"In A Beginning" vs. "In THE beginning"? Different implications?

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2021-09-11 09:30:02

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Possibly the most famous phrase in the Hebrew Bible is: "In the beginning." Anyone can recite it without ever having read the Hebrew Bible. But is that the accurate translation? With a background in Hebrew, I know that there is no "hey" (Hebrew letter = "the") nor vowel corresponding to the "hey" being assimilated into the "bet" (Hebrew letter = "In"). Thus, "beginning" is not a direct object, but actually an indirect object. So shouldn't it be translated as "In A beginning"? If so, what implications does this have? Does this mean that there are more than one beginning -- multiple beginnings? If so, what does that mean in regards to the creation, our existence, etc.?

I agree with Elika Kohen. The way I see it, there could have been multiple beginnings (whether before, after, or both) but it is also not incorrect to say "In the beginning" because the phrase is referring to this particular beginning, but it is also not incorrect to say "In a beginning" either because I think it refers to the infinite complexity of God's creation. Then again I personally believe that an infinite God created an infinite amount of universes because everything God does is therefore by nature infinite.