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1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And seeing that the light was good, God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.”
And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6And God said, “Let there be an expansea between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so. 8God called the expanse “sky.”
And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and the collection of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so. 12The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
13And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and to mark the seasons and days and years. 15And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.
16God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well.
17God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
I’ve been enjoying (and learning from) your teaching for awhile now. Thank you for the work you’ve put into Torah Means Teacher. It’s quite impressive.
I hope you won’t mind if I ask you some questions about your interpretation of the Genesis creation stories. I’d like to start with Gen 1:1-5. My translation of these 5 verses shows that:
1) Elohim’s first creative act was the creation of light (Gen 1:3) because the verb in Gen 1:2, yehi, is a past perfect (aka, pluperfect), i.e., translates to “had been”, not was.
2) Elohim examined the light and judged it as fitting. From this we learn that Elohim created a universe whose physical laws are indeterminate (also, see Gen 1:11-12). Were the creation of light determinate, He would have no reason to examine the light for its fitness.
3) Yom and Layla are the names given to light and dark. This is important because Yom and Layla are described as spatial entities, not temporal ones. To argue that Yom is a unit of time, in THIS story, isn’t supported by the text.
You can read my detailed commentary here:
http://learn-biblical-hebrew.com/hebrew-scripture/beginning-genesis-11-24a/detailed-commentary-first-day/
SUMMARY:
The three great truths of Gen 1:1-5 are that Elohim is unitary, transcendent, and ethical. In other words, Gen 1:1-5 for the first (and only) time in all of literary or human history describes ethical monotheism.
Again, I am very much enjoying your teaching. And please, I mean no criticism.
Blessings,
Michael
WOW! Michael, I love everything you wrote. And your website is impressive. If you’d ever like to join us in discussion, we meet on most Sunday’s at 10amCST just send me your email for the zoom invite: Footnick@gmail.com. You would likely provide valuable insight and meaning for everyone. Thanks so much for your comment and valued insight.
Many blessing to you brother!