In the beginning? #CEBTour

04/23/2012

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃

Genesis 1:1

In the beginnning, God created the heavens and the earth...

(most translations)

In the beginning of God's creating the skies and the earth...

(Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah)

When God began to create heaven and earth...

(Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses)

When God began to create the heavens and the earth...

(Common English Bible)

First this: God created the heavens and the earth--all you see, all you don't see...

(The Message)

In the beginning, when God created the universe...

(Good News Translation)

Here we are, six words into the Bible, and it's already difficult for translators to agree on what the text really says! Some of my Christian brothers and sisters who are more conspiratorially minded will no doubt accuse those who disagree with their favorite translation to be at best wrong, and at worst, deliberately leading people down a false path. I disagree. I think anyone reading the Bible as it truly is will have to notice that it isn't all black and white, despite how it appears on the page. Right off the bat, there is confusion, somewhat like the chaos before creation that the book of Genesis describes. Yes, God creates order out of the confusion, but he doesn't simply give us the answers in a neat, tidy format. The Bible is most emphatically NOT "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (B.I.B.L.E.)"! We would do well to remember that whenever we approach the Word.