The verse of Gen 1, 1: a subordinate or principal clause? A Contribution to the Discussion on the Syntax of the First Sentence of the Hebrew Bible
The verse of Gen 1, 1: a subordinate or principal clause? A Contribution to the Discussion on the Syntax of the First Sentence of the Hebrew Bible

Summary/Abstract: This article is devoted to the syntax issue of Gen 1, 1, which is one of the most discussed Old Testament passages. The biblists’ views on it are still divided. According to some, this is an independent statement (status absolutus), while others maintain that this passus is a subordinate sequence (status constructus) to the text of Gen 1, 2-3. They justify their opinions with a variety of arguments: philological-linguistic, exegetical, literary, theological etc. But these are not the justifications that will decide the case. Therefore the present article proposes another argument – contextual. Nevertheless the context is an indispensable element of understanding each literary unit. In this case however it is not about the literary context, but about the historical one, because the causal factor of writing the text Gen 1, 1 – 2, 4a throws some light on the syntactical problem of verse Gen 1, 1.

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