Genesis 1

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 1:29-31

God gave man authority and responsibility to regulate nature and to advance civilization. Nature was to serve man, not vice versa. This does not give man the right to abuse nature, however. [Note: See Gina Hens-Piazza, "A Theology of Ecology: God’s Image and the Natural World," Biblical Theology Bulletin 13:4 (October 1983):107-110.] Neither does it justify giving animals and plants the "rights" of human beings."Man is the climax of creation, and instead of man providing the gods with food, God... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:1-4

The Creation’The foundation of foundations and pillar of all wisdom is to know that the First Being is, and that He giveth existence to everything that exists! ’Thus wrote Moses Maimonides, a Jewish scholar of the 12th cent, a.d., concerning whom the Jewish proverb runs: ’From Moses to Moses there arose none like Moses.’ He had in his mind the opening chapter of the Bible, the object of which is to lay this foundation; to declare the existence of the One God; to teach that the Universe was... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:1-31

The Creation'The foundation of foundations and pillar of all wisdom is to know that the First Being is, and that He giveth existence to everything that exists! 'Thus wrote Moses Maimonides, a Jewish scholar of the 12th cent, a.d., concerning whom the Jewish proverb runs: 'From Moses to Moses there arose none like Moses.' He had in his mind the opening chapter of the Bible, the object of which is to lay this foundation; to declare the existence of the One God; to teach that the Universe was... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:1

THE CREATIVE WEEK (Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3).(1) In the beginning.—Not, as in John 1:1, “from eternity,” but in the beginning of this sidereal system, of which our sun, with its attendant planets, forms a part. As there never was a time when God did not exist, and as activity is an essential part of His being (John 5:17), so, probably, there was never a time when worlds did not exist; and in the process of calling them into existence when and how He willed, we may well believe that God acted... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:1-31

EXCURSUS B: ON THE NAMES ELOHIM AND JEHOVAH-ELOHIM.Throughout the first account of creation (Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3) the Deity is simply called Elohim. This word is strictly a plural of Eloah, which is used as the name of God only in poetry, or in late books like those of Nehemiah and Daniel. It is there an Aramaism, God in Syriac being Aloho, in Ohaldee Ellah, and in Arabic Allahu—all of which are merely dialectic varieties of the Hebrew Eloah, and are used constantly in the singular... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:2

(2) And the earth.—The conjunction “and” negatives the well-meant attempt to harmonise geology and Scripture by taking Genesis 1:1 as a mere heading; the two verses go together, and form a general summary of creation, which is afterwards divided into its several stages.Was is not the copula, but the substantive verb existed, and expresses duration of time. After creation, the earth existed as a shapeless and empty waste.Without form, and void.—Literally, tohu and bohu, which words are both... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:3

THE CREATIVE DAYS.(3) And God said.—Voice and sound there could be none, nor was there any person to whom God addressed this word of power. The phrase, then, is metaphorical, and means that God enacted for the universe a law; and ten times we find the command similarly given. The beauty and sublimity of the language here used has often been noticed: God makes no preparation, He employs no means, needs no secondary agency. He speaks, and it is done. His word alone contains all things necessary... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:4

(4) And God saw.—This contemplation indicates, first, lapse of time; and next, that the judgment pronounced was the verdict of the Divine reason.That it was good.—As light was a necessary result of motion in the world-mass, so was it indispensable for all that was to follow, inasmuch as neither vegetable nor animal life can exist without it. But the repeated approval by the Deity of each part and portion of this material universe (comp. Psalms 104:31) also condemns all Manichæan theories, and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:5

(5) God called the light Day . . . Night.—Before this distinction of night and day was possible there must have been outside the earth, not as yet the sun, but a bright phosphorescent mass, such as now enwraps that luminary; and, secondly, the earth must have begun to revolve upon its axis. Consequent upon this would be, not merely alternate periods of light and darkness, but also of heat and cold, from which would result important effects upon the formation of the earth’s crust. Moreover, in... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:6

(6) A firmament.—This is the Latin translation of the Greek word used by the translators of the Septuagint Version. Undoubtedly it means something solid; and such was the idea of the Greeks, and probably also of the Hebrews. As such it appears in the poetry of the Bible, where it is described as a mighty vault of molten glass (Job 37:18), upheld by the mountains as pillars (Job 26:11; 2 Samuel 22:8), and having doors and lattices through which the Deity pours forth abundance (Genesis 7:11;... read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 1:29-31

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:1-4

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:1-31

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:1-31

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:3

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:4

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:5

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:6

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands