2007-10-11 02:40:27 · 12 answers · asked by akoypinoy 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Well, you open a can of worms with that one! It really depends on how you want to interpret the hebrew into english.
Essentially, it is made up of two seperate section "be" meaning "IN" and "Reishit" meaning "first". So directly translated it is "In (the) First". Normally, this is cleaned up in emglisg translations as 'In the Begining'- but that misses the nuances of the word (as translations often do)- and the exact meaning is used to derive many interpretations by the Rabbis. Essentially- the sentence in hebrew would have been grammatically better WITHOUT the "Be", leading to Rabbis finding lessons to be learnt from there (from everything including why a bet, the letter used, the shape of the letter, the implications of the word in etc.)
Genesis is descriptive of what the text contains (the genesis of the Earth) but it is not a translation of the word Bereishis.
This is actually normal for the translation of the books of the Torah into English and holds true for them all- here is the hebrew name for the book, the direct english translation in the brackets and the commonly used english name:
Bereishis (In the beginning)- Genesis
Shmot (Names) - Exodus
VaYikra (He Called) -Leviticus
Bamidbar (In the desert) - Numbers
Devarim (Things) - Deuteronomy
And then people wonder why Jews say you have to study in the original hebrew to get the nuances of the text :-D
2007-10-11 22:47:51 · answer #1 · answered by allonyoav 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The first word of the Torah is "bereshit," meaning "in the beginning".
2007-10-11 02:57:42 · answer #2 · answered by Rain 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hope this is right - this is a quote from the website listed below:
"Bereshit" - (English: Genesis); the first of the Five Books of Moses. It deals with the Creation of the Universe by G-d in Six "Days," and his "rest' on Shabbat, the Seventh Day. Adam, Original Man, is created; Chava, Original Woman and Adam's wife, is created from him. They are blessed, and given dominion over the Garden of Eden. They are given one command (alright! Maybe two: not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and not to eat from the Tree of Life), they violate it (by eating from the Tree of Knowledge), and are driven from the Garden."
So, the closest English word would be "Genesis," right?
cheers :-D
2007-10-11 02:44:49 · answer #3 · answered by artteacher57 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Actually, to be grammatically correct, in Genesis 1:1 where this is used, the translation of the phrase, "Bereshit bara
E-lohim" is, "In the beginning of G-d's creating..." and *not* "In the beginning G-d created."
Kind of puts a whole different spin on things, doesn't it??
2007-10-11 05:24:27 · answer #4 · answered by Mark S, JPAA 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Bereshit Hebrew
2016-11-16 16:58:49 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it's not Jewish, it's Hebrew. It literally means "In the beginning." It's the name of the first book of the bible, as well as being the first word of the first book.
2007-10-11 02:44:57 · answer #6 · answered by Samantha 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Actually there is a grammatical error in the first few words. Bereishit requires a pronoun to follow it, bud it doesn't have one. Our rabbis suggests that the error is there deliberately to invite us to delve into the Torah.
It should read "In the beginning of_______ God created." It's missing a word.
.
2007-10-11 09:55:08 · answer #7 · answered by Hatikvah 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's Hebrew for "in the beginning".
It's the first word in the Hebrew Bible:
B'reshit bara elohim...
In the beginning God created... .
2007-10-11 02:45:05 · answer #8 · answered by steiner1745 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"In the beginning".
I should note that while many translations have the following "G-d created the heaven and the earth" the Artscroll (Jewish translation) translation has "of G-d's creating of the heaven and the earth: when..."
2007-10-11 13:15:04 · answer #9 · answered by BMCR 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is the first book of the Bible: Genesis.
2007-10-11 02:48:20 · answer #10 · answered by anigma 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋