בראשית

A prepositional phrase בְּ־ (b'-, “in”) +‎ רֵאשִׁית (reshít, “beginning”) that appears to be unsuitable in the context of Genesis 1, which recounts the creation and beginning of the universe, as it lacks the definite article and thus literally translates to "in (a) beginning", instead of the expected "in the beginning". This already troubled early rabbinic commentators, such as Rashi, and led some modern scholars to suggest that the Tiberian vocalization might be incorrect and that the first verse of Genesis is a mere dependent clause, reinterpreting רֵאשִׁית to be in the construct state and בָּרָא in the infinitive construct: בְּרֵאשִׁית בְּרֹא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃ (“When God began to create the heaven and the earth”). This interpretation, however, directly conflicts with all early translations of the Torah that are still extant, namely the Greek ones found in the Hexapla of Origen, or the Aramaic Targumim, most of which were executed by people who experienced Hebrew as a living language. The most reasonable solution seems to be to assume that this wording may have been in some way idiomatic, with a meaning more or less tantamount to "in the beginning", such as "initially", or "firstly".^[1]

As all the other books of the Torah, Genesis in Hebrew is named after its first occuring word.

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /bareːʔˈʃiːt/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /b(ə)rejˈʃis/
• (Sephardi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /beˌreːˈʃit/
• (Mizrahi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /baˌreːˈʃi(ː)θ/
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /băˌreːˈʃiθ/
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /baˌʀeːˈʃiːiθ/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /b(e)ʁeˈʃit/

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בְּרֵאשִׁית • (b'reshít)

1. at first, firstly, initially; in the beginning
   • Tanach, Genesis 1:1, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃

     In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

• תחילה / תְּחִלָּה (t'khilá)

בְּרֵאשִׁית • (b'reshít) m

1. (religion, biblical) Genesis (the first book in the Hebrew Bible); the Book of Bereshit

   Synonym: סֵפֶר בְּרֵאשִׁית (séfer b'reshít)

2. the first parashah of this book
3. (Talmud) the creation (in religious sense)

• בראשית רבה (b'reshít rabá)
• בְּרֵאשִׁיתִי (b'reshití)
• מִבְּרֵאשִׁית (mib'reshít)

• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[1], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 189

• בראשית on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

From Hebrew בְּרֵאשִׁית.

• (YIVO, Ukrainish) IPA^(key): /ˈbʁɛɪ̯ʃəs/
• (Northeastern) IPA^(key): /ˈbʁeɪ̯ʃəs/
• (Poylish) IPA^(key): /ˈbʁaɪ̯ʃəs/

בראשית • (breyshes) m

1. Book of Genesis

בראשית • (breyshes) m

1. genesis

• בראשיתדיק (breyshesdik, “primeval”)