Hebrew Bible

“When G-d began to create heaven and earth—the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from G-d sweeping over the water—G-d said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”

These are the opening lines of the Hebrew Bible, constituting one of the foundational statements of Jewish theology. The text introduces G-d to the reader in the very first statement, revealing G-d as the creator of all that exists (“heaven and earth” being a term for the totality of the cosmos), as well as the one who illumines the darkness.

“And G-d blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it G-d ceased from all the work of creation that He had done.”

This verse introduces the idea of the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, sanctified for rest and devoted to the L-rd. This statement, together with the preceding verses in Genesis 2, form part of the Jewish liturgy used in the Sabbath prayer of the kiddush, as well as in the traditional Friday evening service.

“[G-d] took [Abram] outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He added, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ […] Then He said to him, ‘I am the L-rd who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to assign this land to you as a possession.’”

Here, G-d establishes a covenant with Abram, expressing the dual promises of descendants and the land. At this point, both promises seem almost unbelievable since Abram and his wife are too old to bear children and Abram does not yet own any portion of the land. Nevertheless, Abram believes G-d’s promise, entrusting himself to The Steadfast Love (Chesed) of G-d.