Genesis Creation Story Exegesis
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth 2 and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters 3 Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day. 6 Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. 7God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened. 8God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed—the second day. 9 Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the basin of water he called “sea.” God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened: 12 the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came, and morning followed—the third day. 14 Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years, 15 and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: 16 God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth 2 and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters 3 Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day. 6 Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. 7God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened. 8God called the dome “sky.” Evening came, and morning followed—the second day. 9 Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the basin of water he called “sea.” God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened: 12 the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came, and morning followed—the third day. 14 Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years, 15 and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: 16 God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that
Cited: Birge, Mary Katherine, et. Al. Genesis, Evolution, and the Search for a Reasoned Faith. Winona: Anselm Acedemic, 2011. Brown, Raymond Edward., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1990. Coogan, Michael D. The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 Genesis. The Catholic Study Bible New American Bible including the Revised Psalms and the Revised New Testament. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. Print. Matthews, Victor. Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East. Mahwah, Paulist Press, 2006 Ryken, Leland. Words of Delight: An introduction to the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992. Speiser, E. A. Genesis: Introduction, Translation, and Notes. New York: Doubleday, 1964.