These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
What does Genesis 2:4 mean?
Here is a name given to the Creator, "Jehovah." Where the word "LORD" is printed in capital letters in our English Bibles, in the original it is "Jehovah." Jehovah is that name of God, which denotes that he alone has his being of himself, and that he gives being to all creatures and things.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Genesis 2:4-7 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Genesis 2:4
The development - Section II-- The Man - X. The Field 4. toledot "generations, products, developments." That which comes from any source, as the child from the parent, the record of which is history. yehovah. This word occurs about six thousand times in Scripture. It is obvious from its use that it is, so to speak, the proper name of God. It never has the article. It is never changed for construction with another noun. It is never accompanied with a suffix. It is never applied to any but the true God.
Key words
- generations
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toledot "generations, products, developments.
- heavens
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That is, the above account, delivered in the preceding chapter, is a history of the production of the heavens and earth, and of all things in them; the creation of them being a kind of generation, and the day of their creation a sort of birthday; see Genesis 5:1 .
- earth
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That is, the above account, delivered in the preceding chapter, is a history of the production of the heavens and earth, and of all things in them; the creation of them being a kind of generation, and the day of their creation a sort of birthday; see Genesis 5:1 .
Context in Genesis 2
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Genesis 2 belongs to the early movement of the book, especially the section often described as primeval history from creation to Babel. Genesis opens the whole Bible with creation, fall, flood, Babel, and the long patriarchal story that carries the reader from Eden to Egypt. Read this chapter with the wider themes of creation, fall, and covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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