‘The Beginning ‘— not the Beginning of Time

The famous phrase known, not only to Christians, but also to non-Christians, namely, “In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)” has, conventionally, paraphrase as, “At the commencement of time, God created the heavens and the earth.”

It is straightforward, however, that the words which follow right after indicate time already had existed prior to Genesis 1:1. In stated respect, Genesis 1:2 (YLT) states:

The earth hath existed waste (devoided of life) and void (devoid of activities), and the darkness is on the face of the deep (the earth is shrouded by a specific darkness), and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters (waters already existed).

Combined, Genesis 1:1–2 establish that, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” has interpretation as, “at some point in time, God commenced the location of an ecosystem of life on earth.”

In the beginning does not locate time, rather locates the commencement of a specific set of activities that are embarked upon by God.

Prior to the beginning, time already existed.