the earth.
Below is how the ancient world saw the heavens and the earth.
Works of God. Heaven. The Air. Starry and Supreme Heavens by Timothy Dwight says, “the heaven and the earth is a Jewish phrase denoting the universe, and all things which it contains. In the text thus explained, the following doctrine is evidently asserted; that all things were brought into existence by God. The truth of this doctrine has been already sufficiently evinced in the two first of these Discourses, so far as arguments from reason are concerned. That it is the real doctrine of the text, and that the word created does not mean merely moulded, or fashioned, is completely evident from the explanation of Moses himself; who undoubtedly will be allowed to be his own commentator. In Gen 2:3, he says, And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. In the original language it is, which God created to make, that is, which he created or brought into being first, and made or fashioned afterwards.”
Gen 2:3 – And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
And made are the words la ‘asot. It is Qal, Infinitive. Remember what Qal meant? It is a causal action. Infinitive in the Hebrew is like the Participle in the Greek. It is actually an “ing” on the end of make, which converts into making. He created his works (the heavens, the earth, man and animals) for making. With this being said, Genesis 1:1 is the creation of God, and the rest of the chapter he explains his creation just as he explains the creation of Adam and Eve.
Gen 1:26 – And God (elohiym) said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Make is the word asah. Make (asah) is mentioned 7 times in this chapter, but regarding the creation it is mentioned 12 times between both chapters I and 2. 12 is the number of the ekklesia, it is ecclesia in Latin and the Spanish word is iglesia, we also get the words Ecclesiates and Ecclesiastical. Ekklesia means the called out of God, and in English it was translated into Church. Not a good translation, but that is another topic in itself. Adam and Eve were made on the 6th day.
Gen 1:24 – And God (elohiym) said, Let the earth bring forth (jussivein Hebrew is like the imperative mood in the Greek, meaning that letthe earth bring forth is a command) the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 – And God (elohiym) made (asah – Qal, Imperfect – the process of making) the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God (elohiym) saw that it was good (towb – mentioned 6 times in this chapter {Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25} and the 7th time it was very good – Gen 1:31).
26 – And God (elohiym) said, Let us make (asah – Jussive) man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 – So God (elohiym) created (bara – Qal, Imperfect – the process of creating) man in his own image, in the image of God (elohiym) created (bara – Qal, Perfect) he him; male and female created (bara – Qal, Perfect) he them.
28 – And God (elohiym) blessed them, and God (elohiym) said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 – And God (elohiym) said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 – And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 – And God (elohiym) saw every thing that he had made (asah – Qal, Perfect), and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Now comes the WOW factor, when God said, “let us make man”, this is the 6th time asah is mentioned and we all know that 6 is the number of man. Below is the rest of the creation of Adam and Eve and the explanation of their creation.
27 – So God (elohiym) created (bara) man in his own image, in the image of God (elohiym) created (bara) he him; male and female created (bara) he them.
Gen 2:7 – And the LORD (yehwah) God (elohiym) formed (yatsar – Qal, Imperfect – in the process of forming) man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became (hayah – ginomai – Qal, Imperfect – the process of becoming) a living soul.
8 – And the LORD (yehovah) God (elohiym) planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed(yatsar – Qal, Perfect).
Gen 2:21 – And the LORD (yehovah) God (elohiym) caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 – And the rib, which the LORD (yehovah) God (elohiym) had taken from man, made (banah – Qal, Imperfect – the process of banah) he a woman (I Tim 2:13), and brought her unto the man.
Banah is an interesting word. The scriptures didn’t use ‘asah, which is the common word for making or doing. Banah is the common word for building structures such as an altar, cities and houses. CBL says, this Hebrew verb means to build or to construct. It is used both in a literal and figurative sense in a wide variety of contexts throughout the OT. Usually, the word occurs in the literal sense. Examples include: the tower of Babel (Gen 11:5); altars (Gen 8:20, Jud 6:26, Josh 22:16, I Sam 14:35); cities (Num 32:24); God building Eve (Gen 2:22); shrines (Ezk 16:24); the temple (II K 12:11) and houses (Neh 7:14). Figuratively, this word often had the connotation of to establish. Rachel and Leah were said to have built the house of Israel, referring to the establishment of the Israelites as a people (Ruth 4:11). In Gen 16:2, the barren Sarai (Sarah) encouraged Abram (Abraham) her husband to use her slave Hagar as a surrogate, so that Sarai might be built up from her (that is, legally obtain children by her; cf. 30:3). In I Sam 2:35 the Lord said, I will build him a sure house, referring to Samuel, who served as a loyal priest and prophet of the Lord throughout his life. Zec 6:13 says concerning the coming Davidic king, He shall build the temple of the Lord. Mal 3:15 made reference to the prosperity of the wicked by saying, those who do evil are built (that is, raised up). TWOT says, banaas construction refers to houses, cities, towers, altars, etc. and idiomatically to bring about increase in offspring (Gen 16:2). The theological significance of the verb bana can be exposed by considering the use of the verb first with God and then with man as its subject. YHWH is presented in Scripture as the master builder of both the created and historical order. The word is used metaphorically of his final creative act for man’s good when he ‘built’ the rib which he had taken from Adam into a woman (Gen 2:22). Elsewhere the biblical poets describe the ordered universe as a building which YHWH designed and built (Am 9:6; cf. Ps 104:2-3).
In the LXX it is the word oikodomeo (verb). It comes from oikos, meaning house, and doma (our word “dome”, which is ironic as far as this study is concerned), meaning roof, housetop. Online Etymology says, dome, a round, vaulted roof, a hemispherical covering of a building, 1650s, from French dome, a town-house; a dome, a cupola (16c.), from Provençal doma, from Greek doma, a house, housetop (especially in reference to a style of roof from the east), related to domos, house. Kittel’s TDNT says, oikosmeans house or dwelling. CBL says, in classical Greek doma generally means a building or a house. Since the time of Homer, Eighth Century B.C., the word was used for any room of a house such as a hallway or dining room. The Septuagint uses doma 25 times to translate the Hebrew gaghmeaning roof, top. This narrower interpretation is the meaning that is consistently used throughout Scripture. Throughout Biblical times the roof was an important part of private, family, and public life. Most roofs were flat and accessible by a flight of stairs adjoining an outside wall (Mt 24:17, Mk 13:15). Because of frequent use, Jewish law required rooftops to have a parapet or guardrail to protect family members and guests from falling (Dt 22:8). While the roof was adaptable to drying and storing grains (Josh 2:6), it served other fundamental purposes. The Jews used the roof as a place to retreat (II Sam 11:2), commemorate deliverance from captivity (Neh 8:16), publicly mourn the loss of loved ones (Jer 48:38, Isa 22:1), privately worship (II K 23:12, Acts 10:9), conduct meetings (I Sam 9:25), and shout public announcements (Lk 12:3). The proverbial phrase to shout or proclaim on the housetops is equivalent to the making of a public announcement or proclamation (Mt 10:27, Lk 12:3).
Jesus used oikodomeo many times.
Mt 7:24 – Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built (oikodomeo) his house upon a rock (petra – a large stone):
Mt 7:26 – And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built(oikodomeo) his house upon the sand:
Lk 6:48 – He is like a man which built (oikodomeo) an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation (I Co 3:11, Eph 2:19-22) on a rock (petra): and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock (petra).
49 – But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built (oikodomeo) an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Mt 16:18 – And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (petros – little stone), and upon this rock (petra) I will build (oikodomeo) my church (ekklesia – his called out ones); and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Eve is a picture of the ekklesia. She was built or edified by God. The ekklesia in the NT must also be edified.
I Co 8:1 – Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity (agape – II Jn 6, I Jn 5:3) edifieth (oikodomeo).
Agape, which is walking in God’s commandments/doing, is what edifies the church. Just knowing the truth of God does not edify the ekklesia.
I Co 8:10 – For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened (oikodomeo) to eat those things which are offered to idols;
If you know the truth of God and don’t do it, you are not edifying the body of Christ, you are just building yourself up and that is sin (Jam 4:17).
According to some bible teachers it’s ok for God to explain his creation of Adam and Eve in making and forming them, but they can’t and will not want to see that he did the same thing for his creation of the heavens and the earth as per Gen 2:3. This is an enigmatic problem for them, because they are so used to teaching the same thing as the mainstream churches. Shame on them for misleading us and not doing their due diligence.
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By Willie Rodriguez
Jesus is LORD! 
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