The Creation, James Tissot circa 1896 - 1902. Jewish Museum
The Genesis of Creation
God creates life in the heavens and the earth: the first three verses of the Bible explained.
Published: October 21, 2022
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Last Updated: October 28, 2026
This translation is used by both the New Oxford Annotated Bible (2001) and the Harper Collins Study Bible (2006).
The biblical text was originally written without vowels, so this change represents a different pronunciation of the Hebrew word ברא, but not a different spelling. Editor’s note: See discussion of these differences in Ziony Zevit, “Before the Beginning: Between Ancient and Modern Cosmology,” TheTorah (2014); Warren Zev Harvey, “Creation from Primordial Matter: Did Rashi Read Plato’s Timaeus?” TheTorah (2019).
