Bereshit — In the beginning
Genesis 1:1 — the Bible's opening sentence, in seven Hebrew words.
Genesis 1:1 (Bereshit 1:1)
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Smooth English
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
בְּרֵאשִׁית — B'reshit
"In a beginning." The prefix be- means "in," and reshit means "head, first, beginning." The Hebrew Bible takes its name (Bereshit) from this first word.
בָּרָא — bara
A verb used in the Hebrew Bible only with God as its subject — to create out of nothing. Humans make and shape; only God bara.
אֱלֹהִים — Elohim
A plural form for a singular God, paired with a singular verb (bara). One of Scripture's earliest hints at the depth of who God is.
אֵת — et
An untranslatable little word that marks the direct object. It appears constantly in Hebrew narrative.