In the beginning, Remarks on Genesis 1 and 2

This Blog looks at a few verses from Genesis 1 and 2.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Remark:

The heavens and the earth. One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is Psalm 19:2,

• The heavens declare the glory of God, And the firmament shows His handiwork.

The heavens, the eternal divine place peaceful place of devotion and serenity, G-d’s creation. His handiwork, the firmament refers to the multitude of stars, planets and celestial objects. It is said there are more stars than grains of sand on the Earth, estimated  1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 in number. And the earth, the harbor of the first creation of the LORD.

Book of Genesis Ch 1

Genesis 1:5

And G-d called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Remark: The Hebrew calendar calculates dates from sunset to sunset, not midnight to midnight. Now, the Hebrew calendar is different than the civil calendar The Hebrew calendar is based on 3 wonders of astronomy. First, the rotation of the Earth about its axis and this defines a day, which is 24 hours. Next, the revolution of the moon about the Earth, and this defines a month, but the moon revolves around the Earth every roughly 29½ days. Lastly, the revolution of the Earth about the sun, and this defines a year, the earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days, or about 12.4 lunar months, not those 12 months in the civil calendar. In the Hebrew calendar, months are either 29 or 30 days, but not 31 days as is in the civil calendar, correlating to a 29½-day lunar cycle. In the Hebrew calendar, years are either 12 or 13 months, not always 12 months it correlates to the 12.4 month solar cycle. All this adds up to why we can ask the question, so “when is Passover this year in the civil calendar?”

Genesis 1:28

And G-d 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.

Remark: G-d assigned humans to be the caretakers of the planet’s life forms, all the forms of life in the animal and plant kingdoms.  

Genesis 2:8

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he purt the man he had formed.

Remark:

The Garden of Eden may have been in Mesopotamia in Iraq. Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization.  Derived from the Greek word meaning “between rivers,” the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The region extends from eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, to Iraq.

Genesis 2:16

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;”

Genesis 2:17

"But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."

Remark:

G-d wanted people to love him but gave them the faculty to resist him. In this way he could see devotion, as it is only possible when it is possible to turn away from G-d.