The first three chapters of Genesis tell where the world, man and woman, and sin and death come from, and the Church places them at the head of Scripture. Read in the light of Christ, they are the source of her teaching on creation, the dignity of man, the fall, and the promise of a Redeemer.
The passage · Douay-Rheims
In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.
And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
And God said: Be light made. And light was made.
And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.
And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.
And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.
And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day.
God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.
And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And he said: let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.
And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:
To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth, and it was so done.
And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.
And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth.
And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And the evening and morning were the fourth day.
God also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.
And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.
And the evening and morning were the fifth day.
And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.
And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.
And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.
And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:
And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.
And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.
So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth:
And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.
But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.
And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.
And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.
The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.
And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.
And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.
And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.
And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:
But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.
And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.
And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.
And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.
Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.
And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.
And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.
Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.
And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?
And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.
And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.
For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.
And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.
And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.
And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?
And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.
And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?
And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.
And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.
Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.
And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.
And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.
And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.
And he cast out Adam: and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
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The four senses
Literal sense
How did the world begin, how were man and woman made in the image of God, and what befell them in paradise?
15 writers
Basil of Caesarea, Doctor of the Church, preaching on the six days in his Hexaemeron, remarks that Moses first establishes a beginning, so that the world might not be supposed to have none. The word created shows how small a part of the power of the Creator the world is. In the literal sense the opening words state the origin of the world.
What a glorious order! He first establishes a beginning, so that it might not be supposed that the world never had a beginning. Then he adds “Created” to show that which was made was a very small part of the power of the Creator. In the same way that the potter, after having made with equal pains a great number of vessels, has not exhausted either his art or his talent; thus the Maker of the Universe, whose creative power, far from being bounded by one world, could extend to the infinite, needed only the impulse of His will to bring the immensities of the visible world into being.
Augustine, in the same work, notes that the first light was made by the word of God and separated from the darkness, but what kind of light it was, and by what movement it made evening and morning, is beyond the reach of our senses. We must believe it nonetheless. He admits what the sacred text leaves unexplained.
And first of all, indeed, light was made by the word of God, and God, we read, separated it from the darkness, and called the light Day, and the darkness Night; but what kind of light that was, and by what periodic movement it made evening and morning, is beyond the reach of our senses; neither can we understand how it was, and yet must unhesitatingly believe it.
Augustine, Doctor of the Church, in The City of God, teaches that time began with the world, since change and motion were created in it. He admits it is extremely difficult, or impossible, for us to conceive what kind of days these were. In the literal sense he treats the days with restraint.
But simultaneously with time the world was made, if in the world’s creation change and motion were created, as seems evident from the order of the first six or seven days. For in these days the morning and evening are counted, until, on the sixth day, all things which God then made were finished, and on the seventh the rest of God was mysteriously and sublimely signalized. What kind of days these were it is extremely difficult, or perhaps impossible for us to conceive, and how much more to say!
Augustine, in The City of God, allows allegorical interpretations of paradise without offence, provided the strict truth of the history is still believed. In the literal sense the history stands first, and the allegory beside it, not in its place.
These and similar allegorical interpretations may be suitably put upon Paradise without giving offence to any one, while yet we believe the strict truth of the history, confirmed by its circumstantial narrative of facts.
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, in the Summa Theologiae, gives Augustine’s two rules for questions of this kind: to hold the truth of Scripture without wavering, and to hold a particular explanation only so far as one is ready to abandon it if proved false. It gives the method for reading the six days.
In discussing questions of this kind two rules are to observed, as Augustine teaches (Gen. ad lit. i, 18). The first is, to hold the truth of Scripture without wavering. The second is that since Holy Scripture can be explained in a multiplicity of senses, one should adhere to a particular explanation, only in such measure as to be ready to abandon it, if it be proved with certainty to be false; lest Holy Scripture be exposed to the ridicule of unbelievers, and obstacles be placed to their believing.
Aquinas notes in the Summa Theologiae that Augustine differs from other expositors on the days: for Augustine the seven days are one day in a sevenfold aspect, while others hold seven distinct days. He remarks that, as explanations of the literal text, the two opinions are widely different. He sets out the question openly.
On this question Augustine differs from other expositors. His opinion is that all the days that are called seven, are one day represented in a sevenfold aspect (Gen. ad lit. iv, 22; De Civ. Dei xi, 9; Ad Orosium xxvi); while others consider there were seven distinct days, not one only. Now, these two opinions, taken as explaining the literal text of Genesis, are certainly widely different.
Aquinas, in the Summa Theologiae, teaches that man is said to be the image of God by reason of his intellectual nature, and is most perfectly like God in that God understands and loves Himself. In the literal sense it explains what is meant by the image of God.
Since man is said to be the image of God by reason of his intellectual nature, he is the most perfectly like God according to that in which he can best imitate God in his intellectual nature. Now the intellectual nature imitates God chiefly in this, that God understands and loves Himself.
Aquinas argues from the Epistle to the Romans that by one man sin entered into the world, and not by imitation or suggestion, since the Book of Wisdom says that by the envy of the devil death came into the world. Original sin is therefore transmitted by origin from the first man. It explains how Adam’s fall touches all.
On the contrary, The Apostle says (Rom. 5:12): "By one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death." Nor can this be understood as denoting imitation or suggestion, since it is written (Wis. 2:24): "By the envy of the devil, death came into this world." It follows therefore that through origin from the first man sin entered into the world.
Aquinas, in the Summa Theologiae, gives reasons why the woman was made from the man: that the first man, in likeness to God, should be the principle of the whole human race, and that man might love her more, knowing her to be formed from him. In the literal sense it explains why the account has her so formed.
When all things were first formed, it was more suitable for the woman to be made from man that (for the female to be from the male) in other animals. First, in order thus to give the first man a certain dignity consisting in this, that as God is the principle of the whole universe, so the first man, in likeness to God, was the principle of the whole human race. Wherefore Paul says that "God made the whole human race from one" (Acts 17:26). Secondly, that man might love woman all the more, and cleave to her more closely, knowing her to be fashioned from himself.
Aquinas teaches in the Summa Theologiae that whatever Scripture tells of paradise is set down as matter of history, and that the historical truth is the foundation of any spiritual explanation. He cites Isidore that paradise is a place in the east, its name being the Greek for garden. In the literal sense it holds the garden to be a real place.
For whatever Scripture tells us about paradise is set down as matter of history; and wherever Scripture makes use of this method, we must hold to the historical truth of the narrative as a foundation of whatever spiritual explanation we may offer. And so paradise, as Isidore says (Etym. xiv, 3), "is a place situated in the east, its name being the Greek for garden."
The Council of Trent, in its decree on original sin, declares that the first man, Adam, when he transgressed the commandment of God in paradise, immediately lost the holiness and justice in which he had been constituted, and incurred death and captivity under the power of the devil. It states, in the Church’s defined words, what the fall did.
If any one does not confess that the first man, Adam, when he had transgressed the commandment of God in Paradise, immediately lost the holiness and justice wherein he had been constituted; and that he incurred, through the offence of that prevarication, the wrath and indignation of God, and consequently death, with which God had previously threatened him, and, together with death, captivity under his power who thenceforth had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil, and that the entire Adam, through that offence of prevarication, was changed, in body and soul, for the worse; let him be anathema.
Challoner, in his annotation on the Douay-Rheims Bible, says the eyes of Adam and Eve were not opened to a more perfect knowledge of good, but only to the unhappy experience of having lost original grace and innocence. Shame at their nakedness followed. In the literal sense it explains what the text means by their eyes being opened.
Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh.
Haydock reminds the reader that the sacred writings were given to instruct us in the way to heaven and not to unfold systems of natural history, so that God speaks of nature as it appears to the generality of mankind. He adds that the Scriptures never assert what is false. It says what kind of account Genesis gives.
But we must remember, that the sacred writings were given to instruct us in the way to heaven, and not to unfold to us the systems of natural history; and hence God generally addresses us in a manner best suited to our conceptions, and speaks of nature as it appears to the generality of mankind. At the same time, we may confidently assert, that the Scriptures never assert what is false.
Haydock, in his annotation on the account of the creation, says God formed things in succession and not all in one day. The plants which did not spring up on the first day came forth on the third by the command of God. In the literal sense it notes the order of the work.
Not that all things were made in one day: but God formed in succession; first, heaven and earth, then the ornaments of both. Every plant, &c. which on the first day did not spring up, (as water covered the surface of the earth,) on the 3d, by the command of God, without having any man to plant, or rain to water them, pushed forth luxuriantly, and manifested the power of the Creator.
The First Vatican Council, in the dogmatic constitution Dei Filius, teaches that the one true God, by an absolutely free plan, brought into being from nothing the twofold created order, the spiritual and the bodily, and then man, composed of both. It states the doctrine of creation taught in the opening chapters.
This one true God, by his goodness and almighty power, not with the intention of increasing his happiness, nor indeed of obtaining happiness, but in order to manifest his perfection by the good things which he bestows on what he creates, by an absolutely free plan, together from the beginning of time brought into being from nothing the twofold created order, that is the spiritual and the bodily, the angelic and the earthly, and thereafter the human which is, in a way, common to both since it is composed of spirit and body.
Pius XII, in the encyclical Humani Generis, recalls a letter on the first eleven chapters of Genesis. It teaches that they do not conform to the historical method of the best ancient or modern writers, yet pertain to history in a true sense, which exegetes must further study and determine. It says what kind of history these chapters are.
This letter, in fact, clearly points out that the first eleven chapters of Genesis, although properly speaking not conforming to the historical method used by the best Greek and Latin writers or by competent authors of our time, do nevertheless pertain to history in a true sense, which however must be further studied and determined by exegetes; the same chapters, (the Letter points out), in simple and metaphorical language adapted to the mentality of a people but little cultured, both state the principal truths which are fundamental for our salvation, and also give a popular description of the origin of the human race and the chosen people.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine work, concluded by the rest of the seventh day. On creation the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation. It gives the Church’s present reading of the days.
God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work", concluded by the "rest" of the seventh day. On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation, permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place among the Scriptural texts about creation. The inspired authors placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express the truths of creation, the vocation of man, and the drama of sin and the hope of salvation. It says why these chapters stand first.
Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had diverse sources. The inspired authors have placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express in their solemn language the truths of creation - its origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation. Read in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the "beginning": creation, fall, and promise of salvation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives the certainty of faith that human history is marked by the original fault. It states what the narrative asserts.
The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.
Each is quoted in full and is here because the commentary above, or the text itself, ties it to the key passage.
John 1:1-5
Haydock on Genesis 1:1 (allegorical sense) says that St. John adopts the first words of Moses, “in the beginning”, and that all things were made by the Word.
1In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God: and the Word was God.
2The same was in the beginning with God.
3All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.
4In him was life: and the life was the light of men.
5And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Aquinas (I-II, q. 81, article 1, literal sense) begins from St. Paul’s words that by one man sin entered into the world, and Catechism 402 (allegorical sense) sets the one man’s disobedience beside the one man’s obedience in Christ.
12Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world and by sin death: and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.
13For until the law sin was in the world: but sin was not imputed, when the law was not.
14But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned, after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come.
15But not as the offence, so also the gift. For if by the offence of one, many died: much more the grace of God and the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16And not as it was by one sin, so also is the gift. For judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation: but grace is of many offences unto justification.
17For if by one man's offence death reigned through one; much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift and of justice shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ.
18Therefore, as by the offence of one, unto all men to condemnation: so also by the justice of one, unto all men to justification of life.
19For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners: so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just.
Aquinas (I-II, q. 81, article 1, quoted under the literal sense) cites verse 24, “by the envy of the devil, death came into the world”, to show that the first sin came to all by origin and not by imitation.
23For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him.
24But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world:
Haydock on Genesis 2:24 (allegorical sense) points to St. Paul here for the mystery of Christ’s union with his Church, prefigured by the marriage of our first parents; Aquinas on the rib (I, q. 92, article 3) reads the Church as formed from the side of Christ.
25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and delivered himself up for it:
26That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life:
27That he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church:
30Because we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones.
31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother: and shall cleave to his wife. And they shall be two in one flesh.
32This is a great sacrament: but I speak in Christ and in the church.
Gaudium et Spes 22 (allegorical sense) cites verse 15, “the image of the invisible God”, when it says that Christ restores to the sons of Adam the divine likeness disfigured by the first sin.
15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him.
17And he is before all: and by him all things consist.
18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy:
19Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell:
20And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven.
Catechism 1044 (verse 4) and Laudato Si’ 243 (verse 5, “I make all things new”), both under the anagogical sense, quote this passage for the new creation that answers the first.
1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone: and the sea is now no more.
2And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men: and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people: and God himself with them shall be their God.
4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more. Nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.
5And he that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me: Write. For these words are most faithful and true.
