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The earth was still desolate and empty (uninhabited, inhospitable – Hebr. tóhovabóho) with darkness over the deep, but the Spirit of God hovered (was in motion, floated) over the waters. [The expression “heavens and earth” describes all matter that exists – the entire universe; it is a so-called merism (an expression with contrasts that describes a whole). Verses 1-2 are an introduction that sets the stage before God begins to make the earth habitable and fill it with life in verse 3. Then the first of the days of creation begins in the same way as all the other days with “And God said.” Even though the universe has been created, the earth is still uninhabitable and unsuitable for life, with only darkness resting over the earth's water-covered surface. The word hover (Hebr. rachaf) is only used here and in Deut. 32:11, where it describes an eagle hovering over its nest and encouraging its young to try their wings. The same root is also found in Jer. 23:9 where his legs “tremble.” Here it describes how God's Spirit is in motion, manifested in a quivering, vibrating way – ready for the next step.] [Jesus in creation The first word in the Bible (Hebr. bereshit) begins with the prefix be-, which can mean in, but also with or through (e.g., as in writing with the help of a pen or through someone's efforts, it is possible). This is followed by reshit, which means the beginning and the first, but also the best, the most distinguished, or the finest. It is probably this first word that Paul alludes to when he says in Col. 1:16: bereshit bara Elohim et hashamaijm veet haarets. The middle word et consists of two letters, alef–tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The word et is an object particle that indicates that the following word, which is “heavens,” is the object in the sentence. In Rev 1:8, Jesus says that he is the alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which is the equivalent of alef–tav in Hebrew. Although this is only a linguistic grammatical detail in Hebrew, it can be interpreted that Jesus is also represented in the middle of the Bible's first verse, moreover at God's side – et follows directly after Elohim (God). Interestingly, the letter alef was originally written as an image of the head of an ox. The ox was used as a sin offering for the whole people. The sacrificial animal (the ox) was then combined with a cross (a tick), which is how the letter tav was originally written. One could view this as a coincidence. The object particle appears countless times, and the idea is not that every time it is used, Jesus is represented. But in the light of the New Testament, one can sense that already in the first verse of the Bible, centrally placed, there is a hint of “the first and the last” who will one day die a sacrificial death on the cross.]
Below is an interlinear translation which follows the original scripture word for word. We are still working on the lexicon. Please contact us if you want to help.
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Interlinear — table
Below is an interlinear version in table form that follows the word order of the original text. Clicking on the Strongs number will show the words in their basic form (note that sometimes the grammar causes not only the endings to change, but also the initial letters of the word).
