GENESIS 1:2  
 
Home > Questions and Answers > Seemingly Difficult Verses > Genesis 1:2  
 
 
Events
Articles
Studies
Books
Questions and Answers
Other Languages
Issues
Original Sin: Are we born sinners?
New Releases
Sermons
Contact
 

 


 
 
 

The Holy Spirit was present at creation; therefore He must be an individual person like the Father and the Son. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2.

What do you say about that?

Answer: Go to top

Creation has been attributed to the Holy Spirit as much as to the Father and the Son due to the above text. But what the readers sometimes fail to acknowledge is the possessive terminology used in the above verse. In this verse the possessive is used: “The Spirit of God”. It does not say “God the Spirit”.
Psalms 33:6 “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”

The Hebrew word for “breath” is רוּח (rûach) which is the same word translated "spirit‟ in Genesis 1:2.

The meaning should be clear: the spirit of God is the breath of God. This is confirmed further by Jesus in John 20:22 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” Jesus breathed His own Spirit, not someone else. It is this same spirit that is mentioned in Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God”, which can also be translated “breath of God”.

“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33:4

The Spirit of God is equated with His breath. That is what the word means.