Genesis 1 explained: Everything Made, and Called Good

In the beginning (v. 1)

This verse may be a heading for the whole account, the first act of creation, or (as some Jewish and modern translations have it) the start of a longer sentence, 'When God began to create...', leading into verse 2. A separate question is whether God made everything from nothing; Jewish and Christian teaching has long said so, but scholars differ on whether this verse alone teaches it.

Dark, empty waters (v. 2)

Before God shapes anything, the earth is a dark, watery waste with nothing living in it; translations render the Hebrew word pair as 'formless and empty' or 'waste and void'. God's Spirit moves or hovers over the waters, a word used elsewhere of an eagle over its young, though some translations read 'a wind from God' instead.

Days one to three (vv. 3-13)

God speaks, and light, sky, seas, dry land and plants appear, each step separating one thing from another and bringing order to the chaos of verse 2. On day two God makes a 'vault' or 'firmament' between waters above and below, and readers differ on whether this means the open air holding up the rain clouds or a solid dome over the earth.

Days four to six (vv. 14-25)

Many readers notice that these days fill the spaces shaped earlier: lights for the sky, fish and birds for sea and air, then animals for the land. The sun and moon are called only the 'greater' and 'lesser' lights, which many scholars read as a quiet answer to neighboring peoples who worshiped them as gods.

Made in God's image (vv. 26-27)

Humans, female and male alike, are made in God's image; some link this to ancient kings setting up statues to stand for their rule, others to reason, conscience, goodness or the ability to know God. Christians have often read the 'us' in verse 26 as a hint of God as Father, Son and Spirit (the Trinity), while Jewish readers and many scholars hear God speaking with a heavenly court or using a royal 'we'.

Blessing, food, very good (vv. 28-31)

God blesses people to have children, fill the earth, 'subdue' it and govern the animals, strong words in Hebrew that some have taken as license to use nature freely and many readers today take as a duty to care for a world that still belongs to God. Plants are given as food to people and animals alike, and looking at everything together, God calls it 'very good', not just good.

Key verse: Genesis 1:31

Where Christians differ

Christians genuinely differ on how to read the six days: as ordinary days a few thousand years ago, as long ages, or as a carefully patterned picture that says who made the world and why rather than how or when.

Something to think about

The chapter ends by calling the world 'very good'; where does that ring true in your experience, and where does it not?