Questions on the Road: “Is Genesis 1 Poetic?”

Ryan Cox • July 31, 2018

Something you may or may not have heard is the claim that Genesis 1 is Hebrew poetry. I have heard several people from various backgrounds and persuasions make the simple statement that, “Genesis 1 is poetic.” Now the intentions of some may be harmless, but it is an often-cited response by those attempting to claim that Genesis 1 should not be read as history.

The resulting consequence is the open interpretation of Genesis 1 in accordance with any and all worldviews. It does not need to be taken as factual history; it can be God’s colorful description of how He used evolution and billions of years to bring about life and the universe.

Those who attempt to defend the poetry position may use the argument of “Hebrew parallelism”, which may look something like this:

Day 1 : God “separates” light and dark → Day 4 : God “fills” the light with the sun and the dark with the moon

Day 2 : God “separates” the waters → Day 5 : God “fills” the upper waters with birds and the lower waters with fish

Day 3 : God “separates” the land from the water → Day 6 : God “fills” the land with animals and people

Day 7 : God rests → Uh … no parallel

You may already see some major problems with this, especially if you understand what God actually did on each day.

Extensive scholarship has conclusively decided that Genesis 1 is NOT a poetic passage.

Dr. Edward Young, who studied at Stanford, Leipzig, and Dropsy and taught Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, wrote:

Genesis one is not poetry or saga or myth, but straightforward, trustworthy history, and, inasmuch as it is a divine revelation, accurately records those matters of which it speaks. That Genesis one is historical may be seen from these considerations. (1) It sustains an intimate relationship with the remainder of the book. The remainder of the book (i.e., The Generations) presupposes the Creation Account, and the Creation Account prepares for what follows. The two portions of Genesis are integral parts of the book and complement one another. (2) The characteristics of Hebrew poetry are lacking. There are poetic accounts of the creation and these form a striking contrast to Genesis one. (3) The New Testament regards certain events mentioned in Genesis one as actually having taken place. We may safely allow the New Testament to be our interpreter of this mighty first chapter of the Bible. ( Studies in Genesis One , Baker, Grand Rapids, 1975, p. 105)

Dr. Stephen Boyd, who studied at Hebrew Union College, taught at The Master’s College, and now teaches at Calvary University, authored the tenth chapter of Thousands…Not Billions (Master Books, Portland, 2005, pp. 157-170), in which he demonstrated the grammatical differences between Hebraic poetry and Hebraic narrative.

For example, narrative/historical passages in Hebrew use more preterite verbs; poetic passages use more perfect and imperfect verbs. Exodus 14 is the narrative/historical record of the Red Sea crossing, while Exodus 15 is the poetic/musical record of the crossing. The historical passage uses 55% preterite verbs while the poetic passage uses 95% perfect and imperfect verbs.

Genesis 1 uses 60% preterite verbs and only 10% perfect and imperfect verbs, meaning the passage is one of the most historical/narrative passages in all the Old Testament!

In my discussions with Dr. James Smith, who also studied at Hebrew Union College and taught at Cincinnati Bible Seminary and Florida Christian College, he emphasized the importance of the waw -consecutive in Genesis 1. The Hebrew word waw (pronounced “vav”) means “and”. When it is in the waw -consecutive, it means “immediately thereafter”. Dr. Smith pointed out that it is in all 31 verses, which is why each day begins with “And” or “Then”, depending on your translation. This means the events of Genesis 1 all occurred “immediately thereafter” in the manner described. There cannot be any gaps of any kind between the days of Genesis 1; each day came “immediately thereafter” the other days. This also makes Genesis 1 narrative/historical and not poetic.

So the next time you hear someone state that Genesis 1 is poetic, hopefully he or she is open to the truth and are willing to hear you lovingly explain the trustworthiness of the perfect record of history found only in God’s Word.

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Dr. G. Thomas Sharp Library

By Matt Miles • June 18, 2025

Over the course of time a person can accumulate many things. Most of the stuff we collect is meaningless to most everyone else, but when a person collects books, they can be treasured for a lifetime and even beyond. In this age of digital media, physical books seem to be less important to many people. Digital books are searchable, and copy/paste functions make it easy to use those great quotes. Yet, there is still something great about a physical book, things you can’t get digitally: the turning of pages, the feel of it in your hand, and the “book” smell. For our founder Dr. Sharp, physical books could never be replaced by digital. While my collection of books is growing each year, it is dwarfed by Dr. Sharp’s collection. Over the years he collected thousands of titles for research and enjoyment. Through the course of his ministry he had to sell his book collection a couple of different times to support his family, only to start collecting again when he was able to do so. When Doc passed his office full of packed bookshelves to me and said he would clear the shelves, I laughed out loud at the prospect of having loads of empty bookshelves. So I urged him to instead leave his books for my, and anyone else’s, use. Little did I understand that the four bookcases in my office were only a fraction of his entire collection. A couple of years back when Doc moved from his house, it was decided that his book collection would be stored at the office. Our thought was to establish a library, yet none of us had time to plan, organize and catalog all 79 boxes of books. They sat piled in his office until last year when my daughter Megan joined our ministry. She has a love of books, both reading and writing. So we offered her the task of cataloging and establishing Doc’s library. Can you picture me, a bbq lover, being offered a table full of succulent smoked offerings - brisket, sausage, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, turkey and all sides? Yep, that was Megan’s response to the library. For over four months she cataloged and organized the entire collection. The Dr. G. Thomas Sharp Library was completed earlier this year in his old office space, with overflow into my office. The entire 2700+ volume agglomeration is digitally cataloged for searching and locating. As you might expect, there is an extensive collection of creation and evolution subject matter, yet the library is full of many different categories. It very much reflects Doc’s love of gaining knowledge and research. An extensive commentary collection and multiple Biblical reference sections are invaluable to our ministry. There is even a whole bookcase housing books that are over 100 years old. Our desire was not to just house books but to also make a place of honor and inspiration. One wall exhibits Doc’s many diplomas, and throughout the library we have placed personal memorabilia of the mission trips he took over the years. Come, grab a book, relax in the sitting area and allow Doc’s handwritten notes from the margins or post-it notes bring a smile to your face. For those who may be more ambitious, Doc's office chair resides at the credenza for anyone to sit and be inspired to study. This is a place to honor Doc’s life and love for books. We at CTF have already utilized this great resource for further study, and we are so thankful to Diane and their family for donating these books for continued Kingdom growth. Blessings.