What does Genesis 1:1-2:3 mean?

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

God completed the world and this admirable work of nature in the space of six days, as is contained in the secrets of Holy Scripture, and consecrated the seventh day, on which He had rested from His works.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

For the creation of the world was concluded in six days.

Tertullian, Against Hermogenes Supporting witness

but the earth was without form, and void, Genesis 1:1-2 — the very same earth, no doubt, which God made, and of which the Scripture had been speaking at that very moment.

Tertullian, Against Hermogenes Supporting witness

Now, inasmuch as the heaven and the earth are the principal works of God, and since, by His making them first, He constituted them in a special manner the beginning of His creation, before all things else, with good reason does the Scripture preface (its record of creation) with the words, In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Supporting witness

He at first narrated the formation of the world in these words: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and all other things in succession;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.” This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come.

Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness

Thus, to take an example, after God had made the world, and all things that are in it, in the space of six days, He rested on the seventh day from all His works by which statement I do not mean to affirm that He rested because He was fatigued, but that He did so as having brought to its perfection every creature which He had resolved to introduce.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

After God had finished the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them on the sixth day, He rested on the seventh day from all His works that He had made. Then Holy Scripture gives a summary in these words: "This is the book of the generation of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and every green thing of the field before it was made, and every herb of the field before it grew. For God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground." Genesis 2:4-5. By this, He shows us that at that time the whole earth was watered by a divine fountain, and did not need man to till it. Instead, the earth produced everything on its own by the command of God, so that man would not be worn out by working the ground. But to make the creation of man clear, so that there would not seem to be an unsolved problem among men, since God had said, "Let Us make man," and since the account of his creation had not yet been plainly given, Scripture teaches us, saying: "And a fountain went up out of the earth, and watered the face of the whole earth; and God made man of the dust of the earth, and brea

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

God having thus completed the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all that are in them, on the sixth day, rested on the seventh day from all His works which He made.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...t bounds around them, as within a holy circle, for the sake of instruction and for rejoicing on the seventh period. For this reason, one week was appointed, and seven weeks, and the seventh month, and the seventh year, and the cycle of these, the Jubilee, which is the fiftieth year for remission, so that people might have no excuse to claim ignorance. For this reason, He permitted people to rest every Sabbath, so that no one should even be willing to send out one word from his mouth in anger on the day of the Sabbath. For the Sabbath is the cessation of creation, the completion of the world, the inquiry after laws, and the thankful praise of God for the blessings He has given to men. But the Lord's day surpasses all these and shows the Mediator Himself, the Provider, the Lawgiver, the Cause of the resurrection, the First-born of the whole creation, God the Word, and man, who was born of Mary alone, without a man; who lived in holiness; who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died, and rose again from the dead. So the Lord's day commands us to offer You, O Lord, thanksgiving for all things. For this is the grace given by You, which, because of its greatness, has overshadowed

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

...nows nothing of the day of the Sabbath and rest of God, which follows the completion of the world's creation, and which lasts during the duration of the world, and in which all those will keep festival with God who have done all their works in their six days, and who, because they have omitted none of their duties, will ascend to the contemplation of celestial things and to the assembly of righteous and blessed beings. In the next place, as if either the Scriptures had made such a statement, or as if we ourselves had so spoken of God as having rested from fatigue, he continues: It is not in keeping with the fitness of things that the first God should feel fatigue, or work with His hands, or give forth commands. Celsus says that it is not in keeping with the fitness of things that the first God should feel fatigue. Now we would say that neither God the Word feels fatigue, nor any of those beings who belong to a better and diviner order of things, because the sensation of fatigue is peculiar to those who are in the body. You may examine whether this is true of those who possess a body of any kind, or of those who have an earthly body, or one a little better than this. But neither

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

Again, not understanding the meaning of the words, And God ended on the sixth day His works which He had made, and ceased on the seventh day from all His works which He had made: and God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because on it He had ceased from all His works which He had begun to make;

Justin Martyr, Other Fragments from the Lost Writings of Justin Supporting witness

The fact that it wasn't said of the seventh day as it was for the other days, "And there was evening, and there was morning," distinctly indicates the completion to happen in it before it's finished, as the fathers declare, especially St. Clement, Irenaeus, and Justin the martyr and philosopher. They, with great wisdom, comment on the number six of the sixth day, asserting that the intelligent soul of man and his five senses were the six works of the sixth day. Hence, after discussing the number six at length, he states that everything created by God is divided into six categories: intelligent and immortal beings like angels; reasonable and mortal beings like humans; sensitive and irrational beings like cattle, birds, and fish; beings that can move but are insensible, like the winds, clouds, waters, and stars; entities that grow but are immovable, like trees; and insensible and immovable entities like mountains, the earth, and similar things. For all of God's creatures, in heaven and on earth, fit into one of these categories and are defined by them.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it;

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

...ved many years before Solomon, or rather, the Word of God by him as by an instrument, says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." First he named the beginning and creation, then he thus introduced God. For it is not right to name God lightly and on a slight occasion. For the divine wisdom foreknew that some would trifle and name a multitude of gods that do not exist. Therefore, in order that the living God might be known by His works, and that it might be known that by His Word God created the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, he said, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Then, having spoken of their creation, he explains to us: "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 water." Sacred Scripture teaches this at the outset, to show that matter, from which God made and fashioned the world, was in some manner created, being produced by God.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Genesis 1:1 and we know that He did not want matter, but by His will alone brought those things into being which Christ was commanded to make;

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

Now, about the teaching that from the beginning there was one God, the Maker of this universe, consider it in this way, so that you may also know the arguments for our faith. If there were from the beginning two or more gods, they were either in one and the same place, or each of them separately in his own place. They could not be in one and the same place. For if they are gods, they are not alike. But because they are uncreated, they are unlike. For created things are like their patterns. But the uncreated are unlike, since they were neither produced from anyone nor formed after the pattern of anyone. Hand and eye and foot are parts of one body, and together they make one man. Is God one in this sense? And indeed Socrates was made up of parts and divided into parts, because he was created and perishable. But God is uncreated, impassible, and indivisible. Therefore, He does not consist of parts. But if, on the contrary, each of them exists separately, since He who made the world is above the things created, and about the things He has made and set in order, where can the other or the rest be? For if the world, being made spherical, is enclosed within the circles of heaven, and the

Didache, Connection to Genesis 1:1 Supporting witness

You, Master almighty, created all things for Your name's sake; You gave food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to You.

Victorinus, On the Creation of the World Supporting witness

to say which is certainly characteristic of extreme and excessive folly: it is to accuse God as having created unclean things, and to charge upon the divine majesty the guilt of having made things which are abomination, especially when they were both pronounced very good, Genesis 1:31 and as being good have obtained the blessing from God Himself that they should increase and multiply.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

For He must have fashioned man, who, before the creation of man, finished the heaven and the earth.

Tertullian, Against Hermogenes Supporting witness

For (the title) God, indeed, which always belonged to Him, it names at the very first: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth;

Tertullian, Against Hermogenes Supporting witness

In the beginning, then, God made the heaven and the earth.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness

and through whom the Spirit of prophecy, signifying how and from what materials God at first formed the world, spake thus: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...reach Him to you, and declare that He is God the Word, who ministered to His God and Father for the creation of the universe. By believing in Him you shall live, but by disbelieving you shall be punished. For "he who is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him," John 3:36. Therefore, after you have kept the festival of Pentecost, keep one more week as a festival, and after that, fast. For it is right to rejoice for the gift of God, and then to fast after that time of rest. For both Moses and Elijah fasted forty days, and Daniel for three weeks of days did not eat desirable bread, and flesh and wine did not enter into his mouth. And blessed Hannah, when she asked for Samuel, said, "I have not drunk wine nor strong drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord," 1 Samuel 1:15. And the Ninevites, when they fasted three days and three nights, Jonah 3:5, escaped the execution of wrath. And Esther, and Mordecai, and Judith, by fasting, escaped the insurrection of the ungodly Holofernes and Haman. And David says, "My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh fails for want of oil." You should therefore fast, and ask your petitions of God. We enjo

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

Now, the beginning of creation was light, since light makes the things that are created visible. Therefore it is said, "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." And God saw that the light was good, clearly made good for man. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the middle of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters," and it was so. And God made the firmament, and separated the waters under the firmament from the waters above the firmament. And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the water under heaven be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear," and it was so. And the waters were gathered together into their places, and the dry land appeared. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas, and God saw that it was good. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after its kind and in its li

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

...are possible with God, as Luke 18:27 says. Therefore the prophet also said that the creation of the heavens happened first of all, like a kind of roof, saying, "In the beginning God created the heavens." That is, by means of the first principle the heavens were made, as we have already shown. And by "earth" he means the ground and foundation. By "the deep" he means the great mass of waters. And he speaks of "darkness" because the heaven that God made covered the waters and the earth like a lid. And by the Spirit that is carried over the waters, he means what God gave for giving life to the creation, just as He gave life to man, mixing what is fine with what is fine. For the Spirit is fine, and the water is fine, so that the Spirit may nourish the water, and the water, passing everywhere along with the Spirit, may nourish creation. For the Spirit, being one and taking the place of light, was between the water and the heaven, so that the darkness might not in any way come into contact with the heaven, which was nearer to God, before God said, "Let there be light." The heaven, therefore, being like a dome-shaped covering, enclosed matter that was like a clod. And so another prophet

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

Moses, moreover, introduces God commanding that there should be light at the first, that the heaven should be established, that the waters should be gathered into one place, that the dry land should appear, that the fruit should be brought forth according to its seed, that the animals should be produced, that lights should be established in heaven, and stars.

Genesis 1:5 Background

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Genesis 1:6 Background

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.

Genesis 1:7 Background

And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.

Genesis 1:10 Background

And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:4 Background

And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness.

Genesis 1:8 Background

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:18 Background

and to regulate day and night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:26 Direct teaching

And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the flying creatures of heaven, and over the cattle and all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep on the earth.

Genesis 2:7 Background

And God formed the man of dust of the earth, and breathed upon his face the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.

Genesis 5:2 Background

male and female he made them, and blessed them; and he called his name Adam, in the day in which he made them.

Genesis 5:1 Background

This is the genealogy of men in the day in which God made Adam; in the image of God he made him:

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

Man, therefore, God made on the sixth day, and made known this creation after the seventh day, when also He made Paradise, that he might be in a better and distinctly superior place.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

For as, when all things were completed which were contrived for the use of man, last of all, on the sixth day, He made man also, and introduced him into this world as into a home now carefully prepared;

Methodius, Fragments Supporting witness

Genesis 1:26 whence it is manifest that man was not formed by a conjunction of the body with a certain pre-existent type.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Supporting witness

The account we give of creation aligns with the regular order of things prevailing in the world, because our explanation fits the things that have actually been made. However, those who can't explain the nature of the beings that existed before creation, and were perfected by themselves, face great confusion. When they question us about creation, they either refer to mere human emotions or rely on the harmony seen in creation, incorrectly answering with details about secondary matters instead of the primary ones they claim to know. We don't ask them about creation's harmony or human feelings, but about their octiform, deciform, and duodeciform Pleroma, which they say creation imitates. They must admit that their Father formed it without reason if they assume He did so thoughtlessly, thus attributing imperfection to Him. Alternatively, if they claim the Pleroma was created according to the Father's foresight for the sake of creation, meaning He organized its essence symmetrically, then the Pleroma is no longer its own purpose but is made for creation, which is its image. Like a clay model not molded for its own sake but for a statue to be made in brass, gold, or silver, creation wou

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Supporting witness

And for this reason did Moses declare that man was formed on the sixth day;

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Direct teaching

... rest upon them.” The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of creation like this: “And God made in six days the works of His hands, and finished on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it.” Pay attention, my children, to the meaning of the phrase, “He finished in six days.” This implies that the Lord will complete all things in six thousand years, for with Him a day is like a thousand years. And He Himself confirms this by saying, “Behold, today will be as a thousand years.” Therefore, my children, in six days, meaning in six thousand years, all things will be completed. “And He rested on the seventh day.” This means that when His Son returns, He will destroy the time of the wicked, judge the ungodly, and change the sun, moon, and stars, then He will truly rest on the seventh day. Moreover, He says, “You shall sanctify it with pure hands and a pure heart.” If, therefore, anyone can now sanctify the day which God has sanctified, unless they are pure in heart in all things, we are mistaken. Behold, therefore: certainly one properly resting sanctifies it when we ourselves, having received the promise, and with wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Therefore, since all God's works were completed in six days, the world must continue in its present condition through six ages, that is, six thousand years. For the great day of God is measured by a cycle of a thousand years, as the prophet shows when he says, "In Your sight, O Lord, a thousand years are as one day." And just as God labored during those six days in creating such great works, so His religion and truth must labor during these six thousand years, while wickedness prevails and rules. And again, since God, after finishing His works, rested on the seventh day and blessed it, at the end of the six thousandth year all wickedness must be abolished from the earth, and righteousness must reign for a thousand years. Then there must be peace and rest from the labors that the world has now long endured. But I will explain in order how that will happen. We have often said that lesser things and things of small importance are figures and earlier foreshadowings of great things. In the same way, this day of ours, which is marked by the rising and setting of the sun, is a picture of that great day, whose limits are fixed by the course of a thousand years.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

And as God laboured during those six days in creating such great works, so His religion and truth must labour during these six thousand years, while wickedness prevails and bears rule.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Therefore, since all the works of God were completed in six days, the world must continue in its present state through six ages, that is, six thousand years.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year.

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Supporting witness

And He Himself testifieth, saying, “Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years.” Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished.

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Supporting witness

“And He rested on the seventh day.” This meaneth: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day.

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Supporting witness

Further, also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in the Decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount Sinai, “And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart.” And He says in another place, “If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them.” The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: “And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it.” Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, “He finished in six days.” This implieth that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years.