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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - Genesis 1:1 - 1:1
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Gen 1:1, Gen 1:2. The Creation of the Heaven and Earth.
In the beginning - a period of remote and unknown antiquity, hid in the depths of eternal ages; and so the phrase is used in Pro 8:22, Pro 8:23.
God - the name of the Supreme Being, signifying in Hebrew, “Strong,” “Mighty.” It is expressive of omnipotent power; and by its use here in the plural form, is obscurely taught at the opening of the Bible, a doctrine clearly revealed in other parts of it, namely, that though God is one, there is a plurality of persons in the Godhead - Father, Son, and Spirit, who were engaged in the creative work (Pro 8:27; Joh 1:3, Joh 1:10; Eph 3:9; Heb 1:2; Job 26:13).
created - not formed from any pre-existing materials, but made out of nothing.
the heaven and the earth - the universe. This first verse is a general introduction to the inspired volume, declaring the great and important truth that all things had a beginning; that nothing throughout the wide extent of nature existed from eternity, originated by chance, or from the skill of any inferior agent; but that the whole universe was produced by the creative power of God (Act 17:24; Rom 11:36). After this preface, the narrative is confined to the earth.