The creation of the world (1:1–2:3)

Primitive History (1:1–11:32): The Bible does not begin by attempting to prove the existence of God. It simply assumes this fact. But it does begin by describing God’s creation of the heavens and the earth (1:1–2). This phrase may be an illustration of what is known as merism, the expression of totality through the use of opposites. Thus verse 1 is simply saying that God created everything. This he did in the beginning, which is the Hebrew way of saying, “a long time ago,” without stipulating how long ago it was. John begins his Gospel with the same prepositional phrase (John 1:1), but surely means something different by it. The whole verse may be interpreted as a statement of the fact of an action that is described in detail in 1:2–2:3. The NIV renders t…