Genesis 1
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Summary
Over a six-day period, God creates the earth and all forms of life on it. On the first day, He creates and names light and darkness. On the second day, God creates the waters and the firmament. On the third day, God gathers the waters together to separate them from the land. He creates foliage of every kind. On the fourth day, God creates the sun and the moon to divide the day and the night. On the fifth day, God creates animals. On the sixth day, God creates man and woman in His image. He blesses Man and commands them to multiply and replenish the earth.
Commentary
Bible Central Commentary
These free resources were developed for use in the free ScripturePlus app. Many of the contributors are professors of religion and ancient scripture at Brigham Young University.
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Genesis, Old Testament Minute Commentary Series, ed. Taylor Halverson (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021).
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Genesis, Old Testament Minute Commentary Series, ed. Taylor Halverson (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021).
Avram Shanon, "Firmament," Old Testament Cultural Insights (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2022).
Historical Commentaries
Many of the commentaries below are in the public domain and were authored over 100 years ago. In many cases, they do not reflect the findings of modern scholarship, but they may be helpful for understanding the history of biblical scholarship.
Videos
Watch selected videos on this chapter of the Bible to enhance your study. Note: Not all videos included come from a Latter-day Saint perspective. Inclusion on this list should not imply endorsement for all content.
Historical Settings
Time
*All Dates Are Approximate, according to the narrative of the Bible. These dates may reflect literary significance as opposed to the precise dates of history.
See Biblical Chronology- The Beginning
Further Reading
Kevin L. Barney, “Examining Six Key Concepts in Joseph Smith’s Understanding of Genesis 1:1,” BYU Studies 39, no. 3 (2000): 107–124.
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Do We Have Three Different Accounts of the Creation? (2 Nephi 2:22),” KnoWhy 400 (January 18, 2018).
Michael A. Goodman, “The Creation: An Introduction to Our Relationship to God,” Religious Educator 8, no. 3 (2007): 15–29.
John S. Lewis, “The Scale of Creation in Space and Time,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 8 (2014): 71–80.
Neal A. Maxwell, “Our Creator’s Cosmos,” in By Study and by Faith: Selections from the Religious Educator, ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009), 37–50.
F. Kent Nielsen and Stephen D. Ricks, “Creation, Creation Accounts,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York, NY: Macmillan Publishers, 1992) 1:340–341.
Michael D. Rhodes, “The Scriptural Accounts of the Creation: A Scientific Perspective,” in Converging Paths to Truth, ed. Michael D. Rhodes and J. Ward Moody (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2011), 123–150.
Bruce A. Roundy, and Robert J. Norman. “‘All Things Denote There Is a God’: Seeing Christ in the Creation,” Religious Educator 6, no. 2 (2005): 51–62.
David R. Seely, and Jo Ann Seely. “The Crown of Creation,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 43 (2002), 279–290.
Andrew C. Skinner, “The Premortal Godhood of Christ: A Restoration Perspective,” in Jesus Christ: Son of God, Savior, ed. Paul H. Peterson, Gary L. Hatch, and Laura D. Card (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2002), 50–78.
Stephen D. Ricks, “Liturgy and Cosmogony: The Ritual Use of Creation Accounts in the Ancient Near East,” in Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism, ed. Donald W. Parry (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: FARMS and Deseret Book, 1994), 118–125.
T. B. Spackman, “Understanding Genesis and the Temple,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 17 (2016): 197–199.
Stephen O. Smoot, “The Divine Council in the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 27 (2017): 155–180.
Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible
Matthew Henry (1706)
Commentary on the Bible
Adam Clarke (1831)
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable
Thomas Constable
Rashi’s Commentary
Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki)
Notes on the Bible
Albert Barnes (1834)
Exposition of the Entire Bible
John Gill (1746–63)
Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch (1857–78)
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible
John Wesley (1754–65)