Is Genesis 1 liturgy?

Recently I heard a claim that Genesis 1 in the Bible (Appendix A) was an Israelite liturgy like Psalm 136. In Psalm 136 each second line is “His [God’s] love endures forever” (Appendix B). The psalm offers praise to God for His creation of the heavens and earth and His deliverance of Israel out of Egypt and bringing them to settle in Canaan. It was claimed that “And there was evening, and there was morning-the xth day” in Genesis 1 was a repetitive pattern like that in Psalm 136.

We will see that there is no biblical evidence to support the claim that Genesis 1 was part of Israel’s liturgy. But even if it was part of Israel’s liturgy this would not reduce the historical fact of the creation of the universe in six days.

Background

The Bible was written to be understood by ordinary people, so it shouldn’t be difficult to interpret. I have written a post on, Is Genesis 1-11 fact or fiction, which showed that Genesis 1-11 is not figurative language, poetry, parables, a historical novel or a myth. But it is a biography and an autobiography that describes real historical people and real historical events. It is prose narrative, with some embedded pieces that are poetic (Gen. 1:27; 2:23; 4:23-24) and some genealogical records (Gen 5; 10; 11:10–26). And it differs from other near eastern cosmologies because they are poetic and polytheistic. The writers of the Bible affirm that Genesis 1-11 is fact not fiction. It is an account of real events. Jesus affirmed it as well. And the gospel (good news about Jesus) is based on the historicity of the early chapters of Genesis. So, Genesis 1-11 isn’t a type of doublespeak where words don’t have their usual meaning.

I have also written a post on, Is Genesis 1 fact or fiction? which looked at the literary style of Genesis 1. The distribution of finite verbs in Hebrew narrative writing in the Old Testament differs distinctly from that used in poetry. A statistical analysis of these verbs shows that Genesis 1:1 -2:3 is historical narrative and not poetry (or figurative). This means that it describes real historical events and it is not fiction.

What is liturgy?

In Christianity, the term “liturgy” normally refers to a standardised order of events during a religious service. It is the order (pattern) of a corporate worship service. So, it is a group activity, not a private one.

A formal statement of fundamental Christian beliefs in public worship, like the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed can be part of a church’s liturgy like a chapter is part of a book.

Liturgy in the Old Testament

Although the Old Testament doesn’t contain liturgy in the sense of fixed worship services with set prayers and responses, it does contain some liturgical instructions and elements such as:
– Sacrificial regulations with detailed instructions for various daily and weekly offerings (Leviticus especially).
– Festival observances with descriptions of the annual observance of Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, Tabernacles, and the Day of Atonement.
– Songs in the Pentateuch (see below).
– Priestly blessings like the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:24-26.
– Antiphonal passages like the responsive refrain in Psalm 136 (“His love endures forever”).
– The Book of Psalms is the primary liturgical text in the Old Testament. The Psalms were used in Temple worship. Psalms 113–118 (Hallel) were used liturgically at major festivals.

Hebrew poetry is characterized by parallelism, with pairs, sometimes triplets, of phrases, in which the second phrase repeats or modifies the first phrase in different words. This type of poetry requires the use of many synonyms. Psalms 8 and 19 are the main examples of poetic descriptions of creation in the psalms. They were part of Israel’s liturgy.

In Psalm 8:3, “the work of your [God’s] fingers” is obviously a figure of speech like in Exodus 8:19; 31:18 and Luke 11:20. The rest of this psalm is clearly factual.

Psalm 19:1-6 is also about creation. The purpose of the heavens is to “declare the glory of God”. “His [God’s] hands” is another figure of speech. Verse 2 refers to the sun (“day after day”) and the stars (“night after night”). Verses 3-4 emphasize that the message of the creation is non-verbal. The sun’s splendor and its movement across the sky is in view in verses 4-6. The sun is personified as a bridegroom and a champion. The “tent” must refer metaphorically to the place where the sun goes to rest during the night (NET). Although this passage is poetic, the facts behind it are clear – God created the sun and stars in the sky, and the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and provides warmth to the earth. It describes reality.

The songs in psalms were part of the liturgy of the Israelites. When the figures of speech are interpreted correctly, the text describes reality.

Songs in the Pentateuch

Moses and Miriam together with the Israelites sang a song of praise celebrating God’s spectacular victory over pharaoh and his army (Ex. 15:1-21).

Before his death Moses sang a long song about the greatness of God as revealed in His dealing with the Israelites (Dt. 32:1-43). It warned about Israel’s future unfaithfulness and contrasted this with God’s enduring faithfulness. Then he blessed the tribes of Israel in a song (Dt. 33).

Genesis 1

There is no indication that Genesis 1 was part of any Israelite liturgy. It is prose, not poetry. The narrative is a sequential chronological summary of events during each day of creation. And it doesn’t include any of the other elements of liturgy in the Pentateuch: sacrifices, festivals, songs (poetry) or blessings.

The repetition of phrases in Genesis 1 doesn’t mean that it is liturgy or figurative. After all, phrases are repeated in the genealogies in Genesis 5:3-51 and 11:10-26, which were also complied by Moses and they are not liturgy or figurative. But the repetition of phrases in Genesis 1 would have made it easier to memorize. This style doesn’t reduce the historical reality of what is described – that God created the universe in six days (each with an evening and a morning).

If Genesis 1 was a part of the Israelite liturgy, when the figures of speech are interpreted correctly, the text describes the reality and the sequence of creation and not just theological truths. For example, the “two great lights” are the sun and moon, which are said to “govern” (shine). “Be fruitful and increase in number” means to have many offspring. God is given human characteristics (anthropomorphism) – He can speak, see and rest. And the Spirit of God is said to “hover” like a bird.

Discussion

In exegesis it is best to compare a text with another written by the same author. But Psalm 136 was written by the different author at least 400 years after Genesis was compiled by Moses. Not only is this a long time, but it is in the wrong direction! The psalms can be influenced by Genesis, and not vice versa.

Why do some people give Genesis 1 a different genre to the rest of Genesis? Most of Genesis is a historical narrative. But Genesis 1 has been called a myth, a liturgy, a poem and a calendar narrative. I think the reason for this is so they can say that Genesis 1 is not about the origin of the universe. To justify this statement they look for a reason to be able to say that the purpose of the text is theological, and not historical.

Similarly, why do some people give Genesis 1 a different genre to the rest of the Pentateuch? Most of the books of Moses are historical narrative. Once again it is so they can say that Genesis 1 is not about the origin of the universe.

Conclusion

There is no biblical evidence to support the claim that Genesis 1 was part of Israel’s liturgy. But if it was part of Israel’s liturgy this would not reduce the historical reality of what is described (the creation of the universe in six days).

Appendix A: Genesis 1

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷ So God created mankind in His own image,
in the image of God He created them;
male and female He created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that He had done. (Gen. 1:1 – 2:3NIV).

Appendix B: Psalm 136

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
⁷ who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.

¹⁶ to Him who led His people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.

¹⁷ to Him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
¹⁸ and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
²⁰ and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
²¹ and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
²² an inheritance to His servant Israel.
His love endures forever.

²³ He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
²⁴ and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
²⁵ He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.

Written, November 2025

Also see: Is Genesis 1 fact or fiction?
Genesis 1-11: Fact or fiction?
In six days