ESTUDIO DEL VERSÍCULO
Genesis 1:26-27 — Humanity in God's Image
God resolves to create humanity in His image and likeness, giving them dominion over living creatures, and then creates them as male and female.
Escritura
- 26.Entonces dijo Dios: Hagamos al hombre a nuestra imagen, conforme a nuestra semejanza; y señoree en los peces del mar, en las aves de los cielos, en las bestias, en toda la tierra, y en todo animal que se arrastra sobre la tierra.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 birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
- 27.Y creó Dios al hombre a su imagen, a imagen de Dios lo creó; varón y hembra los creó.And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Qué significa este pasaje
The passage begins in verse 26 with a divine self-deliberation that breaks the pattern of the previous days. Instead of the recurring formula 'And God said, Let...', God says, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.' The plural pronouns and the deliberative mood set humanity apart from everything else created up to this point in the chapter. The text gives no explanation for who is addressed in 'us'; the chapter simply presents the speech and moves on. The stated purpose is twofold: man is made in God's image and likeness, and man is given dominion over the fish, birds, cattle, all the earth, and every creeping thing.
Verse 27 reports the execution of that plan with an emphatic, threefold structure: 'God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him.' The repetition in Hebrew style drives home the point that the image of God is not incidental but constitutive of what it means to be human. The verse then immediately clarifies what that image-bearing humanity looks like in creation: 'male and female created he them.' Maleness and femaleness are presented here as built into being human, not as an afterthought.
The two ideas, image and dominion, are linked. In verses 26-27, being made in God's likeness is the basis for exercising rule over the other creatures. The passage does not define the content of the image elsewhere in these two verses, but it ties it directly to the vocation of ruling, filling, and subduing described in the surrounding context. The 'image of God' language is therefore inseparable in this passage from humanity's representative role before the rest of creation.
Contexto
In the flow of chapter 1, day six begins with the land producing living things after their kind in verses 24-25, each pronounced 'good.' Then in verses 26-27, the narrative shifts register: humanity is not simply 'brought forth' like the animals but is the subject of a divine deliberation and a special 'created' act. Verse 28 then addresses the man and woman directly, commanding them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over living things, repeating and expanding the dominion mandate of verse 26.
Verses 29-31 frame humanity and the animals together as recipients of plant food, and God pronounces everything 'very good.' The placement of 1:26-27 at the climax of the six days, immediately before the seventh-day rest, gives these verses a structural weight within the chapter that the surrounding material reinforces rather than diminishes.
Palabras clave del original
- H0120 ʾādām designates 'man' / 'human' as a collective in this passage: verse 27 then immediately specifies that this humanity is 'male and female.'
- H6754 ṣelem ('image') appears three times across the two verses. The repetition in 27 makes image-bearing the defining mark of humanity in this passage.
- H7287 rāḏāh ('rule') defines humanity's vocation in verse 26 over fish, birds, cattle, all the earth, and every creeping thing.
Versículos relacionados
- Genesis 5:1 Genesis 5:1 restates the language of 1:26-27, confirming that being made 'in the likeness of God' is the foundational identity carried into the genealogy.
- Genesis 5:2 Genesis 5:2 picks up the 'male and female' line of 1:27 and adds that God blessed them and called their name Adam, tying the creation of the sexes to the founding of humanity under one name.
- Matthew 19:4 Matthew 19:4 cites 'male and female' from the creation account to anchor Jesus' teaching on marriage in the original creation order.
Preguntas frecuentes
Why does God say 'Let us make' instead of 'Let there be' in 1:26?
The chapter itself does not explain who is addressed in 'us.' The shift from the previous days' fiat wording to a deliberative plural marks humanity as a distinct category of creation, but the passage does not resolve the identity of the 'us' on its own.
What is the 'image of God' according to 1:26-27 itself?
Within these two verses, the image of God is not defined; it is stated. The passage connects it directly to two things: humanity's creation as 'male and female' and humanity's dominion over the other creatures. The content of the image is not unpacked further here.
Why are 'male and female' included in the creation of humanity here?
The verse names maleness and femaleness immediately after stating the image of God. In the structure of the passage, being created male and female is presented as part of what it means to be made in God's image, not as a separate detail.