Key words in Genesis
בְּרֵאשִׁית
in the beginning / when first
Bereshit: not a timestamp so much as a construction. Rashi and Ibn Ezra already argue whether it means “at the beginning of God’s creating.”
בָּרָא
created
Bara is used in the Tanakh with God as subject. It does not by itself settle creatio ex nihilo, a later philosophical claim.
אֱלֹהִים
God / gods
Elohim is morphologically plural, usually treated as a singular when it names Israel’s God. LXX has ho theos.
צֶלֶם
image
Tselem: in the ANE, kings are the image of a god. Genesis democratizes the royal metaphor to adam.
Tap a word to open Strong’s and the classical lexica. Prefixes and cantillation ride along with the Hebrew; the number is the lexical root, not always the surface form.