Restored English Translation of Genesis: Chapter 1

I have embarked on a quest to translate the entire Bible into English.  Or, more accurately, revise and correct previous translations in light of the Hebrew word meaning and ancient manuscripts.  It is (currently) called the Restored English Translation (RET).  This translation preserves all of the Hebrew names.  It also includes the Aleph Tavs

את

– the revelation of Yeshua ha’Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament).  More info on the ongoing project will be posted later.  A glossary is at the end of the chapter.

The following is my RET translation of Beresheet (Genesis) chapter 1.  You will notice some differences from traditional translations – particularly when our Creator commands creation into existence.  Most English translations say that God (whose Hebrew title is ELOHIM) said, “Let there be…”  In fact, if you look up the Hebrew words, the more accurate translation is “And ELOHIM [God] commanded, ‘Light, exist!'”, which fits much better.  He didn’t need to “ask” creation to exist; he literally COMMANDED it to exist!

Another difference is the lack of the word “man”.  This is because the Hebrew word for man (Strong’s #H776 “Ishah”) simply does not appear in the chapter.  The word that appears is Strong’s #120 “adam”, which simply means a human – no specified gender.  As Dr A Nyland explains (in an endnote of his Complete Books of Enoch: 1 Enoch (First Book of Enoch), 2 Enoch (Secrets of Enoch), 3 Enoch (Hebrew Book of Enoch)) – going entirely by the Hebrew grammar – Adam was originally a hermaphrodite – both male and female!

CHAPTER 1

1 In the beginning created ELOHIM את the heavens and את the earth. 2 And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Ruach of ELOHIM moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And ELOHIM commanded, “Light, exist!” And light existed. 4 And ELOHIM saw את the light, that it was good; and ELOHIM divided the light from the darkness. 5 And ELOHIM named the light “Day”, and the darkness He named “Night”. And there was evening, and there was morning, day one.

6 And ELOHIM commanded, “Firmament, exist in the midst of the waters, and divide the waters from the waters.” 7 And ELOHIM made את the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. 8 And ELOHIM called the firmament “Heaven”. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And ELOHIM commanded, “The waters under the heavens, be collected to one place; and dry land, appear!” And it was so. 10 And ELOHIM named the dry land “Earth”, and the gathering together of the waters He named “Seas”. And ELOHIM saw that it was good. 11 And ELOHIM commanded, “The earth, sprout tender sprouts, the herb seeding seed and fruit trees producing fruit after its kind, whichever seed is in it on the earth.” And it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth tender sprouts, the herb seeding seed after its kind, and tree producing fruit, whichever seed is in it, after its kind. And ELOHIM saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And ELOHIM commanded, “Lights, exist in the expanse of the heavens to divide the day from the night! And be for signs, and for appointed Feasts, and for days, and years. 15 And be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And made ELOHIM את two the great lights: את the light greater to rule the day, and את the light smaller to rule the night, as well as the stars. 17 And ELOHIM set them in the heavens to give light upon the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And ELOHIM saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And ELOHIM commanded, “Waters, bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life; and fowl, fly above the earth, on the face of the expanse of the heavens.” 21 And created ELOHIM את the sea dragons great, and את all having a living soul that creeps which swarmed the waters after their kind, and את every bird with wing after its kind. And ELOHIM saw that it was good. 22 And ELOHIM blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill את the waters in the seas and the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And ELOHIM commanded, “The earth, bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and crawling things, and beasts of the earth after its kind.” And it was so. 25 And made ELOHIM את the beasts of the earth after its kind, and את cattle after its kind, and את all crawlers of the ground after their kind. And ELOHIM saw that it was good. 26 And ELOHIM said, “We will make humankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and they will rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over all the crawlers crawling on the earth.” 27 And created ELOHIM את the human in His image, in the image of ELOHIM He created it; male and female He created them. 28 And ELOHIM blessed them, and ELOHIM said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill את the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all beasts crawling on the earth.” 29 And ELOHIM said, “Behold, I have given you את every herb seeding seed which is on the face of all the earth, and את every tree in which is the fruit of a tree seeding seed. It shall be for food to you. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to every crawler on the earth which has a living soul in it, את every green herb is for food.” And it was so. 31 And saw ELOHIM את all which He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Glossary

ELOHIM – God

Ruach – (Holy) Spirit