"In the beginning" (; ; ) is the traditional translation of the opening-phrase or incipit "" in Biblical Hebrew used in the Bible in . In of the New Testament, the word is translated into English with the same phrase.
The mimetic translation of the word bÃÂrÃÂÃ¾à ¡Ã®t () in the Hebrew Bible is: 'In beginning'. The word is made of two parts, bà(a prepositional suffix) and rÃÂÃ¾à ¡Ã®t (a noun). As a result, this forms part of a genitive phrase, leading to a linguistic and exegetical translation of this word being 'In the beginning of...'. More accurately, the Hebrew word for "In the beginning,", the non-genitive phrase, would be "barÃÂÃ¾à ¡Ã®t".
The traditional translation of the word bÃÂrÃÂÃ¾à ¡Ã®t as "In the beginning," has been disputed. There is debate on whether, despite its traditional translation as "in the beginning", it was originally intended to be read that way. Joseph Blenkinsopp argues that a more functional equivalent English translation of the first three words of Genesis 1:1 is: "When God began to create...". Thomas Römer, Administrator and theological professor at the Collège de France, says that according to the Masoretes, in the written tradition bÃÂrÃÂÃ¾à ¡Ã®t is "a beginning" among other possible ones and not the absolute Beginning. Other scholars, such as John Day and Benjamin Kantor, support the traditional translation of bÃÂrÃÂÃ¾à ¡Ã®t as "In the beginning".
() is the original word used in the Septuagint translation of Genesis 1:1 and in .
The Hebrew Bible uses the word bÃÂrÃÂÃ¾à ¡Ã®t on 5 occasions, in and Jeremiah 26:1, 27:1, 28:1 and 49:34. All uses in Jeremiah refer to the beginning of the reign of various kings, translated to: "In the beginning of the reign of...".
The King James Version translates <nowiki/>a as "In the beginning was the Word".
The Enuma Elish begins with a similar descriptor, which sets the start of the story as taking place in the beginning of the formation of the world: "When on high the heavens had not been named, firm ground below had not been called by name...".
The Book of Genesis as a whole has the title of () by its incipit in Hebrew, as with other books of the Hebrew Bible. The first word, and thus God's role as Creator, is recited in the prayer near the end of each of the three daily prayer-services.
is commonly paralleled by Christian theologians with as something that the author alluded to. Theologian Charles Ellicott wrote: