Genesis 2:4
in Genesis 2This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.
KJV
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
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This verse in Genesis 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseIn the day that the Lord God made, etc. - The word יהוה Yehovah is for the first time mentioned here. What it signifies see the note on Exo 34:5, Exo 34:6. Wherever this word occurs in the sacred writings we translate it Lord, which word is, through respect and reverence, always printed in capitals. Though our English term Lord does not give the particular meaning of the original word, yet it conveys a strong and noble sense.
This site's exposition
This is the account of the heavens and the earth
The heading gives a title to what follows, the account of the heavens and earth, and it is the first of eleven such headings in Genesis. The name LORD God stands here for the first time in Scripture, the covenant name YHWH joined to Elohim. The God of chapter 1 is the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Understand, O hearer, that although the days of creation were finished and God had blessed the sabbath day, which was sanctified, and he had completed his account, Moses still returned to tell the story of the beginning of creation even after the days of creation …
I mean, when it said heaven and earth, it included everything together in those words, both things on earth and things in heaven. So just as in its account of created things it doesn't mention them all one by one but gives a summary of related items and makes no further attempt to describe them to us, so too it called the whole book the book about the origins of heaven and earth, even though it contains many other things, evidently leaving us to work out from the reference to these two that all visible things are of necessity contained in this book, both those in heaven and those on earth.
A commentator
John ChrysostomCommentary (church-history corpus) · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Notice again, I ask you, the insight of this remarkable author, or rather the teaching of the Holy Spirit. I mean, after narrating to us detail by detail all the items of creation and going through the works of the six days, the creation of human beings and the authority granted them over all visible things, now he sums them all up in the words, "This is the book about the origins of heaven and earth when they were created." It is worth enquiring at this point why it is he calls it the book of heaven and earth in view of the fact that the book contains many other things and teaches us about a greater number of matters about the virtue of good people, about God's loving kindness and the considerateness he demonstrated in regard both (99c) to the firstformed human being and to the whole human race, and about a lot of other things it would be impossible to list right now. Don't be surprised, dearly beloved; after all, it is the custom with Holy Scripture not to describe every thing to us in detail in every case but rather to begin with a summary of related items and to leave further detail to be considered by rightminded listeners as they take in what is said. So that you may learn this is the case, I will make it clear from the very verses just now read. What I refer to is this: notice Sacred Scripture taught us in detail in the preceding verses the creation of everything, but now, instead of mentioning them all, it says: "This is the book about the origins of heaven and earth when they were created, on the day God made heaven and earth," and so on. Do you see how it con fines the whole account to heaven and earth, leaving us to get from them a sweeping view of all the other things? (99d) I mean, when it said heaven and earth, it included everything together in those words, both things on earth and things in heaven.
After speaking about the Sabbath rest, and how God had blessed and sanctified this day, Scripture returns to the narrative of the initial establishment of creation, this time passing over, with only a few words, things it had already spoken of and recounting at greater …
The Medieval Church1 voice
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. With this conclusion, Scripture addresses those who assert that the world always existed without a beginning, or those who believe that the world was indeed made by God, but from material …
4 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
When "the earth brought forth the green herb." But concerning the production of plants, Augustine's opinion differs from that of others.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth, when they were created,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Not from any human source, for man was not in existence to witness it; not from the light of nature or reason, for though they proclaim the eternal power and Godhead by the things which are made, they cannot tell how they were made. None but the Creator Himself could give this information, and therefore it is through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God (Heb 11:3).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
- Part II. The development - Section II - The Man - X. The Field 4. תולדות tôledôt “generations, products, developments.” That which comes from any source, as the child from the parent, the record of which is history. יהוה yehovâh. This word occurs about six thousand times in Scripture. It is obvious from its use that it is, so to speak, the proper name of God. It never has the article. It is never changed for construction with another noun. It is never accompanied with a suffix. It is never applied to any but the true God. This sacred exclusiveness of application, indeed, led the Jews to read always in place of it אדוני 'adônāy, or, if this preceded it, אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym, to intimate which the vowel points of one of these terms were subscribed to it. The root of this name is חוה chāvâh, an older variety of היה hāyâh, which, as we have seen, has three meanings, - “be” in the sense of coming into existence, “be” in that of becoming, and “be” in that of merely existing. The first of these meanings has no application to God, who had no beginning of existence. The last applies to God, but affords no distinctive characteristic, as it belongs equally to all objects that have existence. The second is proper to God in the sense, not of acquiring any new attribute, but of becoming active from a state of repose. But he becomes active to the eye of man only by causing some new effect to be, which makes its appearance in the world of sensible things. He becomes, then, only by causing to be or to become. Hence, he that becomes, when applied to the Creator, is really he that causes to be. This name, therefore, involves the active or causative force of the root from which it springs, and designates God in relation with the system of things he has called into being, and especially with man, the only intelligent observer of him or of his works in this nether world. […]
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵ֣לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| תוֹלְד֧וֹת | toldot | [are] [the] accounts of | H8435 → | 39 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְהָאָ֖רֶץ | vehaaretz | and the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם | behibaream | when were created they | H1254 → | 55 times |
| בְּי֗וֹם | beyom | on [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עֲשׂ֛וֹת | asot | made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֖ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֶ֥רֶץ | ʾeretz | earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃ | veshamayim | and heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
אֵ֣לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
תוֹלְד֧וֹת[are] [the] accounts of
toldotH8435 →39 times
הַשָּׁמַ֛יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְהָאָ֖רֶץand the earth
vehaaretzH776 →2504 times
בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑םwhen were created they
behibareamH1254 →55 times
בְּי֗וֹםon [the] day
beyomH3117 →2304 times
עֲשׂ֛וֹתmade
asotH6213 →2628 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהִ֖יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֶ֥רֶץearth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃and heaven
veshamayimH8064 →421 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
it leads to
- John 1:1–3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
- Isaiah 45:18
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be…
- Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
- Hebrews 1:10
And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- John 1:1–3
Through
Revelation 1:8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:6
Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
- Isaiah 44:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this chapter
About Genesis
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Chuck Missler, The Book of Genesis; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 2.2.1-2.3.1; Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary (church-history corpus); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 12.4; John Chrysostom, Commentary (church-history corpus); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary (church-history corpus).