What Is the First Word in the Bible? You Might Be Wrong

I will never forget a quiet Wednesday evening what is the first word in the bible? I was leading my youth group, and we were studying the book of Genesis. We were right at the beginning of everything. I wanted to get the kids thinking, so I asked a simple trivia question. I leaned forward on the old wooden stool and said, “Okay, everyone, pop quiz. What’s the very first word in the whole Bible?”

A hand shot up right away. It was Sarah, a bright kid with a quick smile.

“Easy!” she said. “It’s ‘In’!”

I smiled and I nodded. “You got it. That’s the right answer.” But then I stopped for a moment. I added, “…or is it?” The puzzled look on their faces was priceless. It was the same look I probably had a few years ago. That was when I first found out the real, amazing answer to that question.

It is a special journey. It starts with a simple, small word. But it opens up a beautiful truth. It shows us who our God really is.

So today, I want to take you on that same path. Let’s ask that simple question together. what is the first word in the bible? The answer is so much bigger. It is so much more exciting. And it is so much more focused on Jesus than you might ever have thought.

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What Is the First Word in the Bible – The Answer We All Know and Love

First things first, let’s be clear. You can open up almost any English Bible. It could be a King James, an NIV, or an ESV. Then you can turn to Genesis 1:1. You will see the same first word.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

So, if your answer was “In,” you are right! That is true in a very big way. That is the first word in English. For hundreds of years, that’s how God’s people have started their walk through Scripture. It is the start of the whole story.

That little word “In” is very powerful all by itself. It tells us that our world did not just pop up out of nowhere. It tells us that time itself had a start. There was a moment, a beginning. It was in that beginning that God acted. This sets the stage for a God who is outside of time. He is a God who is in control of it.

But the Bible was not written in English.

And that, my friends, is where the real adventure starts. To find the true first word, we have to go back to the first language of the Old Testament. We have to look at the Hebrew.

How Does Hebrew Change the Answer to “What Is the First Word in the Bible”?

Okay, let’s back up a little bit. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. It is a beautiful and old language. It works very differently from English. I am not a scholar. I am just a fellow traveler who loves to dig into God’s Word. And trust me, my Hebrew is very basic. I lean heavily on smart people and good tools for this stuff!

When you look at Genesis 1:1 in a Hebrew Bible, you see this as the first word:

Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית)

Now, that one word, Bereshit, is what our English Bibles translate as three words: “In the beginning.” Right away, you can see something interesting is happening! Hebrew is a very strong and packed language. One word can hold a whole lot of meaning.

So let’s do what good Bible students do. Let’s break it down.

What Does the Hebrew Word for ‘Beginning’ Really Mean?

The word Bereshit is made of two parts.

The first part is the letter on the front. It is “Be-.” This is a small joining word. In English, these are little words like “in,” “at,” or “on.” The “Be-” in Hebrew can mean “in.” But it can also mean “with,” “by,” or “through.” Keep that in your back pocket. It is going to be very important later.

The second part is the main root word. It is “reshit.” This word means “beginning” or “first.” But it also has a much richer meaning. It can mean “the firstfruits,” “the best,” or “the chief thing.” It is not just about what came first in a line. It is about what is most important. For example, the Bible calls the gift we give to God our “firstfruits.” It is not just the first part. It is the best part that we set aside for Him.

So, already our idea of the first word has gotten so much bigger. It is not just “In the beginning.” It could be “By the first thing…” or “With the best…”

This is a key reason why just knowing the English answer to what is the first word in the bible is only scratching the top layer. The first language holds so much more.

How Jesus Redefines ‘What Is the First Word in the Bible’

For years, this was just a really neat Bible fact for me. I loved knowing that “In the beginning” was really the Hebrew word Bereshit. But then, a few years ago, I was studying the Gospel of John. I came across that famous, powerful first verse.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

And that’s when everything clicked for me.

My study Bible had a little note. It said that the Greek word for “beginning” here is archē. And then it said that archē is the exact same word used in the Greek Old Testament for reshit in Genesis 1:1.

Wasn’t that amazing? It blew my mind.

John is connecting the start of his book to the very start of the whole Bible. He is telling us that the “Word” (who is Jesus) was there in the Bereshit.

But it gets even better.

I started chasing this idea through the New Testament. I landed in the book of Colossians. Paul is writing about Jesus there. And I read this:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created… He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” (Colossians 1:15-18)

That word Paul uses for “beginning”? It is archē. The same word. And the word for “firstborn”? It holds the same idea as reshit. It does not just mean first in line.

Paul is telling us that Jesus is the reshit. He is the Beginning. He is the First.

The Mind-Blowing Conclusion: Reading Genesis 1:1 in a New Light

Now, let’s go all the way back to Genesis 1:1. Let’s think about that little Hebrew joining word, “Be-.” Do you remember how it could mean “in”? But it could also mean “with,” “by,” or “through”?

What if Genesis 1:1 is not just telling us when God created? What if it is also telling us how He created?

If Jesus is the reshit—the Beginning, the First, the Chief Thing—then we can now read Genesis 1:1 in a new way. It becomes all about Christ. Look at these ways to see it:

• “In the Beginning (Jesus), God created…”
• “With the Beginning (Jesus), God created…”
• “By the Beginning (Jesus), God created…”
• “Through the Beginning (Jesus), God created…”

This changes everything.

This is not some secret code. This is the beautiful way the Bible fits together. The New Testament shines a light on the Old. It shows us that Jesus was not plan B. He was not a later idea. He was there from the very first word. God the Father created the whole universe through God the Son.

So, when we ask what is the first word in the bible, the simple answer is “In.” A better, more correct answer is Bereshit.

But the most beautiful, life-changing answer is… Jesus.

For me, understanding this was like seeing in full color for the first time. It is one of the strongest proofs of the Trinity. It is right there in the first word of the Bible. If you want to dig into the Hebrew for yourself, you do not have to be a scholar! I love using the Blue Letter Bible website. It has a tool that lets you look up any word. You can see its first meaning. You can see the entry for reshit (H7225) here: blueletterbible.

What Does This Deeper Meaning Teach Us About God?

Okay, so this is a really cool Bible study fact. But what does it mean for us today? I think it teaches us two huge things about God.

First, it shows us that our God is a God of relationship. From the very first moment of creation, God was in a perfect friendship—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God did not create the world because He was lonely. He created it from the love that was already there. This means the whole universe is built on love and friendship. That is an amazing thought. The answer to what is the first word in the bible points to this deep friendship.

Second, it puts Jesus at the center of all things. I used to kind of see the Bible in two parts. There was the Old Testament God. I thought maybe He was a little angry and far away. Then there was Jesus in the New Testament. He was all about love and grace.

But understanding Bereshit showed me how wrong I was. It is all one story about one God. Jesus is not just in the New Testament. He is woven into every page of the Old Testament. It starts with the very first word. The whole Bible is about Him. If you want to see more of these beautiful connections, I love the folks at The Bible Project. They have wonderful videos that trace ideas all through the Bible. You can find them at bible project.

How Should This Change the Way We Read the Bible?

Knowing this should give us new eyes every time we open up Genesis. It is not just a history book about old events. It is the start of the story of our wonderful Savior.

When you read about God creating light, you can remember that Jesus is the Light of the World.

When you read about God breathing life into Adam, you can remember that Jesus is the one who breathes new, eternal life into us.

It makes the whole Bible feel more connected. It is not just a pile of separate books. For more on this idea of finding Jesus in the Old Testament, I read a wonderful article from a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Their resources are always so solid and full of faith. You can explore their articles and podcasts at voice.dts.edu.

A Final Thought What Is the First Word in the Bible: The First Word and the Last Word

So, let’s go back to that youth group room. I explained all of this to the kids. Then Sarah, the girl who answered first, had her hand up again. I called on her. She said, “So the first word of the Bible is ‘In,’ but it’s also really ‘Jesus’?”

I got goosebumps.

“That’s it,” I said. “You’ve got it.”

The simple answer to what is the first word in the bible is a small joining word. The real answer is a Person – “Are All Bibles the Same?”

And is that not just like our God? He takes the simple things of this world. And He fills them with glorious, divine meaning. He is the Beginning, the Bereshit. And the book of Revelation tells us He is also the End. He is the Alpha and the Omega. And He is every word in between.

And that is very good news.

FAQ – What Is the First Word in the Bible