New American Standard Bible 1995

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Genesis

1

:

9

Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.

Lexicon

Verse part Definition: Part of speech: Strong's: Hebrew: Transliteration:
Then God God, god Noun H430 אֱלֹהִ֗ים e·lo·him
said, to utter, say Verb H559 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai·yo·mer
"Let the waters waters, water Noun H4325 הַמַּ֜יִם ham·ma·yim
below from H4480    
the heavens heaven, sky Noun H8064 הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ ha·sha·ma·yim
be gathered to collect Verb H6960 יִקָּו֨וּ yik·ka·vu
into one one Adjective H259 אֶחָ֔ד e·chad,
Analysis:

One: God

Refers to HaShem (God), Who is One. This number can also refer to unity. The first place the number "one" occurs is in Genesis 1:5. There one reads, "And there was an evening and there was a morning— one day". Later on in this same book of Genesis, it is stated concerning the man and his wife, "And they became one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). It is very significant that in both of these examples there was a multiplicity for the subject. In the first example, the evening and the morning became one day and in the second example, it was Adam and Eve who became one flesh.

One of the most famous passages in the Torah concerning HaShem is Deuteronomy 6:4 which states, "Hear O Israel the Lord your God the Lord is One." The question that a person must ask himself is what is the connection between the use of the Hebrew word אחד "one" which identifies a multiplicity being one and the fact that the Lord God of Israel is One? The answer is that the Hebrew word אחד can relate to the concept for one as in "unification". There is another Hebrew word that would have been possible to be used if the author wanted to refer to an absolute oneness or singleness. This is the Hebrew word יחיד. In fact, there is a well-known prayer in Judaism which states, "אחד ואין יחיד כיחודו". This phrase should be translated as, "(God is) One and there is no singularity as His singularity." The idea that is being expressed in this prayer is that the Lord God of Israel is One; but not an absolute One; rather there is a uniqueness and a complexity to His Oneness.

The number one is frequently employed to express in the Scriptures one object, such as one man or one tabernacle. This usage would be the simple or common purpose that the number one or for that matter any number, would appear in a Biblical text. Often the appearance of a number does not contain any of the significance that Hebrew numerology might offer. Therefore, the reader must always consider when coming across a verse which contains a number, that the number only expresses an amount and no additional significance. 

Because the number one is often associated with God, there is a unique phenomenon in the Scriptures concerning this number. Sometimes the number one is employed to express a unique relationship that the object has to HaShem. For example,

"And it will be one day, it will be known to HaShem..." Zechariah 14:7

In the text above, Zechariah could have stated simply, "And it will be a day…" The fact that the prophet said "one day" is to convey that this day is uniquely related to God. Similarly, it is stated by the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 37, "one King", "one nation" and "one Shepherd" (see Ezekiel 37:22, 24). Each of these objects—King, nation and Shepherd—has a connection to HaShem. The King and Shepherd is Messiah Yeshua, the Son of God and the one nation is Israel, the people of God.

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place, a standing place, place Noun H4725 מָקֹ֣ום ma·ko·vm
and let the dry land dry land, dry ground Noun H3004 הַיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה hai·yab·ba·shah;
appear"; to see Verb H7200 וְתֵרָאֶ֖ה ve·te·ra·'eh
and it was so. so, thus Adjective H3651 כֵֽן׃ chen.

Parallel Verses

Removed text
Added text
New American Standard Bible 1995 Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
King James Bible Then And God said, "Let Let the waters below under the heavens heaven be gathered into together unto one place, and let the dry land appear"; appear: and it was so.
Hebrew Greek English Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.