Lexicon of the commentaries on Genesis 1:1
This article is a note regarding the technical terms used in the commentaries on Genesis 1:1 introduced by the article Genesis 1:1 Bereshit.
Arkhế: This word is also the first word of the Book of Genesis in the Greek translation of the Septuagint (the Bible translated into Greek in Alexandria by the 70 sages in the 3rd century B.C.). As we shall see, the meaning of the word arkhế is complex, and many authors provide examples of its use in various fields. Arkhế, depending on the context, can therefore take on different meanings: beginning (in time), start (of a path), origin (of what is brought into being), foundation (of what is built), model (of what is formed), principle, element, starting point (of what is learned), etc. We thus find, in the Commentary on the Gospel according to John, one of the earliest identifications of arkhế with the divine Wisdom expressed by the creative lógos.
Lógos: The word lógos derives from the root leg/log, which originally meant to gather, pick, or choose, and later evolved to mean to tell or speak. Thus, the act of uttering a word is associated with the fact that this word manifests a certain choice, an enumeration resulting from a process that has gathered, chosen, and brought together a list of things. This word is therefore the expression of an operation, of a certain reason and logic. What is logical—and thus related to lógos—is at the same time a statement and a statement that conforms to reason. This is why, in Greek philosophy and among other Church Fathers, one could speak of spermatikoi logoi, that is, what expresses the reason of the being of a thing, what determines it to be what it is and thus constitutes its origin and cause. The word lógos is thus an expression of the σοφία, of of the knowledge, of the wisdom.
The Word of God is begotten by him, eternally, just as the Father begets the Son, but a Son coeternal with him and of the same substance (oὐsía) as him, as the Greek Fathers and the councils explain to us. According to the Gospel according to Saint John, it is through the lógos that all things were created; this lógos became flesh, and we have seen his glory in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word, the Verbum, eternally begotten by him.
Genesis: The word genesis comes from the root gen, which we find in the French words générer, gène, and engendrer. The word ἐγένετο (egéneto) is the aorist 2nd person medium-passive form of the verb gígnomai, formed from the root gen, with the meaning of coming into being, being born, being begotten, becoming. Hence the translation of egéneto, etymologically close to the root gen, as “was generated” in the sense of came into being, came to pass, was. This verb can also be translated quite simply by the verb “to be.” This word recurs in the Greek translation of Genesis in the Septuagint, where it renders the Hebrew וַיְהִי-כֵן (vayehy-ken) “… and so it was” in the sequences where all beings are created, as, for example: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Likewise, the Gospel of John (1:3) states that “all things were made through Him,” πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο (pánta di’autoũ egéneto).
Principium: this word is used in the Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, to render the Greek word arkhế. In Latin as well, attempts were made to apply to this word the speculations regarding the various meanings of the Greek word arkhế. We will focus primarily on those that speak of a beginning in time or a logical beginning, a principle in actions, principles in the conception of the world and life, as in the case of moral principles. However, we may also retain the nuance referring to something principal, primary, and prioritized within a hierarchy—whether of a logical nature or within society. In Latin, two words derived from the same root can be used: “principia” (the plural of principium) to refer to the principles that govern our thoughts, and principes (the plural of princeps) to refer to the princes who rule the world. Both refer to the idea of what is principal—first in importance and origin, and first in time and causality.
Verbum is the Latin word used to translate lógos. This word, which means “verb” or “word”—as already explained regarding lógos—must be understood in context as the word that is the expression of God’s wisdom and knowledge, the word in which lies the reason and the principle of all that is, for through it all things came into being.
GENESIS, chapter 1, verses 1 and 3
1:1 בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
᾿Εν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν.
Translation of the Greek text: In arkhế God created the heaven and the earth.
1:3 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός Γενηθήτω φῶς. καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς.
And God said, “Let light be generated.” And light was generated.
THE GOSPEL according to Saint John, chapter 1, verses 1–4
1:1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
In arkhế was the lógos, and the lógos was with God, and the lógos was God.
In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum
2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
He was in arkhế with God.
hoc erat in principio apud Deum
3 πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν
All things came into being through him, and apart from him not a single [thing] of what came into being was generated
omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est
4 ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων·
in him was life, and life was the light of men:
in ipso vita erat et vita erat lux hominum
5 καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.
and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it [also: grasped or stopped it].
et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt.
Aristotle on Arkhế:
Metaphysics 5, 1012b 34 – 1013a 24
[1012b][34] Ἀρχὴ λέγεται ἡ μὲν ὅθεν ἄν τις τοῦ πράγματος [35] κινηθείη πρῶτον, οἷον τοῦ μήκους καὶ ὁδοῦ ἐντεῦθεν μὲν αὕτη ἀρχή, ἐξ ἐναντίας δὲ ἑτέρα·
Arkhế is that from which something in an object can be moved first; just as where the line or path begins there is an arkhế, and on the opposite side there is another [arkhế].
[1013a][1] ἡ δὲ ὅθεν ἂν κάλλιστα ἕκαστον γένοιτο, οἷον καὶ μαθήσεως οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου καὶ τῆς τοῦ πράγματος ἀρχῆς ἐνίοτε ἀρκτέον ἀλλ’ ὅθεν ῥᾷστ’ ἂν μάθοι·
That from which each thing can become most perfect (κάλλιστα), as, for example, in learning, one should not always begin with the first and the beginning of the thing, but with that from which one can learn most easily.
ἡ δὲ ὅθεν πρῶτον γίγνεται ἐνυπάρχοντος, οἷον ὡς πλοίου [5] τρόπις καὶ οἰκίας θεμέλιος, καὶ τῶν ζῴων οἱ μὲν καρδίαν οἱ δὲ ἐγκέφαλον οἱ δ’ ὅ τι ἂν τύχωσι τοιοῦτον ὑπολαμβάνουσιν·
that which is first generated from something in which it subsists (ἐνυπάρχοντος), for example, like the keel of a ship and the foundations of a house, and [as the principle] of animals, some may understand the heart, others the brain, or whatever is similar.
ἡ δὲ ὅθεν γίγνεται πρῶτον μὴ ἐνυπάρχοντος καὶ ὅθεν πρῶτον ἡ κίνησις πέφυκεν ἄρχεσθαι καὶ ἡ μεταβολή, οἷον τὸ τέκνον ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῆς μητρὸς καὶ ἡ μάχη [10] ἐκ τῆς λοιδορίας·
that which is first generated from something in which it does not subsist and from which [its] movement and change first originate according to nature, just as the child [comes] from the father and the mother and the battle from insult.
ἡ δὲ οὗ κατὰ προαίρεσιν κινεῖται τὰ κινούμενα καὶ μεταβάλλει τὰ μεταβάλλοντα, ὥσπερ αἵ τε κατὰ πόλεις ἀρχαὶ καὶ αἱ δυναστεῖαι καὶ αἱ βασιλεῖαι καὶ τυραννίδες ἀρχαὶ λέγονται καὶ αἱ τέχναι, καὶ τούτων αἱ ἀρχιτεκτονικαὶ μάλιστα.
It is by the free choice of which, that what is moved is moved and that which is changing is changed, just as princes for the city, dynasties, kings, and tyrants are called princes (ἀρχαὶ) [the word princes is “principes” in Latin] and the arts (τέχναι, techniques), among which especially the “arkhi“-tectural ones.
Here are several compound words derived from the word ἀρχὴ: ἀρχαὶ, the leaders of a city; similarly, in Latin languages, we find the same connection between the word “principle” and the word “princeps,” meaning prince, the one who is at the head of a city or a kingdom. This connection is also found in certain scientific disciplines, including architecture.
Ἔτι ὅθεν γνωστὸν τὸ πρᾶγμα [15] πρῶτον, καὶ αὕτη ἀρχὴ λέγεται τοῦ πράγματος, οἷον τῶν ἀποδείξεων αἱ ὑποθέσεις.
Furthermore, that from which a thing is knowable is also called arkhế, just as the premises [are the principles upon which] proofs are based.
Ἰσαχῶς δὲ καὶ τὰ αἴτια λέγεται· πάντα γὰρ τὰ αἴτια ἀρχαί. Πασῶν μὲν οὖν κοινὸν τῶν ἀρχῶν τὸ πρῶτον εἶναι ὅθεν ἢ ἔστιν ἢ γίγνεται ἢ γιγνώσκεται·
There are also as many [ways of saying arkhế] as there are causes, for all causes are arkhaí. Of all these [different ways of saying arkhế], therefore, what is common to the arkhaí is to be the first from which [something] comes into being or is known;
τούτων δὲ αἱ μὲν ἐνυπάρχουσαί εἰσιν αἱ δὲ [20] ἐκτός. Διὸ ἥ τε φύσις ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ στοιχεῖον καὶ ἡ διάνοια καὶ ἡ προαίρεσις καὶ οὐσία καὶ τὸ οὗ ἕνεκα· πολλῶν γὰρ καὶ τοῦ γνῶναι καὶ τῆς κινήσεως ἀρχὴ τἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ καλόν.
Of these, some are subsistant (ἐνυπάρχουσαί) [in the thing itself], others are external. For this reason, nature (φύσις) is a principle and also the element, thought, free will, and ousía —and that which is the cause of [something’s existence, or rather: the end toward which it is directed]. Indeed, for many things, the principle of knowing and of motion is the good and the beautiful.
Aristotle on the sky and the planets.
On the connection between time and motion (no time without motion; see Aristotle, Physics, Book 4, Chapters 10–14)
Physics 4, 11, 218b 34 – 219a 1
… φανερὸν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνευ κινήσεως καὶ μεταβολῆς [219a] χρόνος.
… it is manifest that without motion and change there is no time.
Metaphysics 12, 7, 1073a 36–1074b 14
ἓν ἄρα καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἀριθμῷ τὸ πρῶτον κινοῦν ἀκίνητον ὄν: καὶ τὸ κινούμενον ἄρα ἀεὶ καὶ συνεχῶς: εἷς ἄρα οὐρανὸς μόνος.
The first being that moves while being immobile is one by the lógos and by number; and therefore also that which is moved [is moved] always and continuously; therefore, too, the heaven is one and only one.
The single heaven encompasses the entire system of spheres on which the planets are situated, and it is the movement of the spheres and their complex mechanism [described in Metaphysics 12, 8] that is moved by the prime mover.
[1074b] [1] παραδέδοται δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἀρχαίων καὶ παμπαλαίων ἐν μύθου σχήματι καταλελειμμένα τοῖς ὕστερον ὅτι θεοί τέ εἰσιν οὗτοι καὶ περιέχει τὸ θεῖον τὴν ὅλην φύσιν.
[This] has been handed down to posterity in mythical form by the ancients and the very ancients, that these are gods and that the divine pervades all of nature.
τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ μυθικῶς ἤδη προσῆκται πρὸς τὴν πειθὼ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ [5] πρὸς τὴν εἰς τοὺς νόμους καὶ τὸ συμφέρον χρῆσιν: ἀνθρωποειδεῖς τε γὰρ τούτους καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ὁμοίους τισὶ λέγουσι, καὶ τούτοις ἕτερα ἀκόλουθα καὶ παραπλήσια τοῖς εἰρημένοις,
The rest was added in the manner of myths later on, to persuade the masses, to proclaim laws, and to profit from them. They say that these [the gods] are human in form and resemble certain other animals, and that other things are in accordance with these and close to what has been said;
ὧν εἴ τις χωρίσας αὐτὸ λάβοι μόνον τὸ πρῶτον, ὅτι θεοὺς ᾤοντο τὰς πρώτας οὐσίας εἶναι, θείως ἂν εἰρῆσθαι [10] νομίσειεν, καὶ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς πολλάκις εὑρημένης εἰς τὸ δυνατὸν ἑκάστης καὶ τέχνης καὶ φιλοσοφίας καὶ πάλιν φθειρομένων καὶ ταύτας τὰς δόξας ἐκείνων οἷον λείψανα περισεσῶσθαι μέχρι τοῦ νῦν. ἡ μὲν οὖν πάτριος δόξα καὶ ἡ παρὰ τῶν πρώτων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἡμῖν φανερὰ μόνον. [15]
Among these, if anyone, setting aside the rest, takes only the first—that is, if he considers the first oὐsíai [the first beings] to be gods—one might judge that this was divinely revealed; and that, likely, many times, as far as possible, each art and philosophy having been rediscovered and lost again, these same opinions of those [the ancients] have survived as vestiges until now. Therefore, the opinion of the ancestors and that which was held by the first ones is manifest to us only to this extent.
Aristotle on causes
Aristotle discusses these different types of causes in Book 2 of Physics, ch. 2–3, 194a–b, and in Metaphysics 983a 31 or 5, 2, 1013a–b.
In summary: seeking the cause means seeking the diá tí, which can be translated as « for what », « for the sake of what », « for the purpose of what » or “by what”. There are therefore several types of causes:
1. τρόπον αἴτιον λέγεται τὸ ἐξ οὗ γίγνεται τι ἐνυπάρχοντος (Phys. 194b 24). That from which and in which it is generated (the bronze of the statue, material cause)
2. Ἄλλον δὲ τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὸ παράδειγμα, τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ τί ἦν εἶναι καὶ τὰ τούτου γένη (Phys. 194b 26). Another cause is the eĩdos and the paradigm; this is the lógos, that of the « what the being was » (τί ἦν εἶναι) and its genus. It is the essence that defines something (for the octave in music, it is the ratio of two to one, “formal cause” if we translate εἶδος as form, otherwise “essential cause”).
3. Ἔτι ὅθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς μεταβολῆς ἡ πρώτη ἢ τῆς ἠρεμήσεως (Phys. 194b 29). And again, the first principle of motion or rest. (The author of a decision is the cause of change, of the acts that have been performed, the efficient cause)
4. Ἔτι ὡς τὸ τέλος· τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν τὸ οὗ ἕνεκα, οἷον τοῦ περιπατεῖν ἡ ὑγίεια· διὰ τί γὰρ περιπατεῖ (Phys. 194b 34). Next, as an end (τέλος finality): this is the cause of something, just as health is the cause of walking; for what reason, indeed, do we walk? (Health is the end of walking, the final cause).
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