Question
Why does it say “heaven” singular in Gen. 1:1 instead of plural as in the heavenly places?
Response
As Genesis 2:3 says, on the seventh day God “rested from all his work which God created and made.” Hence as the previous details in Genesis chapter 1 describe, during the preceding six days God did just that, i.e. He both “created and made.”
God first “created the heaven (singular) and the earth” by bringing the two realms into existence, just as Genesis 1:1 states. Then as verse 2 and following state He immediately went about ‘making’ them to have the various features and characteristics that He wanted each of them to have. Over the course of the six days God produced and formed each realm’s proper features and overall makeup, including giving the realm of the firmament of the heaven a multi-part composition.
Wherefore, when God concluded His work at the end of the sixth day Genesis 2:1 states…
“Thus the heavens (plural) and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. “
So then when the realm of heaven was brought into existence at the start of the first day as per Genesis 1:1, it did not yet have its multi-part composition. But then after the six days of ‘creating and making’ were concluded, it had been given the basic multi-part composition that the information in Genesis 1:6 and following says God gave it. Therefore, when everything was “finished” Genesis 2:1 says, “Thus the heavens (plural) and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries
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