Genesis 1:26–27

Context

This passage belongs to the sixth day of the creation account in Genesis 1, following the creation of the land animals. The earlier creatures are described with the phrase "after his kind," but when humankind is made, God first speaks as though in deliberation, "Let us make man," and the terms "image" and "likeness" are applied to humankind alone. Verse 27 says that God created them "male and female," indicating that both sexes bear the image together.

The Hebrew word for "image" is tselem, and the word for "likeness" is demut. The concept is widely known by the Latin expression imago Dei ("image of God").

Interpretation

Interpreters have identified the "us" in several ways:

• A trace of the Trinity: The Church Fathers and the Reformation tradition (especially the Reformed tradition) read the passage as a dialogue among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This approach reads the Old Testament in light of the New.
• The heavenly council: This view holds that God is addressing a heavenly council of angels, citing passages such as 1 Kings 22:19 and Job 1:6. In verse 27, however, it is God alone who actually creates humankind.
• Plural of majesty or plural of deliberation: This view holds that the plural expresses majesty, as when a king refers to himself as "we," or that it is a form of speech by which the speaker expresses his own resolve.

The meaning of "image" has been understood in the following ways:

• Substantive view: The image consists of qualities within the human being, such as reason, the soul, or moral capacity. This view predominated in ancient and medieval theology.
• Relational view: The image is found in humanity's existence as beings in relationship with God and in the relationship of man and woman with each other. Karl Barth is its leading representative.
• Functional (royal) view: Connecting the image with the immediately following words "let them have dominion," this view understands humankind as God's representative, caring for the world on his behalf. Supporters point to the ancient Near Eastern practice of calling a king the image of a god.

Debates and Issues

Whether the image remains after the Fall is a long-standing question. Within the Roman Catholic tradition there is a line of thought that distinguishes "image" from "likeness," holding that through the Fall humanity lost the likeness, a supernatural gift, while the image, which belongs to human nature, remained. The Reformers regarded the two words as a synonymous repetition and held that the image was gravely damaged but not entirely destroyed (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). The New Testament calls Christ "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15) and teaches that believers are renewed after that image.

Perspective: Korean Protestant practiceHow this idea is used in Korean churches, kept from the original Korean article.

In Korean churches, the passage is frequently cited as the basis of human dignity in sermons and denominational statements addressing the dignity of people with disabilities, migrants, and the unborn, as well as bioethics and human rights. The point that men and women bear the image together is also raised in discussions of women's ordination.

Related Passages

• Genesis 5:1–3
• Genesis 9:6
• Colossians 1:15
• Colossians 3:10
• 2 Corinthians 3:18