In the beginning (phrase)
"In the beginning" is the traditional translation of the opening-phrase or incipit "bereshit" in Biblical Hebrew used in the Bible in Genesis 1:1 . In John 1:1 of the New Testament, the word Archē is translated into English with the same phrase.
Etymology
[edit]The mimetic translation of the word bǝrēʾšît (בְּרֵאשִׁית) in the Hebrew Bible is: 'In beginning'. The word is made of two parts, bǝ (a prepositional suffix) and rēʾšît (a noun). As a result, this forms part of a genitive phrase, leading to a linguistic and exegetical translation of this word being 'In the beginning of...'.[1] More accurately, the Hebrew word for "In the beginning,", the non-genitive phrase, would be "barēʾšît".
A more functional equivalent English translation of the first three words of Genesis 1:1 is: "When God began to create...".[1]
The traditional translation of the word bǝrēʾšît as "In the beginning," may not be accurate. There is debate that despite its traditional translation as “in the beginning,” it’s possible that it wasn’t historically read that way.[1] Thomas Römer, Administrator and theological professor at the Collège de France, says that according to the Massoretes, in the written tradition bǝrēʾšît is "a beginning" among other possible ones and not the absolute Beginning.[2]
Archē (Ancient Greek: ἀρχή) is the original word used in John 1:1.
Usage
[edit]The Hebrew Bible uses the word bǝrēʾšît on 5 occasions, in Genesis 1:1 and Jeremiah 26:1, 27:1, 28:1 and 49:34. All uses in Jeremiah refer to the beginning of the reign of various kings, translated to: "In the beginning of the reign of...".
The King James Version translates John 1:1a as "In the beginning was the Word".
Tradition and theology
[edit]In Judaism
[edit] |
The Book of Genesis as a whole has the title of Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית) by its incipit in Hebrew, as with other books of the Hebrew Bible. The first word, and thus God's role as Creator, is recited in the Aleinu prayer near the end of each of the three daily prayer-services.
In Christianity
[edit]
Genesis 1:1 is commonly paralleled by Christian theologians with John 1:1 as something that the author alluded to.[3] Theologian Charles Ellicott wrote:
The reference to the opening words of the Old Testament is obvious, and is the more striking when we remember that a Jew would constantly speak of and quote from the book of Genesis as "Berēshîth" ("in the beginning"). It is quite in harmony with the Hebrew tone of this Gospel to do so, and it can hardly be that St. John wrote his Berēshîth without having that of Moses present to his mind, and without being guided by its meaning.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Blenkinsopp 2011, pp. 30–31.
- ^ https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/les-cours-du-college-de-france/introduction-que-sont-la-bible-hebraique-et-l-ancien-testament-3048117
- ^ Jobes 2014.
- ^ Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers on John 1, accessed 22 January 2016
Sources
[edit]- Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2011). Creation, Un-Creation, Re-Creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1–11. T&T Clarke International. ISBN 9780567372871.
- Jobes, Karen H. (2014). 1, 2, and 3 John. Zondervan Academic. ISBN 978-0-310-51801-3. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
Further reading
[edit]- Hoffman, Joel (2004). In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-3706-4. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- Friedman, David B. (2010). Bereshit, The Book of Beginnings: A New Translation with Commentary. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4982-7178-3. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- Burg, Avraham (2012). Very Near to You: Human Readings of the Torah. Gefen Publishing House Ltd. ISBN 978-965-229-564-4. Retrieved 21 July 2020.