GENESIS 1:1

Q: How should this verse be properly translated?

 Translators are divided whether to translate it as “When in the beginning, God...” or “In the beginning God.” Either is possible grammatically. The former translation infers that God used pre-existing matter while the latter infers that there was no matter before God began. Theology in the rest of the Bible goes with the latter view. However, this may not indicate the absolute beginning of time. For example, the angels were already present. Other examples of existence before the world was created are found in John 1; 17:5,24; Ephesians 1:4; I Peter 1:20; Titus 1:2; and II Timothy 1:9. Look at John 1; the first 5 verses echo Genesis 1:1-5. Additional information follows in that the creation was for Jesus and that he sustains it today. The word for create (bara) is generally used in relation to God and denotes something brand new (but not necessarily ex nihilo since it is used for the creation of man, which we learn later utilized mud). However, see Hebrews 11:3 and Revelation 4:11 for that idea. “Heavens and earth” is a merism used elsewhere to indicate all of creation.

Notice the theology contained in the first verse: There is a God, He was in the beginning, He existed before creation and is apart from it, He created everything, there was a beginning to the universe. God is not dependent on the creation for His existence. One option for him was not to have created anything. Westminster Confession says that he created it “for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom and goodness.” Creation is theocentric to be “the theater of His glory” (John Calvin). Read Hebrews 11:3: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.” This indicates that this insight only comes through revelation; it cannot be discovered by scientific means.

 

2. The standard Christian view is that this is the first reference to the Trinity in the Bible. This view is supported by the fact that the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2) and Christ (John 1:1-4) were both involved in the creation.
3. A third grammatical explanation, which is consistent with #2 above, is that God is talking to himself in this sentence. The plural pronouns "we" and "are" are utilized so as to be in agreement with the plural word for God in the sentence: Elohim. This so-called "plural of majesty" is used in Hebrew for other objects that contain more than one part to them, such as mountain ranges. An English example of plural of majesty would be the word "scissors."