Let us make man in our image hebrew

(26) Let us make man.--Comp. Genesis 11:7. The making of man is so ushered in as to show that at length the work of creation had reached its perfection and ultimate goal. As regards the use of the plural here, Maimonides thinks that God took counsel with the earth, the latter supplying the body and Elohim the soul. But it is denied in Isaiah 40:13 that God ever took counsel with any one but Himself. The Jewish interpreters generally think that the angels are meant. More truly and more reverently we may say that this first chapter of Genesis is the chapter of mysteries, and just as "the wind of God" in Genesis 1:2 was the pregnant germ which grew into the revelation of the Holy Ghost, so in Elohim, the many powers concentrated in one being, lies the germ of the doctrine of a plurality of persons in the Divine Unity. It is not a formal proof of the Trinity, nor do believers in the inspiration of Holy Scripture so use it. What they affirm is, that from the very beginning the Bible is full of such germs, and that no one of them remains barren, but all develop, and become Christian truths. There is in this first book a vast array of figures, types, indications, yearnings, hopes, fears, promises, and express predictions, which advance onwards like an ever-deepening river, and when they all find a logical fulfilment in one way, the conclusion is that that fulfilment is not only true, but was intended.

Man.--Hebrew, Adam. In Assyrian the name for man is also adamu, or admu. In that literature, so marvellously preserved to our days, Sir H. Rawlinson thinks that he has traced the first man up to the black or Accadian race. It is hopeless to attempt any derivation of the name, as it must have existed before any of the verbs and nouns from which commentators attempt to give it a meaning; and the adamah, or "tilled ground," of which we shall soon hear so much, evidently had its name from Adam.

In our image, after our likeness.--The human body is after God's image only as being the means whereby man attains to dominion: for dominion is God's attribute, inasmuch as He is sole Lord. Man's body, therefore, as that of one who rules, is erect, and endowed with speech, that he may give the word of command. The soul is first, in God's image. This, as suggesting an external likeness, may refer to man's reason, free-will, self-consciousness, and so on. But it is, secondly, in God's likeness, which implies something closer and more inward. It refers to man's moral powers, and especially to his capacity of attaining unto holiness. Now man has lost neither of these two. (Comp. Genesis 9:6; 1Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9.) Both were weakened and defiled by the fall, but were still retained in a greater or less degree. In the man Christ Jesus both were perfect; and fallen man, when new-created in Christ, attains actually to that perfection which was his only potentially at his first creation, and to which Adam never did attain. . . .

Verse 26. - The importance assigned in the Biblical record to the creation of man is indicated by the manner in which it is introduced. And God said, Let us make man. Having already explained the significance of the term Elohim, as suggesting the fullness of the Divine personality, and foreshadowing the doctrine of the Trinity (ver. 1), other interpretations, such as that God takes counsel with the angels (Philo, Aben Ezra, Delitzsch), or with the earth (Maimonides, M. Gerumlius), or with himself (Kalisch), must be set aside in favor of that which detects in the peculiar phraseology an allusion to a sublime concilium among the persons of the Godhead (Calvin, Macdonald, Murphy). The object which this concilium contemplated was the construction of a new creature to be named Adam; descriptive of either his color, from adam, to be red, (Josephus, Gesenius, Tuch, Hupfeld); or his appearance, from a root in Arabic which signifies "to shine," thus making Adam "the brilliant one;" or his compactness, both as an individual and as a race, from another Arabic root which means "to bring or hold together" (Meier, Furst); or his nature as God's image, from dam, likeness (Eichorn, Richers); or, and most probably, his origin, from adamah, the ground (Kimchi, Rosenmüller, Kalisch). In our image, after our likeness. The precise relationship in which the nature of the Adam about to be produced should stand to Elohim was to be that of a tselem (shadow - vid. Psalm 39:7; Greek, σκιά σκίασμα) and a damuth (likeness, from damah, to bring together, to compare - Isaiah 40:8). As nearly as possible the terms are synonymous. If any distinction does exist between them, perhaps tselem (image) denotes the shadow outline of a figure, and damuth (likeness) the correspondence or resemblance of that shadow to the figure. The early Fathers were of opinion that the words were expressive of separate ideas: image, of the body, which by reason of its beauty, intelligent aspect, and erect stature was an adumbration of God; likeness, of the soul, or the intellectual and moral nature. According to Augustine image had reference to the cognitio veritatis; likeness to amor virtutis. Irenaeus, Clement, and Origen saw in the first man nature as originally created, and in the second what that nature might become through personal ethical conflict, or through the influence of grace. Bellarmine thought "imaginem in natura, similitudinem in probitate et justitia sitam esse," and conceived that "Adamum peccando non imaginem Dei, sed similitudinero perdidisse." Havernick suggests that image is the concrete, and likeness the abstract designation of the idea. Modern expositors generally discover no distinction whatever between the words; in this respect following Luther, who renders an image that is like, and Calvin, who denies that any difference exists between the two. As to what in man constituted the imago Dei, the reformed theologians commonly held it to have consisted

(1) in the spirituality of his being, as an intelligent and free agent;

(2) in the moral integrity and holiness of his nature; and

(3) in his dominion over the creatures (cf. West. Conf., Genesis 4:2). . . . Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

Then God
אֱלֹהִ֔ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

said,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Let Us make
נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה (na·‘ă·śeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common plural
Strong's 6213: To do, make

man
אָדָ֛ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

in Our image,
בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ (bə·ṣal·mê·nū)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common plural
Strong's 6754: A phantom, illusion, resemblance, a representative figure, an idol

after Our likeness,
כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ (kiḏ·mū·ṯê·nū)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common plural
Strong's 1823: Resemblance, model, shape, like

to rule
וְיִרְדּוּ֩ (wə·yir·dū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7287: To tread down, subjugate, to crumble off

over the fish
בִדְגַ֨ת (ḇiḏ·ḡaṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1710: A fish

of the sea
הַיָּ֜ם (hay·yām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

and the birds
וּבְע֣וֹף (ū·ḇə·‘ō·wp̄)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5775: Flying creatures

of the air,
הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם (haš·šā·ma·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8064: Heaven, sky

over the livestock,
וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ (ū·ḇab·bə·hê·māh)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 929: A dumb beast, any large quadruped, animal

and over all
וּבְכָל־ (ū·ḇə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the earth itself
הָאָ֔רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

and every
וּבְכָל־ (ū·ḇə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

creature
הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ (hā·re·meś)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7431: A reptile, any other rapidly moving animal

that crawls
הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ (hā·rō·mêś)
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7430: To glide swiftly, to crawl, move with short steps, to swarm

upon
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

[it].?
הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

Jump to Previous

Air Animal Birds Cattle Creepeth Creeping Creeps Dominion Earth Fish Fowl Image Likeness Sea Sky

Jump to Next

Air Animal Birds Cattle Creepeth Creeping Creeps Dominion Earth Fish Fowl Image Likeness Sea Sky

Links

Genesis 1:26 NIV
Genesis 1:26 NLT
Genesis 1:26 ESV
Genesis 1:26 NASB
Genesis 1:26 KJVGenesis 1:26 BibleApps.com
Genesis 1:26 Biblia Paralela
Genesis 1:26 Chinese Bible
Genesis 1:26 French Bible
Genesis 1:26 Catholic BibleOT Law: Genesis 1:26 God said Let us make man (Gen. Ge Gn)

What does the Bible mean when it says God made man in his image?

The term has its roots in Genesis 1:27, wherein "God created man in his own image. . ." This scriptural passage does not mean that God is in human form, but rather, that humans are in the image of God in their moral, spiritual, and intellectual nature.

Where in the Bible does it say let us make man in our own image?

1 Verses 26 to 31. [26] And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

What is the meaning of imago Dei?

The image of God in man is used as a metaphor to express the idea that only man, among God's creatures, shares with him the ability to think 11. The human soul is defined as imago Dei – in other words – as an image of God, created as a likeness albeit imperfect of God.

What is Elohim in Hebrew?

Elohim, singular Eloah, (Hebrew: God), the God of Israel in the Old Testament.