Abstract

Table of Contents

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

     

Part VI: A Translation of Genesis 1:1-2:4

Authorized Version:

    And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
     And God called the firmament Heaven.
     And the evening and the morning were the second day.

An interpretative rendering:

     AND GOD SAID, "LET THERE COME TO BE A SPACE BETWEEN THE WATERS, AND LET IT DIVIDE BETWEEN THE WATRS ABOVE AND THE WATERS BELOW".
     AND GOD APPOINTED THE SPACE AND DIVIDED THE WATERS WICH WERE UNDER THE SPACE FROM THE WATERS WHICH WERE AOVE THE SPAVE. AND SO IT CAME TO PASS.
     AND GOD CALLED THE SPACE HEAVEN.
    AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING BECAME A SECOND DAY.

LET THERE COME TO BE A SPACE:     The word rendered "firmament" is a word which in the original implies "want of substance", and is used in a derived form to mean "not tangible". The root to which it is sometimes traced means "to beat out very thin", so thin in fact as to have little or no substance at all. There is little doubt that here it is the air space which separated the waters on the earth from the waters in cloud form in the sky. It is a peculiarly appropriate choice, therefore, since air strictly speaking does not imply want of substance, but only a very attenuated form of it. In verse 20 it becomes the home of flying things.
     Perhaps the omission of any statement to the effect that God saw that it was good in this instance is due to the fact that this space became the abode of Satan and his hosts, the Prince of the Powers of the Air.

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Authorized Version:

     And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear": and it was so.
     And God called the dry land Earth: and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was good.
     And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
     And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
     And the evening and the morning were the third day.

An interpretative rendering:

     AND GOD SAID, "LET THE WATERS UNDER THE HEAVEN BE GATHERED TOBETHER INTO ONE PLACE AND LET THE DRY LAND APPEAR". AND THIS CAME TO PASS.
     AND GOD CALLED THE DRY LAND EARTH, AND THE ATHERING TOGETHER OF THE WATERS HE CALLED THE SEA:  AND GOD SAW THAT IW WAS GOOD.
     AND GOD SAID, "LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH GRASS, HERB YIELDING SEED, THE FRIT TREE YIELDING FRUIT -- AKIN TO ITSELF -- WHOSE SEED IS IN ITSELF, UPON THE EARTH": AND THIS CAME TO PASS.
      AND THE EARTH BROUGHT FORTH GRASS, AND HERB YIELDING SEE, AKIN TO ITSELF, AND THE TREE YIELDING FRUIT WHOSE SEED WAS WITHIN -- ALSO AKIN TO ITSELF.
    AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING BECAME A THIRD DAY.

GATHERED INTO ONE PLACE:     There is a possibility that this is precisely the truth of the matter, that

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it is not merely a manner of speaking; that the waters which had played a part in destroying the previous world actually flowed into a great hole, the Pacific Ocean bed as constituted at that time.
     This Paper is not intended in any sense to be a scientific reconstruction of geological events. But it may be noted that according to the Continental Drift Hypothesis as first propounded by Alfred Wegener, all the current oceans at one time formed a single body of water "in one place". The continents meanwhile formed a single land mass. Only later, as this land mass fragmented into continents, were the separate oceans created as a consequence. There are some highly qualified experts who, like George Gamow, have held that the crust of the earth out of which the present continents were formed once constituted an unbroken shell over the whole of the earth's surface. The water which now fills the oceans at that time lay like a shallow sea everywhere except in those places where the rumples in the shell penetrated this shallow sea so as to form islands. These islands would presumably break the surface randomly all over the globe.
      Once this shell fragmented into separate continents, deeper bodies of water would form as the water collected where the fractures opened up. The general water level over the land would fall as a consequence, and in due time these drained areas would constitute a new kind of "dry land" which would thus be exposed permanently and appear as a new feature of the earth's surface. The former world, of which the ruin is dramatically described in Genesis 1:2, was a world literally "standing out of the water and in the water" (2 Peter 3:5). The present world does not look as though it has any longer the tremendous up and down movement of its surface to which we clearly owe the miles of water-laid stratified fossil-bearing rocks observed over the whole of its surface. We seem to live now in a different world from that which existed prior to Genesis 1:2.

THE WATERS CALLED HE THE SEA:       This is rendered in the singular though the Hebrew is in the plural, but there is nothing inappropriate about this, since it is always found as a plural form even when referring to a small body of water such as the Sea of Galilee.

AKIN TO ITSELF:      The word kind is derived from the word kin, which gives rise to the term "akin to". The choice of this English word in the King James Version was a happy one, since it seems to capture the

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obvious meaning of the original Hebrew word min (). Whether min is equivalent to our terms "species" and "genera" and even "family" is a moot point, because we have not yet settled the precise meaning of these three classifications even for ourselves. It is clear, however, that God intended these created kinds to be hedged about in order to preserve the purity of each line.
     It should also be pointed out that the catastrophe of Genesis 1:2 need not necessarily have destroyed the living cells required to re-populate the earth with green things. Consequently it does not say that God created them afresh, but rather that He commanded the earth to produce them out of itself. This may be reflected in the peculiar redundance of the words in verse 11, "let the earth bring forth...whose seed is in itself, upon the earth". Perhaps the seed was in itself already upon the earth, i.e., it had never been entirely destroyed. Both the separation of land from sea and the provision of plant forms are said to have been good in God's sight. As shown by the King James text, these things did not become good; they were good from the moment of their appointment.

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Authorized Version:

    And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
     And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
     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.
     And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
     And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

An interpretative rendering:

     AND GOD SAID,"LET THE LIGHTS IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE BE TO DIVIDE THE DAY FROM THE NIGHT, AND LET THEM BE FOR SIGNS, AND FOR SEASON AND FOR DAYS AND YEARS: AND LET THEM BECOME IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE AS LIGHTS TO GIVE LIGHT UPON THE EARTH". AND IT CAME TO PASS.
     MOREOVER, GOD APPOINTED THE TWO GREAT LIGHTS; THE GREATER LIGHT TO GOVERN THE DAY AND THE LESSER LIGHT TO GOVERN THE NIGHT, ALONG WITH THE STARS.
     SO GOD SET THEM IN THE HEAVNES ABOVE TO GIVE LIGHT UPON THE EARTH AND TO RULE OVER THE DAY AND OVER THE NIGHT, AND TO MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS.
     AND GOD SAY THAT IT WAS GOOD.
     AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING BECAME A FOURTH DAY.

LET LIGHTS IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE BE TO DIVIDE:    In the original Hebrew, the verb hayah is introduced, and it is appropriate therefore to consider why. Its introduction here seems to require

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that we understand this passage to mean something more than merely the placing of the sun and the moon and the stars in the sky. The use of the term heavens in Genesis 1:1 seems to indicate that the sun and moon and stars were created in the beginning and therefore were already in existence. Verse 14 clearly assumes their existence but now declares what the purpose of that existence is to be. Their purpose is to divide day from night, and to be for signs and for the regulation of the seasons.
     All living things require or respond to regulations of this kind; plant forms are obviously governed by the seasons, and there is considerable evidence that many living organisms like insects, birds, and even higher animal forms live by cycles regulated by the heavens. This regulation encompasses migratory movements as well.
     Verse 16 tells us that God appointed ('asah) the two greater lights (i.e., the sun and the moon) to regulate the hours of daylight and darkness. There is no mention of them being created at this time, for light as opposed to darkness was already distinguishable, as verses 3 and 5 indicate. It seems quite possible that the aftermath of the devastation which had left its pall of darkness had not until this fourth day been cleared sufficiently for the sun and moon and stars to he actually visible. The appointment of these lights as signs comes only after they can be observed. The succession of evenings and mornings indicates that they did already exist, but perhaps a heavy mist or cloud blanket had up till now obscured them. This blanket or "swaddling band" may possibly be in view in Job 38:9. Perhaps indeed it was only when dry land appeared that convection currents brought fresh winds to break up the overcast sky into cloud formations, allowing the sun and moon and stars to become visible. Hence the reference to dry land appears before any specific reference to the sun and moon and stars as visible objects, though they had been in existence since the beginning of creation.

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Authorized Version:

     And God 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 heaven.
     And God created 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.
     And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply; and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
      And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

An interpretative rendering:

     AND GOD SAID, "LET THE WATERS BRING FORTH ABUNDANTLY LIVEING CREATURES, AND LET FOWL FLY ABOVE THE EARTH ACROSS THE FACE OF THE OPEN SKY". AND VERY LARGE SEA ANIMALS DID GOD ALSO CREATE, AND THE WEALTH OF LIVING CREATURES WHICH THE WATERS BROUGHT FORTH, LIKE BEGETTING LIKE, AND ALL THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOWL THAT FLY, LIKE BEGETTING LIKE.
     AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD.
     AND GOD BLESSED THEM AND SAID, "BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY AND FILL THE WATERS IN THE SEA, AND LET THE FOWL MULTIPLY ON THE EARTH".
     AND THE EVENING AND THE MORNING BECAME A FIFTH DAY.

BRING FORTH ABUNDANTLY:      The Hebrew uses a reduplication of a word which means "to swarm", the text literally saying, 'Let the waters swarm a swarm', i.e., "bring forth abundantly" as the Authorized Version most sensibly rendered it. The sea is prodigal indeed, and this statement, preserved by a people who

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had no great love for the sea and therefore presumably not too profound a knowledge of it, can hardly be explained in any other way than as the result of inspiration.

LIVING CREATURES:      This is a rather loose rendering of the Hebrew original which reads literally "a living soul" (soul of life). The word "soul" (nephesh, ) is therefore found in Scripture applied to animals before it is applied to man. This is by no means an exceptional instance, as may be seen by a reference to the Doorway Paper, "The Nature of the Soul" (Part VI in The Virgin Birth and The Incarnation, vol.5 of The Doorway Papaers Series). Since we have by custom reserved the word soul for people, an unscriptural practice, it seemed more appropriate to render the phrase as we have. The same remark applies to verses 21 and 24.

ACROSS THE FACE OF THE OPEN SKY:     There is a certain poetry in this descriptive phrase which fairly closely reproduces the original Hebrew.

THE VERY LARGE SEA ANIMALS ALSO:       We have so rendered this because the text obviously singles out these exceptional creatures by emphasizing their specific creation. It is said somewhat less specifically of the smaller marine animals that the waters were merely to bring them forth in abundance. It seems that God wished us to observe a distinction between these two classes of marine life, almost as though to tell us that there are certain larger creatures (whales, porpoises, etc.) which are not natural to the sea in the sense that fishes are. The waters did not "bring them forth": they were for some reason introduced differently.

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WEALTH OF LIVING CREATURES:      Literally, every living swarming creature. An alternative might of course have been to assume that the reference here was really to creatures which actually swarm, but it does not seem that this restrictive meaning is intended.

LIKE BEGETTING LIKE:      This is merely an alternative to the phrase previously translated "akin to itself" and is used only to avoid too much repetition.

ALL THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOWL THAT FLY:      Literally, "every fowl that flies, according to its kind."

AND GOD BLESSED THEM, SAYING:      This seems an innocent enough statement, but what it really means is that the kingdom of God extends into the animal world, for He gave them instruction in a direct form. He did not say, "Let them be fruitful and multiply", but rather, "Be fruitful and multiply". This thought is explored more fully in another Paper, "The Realm of Nature as Part of the Kingdom of God" (Part II in Man in Adam and in Christ, vol.3 of The Doorway Papers Series). It will be noted that this command is almost, but not quite identical, with that given subsequently to Adam.

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Authorized Version:

     And God 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 so.
    And God made 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 saw that it was good.

An interpretative rendering:

AND GOD SAID, "LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH LIVING CREATURES BREEDING TRUE T THEMSELVES, CATTLE AND CREEPING THINGS, AND THE WILD CREATURES OF THE EARTH, ALSO BREEDING TRUE TO THEMSELVES".
     AND THIS CAME TO PASS.
     AND GOD APPOINTED THE WILD THINGS OF THE EARTH, BREEDING TRUE TO THEMSELVES, AND THE CATTLE SIMILARLY, AND LIKEWISE EVERYTHING THAT CREEPETH UPON THE EARTH.
     AND GOD SAY THAT IT WAS GOOD.

BREEDING TRUE TO THEMSELVES:      This again is an attempt to find an alternative rendering in the interest of variety, for the phrase originally rendered "akin to itself". However this is rendered, the meaning is quite clear: God did not create a potential chaos of inter-fertile organisms.

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some animals provided for man already "domesticated".  It is, in fact, almost certain that one of man's most faithful companions, the dog, has been with him virtually from the beginning. Probably the same is true of sheep and perhaps other such immediately "useful" animals.

SIMILARLY . . . LIKEWISE . . .       Here again we have in the original the same emphasis laid upon the orderliness of God's planned natural economy. All creatures are to breed true to their appointed pattern. 

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