Bible Trivia - 4/9/2008

Question: What are the first four words in the Bible?

Answer: In the beginning God. (Genesis 1:1).

Comments: The definite article is actually not in the Hebrew text. The opening word of the Bible, b'reishit (or Bereishit), lacks the accompanying article (“the”). [Note: Hebrew articles are attached to the nouns they modify.] Thus, the passage could accurately read “In beginning, God...” which accentuates God’s eternal nature.

The majority of translations render the first four words of the Bible with the traditional “In the beginning God.” (CEV, DARBY, ESV, KJV, NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV, RSV, YLT). The Message (“First this”) and the Jewish Publication Society (aka JPS) (“When God began to create heaven and Earth—“) reflect this Hebrew nuance.