Beginning
Genesis 1:1 is a familiar Bible verse: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The word translated beginning means first in quality, importance, or chronology. It is used 50 times in the Old Testament. In the following examples, the English word or phrase representing the Hebrew word is underlined.
- “Bring the best of your firstfruits of your land to the house of the LORD your God” (Ex. 23:19).
- “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever” (Ps. 111:10).
- “Honor the LORD with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest” (Prov. 3:9).
- “This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am about to shatter Elam’s bow, the source of their might’” (Jer. 49:34-35).
- “They drink wine by the bowlful and anoint themselves with the finest oils but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph” (Amos 6:6).
Returning to Genesis 1:1, when one hears the phrase, “in the beginning,” it may seem appropriate to ask, “In the beginning of what?” The information that comes after this phrase helps us a great deal in answering this question, but one thing we can know even without any additional information is that this was not God’s beginning. We do not read, “In the beginning of God…” but “In the beginning God….” God is the subject of this sentence. He had no beginning Himself, but He is able to orchestrate countless other beginnings, including this “big one.”
