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Strong Tower
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Damascus
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Seek
Rebellious
Gog
The End
Restoration
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Overthrow
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Judgments
Builders
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Admonition
Unpardonable
Signs
Return
Resurrection
Lost
Prodigal
Rich Man
Body
Ascension
Impartiality
Reliance
Unrighteous
First Fruits
Eternal
Heart
Perversion
Unity
Thanksgiving
Incomparable
Built Up
Died In Christ
The Day
Lawlessness
Apostasy
Ears Tickled
Elders
Salutation
Faith
Exhortation
Living Hope
Godly Living
False Prophets
Light
Walk
Truth
God
Laodicea
White Horse
Sea
Earth
Doom
Coming
Creation
New American Standard Bible
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:2
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Genesis 1:3
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Genesis 1:4
Genesis 1:5
God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Genesis 1:6
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Genesis 1:7
God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Genesis 1:9
Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11
Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:12
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:13
There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Genesis 1:14
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;
Genesis 1:15
and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:16
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
Genesis 1:17
God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
Genesis 1:18
and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:19
There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Genesis 1:20
Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”
Genesis 1:21
God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:22
God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Genesis 1:23
There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Genesis 1:24
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:25
God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:27
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:29
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
Genesis 1:30
and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Cross References
Genesis 1:1: Psalm 102:25; Isaiah 40:21; John 1:1, 2; Hebrews 1:10; Psalm 89:11; 90:2; Acts 17:24; Romans 1:20; Hebrews 11:3; Job 38:4; Isaiah 42:5; 45:18; Revelation 4:11; Genesis 1:2: Jeremiah 4:23; Job 38:9; Psalm 104:30; Isaiah 40:13, 14; Deuteronomy 32:11; Isaiah 31:5; 3 : Psalm 33:6, 9; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Genesis 1:4: Psalm 145:9, 10; Isaiah 45:7; Genesis 1:5: Psalm 74:16; Psalm 65:8; Genesis 1:6: Isaiah 40:22; Jeremiah 10:12; 2 Peter 3:5; Genesis 1:7: Job 38:8-11; Psalm 148:4; Genesis 1:9: Psalm 104:6-9; Jeremiah 5:22; 2 Peter 3:5; Psalm 24:1, 2; 95:5; Genesis 1:10: Psalm 33:7; 95:5; 146:6; Genesis 1:11: Psalm 65:9-13; 104:14; Hebrews 6:7; Genesis 1:14: Psalm 74:16; 136:7; Psalm 19:1; 150:1; Jeremiah 10:2; Psalm 104:19; Genesis 1:16: Psalm 136:8, 9; Job 38:7; Psalm 8:3; Isaiah 40:26; Genesis 1:17: Jeremiah 33:20, 25; Genesis 1:18: Jeremiah 31:35; Genesis 1:21: Psalm 104:25-28; Genesis 1:24: Genesis 2:19; 6:20; 7:14; 8:19; Genesis 1:25: Genesis 7:21, 22; Jeremiah 27:5; Genesis 1:26: Genesis 3:22; 11:7; Genesis 5:1; 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; James 3:9; Psalm 8:6-8; Genesis 1:27: Genesis 5:1; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6; Genesis 1:28: Gen 9:1, 7; Leviticus 26:9; Psalm 127:3, 5 Genesis 1:29: Psalm 104:14; 136:25; Genesis 1:30: Psalm 145:15, 16; 147:9; Genesis 1:31: Psalm 104:24, 28; 119:68; 1 Timothy 4:4
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Adam
A Babylonian word that is the generic name for man. It has the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent history and that of his descendants are detailed in the first book of Moses. God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Adam was absolutely the first man whom God created. He was formed out of the dust of the earth, and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and gave him dominion over all the lower creatures. He was placed after his creation in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it, and to enjoy its fruits under this one prohibition: Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat then you shall surely die.
The first recorded act of Adam was his giving names to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, which God brought to him for this end. Thereafter the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and while in an unconscious state took one of his ribs, and closed up his flesh again; and of this rib he made a woman, whom he presented to him when he awoke.
Adam received her as his wife, and said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. He called her Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Being induced by the tempter in the form of a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, Eve persuaded Adam, and he also did eat. Thus man fell, and brought upon himself and his posterity all the sad consequences of his transgression.
The narrative of the Fall comprehends in it the great promise of a Deliverer, the first gospel message to man. They were expelled from Eden, and at the east of the garden God placed a flame, which turned every way, to prevent access to the tree of life.
How long they were in Paradise is matter of mere conjecture. Shortly after their expulsion Eve brought forth her first born and called him Cain. Although we have the names of only three of Adam's sons, Cain, Abel, and Seth, yet it is obvious that he had several sons and daughters. He died aged 930 years.
Adam and Eve were the progenitors of the whole human race. Evidences of varied kinds are abundant in proving the unity of the human race. The investigations of science, altogether independent of historical evidence, lead to the conclusion that God has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.
Astronomy
The Hebrews were devout students of the wonders of the starry firmament. In the Book of Job, which is the oldest book of the Bible in all probability, the constellations are distinguished and named. Mention is made of the morning star, the seven stars and Pleiades, Orion, Arcturus, the Great Bear, the crooked serpent, Draco, the Dioscuri, or Gemini, Castor and Pollux. The stars were called the host of heaven.
The oldest divisions of time were mainly based on the observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies, the ordinances of heaven. Such observations led to the division of the year into months and the mapping out of the appearances of the stars into twelve portions, which received from the Greeks the name of the zodiac.
Bless
God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual. We bless God when we thank him for his mercies. One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare. Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses.
The priests were divinely authorized to bless the people. We have many examples of apostolic benediction. Among the Jews in their thank offerings the master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand, and after having blessed God for it and for other mercies then enjoyed, handed it to his guests, who all partook of it. It is where the apostle speaks of the cup of blessing.
Creation
In the beginning God created, called into being, all things out of nothing. This creative act on the part will of God. The work of creation is attributed to the Godhead; to the Father; to the Son; to the Holy Spirit. The fact that he is the Creator distinguishes Jehovah as the true God.
The one great end in the work of creation is the manifestation of the glory of the Creator. God's works, equally with God's word, are a revelation from him; and between the teachings of the one and those of the other, when rightly understood, there can be no contradiction. Traditions of the creation, disfigured by corruptions, are found among the records of ancient Eastern nations.
Deep
Used to denote the grave or the abyss; the deepest part of the sea; the chaos mentioned in Genesis 1:2; the bottomless pit, hell.
Dove
In their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated "dove-cots" are prepared for them. The dove was placed on the standards of the Assyrians and Babylonians in honor, it is supposed, of Semiramis, fierceness of the dove.
Doves and turtle doves were the only birds that could be offered in sacrifice, as they were clean according to the Mosaic law. The dove was the harbinger of peace to Noah. It is often mentioned as the emblem of purity. It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit; also of tender and devoted affection. David in his distress wished that he had the wings of a dove, that he might fly away and be at rest. There is a species of dove found at Damascus whose feathers, all except the wings, are literally as yellow as gold.
Dragon
The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins; the jackal. Some great sea monster. In Isaiah 51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Genesis 1:21 it's rendered whales and sea monsters. It is rendered serpent. In the New Testament the word is used metaphorically of Satan.
Food
Originally the Creator granted the use of the vegetable world for food to man, with the exception mentioned. The use of animal food was probably not unknown to the antediluvians. There is, however, a distinct law on the subject given to Noah after the Deluge. Various articles of food used in the patriarchal age are mentioned. Regarding the food of the Israelites in Egypt. In the wilderness their ordinary food was miraculously supplied in the manna.
They had also quails. In the law of Moses there are special regulations as to the animals to be used for food. The Jews were also forbidden to use as food anything that had been consecrated to idol, or animals that had died of disease or had been torn by wild beasts. But beyond these restrictions they had a large grant from God. Food was prepared for use in various ways. The cereals were sometimes eaten without any preparation. Vegetables were cooked by boiling, and thus also other articles of food were prepared for use. Food was also prepared by roasting.
Grass
Ripe grass fit for mowing. As the herbage rapidly fades under the scorching sun, it is used as an image of the brevity of human life, this word is rendered leeks, green grass. The sickly and forced blades of grass which spring up on the flat plastered roofs of houses in the East are used as an emblem of speedy destruction, because they are small and weak, and because, under the scorching rays of the sun, they soon wither away. The dry stalks of grass were often used as fuel for the oven.
Heaven
The phrase heaven and earth is used to indicate the whole universe. According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, The firmament, as fowls of the heaven, the eagles of heaven. The starry heavens. The heaven of heavens, or the third heaven. Meaning of words in the original, heavens, a plural form meaning heights, elevations, high places, heights. Literally a wheel, is rendered heaven.
Rendered sky, plural clouds, means probably the firmament, regarded as a solid expanse. Metaphorical meaning of term; doors of heaven; heaven shut; opened.
The place of the everlasting blessedness of the righteous; the abode of departed spirits. Christ calls it his Father's house. It is called paradise. The heavenly Jerusalem. The kingdom of heaven. The eternal kingdom. The eternal inheritance. The better country.
The blessed are said to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to be in Abraham's bosom; to reign with Christ; and to enjoy rest.
In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of life everlasting, an eternal weight of glory, an exemption from all sufferings for ever, a deliverance from all evils and from the society of the wicked, bliss without termination, the fullness of joy for ever. The believer's heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness, but also a place, a place prepared for them.
Holy Ghost
The third Person of the adorable Trinity. His personality is proved from the fact that the attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition, are ascribed to him. He reproves, helps, glorifies, intercedes.
He executes the offices peculiar only to a person. The very nature of these offices involves personal distinction. His divinity is established from the fact that the names of God are ascribed to him; and that divine attributes are also ascribed to him, omnipresence; omniscience; omnipotence; eternity. Creation is ascribed to him, and the working of miracles. Worship is required and ascribed to him.
Light
The offspring of the divine command. All the more joyous emotions of the mind, all the pleasing sensations of the frame, all the happy hours of domestic intercourse were habitually described among the Hebrews under imagery derived from light. Light came also naturally to typify true religion and the felicity it imparts, and the glorious inheritance of the redeemed.
God is said to dwell in light inaccessible. It frequently signifies instruction. In its highest sense it is applied to Christ as the Sun of righteousness. God is styled the Father of lights. It is used of angels, and of John the Baptist, who was a burning and a shining light, and of all true disciples, who are styled the light of the world.
Man
Adam, used as the proper name of the first man. The name is derived from a word meaning to be red, and thus the first man was called Adam because he was formed from the red earth. It is also the generic name of the humans. It denotes also man in opposition to woman. A man in opposition to a woman; a husband; man with reference to excellent mental qualities. Man as mortal, transient, perishable.
It is applied to women. Man with reference to his strength, as distinguished from women and from children; a husband, men as mortal, and as opposed to women and children. Man was created by the immediate hand of God, and is generically different from all other creatures.
His complex nature is composed of two elements, two distinct substances, viz., body and soul. The words translated spirit and soul are habitually used interchangeably. The spirit is the soul as rational; the soul is the same, considered as the animating and vital principle of the body.
Man was created in the likeness of God as to the perfection of his nature, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and as having dominion over all the inferior creatures. He had in his original state God's law written on his heart, and had power to obey it, and yet was capable of disobeying, being left to the freedom of his own will. He was created with holy dispositions, prompting him to holy actions; but he was fallible, and did fall from his integrity.
Moon
From its paleness, the white, was appointed by the Creator to be with the sun for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. A lunation was among the Jews the period of a month, and several of their festivals were held on the day of the new moon. It is frequently referred to along with the sun, and also by itself. The great brilliance of the moon in Eastern countries led to its being early an object of idolatrous worship, a form of idolatry against which the Jews were warned. They, however, fell into this idolatry, and offered incense, and also cakes of honey, to the moon.
Sea
Signifies the gathering together of the waters, the ocean; a river, as the Nile, the Euphrates; the Red Sea; the Mediterranean; the sea of Galilee, an inland fresh-water lake, and the Dead Sea or salt sea.
The word sea is used symbolically in Isaiah 60:5, where it probably means the nations around the Mediterranean. In Daniel 7:3 and Revelation 13:1 it may mean the tumultuous changes among the nations of the earth.
Sun
First mentioned along with the moon as the two great luminaries of heaven. By their motions and influence they were intended to mark and divide times and seasons.
The worship of the sun was one of the oldest forms of false religion, and was common among the Egyptians and Chaldeans and other pagan nations. The Jews were warned against this form of idolatry.
Whale
It is rendered as sea monster, dragons, and serpent. The words of Job, uttered in bitter irony, where he asks, Am I a sea or a whale? simply mean, Have I a wild, untamable nature, like the waves of the sea, which must be confined and held within bounds, that they cannot pass?
The serpent of the sea, which was but the wild, stormy sea itself, wound itself around the land, and threatened to swallow it up. Job inquires if he must be watched and plagued like this monster, lest he throw the world into disorder.
Even the sea monsters draw out the breast. The whale brings forth its young alive, and suckles them. It is to be noticed of the story of Jonah's being three days and three nights in the whale's belly, as recorded in Matthew 12:40, it's any kind of sea monster of the shark or the whale tribe, and that in the book of Jonah it is only said that a great fish was prepared to swallow Jonah.
This fish may have been, therefore, some great shark. The white shark is known to frequent the Mediterranean Sea, and is sometimes found 30 feet in length.
Wilderness
Denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle; an uncultivated place. The wilderness of the sea. A mysterious name, which must be meant to describe Babylon, perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been.
Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title in Isaiah 22:1. Jerusalem is the valley of vision, rich in spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea.
Jeshimon, a desert waste. Arabah, the name given to the valley from the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. It's rendered plain. A dry place. Tohu, a desolate place, a place waste or unoccupied.
The wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for 40 years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled the wilderness of the wanderings. This entire region is in the form of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex toward the south.
Its extent from north to south is about 250 miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad. Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is not a single river. The northern part of this triangular peninsula is properly the wilderness of the wanderings.
The western portion of it is called the wilderness of Shur, and the eastern the wilderness of Paran. The wilderness of Judea is a wild, barren region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. It is the Jeshimon mentioned in 1 Samuel 23:19.
Year
Meaning repetition or revolution. Among the ancient Egyptians the year consisted of twelve months of thirty days each, with five days added to make it a complete revolution of the earth round the sun.
The Jews reckoned the year in two ways, according to a sacred calendar, in which the year began about the time of the vernal equinox, with the month Abib; and according to a civil calendar, in which the year began about the time of the autumnal equinox, with the month Nisan. The month Tisri is now the beginning of the Jewish year.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
God creates heaven and earth. The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands this better than the fancy of the most learned men. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. And let our make and place as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, always to keep heaven in our eye, and the earth under our feet.
The Son of God, one with the Father, was with him when he made the world; nay, we are often told that the world was made by him, and nothing was made without him.
Oh, what high thoughts should there be in our minds, of that great God whom we worship, and of that great Mediator in whose name we pray! And here, at the beginning of the sacred volume, we read of that Divine Spirit, whose work upon the heart of man is so often mentioned in other parts of the Bible.
Observe, that at first there was nothing desirable to be seen, for the world was without form, and void; it was confusion, and emptiness. In like manner the work of grace in the soul is a new creation: and in a graceless soul, one that is not born again, there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself: this is our condition by nature, till Almighty grace works a change in us.
The creation of light. God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the word of God! And in the new creation, the first thing that is wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit works upon the will and affections by enlightening the understanding. Those who by sin were darkness, by grace become light in the Lord.
Darkness would have been always upon fallen man, if the Son of God had not come and given us understanding. The light which God willed, he approved of. God divided the light from the darkness; for what fellowship has light with darkness?
In heaven there is perfect light, and no darkness at all; in hell, utter darkness, and no gleam of light. The day and the night are the Lord's; let us use both to his honor, by working for him every day, and resting in him every night, meditating in his law both day and night.
God separates the earth from the waters, and makes it fruitful. The earth was emptiness, but by a word spoken, it became full of God's riches, and his they are still. Though the use of them is allowed to man, they are from God, and to his service and honor they must be used.
The earth, at his command, brings forth grass, herbs, and fruits. God must have the glory of all the benefit we receive from the produce of the earth. If we have, through grace, an interest in Him who is the Fountain, we may rejoice in him when the streams of temporal mercies are dried up.
God forms the sun, moon, and stars. In the fourth day's work, the creation of the sun, moon, and stars is accounted for. All these are the works of God.
The stars are spoken of as they appear to our eyes, without telling their number, nature, place, size, or motions; for the Scriptures were written, not to gratify curiosity, or make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints. The lights of heaven are made to serve him; they do it faithfully, and shine in their season without fail. We are set as lights in this world to serve God; but do we in like manner answer the end of our creation?
We do not: our light does not shine before God, as his lights shine before us. We burn our Master's candles, but do not mind our Master's work. Animals created. God commanded the fish and fowl to be produced. This command he himself executed. Insects, which are more numerous than the birds and beasts, and as curious, seem to have been part of this day's work.
The Creator's wisdom and power are to be admired as much in an ant as in an elephant. The power of God's providence preserves all things, and fruitfulness is the effect of his blessing. Man created in the image of God. Man was made last of all the creatures: this was both an honor and a favor to him.
Yet man was made the same day that the beasts were; his body was made of the same earth with theirs; and while he is in the body, he inhabits the same earth with them.
God forbid that by indulging the body, and the desires of it, we should make ourselves like the beasts that perish! Man was to be a creature different from all that had been made. Flesh and spirit, heaven and earth, must be put together in him. God said, to Let us make man.
To Man, when he was made, was to glorify the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Into that great name we are baptized, for to that great name we owe our being. It is the soul of man that especially bears God's image. Man was made upright. His understanding saw Divine things clearly and truly; there were no errors or mistakes in his knowledge; his will consented at once, and in all things, to the will of God. His affections were all regular, and he had no bad appetites or passions. His thoughts were easily brought and fixed to the best subjects. Thus holy, thus happy, were our first parents in having the image of God upon them. But how is this image of God upon man defaced!
May the Lord renew it upon our souls by his grace! Food appointed. Herbs and fruits must be man's food, including corn, and all the products of the earth. Let God's people cast their care upon him, and not be troubled about what they shall eat, and what they shall drink.
He that feeds his birds will not starve his babes. The work of creation ended and approved. When we come to think about our works, we find, to our shame, that much has been very bad; but when God saw his work, all was very good. Good, for it was all just as the Creator would have it to be.
All his works, in all places of his dominion, bless him; and therefore, bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Let us bless God for the gospel of Christ, and when we consider his almighty power, let us sinners flee from the wrath to come. If new to created unto the image of God in holiness, we shall at length enter the to new heavens and new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:2
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Genesis 1:3
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Genesis 1:4
God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:5
God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Genesis 1:6
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Genesis 1:7
God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Genesis 1:9
Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11
Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:12
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:13
There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Genesis 1:14
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;
Genesis 1:15
and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:16
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
Genesis 1:17
God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
Genesis 1:18
and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:19
There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Genesis 1:20
Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”
Genesis 1:21
God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:22
God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Genesis 1:23
There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Genesis 1:24
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:25
God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:27
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:29
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
Genesis 1:30
and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Cross References
Genesis 1:1: Psalm 102:25; Isaiah 40:21; John 1:1, 2; Hebrews 1:10; Psalm 89:11; 90:2; Acts 17:24; Romans 1:20; Hebrews 11:3; Job 38:4; Isaiah 42:5; 45:18; Revelation 4:11; Genesis 1:2: Jeremiah 4:23; Job 38:9; Psalm 104:30; Isaiah 40:13, 14; Deuteronomy 32:11; Isaiah 31:5; 3 : Psalm 33:6, 9; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Genesis 1:4: Psalm 145:9, 10; Isaiah 45:7; Genesis 1:5: Psalm 74:16; Psalm 65:8; Genesis 1:6: Isaiah 40:22; Jeremiah 10:12; 2 Peter 3:5; Genesis 1:7: Job 38:8-11; Psalm 148:4; Genesis 1:9: Psalm 104:6-9; Jeremiah 5:22; 2 Peter 3:5; Psalm 24:1, 2; 95:5; Genesis 1:10: Psalm 33:7; 95:5; 146:6; Genesis 1:11: Psalm 65:9-13; 104:14; Hebrews 6:7; Genesis 1:14: Psalm 74:16; 136:7; Psalm 19:1; 150:1; Jeremiah 10:2; Psalm 104:19; Genesis 1:16: Psalm 136:8, 9; Job 38:7; Psalm 8:3; Isaiah 40:26; Genesis 1:17: Jeremiah 33:20, 25; Genesis 1:18: Jeremiah 31:35; Genesis 1:21: Psalm 104:25-28; Genesis 1:24: Genesis 2:19; 6:20; 7:14; 8:19; Genesis 1:25: Genesis 7:21, 22; Jeremiah 27:5; Genesis 1:26: Genesis 3:22; 11:7; Genesis 5:1; 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; James 3:9; Psalm 8:6-8; Genesis 1:27: Genesis 5:1; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6; Genesis 1:28: Gen 9:1, 7; Leviticus 26:9; Psalm 127:3, 5 Genesis 1:29: Psalm 104:14; 136:25; Genesis 1:30: Psalm 145:15, 16; 147:9; Genesis 1:31: Psalm 104:24, 28; 119:68; 1 Timothy 4:4
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Adam
A Babylonian word that is the generic name for man. It has the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent history and that of his descendants are detailed in the first book of Moses. God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Adam was absolutely the first man whom God created. He was formed out of the dust of the earth, and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and gave him dominion over all the lower creatures. He was placed after his creation in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it, and to enjoy its fruits under this one prohibition: Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat then you shall surely die.
The first recorded act of Adam was his giving names to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, which God brought to him for this end. Thereafter the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and while in an unconscious state took one of his ribs, and closed up his flesh again; and of this rib he made a woman, whom he presented to him when he awoke.
Adam received her as his wife, and said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. He called her Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Being induced by the tempter in the form of a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, Eve persuaded Adam, and he also did eat. Thus man fell, and brought upon himself and his posterity all the sad consequences of his transgression.
The narrative of the Fall comprehends in it the great promise of a Deliverer, the first gospel message to man. They were expelled from Eden, and at the east of the garden God placed a flame, which turned every way, to prevent access to the tree of life.
How long they were in Paradise is matter of mere conjecture. Shortly after their expulsion Eve brought forth her first born and called him Cain. Although we have the names of only three of Adam's sons, Cain, Abel, and Seth, yet it is obvious that he had several sons and daughters. He died aged 930 years.
Adam and Eve were the progenitors of the whole human race. Evidences of varied kinds are abundant in proving the unity of the human race. The investigations of science, altogether independent of historical evidence, lead to the conclusion that God has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.
Astronomy
The Hebrews were devout students of the wonders of the starry firmament. In the Book of Job, which is the oldest book of the Bible in all probability, the constellations are distinguished and named. Mention is made of the morning star, the seven stars and Pleiades, Orion, Arcturus, the Great Bear, the crooked serpent, Draco, the Dioscuri, or Gemini, Castor and Pollux. The stars were called the host of heaven.
The oldest divisions of time were mainly based on the observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies, the ordinances of heaven. Such observations led to the division of the year into months and the mapping out of the appearances of the stars into twelve portions, which received from the Greeks the name of the zodiac.
Bless
God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual. We bless God when we thank him for his mercies. One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare. Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses.
The priests were divinely authorized to bless the people. We have many examples of apostolic benediction. Among the Jews in their thank offerings the master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand, and after having blessed God for it and for other mercies then enjoyed, handed it to his guests, who all partook of it. It is where the apostle speaks of the cup of blessing.
Creation
In the beginning God created, called into being, all things out of nothing. This creative act on the part will of God. The work of creation is attributed to the Godhead; to the Father; to the Son; to the Holy Spirit. The fact that he is the Creator distinguishes Jehovah as the true God.
The one great end in the work of creation is the manifestation of the glory of the Creator. God's works, equally with God's word, are a revelation from him; and between the teachings of the one and those of the other, when rightly understood, there can be no contradiction. Traditions of the creation, disfigured by corruptions, are found among the records of ancient Eastern nations.
Deep
Used to denote the grave or the abyss; the deepest part of the sea; the chaos mentioned in Genesis 1:2; the bottomless pit, hell.
Dove
In their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated "dove-cots" are prepared for them. The dove was placed on the standards of the Assyrians and Babylonians in honor, it is supposed, of Semiramis, fierceness of the dove.
Doves and turtle doves were the only birds that could be offered in sacrifice, as they were clean according to the Mosaic law. The dove was the harbinger of peace to Noah. It is often mentioned as the emblem of purity. It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit; also of tender and devoted affection. David in his distress wished that he had the wings of a dove, that he might fly away and be at rest. There is a species of dove found at Damascus whose feathers, all except the wings, are literally as yellow as gold.
Dragon
The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins; the jackal. Some great sea monster. In Isaiah 51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Genesis 1:21 it's rendered whales and sea monsters. It is rendered serpent. In the New Testament the word is used metaphorically of Satan.
Food
Originally the Creator granted the use of the vegetable world for food to man, with the exception mentioned. The use of animal food was probably not unknown to the antediluvians. There is, however, a distinct law on the subject given to Noah after the Deluge. Various articles of food used in the patriarchal age are mentioned. Regarding the food of the Israelites in Egypt. In the wilderness their ordinary food was miraculously supplied in the manna.
They had also quails. In the law of Moses there are special regulations as to the animals to be used for food. The Jews were also forbidden to use as food anything that had been consecrated to idol, or animals that had died of disease or had been torn by wild beasts. But beyond these restrictions they had a large grant from God. Food was prepared for use in various ways. The cereals were sometimes eaten without any preparation. Vegetables were cooked by boiling, and thus also other articles of food were prepared for use. Food was also prepared by roasting.
Grass
Ripe grass fit for mowing. As the herbage rapidly fades under the scorching sun, it is used as an image of the brevity of human life, this word is rendered leeks, green grass. The sickly and forced blades of grass which spring up on the flat plastered roofs of houses in the East are used as an emblem of speedy destruction, because they are small and weak, and because, under the scorching rays of the sun, they soon wither away. The dry stalks of grass were often used as fuel for the oven.
Heaven
The phrase heaven and earth is used to indicate the whole universe. According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, The firmament, as fowls of the heaven, the eagles of heaven. The starry heavens. The heaven of heavens, or the third heaven. Meaning of words in the original, heavens, a plural form meaning heights, elevations, high places, heights. Literally a wheel, is rendered heaven.
Rendered sky, plural clouds, means probably the firmament, regarded as a solid expanse. Metaphorical meaning of term; doors of heaven; heaven shut; opened.
The place of the everlasting blessedness of the righteous; the abode of departed spirits. Christ calls it his Father's house. It is called paradise. The heavenly Jerusalem. The kingdom of heaven. The eternal kingdom. The eternal inheritance. The better country.
The blessed are said to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to be in Abraham's bosom; to reign with Christ; and to enjoy rest.
In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of life everlasting, an eternal weight of glory, an exemption from all sufferings for ever, a deliverance from all evils and from the society of the wicked, bliss without termination, the fullness of joy for ever. The believer's heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness, but also a place, a place prepared for them.
Holy Ghost
The third Person of the adorable Trinity. His personality is proved from the fact that the attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition, are ascribed to him. He reproves, helps, glorifies, intercedes.
He executes the offices peculiar only to a person. The very nature of these offices involves personal distinction. His divinity is established from the fact that the names of God are ascribed to him; and that divine attributes are also ascribed to him, omnipresence; omniscience; omnipotence; eternity. Creation is ascribed to him, and the working of miracles. Worship is required and ascribed to him.
Light
The offspring of the divine command. All the more joyous emotions of the mind, all the pleasing sensations of the frame, all the happy hours of domestic intercourse were habitually described among the Hebrews under imagery derived from light. Light came also naturally to typify true religion and the felicity it imparts, and the glorious inheritance of the redeemed.
God is said to dwell in light inaccessible. It frequently signifies instruction. In its highest sense it is applied to Christ as the Sun of righteousness. God is styled the Father of lights. It is used of angels, and of John the Baptist, who was a burning and a shining light, and of all true disciples, who are styled the light of the world.
Man
Adam, used as the proper name of the first man. The name is derived from a word meaning to be red, and thus the first man was called Adam because he was formed from the red earth. It is also the generic name of the humans. It denotes also man in opposition to woman. A man in opposition to a woman; a husband; man with reference to excellent mental qualities. Man as mortal, transient, perishable.
It is applied to women. Man with reference to his strength, as distinguished from women and from children; a husband, men as mortal, and as opposed to women and children. Man was created by the immediate hand of God, and is generically different from all other creatures.
His complex nature is composed of two elements, two distinct substances, viz., body and soul. The words translated spirit and soul are habitually used interchangeably. The spirit is the soul as rational; the soul is the same, considered as the animating and vital principle of the body.
Man was created in the likeness of God as to the perfection of his nature, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and as having dominion over all the inferior creatures. He had in his original state God's law written on his heart, and had power to obey it, and yet was capable of disobeying, being left to the freedom of his own will. He was created with holy dispositions, prompting him to holy actions; but he was fallible, and did fall from his integrity.
Moon
From its paleness, the white, was appointed by the Creator to be with the sun for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. A lunation was among the Jews the period of a month, and several of their festivals were held on the day of the new moon. It is frequently referred to along with the sun, and also by itself. The great brilliance of the moon in Eastern countries led to its being early an object of idolatrous worship, a form of idolatry against which the Jews were warned. They, however, fell into this idolatry, and offered incense, and also cakes of honey, to the moon.
Sea
Signifies the gathering together of the waters, the ocean; a river, as the Nile, the Euphrates; the Red Sea; the Mediterranean; the sea of Galilee, an inland fresh-water lake, and the Dead Sea or salt sea.
The word sea is used symbolically in Isaiah 60:5, where it probably means the nations around the Mediterranean. In Daniel 7:3 and Revelation 13:1 it may mean the tumultuous changes among the nations of the earth.
Sun
First mentioned along with the moon as the two great luminaries of heaven. By their motions and influence they were intended to mark and divide times and seasons.
The worship of the sun was one of the oldest forms of false religion, and was common among the Egyptians and Chaldeans and other pagan nations. The Jews were warned against this form of idolatry.
Whale
It is rendered as sea monster, dragons, and serpent. The words of Job, uttered in bitter irony, where he asks, Am I a sea or a whale? simply mean, Have I a wild, untamable nature, like the waves of the sea, which must be confined and held within bounds, that they cannot pass?
The serpent of the sea, which was but the wild, stormy sea itself, wound itself around the land, and threatened to swallow it up. Job inquires if he must be watched and plagued like this monster, lest he throw the world into disorder.
Even the sea monsters draw out the breast. The whale brings forth its young alive, and suckles them. It is to be noticed of the story of Jonah's being three days and three nights in the whale's belly, as recorded in Matthew 12:40, it's any kind of sea monster of the shark or the whale tribe, and that in the book of Jonah it is only said that a great fish was prepared to swallow Jonah.
This fish may have been, therefore, some great shark. The white shark is known to frequent the Mediterranean Sea, and is sometimes found 30 feet in length.
Wilderness
Denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle; an uncultivated place. The wilderness of the sea. A mysterious name, which must be meant to describe Babylon, perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been.
Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title in Isaiah 22:1. Jerusalem is the valley of vision, rich in spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea.
Jeshimon, a desert waste. Arabah, the name given to the valley from the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. It's rendered plain. A dry place. Tohu, a desolate place, a place waste or unoccupied.
The wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for 40 years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled the wilderness of the wanderings. This entire region is in the form of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex toward the south.
Its extent from north to south is about 250 miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad. Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is not a single river. The northern part of this triangular peninsula is properly the wilderness of the wanderings.
The western portion of it is called the wilderness of Shur, and the eastern the wilderness of Paran. The wilderness of Judea is a wild, barren region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. It is the Jeshimon mentioned in 1 Samuel 23:19.
Year
Meaning repetition or revolution. Among the ancient Egyptians the year consisted of twelve months of thirty days each, with five days added to make it a complete revolution of the earth round the sun.
The Jews reckoned the year in two ways, according to a sacred calendar, in which the year began about the time of the vernal equinox, with the month Abib; and according to a civil calendar, in which the year began about the time of the autumnal equinox, with the month Nisan. The month Tisri is now the beginning of the Jewish year.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
God creates heaven and earth. The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands this better than the fancy of the most learned men. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. And let our make and place as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, always to keep heaven in our eye, and the earth under our feet.
The Son of God, one with the Father, was with him when he made the world; nay, we are often told that the world was made by him, and nothing was made without him.
Oh, what high thoughts should there be in our minds, of that great God whom we worship, and of that great Mediator in whose name we pray! And here, at the beginning of the sacred volume, we read of that Divine Spirit, whose work upon the heart of man is so often mentioned in other parts of the Bible.
Observe, that at first there was nothing desirable to be seen, for the world was without form, and void; it was confusion, and emptiness. In like manner the work of grace in the soul is a new creation: and in a graceless soul, one that is not born again, there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself: this is our condition by nature, till Almighty grace works a change in us.
The creation of light. God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the word of God! And in the new creation, the first thing that is wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit works upon the will and affections by enlightening the understanding. Those who by sin were darkness, by grace become light in the Lord.
Darkness would have been always upon fallen man, if the Son of God had not come and given us understanding. The light which God willed, he approved of. God divided the light from the darkness; for what fellowship has light with darkness?
In heaven there is perfect light, and no darkness at all; in hell, utter darkness, and no gleam of light. The day and the night are the Lord's; let us use both to his honor, by working for him every day, and resting in him every night, meditating in his law both day and night.
God separates the earth from the waters, and makes it fruitful. The earth was emptiness, but by a word spoken, it became full of God's riches, and his they are still. Though the use of them is allowed to man, they are from God, and to his service and honor they must be used.
The earth, at his command, brings forth grass, herbs, and fruits. God must have the glory of all the benefit we receive from the produce of the earth. If we have, through grace, an interest in Him who is the Fountain, we may rejoice in him when the streams of temporal mercies are dried up.
God forms the sun, moon, and stars. In the fourth day's work, the creation of the sun, moon, and stars is accounted for. All these are the works of God.
The stars are spoken of as they appear to our eyes, without telling their number, nature, place, size, or motions; for the Scriptures were written, not to gratify curiosity, or make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints. The lights of heaven are made to serve him; they do it faithfully, and shine in their season without fail. We are set as lights in this world to serve God; but do we in like manner answer the end of our creation?
We do not: our light does not shine before God, as his lights shine before us. We burn our Master's candles, but do not mind our Master's work. Animals created. God commanded the fish and fowl to be produced. This command he himself executed. Insects, which are more numerous than the birds and beasts, and as curious, seem to have been part of this day's work.
The Creator's wisdom and power are to be admired as much in an ant as in an elephant. The power of God's providence preserves all things, and fruitfulness is the effect of his blessing. Man created in the image of God. Man was made last of all the creatures: this was both an honor and a favor to him.
Yet man was made the same day that the beasts were; his body was made of the same earth with theirs; and while he is in the body, he inhabits the same earth with them.
God forbid that by indulging the body, and the desires of it, we should make ourselves like the beasts that perish! Man was to be a creature different from all that had been made. Flesh and spirit, heaven and earth, must be put together in him. God said, to Let us make man.
To Man, when he was made, was to glorify the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Into that great name we are baptized, for to that great name we owe our being. It is the soul of man that especially bears God's image. Man was made upright. His understanding saw Divine things clearly and truly; there were no errors or mistakes in his knowledge; his will consented at once, and in all things, to the will of God. His affections were all regular, and he had no bad appetites or passions. His thoughts were easily brought and fixed to the best subjects. Thus holy, thus happy, were our first parents in having the image of God upon them. But how is this image of God upon man defaced!
May the Lord renew it upon our souls by his grace! Food appointed. Herbs and fruits must be man's food, including corn, and all the products of the earth. Let God's people cast their care upon him, and not be troubled about what they shall eat, and what they shall drink.
He that feeds his birds will not starve his babes. The work of creation ended and approved. When we come to think about our works, we find, to our shame, that much has been very bad; but when God saw his work, all was very good. Good, for it was all just as the Creator would have it to be.
All his works, in all places of his dominion, bless him; and therefore, bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Let us bless God for the gospel of Christ, and when we consider his almighty power, let us sinners flee from the wrath to come. If new to created unto the image of God in holiness, we shall at length enter the to new heavens and new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
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