# Genesis 1.1-2 **Book:** [Genesis](/codex/genesis/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > **1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.** > > 3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:1-4, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > **1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.** > > 3. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4. God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:1-4, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > **1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 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.** > > 3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. the light from: Heb. between the light and between the darkness (Genesis 1:1-4, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > **1. In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth 2. the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters,** > > 3. and God saith, 'Let light be;' and light is. 4. And God seeth the light that [it is] good, and God separateth between the light and the darkness, (Genesis 1:1-4, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [100 Questions for Evolutionists](/codex/100-questions-for-evolutionists/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Anselms Four-Dimensionalist Eternity](/codex/anselms-four-dimensionalist-eternity/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Aquinas Five Ways](/codex/aquinas-five-ways/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Argument from Cosmology (Guillen)](/codex/argument-from-cosmology-guillen/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Argument from the Creation of Time](/codex/argument-from-the-creation-of-time/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Argument from the Genetic Code](/codex/argument-from-the-genetic-code/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Argument from the Impossibility of an Actual Infinite Past](/codex/argument-from-the-impossibility-of-an-actual-infinite-past/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Argument from the Universal Imagination Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-universal-imagination-convergence/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Argument from Thermodynamics](/codex/argument-from-thermodynamics/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Bible Scientific Errors Objection Defeater](/codex/bible-scientific-errors-objection-defeater/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Biogenesis Argument](/codex/biogenesis-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Build the Cosmological Argument](/codex/build-the-cosmological-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Carbon-14 in Deep-Time Specimens Argument](/codex/carbon-14-in-deep-time-specimens-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Christian God is the Only True God](/codex/christian-god-is-the-only-true-god/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Contingency Argument](/codex/contingency-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Cumulative Case for the Deity of Christ](/codex/cumulative-case-for-the-deity-of-christ/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Elohim Is a Divine Council Objection Defeater](/codex/elohim-is-a-divine-council-objection-defeater/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Fine-Tuning Argument](/codex/fine-tuning-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [First Way - Motion](/codex/first-way-motion/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Information Argument](/codex/information-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Interdependency Argument](/codex/interdependency-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Kalam Cosmological Argument](/codex/kalam-cosmological-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Miller-Urey Reframe Argument](/codex/miller-urey-reframe-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Necessary Being is an Intelligent Mind](/codex/necessary-being-is-an-intelligent-mind/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [OT Polytheism Objection Defeater](/codex/ot-polytheism-objection-defeater/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Second Way - Efficient Causality](/codex/second-way-efficient-causality/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Signature in the Cell Argument](/codex/signature-in-the-cell-argument/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Six Day Creation Falsified Objection Defeater](/codex/six-day-creation-falsified-objection-defeater/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Third Way - Contingency](/codex/third-way-contingency/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) **Concepts:** - [20 Arguments for Old Earth](/codex/20-arguments-for-old-earth/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [A Quick-Glance Guide to Aquinas Five Ways](/codex/a-quick-glance-guide-to-aquinas-five-ways/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Abiogenesis Under the Microscope](/codex/abiogenesis-under-the-microscope/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Are There Other Gods](/codex/are-there-other-gods/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Bible Anticipates Science](/codex/bible-anticipates-science/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Big Bang](/codex/big-bang/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Borde-Guth-Vilenkin Theorem](/codex/borde-guth-vilenkin-theorem/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Causal Principle](/codex/causal-principle/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Christianity](/codex/christianity/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Cosmological Arguments](/codex/cosmological-arguments/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Divine Gender Polarity and Feminine Imagery](/codex/divine-gender-polarity-and-feminine-imagery/), via [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [DNA](/codex/genetic-code/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Edge of Evolution](/codex/edge-of-evolution/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Eternity (Divine)](/codex/eternity-divine/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Evolution](/codex/evolution/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Expansion of the Universe](/codex/expansion-of-the-universe/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Genesis ANE Myth Borrowing Objection](/codex/genesis-ane-myth-borrowing-objection/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Genesis Hermeneutics](/codex/genesis-hermeneutics/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Genesis Interpretation Spread](/codex/genesis-interpretation-spread/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Hexaemeron Tradition](/codex/hexaemeron-tradition/) - [Idealism](/codex/idealism/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Information Argument for Design](/codex/information-argument-for-design/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Law of Biogenesis](/codex/law-of-biogenesis/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Laws of the Universe as Witness to Design](/codex/laws-of-the-universe-as-witness-to-design/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Methodological Naturalism](/codex/naturalism/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Multiverse](/codex/multiverse/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Old Earth Creationism](/codex/old-earth-creationism/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Old Testament Witness to the Deity of Christ](/codex/old-testament-witness-to-the-deity-of-christ/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Origins and Cosmology](/codex/origins-and-cosmology/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [OT Polytheism Objection](/codex/ot-polytheism-objection/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Pantheism](/codex/pantheism/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Paraclete, Identity and Recipients](/codex/paraclete-identity-and-recipients/), via [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Pneumatology](/codex/pneumatology/), via [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Process Theism](/codex/process-theism/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Soul and Spirit, Origin and Awareness](/codex/soul-and-spirit-origin-and-awareness/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Teleological Arguments](/codex/teleological-arguments/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Trinity](/codex/trinity/), via [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Trinity OT Stack (Five Texts)](/codex/trinity-ot-stack-five-texts/), via [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Trinity Plural-Hebrew-Noun Stack](/codex/trinity-plural-hebrew-noun-stack/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Two Powers in Heaven](/codex/two-powers-in-heaven/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Water and Life](/codex/water-and-life/), via [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Water Older Than the Sun](/codex/water-older-than-the-sun/) - [Young Earth Creationism](/codex/young-earth-creationism/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Young's Literal Translation](/codex/ylt/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Zero and the Metaphysics of Nothing](/codex/zero-and-the-metaphysics-of-nothing/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) **People:** - [Henry Morris](/codex/henry-morris/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [John Currid](/codex/john-currid/), via [Genesis 1.1-11](/codex/genesis-1-1-11/) - [John Walton](/codex/john-walton/), via [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/) - [Maimonides](/codex/maimonides/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Nachmanides](/codex/nachmanides/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Philo of Alexandria](/codex/philo-of-alexandria/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [Plato](/codex/plato/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) **Lexicon:** - [G0746 - arche](/codex/g0746-arche/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [G2889 - kosmos](/codex/g2889-kosmos/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H0410 - el](/codex/h0410-el/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H0430 - elohim](/codex/h0430-elohim/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H1254 - bara](/codex/h1254-bara/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H1285 - berith](/codex/h1285-berith/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H1697 - dabar](/codex/h1697-dabar/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H2896 - tov](/codex/h2896-tov/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H6213 - asah](/codex/h6213-asah/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H7218 - rosh](/codex/h7218-rosh/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H7225 - reshit](/codex/h7225-reshit/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) - [H7307 - ruach](/codex/h7307-ruach/) - [H7706 - shaddai](/codex/h7706-shaddai/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) **Guides:** - [02 Faith and Worldview](/codex/02-faith-and-worldview/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) **Other pages:** - [Light of Day 1, Christological Reading](/codex/light-of-day-1-christological-reading/), via [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.