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Genesis 1:27

“And Elohim created the human being in his image; in the image of Elohim he created him; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 1:27 · direct translation from the Hebrew
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God makes human beings in his image, male and female, and blesses themCreationGod creates human beings in his imagePurposeMale and female, both in God's image and blessed togetherDating and Marriage

With the Hebrew beneath

27

Allusion · Colossians 3:10

Go to Colossians 3:10

Both texts join “image” and “create”: in Genesis 1:27, Elohim creates the human being in his image; in Colossians 3:10, the new self is renewed according to the image of the one who created it.

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

  • צַלְמtsalmH6754εἰκόναeikonaG1504“image”
  • יִּבְרָאyivraH1254κτίσαντοςktisantosG2936“create”

Allusion · Galatians 3:28

Go to Galatians 3:28

Both texts say “male and female” (arsen kai thēly / zachar uneqeva).

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

  • זָכָרzajarH2145ἄρσενarsenG730“male”
  • נְקֵבָהnekevaH5347θῆλυthēlyG2338“female”

Quotation · Matthew 19:4

Go to Matthew 19:4

Jesus quotes the end of Genesis 1:27, “male and female he made them.”

Formula: Οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε ὅτι “have you not read that…?” (Matthew 19:4)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν Οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε ὅτι ὁ κτίσας ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτοὺς

Hebrew (Masoretic text): וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם

Septuagint (Genesis 1:26-27 in the Septuagint numbering): καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός Ποιήσω- μεν ἄνθρωπον κατ’ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ κἀς ὁμοίωσιν· καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάτης τῆς γῆς καὶ πόντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κατ’ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν· ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 5 consecutive words: “ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτοὺς.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Quotation · Mark 10:6

Go to Mark 10:6

Jesus quotes without a formula the end of Genesis 1:27, “male and female he made them.”

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: ἀπὸ δὲ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς

Hebrew (Masoretic text): וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם

Septuagint (Genesis 1:27 in the Septuagint numbering): καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κατ’ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν· ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 5 consecutive words: “ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Genesis 1:27, word by word

Elohimאֱלֹהִיםelohim

Elohim

The one true God, the Creator; the word is plural but means one.

Where else “elohim” appears
createdיִּבְרָאyivra

create

To bring something new into being; only God does this.

Where else “yivra” appears
the human beingאָדָםadam

human being

All humankind, men and women, as creatures God formed.

Where else “adam” appears
in his imageצַלְמtsalm

image

What shows what another is like; humans reflect God.

Where else “tsalm” appears
maleזָכָרzachar

male

A person of the male sex, man or boy.

Where else “zachar” appears
and femaleנְקֵבָהnekeva

female

Female; a woman, or a female animal.

Where else “nekeva” appears

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Quotation · Matthew 19:4

Jesus quotes the end of Genesis 1:27, “male and female he made them.”

See them side by side

Genesis 1:27

27And Elohim created the human being in his image; in the image of Elohim he created him; male and female he created them.

Matthew 19:4

4But he answered and said, “Have you not read that the one who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

Quotation · Mark 10:6

Jesus quotes without a formula the end of Genesis 1:27, “male and female he made them.”

See them side by side

Genesis 1:27

27And Elohim created the human being in his image; in the image of Elohim he created him; male and female he created them.

Mark 10:6

6But from the beginning of creation, ‘male and female he made them.’

The context

26And Elohim said, “Let us make the human being in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 · This verse (above)

28And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every animal that creeps on the earth.”

Read all of Genesis 1

To study Genesis 1 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What did Elohim say about everything he had made at the end of the sixth day (v. 31)?

  2. 2. What it means

    What does the text say about human beings when it says they were created in the image of Elohim (v. 27)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    How can you treat the people around you today, remembering that every one of them was created in the image of Elohim?

How to use it