This paremia contains an account of the first three days of the creation of the world.

1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning. God alone is without beginning. "He is above all" (Col 1:17). Everything that exists outside of God received the beginning of existence, happened in time. The actual existence of the beings who fill the world was preceded by non-existence, although there is no doubt that they existed from eternity in the mind of God, as predestined to real being. The word in the beginning indicates the first moment of the transition from non-existence to being, and means: at the beginning of time, and of all temporal things.

How did the transition from non-being to being take place? How did peace come about? How did it begin its existence? By the creative power of the Being without beginning: in the beginning created God. Creation here refers to the giving of existence to that which did not exist, or, as the Apostle puts it, "the dispensation of the ages, so that out of the invisible things came the visible" (Heb 11:3). Ancient pagan sages said: nothing comes from nothing. In fact, something can never come from nothing by itself, and consequently the world could not come from nothing by itself, or give itself existence. But this is precisely what distinguishes the revealed teaching about the origin of the world from the philosophies of reason unenlightened by revelation, that it does not recognize the originality of the world, that it ascribes originality to God alone (Exodus 3:15, Psalm 35:10, Acts 17:15), and calls the world the product of His omnipotence. Nothing is impossible for the Almighty, and consequently it is possible for Him to produce everything out of nothing. "He calls non-existent as being" (Rom 4:17).

God created. The combination of these concepts in the Hebrew text of the Bible is significant. The subject God is used in the plural form Elohim, while the predicate create is in the singular. How could this combination of concepts happen? It cannot be said to explain this that the Hebrew name of God Elohim is not used in the singular; in the Scriptures there are many examples of the use of this name (Eloah) in the singular, for example, it is said of Israel: "He forsook God (Eloah) his Creator" (Deuteronomy 32:14; cf. Psalm 49:22). According to the probable opinion of some, the plural name of God expresses partly the union in one God of the highest perfections inherent in Him, and partly a special reverence for Him. As a sign of reverence, a person is sometimes spoken of in the plural: thus, Joseph's brothers, telling their father about their meeting with Joseph in Egypt, call him lords of the earth (in the original text of the Bible) (Gen 42:30). To this we can add that the indicated combination of words also hints at the unity of the Creator in essence, and at the plurality of persons, i.e. at the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. And indeed, the creation of the world is the work of all the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Of God the Father it is said in the Scriptures: "To us is one God the Father, from Whom all things are" (1 Corinthians 8:6). About the Son: "By Him were created all things, both in heaven and on earth" (Col 1:16). On the participation of St. The Spirit in creation is said, as we shall see, in the next verse.

Heaven and earth. These names, taken together, signify the whole world (Gen 24:3, 2 Chronicles 2:12, Psalm 68:35, Mt 5:18; 24:35). It is true that in the composition of the universe the earth is the most insignificant part in its size, but the sacred writers, when the universe is called heaven and earth, apply it to the usual usage, and at the same time let the attentive understand that before the greatness of the Creator the huge and innumerable heavenly bodies and the earth, scarcely conspicuous in comparison with them, are equally insignificant. It must be assumed that the writer of Genesis, when he said that God created the heavens and the earth, also had in mind the whole world, and in particular he had in mind the immovable, at first dark, stars filling the entire celestial space, among which is the earth. Both the stars and the planets, according to the mania of the Creator, suddenly received existence, although they were not yet delimited by sharp outlines and did not receive the proper density in their structure. Both, as we shall see, followed on the second day of creation. In addition, when speaking of the creation of the heavens, the writer of Genesis probably had in mind not only the material heaven, but also the so-called heaven of heavens (1 Kings 8:2), i.e. the highest heaven, or the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2), so called in contrast to the sky in the air (hence the expression "birds of heaven"), and from the starry sky. This highest heaven is the spiritual heaven proper, the dwelling place of the bodiless and the place of God's pre-eminent dwelling (Job 22:12), from which the expression "Heavenly Father" is derived. Moses does not mention the time of the creation of the Bodiless Ones, although they are often found in the Book of Genesis; but it can be surmised that they were created, if not before, then not after the creation of the heavens and the earth, for, according to the words of God Himself in the Book of Job, they were already shouting (with a voice of praise and joy) when He founded the earth (Job 38:4-7). To the period of the existence of the newly-created heavens and earth in their original state, we can also attribute the rebellion against the Creator of some angels and their punishment.

2. But the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was on the top of the deep, and the Spirit of God was on top of the waters.

These words depict the original state of the newly created earth. It was invisible, i.e. the surface of the globe was deep under the waters, and therefore its outlines could not be seen even if there was someone to look at it and there was light. It was unsettled, i.e., it did not at all represent the beauty that appeared on it on the third and subsequent days, since the appearance of the vegetable kingdom and various animals on it. In addition, it can be thought that in its internal composition it did not yet have the proper density and concentration. It was in a liquefied state — And darkness at the top of the abyss. Not only was there no light on the earth itself, which was covered with water, but an impenetrable darkness swept over the water itself, vapours rose high from it, the density of which is given the faintest idea by the thick, impenetrable mists and clouds that now occur. Other planets and stars were probably in a similar state. That is why it is said in the Epistle of St. Paul. In the beginning, by the Word of God, the heavens and the earth were made of water and of water" (2 Peter 3:5). "And the Spirit of God hovered on the top of the waters. Here we are talking about the participation of St. The Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, in creation. The Holy Spirit was hovering at the top of the waters, or, more precisely, from the Hebrew text, overshadowing it like a nesting bird (Deuteronomy 32:1); this means that the Holy Spirit warmed and gave life to the water nature and the earth under the water, for their further formation in the course of six days, which is described in the following verses. It can be thought that the Holy Spirit acted in the same way in relation to other worlds.

3. И рече Бог: да будет свет. И бысть свет.

И рече. Для Всемогущего достаточно изречь одно слово, чтобы дать бытие той или другой твари. «Той рече, и быша; повеле и создашася» (Пс 148, 5). Впрочем, под творческим словом, как замечают отцы Церкви, не должно разуметь какой‑либо членораздельный звук или слово, по­добное нашему: нет, это творческое слово знаменует толь­ко мановение всемогущей воли, произведшее из ничего ВСЮ вселенную (свт. Василий Великий «Беседы на Шестоднев»).Да будет свет: и бысть свет. Свет сотворен еще в первый день творения, тогда как солнце и другие небесные светила сотворены в четвертый день. Как объяснить это? как мог существовать свет без светил? — Исследованиями ученых открыто, что солнце не все состоит из светящей материи, а что внутри оно есть темное тело, и только снаружи окружено жидкою или, может быть, газообразною светящею материей. Если предположить, что эта светящая материя, при своем сотворении, еще не была собрана около темного солнечного тела, а находилась в разреженном со­стоянии, в виде светящего тумана и наполняла собою, может быть, все то пространство, которое теперь занимает солнечная система, то становится понятным, каким обра­зом свет мог существовать без солнца. Солнца не было, т. е. светящая материя не собралась еще около темного солнеч­ного тела, но она производила уже свет. То же самое может быть применено и к другим неподвижным звездам, потому что они по своей природе сходны с нашим солнцем. Если бы можно было видеть их в то время с земли, то они представлялись бы подобными тем небесным явлениям, которые называются туманными пятнами, а может быть все они вместе составляли один сплошной светящийся туман, подобный по своему виду Млечному пути.

4. 5. И виде Бог свет, яко добро, и разлучи Бог между светом и между тмою. И нарече Бог свет день, а тму нарече нощь. И бысть вечер, и бысть утро, день един.