Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Genesis 1

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

beginning

John 1:1.

God

Elohim (sometimes El or Elah), English form "God," the first of the three primary names of Deity, is a uni-plural noun formed from El, means "strength", or "the strong one", and Alah, "to swear", "to bind oneself by an oath", so implying "faithfulness". This uni-plurality implied in the name is directly asserted in Gen 1:26 (plurality), Gen 1:27 (unity); see also Gen 3:22. The Trinity is latent in Elohim. As meaning primarily "the Strong One" it is fitly used in the first chapter of Genesis. Used in the Old Testament about 2500 times. See also Scofield Gen 2:4, note; 2:7; 14:18, note; 15:2, note; 17:1, note; 21:33, note; 1 Sam 1:3, note.

Deity (names of). Genesis 2:4, 7. (Genesis 1:1; Malachi 3:18).

created

But three creative acts of God are recorded in this chapter:

1. heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1)
2. animal life (Gen 1:21)
3. human life (Gen 1:26-27)

The first creative act refers to the dateless past, and gives scope for all the geologic ages.

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

without form and void

Jeremiah 4:23-26; Isaiah 24:1; 45:18 clearly indicate that the earth had undergone a cataclysmic change as the result of divine judgment. The face of the earth bears everywhere the marks of such a catastrophe. There are not wanting imitations which connect it with a previous testing and fall of angels. See Ezekiel 28:12-15; Isaiah 14:9-14 which certainly go beyond the kings of Tyre and Babylon.

the

Holy Spirit. Genesis 6:3. (Genesis 1:2; Malachi 2:15).

Spirit of God

Job 26:13; Psalm 104:30.

Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Let there be light

Neither here nor in verses 14-18 is an original creative act implied. A different word is used. The sense is, made to appear; made visible. The sun and moon were created "in the beginning." The "light" of course came from the sun, but the vapour diffused the light. Later the sun appeared in an unclouded sky.

Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Day

The word "day" is used in Scripture in three ways:

1. that part of the solar day of twenty-four hours which is light Genesis 1:5, 14; John 9:4; 11:9.
2. such a day, set apart for some distinctive purpose, as, "day of atonement" (Leviticus 23:27); "day of judgment" Matthew 10:15.
3. a period of time, long or short, during which certain revealed purposes of God are to be accomplished, as "day of the Lord."

evening and the morning

The use of "evening" and "morning" may be held to limit "day" to the solar day; but the frequent parabolic use of natural phenomena may warrant the conclusion that each creative "day" was a period of time marked off by a beginning and ending.

Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

firmament

Literally expanse (i.e. of waters beneath, of vapour above).

Gen 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

firmament

i.e. the expanse above, the "heaven" of the clouds. Genesis 7:11; 8:2.

Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

bring forth grass

It is by no means necessary to suppose that the life-germ of seeds perished in the catastrophic judgment which overthrew the primitive order. With the restoration of dry land and light the earth would "bring forth" as described. It was "animal" life which perished, the traces of which remain as fossils. Relegate fossils to the primitive creation, and no conflict of science with the Genesis cosmogony remains.

Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Let there be lights

Psalm 136:5-9.

Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

made

The word does not imply a creative act; vs. 14-18 are declarative of function merely.

greater light

The "greater light" is a type of Christ, the "Sun of righteousness" Malachi 4:2. He will take this character at His second advent. Morally the world is now in the state between; Gen 1:3 and Gen 1:16 (Eph 6:12; Acts 26:18; 1 Peter 2:9. The sun is not seen, but there is light. Christ is that light (John 1:4, 5, 9) but "shineth in darkness," comprehended only by faith. As "Son of righteousness" He will dispel all darkness. Dispensationally the Church is in place as the "lesser light," the moon, reflecting the light of the unseen sun. The stars (Gen 1:16) are individual believers who are "lights" (Phl 2:15, 16). See John 1:5.

(A type is a divinely purposed illustration of some truth. It may be:

1. a person (Rom 5:14)
2. an event (1 Cor 10:11)
3. a thing (Heb 10:20)
4. an institution (Heb 9:11)
5. a ceremonial (1 Cor 5:7)

Types occur most frequently in the Pentateuch, but are found, more sparingly, elsewhere. The antitype, or fulfilment of the type, is found, usually, in the New Testament.)

Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

heaven

i.e. the "heaven" of the stars; e.g. Genesis 15:5. See Luke 23:43.

Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

every living creature

The second clause, "every living creature," as distinguished from fishes merely, is taken up again in verse 24, showing that in the second creative act all animal life is included.

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

creature

"Creature," Hebrew nephesh, translated soul in Genesis 2:7 and usually. In itself nephesh, or soul, implies self-conscious life, as distinguished from plants, which have unconscious life. In the sense of self-conscious life animals also have "soul." See Scofield verses 26, 27, note.

Gen 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

us

Genesis 11:7.

man in our image

Man. Genesis 1:26, 27, gives the general, Genesis 2:7, 21-23 the particular, account of the creation of man. The revealed facts are:

1. Man was created not evolved. This is
   1. expressly declared, and the declaration is confirmed by Christ (Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:6);
   2. "an enormous gulf, a divergence practically infinite" (Huxley) between the lowest man and the highest beast, confirms it;
   3. the highest beast has no trace of God-consciousness—the religious nature;
   4. science and discovery have done nothing to bridge that "gulf."
2. That man was made in the "image and likeness" of God. This "image" is found chiefly in man's tri-unity, and in his moral nature. Man is "spirit and soul and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

"Spirit" is that part of man which "knows" (1 Corinthians 2:11) and which allies him to the spiritual creation and gives him God-consciousness. "Soul" in itself implies self-consciousness life, as distinguished from plants, which have unconscious life. In that sense animals also have "soul" (Genesis 1:24). But the "soul" of man has a vaster content than "soul" as applied to beast life. It is the seat of emotions, desires, affections (Psalms 42:1-6). The "heart" is, in Scripture usage, nearly synonymous with "soul." Because the natural man is, characteristically, the soulual or physical man, "soul" is often used as synonymous with the individual, e.g. Genesis 12:5. The body, separable from spirit and soul, and susceptible to death, is nevertheless an integral part of man, as the resurrection shows (John 5:28, 29; 1 Corinthians 15:47-50; Revelation 20:11-13). It is the seat of the senses (the means by which the spirit and soul have world-consciousness) and of the fallen Adamic nature (Romans 7:23, 24).

dominion

Kingdom (O.T.) vs. 26-28; Gen 9:6. (Gen 1:26; Zec 12:8).

male and female

Cf. Mat 19:4; Mar 10:6-8

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

The First Dispensation: Innocency. Man was created in innocency, placed in a perfect environment, subjected to an absolutely simple test, and warned of the consequence of disobedience. The woman fell through pride; the man deliberately (1 Timothy 2:14). God restored His sinning creatures, but the dispensation of innocency ended in the judgment of the Expulsion (Genesis 3:24). See, for the other dispensations:

• Conscience (Scofield Genesis 3:23)
• Human Government (Scofield Genesis 8:21)
• Promise (Scofield Genesis 12:1)
• Law (Scofield Exodus 19:8)
• Grace (Scofield John 1:17)
• Kingdom (Scofield Ephesians 1:10)

The Eight Covenants (1, Edenic). Gen 2:15-17. (Gen 1:28; Heb 8:10).

Be fruitful

The Edenic Covenant, the first of the eight great covenants of Scripture which condition life and salvation, and about which all Scripture crystallizes, has seven elements. The man and woman in Eden were responsible:

1. To replenish the earth with a new order—man;
2. to subdue the earth to human uses;
3. to have dominion over the animal creation;
4. to eat herbs and fruits;
5. to till and keep the garden;
6. to abstain from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil;
7. the penalty—death.

See, for the other seven covenants:

• Adamic (Scofield Genesis 3:15)
• Noahic (Scofield Genesis 9:1)
• Abrahamic (Scofield Genesis 15:18)
• Mosaic (Scofield Exodus 19:25)
• Palestinian (Scofield Deuteronomy 30:3)
• Davidic (Scofield 2 Samuel 7:16)
• New (Scofield Hebrews 8:8)