“God created man in his own image”
KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
God creates both male and female in his own likeness. This verse is the first bible verse dealing with both man and woman together and foreshadows their union in the context of marriage. Jesus refers to and quotes this scripture in Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:6 “God made them male and female”. This verse is part of the creation story.
To get what Genesis 1:27 means in detail, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “So God” | אֱלֹהִ֤ים׀ | Gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative | God |
| “created” | וַיִּבְרָ֨א | (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes) | created |
| “man” | הָֽאָדָם֙ | Ruddy i.e., a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.) | man |
| “in his image,” | בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ | A phantom, i.e., (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol | image |
| “own” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “in the image” | בְּצֶ֥לֶם | A phantom, i.e., (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol | image |
| “of God” | אֱלֹהִ֖ים | Gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative | God |
| “created” | בָּרָ֣א | (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes) | created |
| “he him; male” | זָכָ֥ר | Properly, remembered, i.e., a male (of man or animals, as being the most noteworthy sex) | male |
| “and female” | וּנְקֵבָ֖ה | Female (from the sexual form) | female |
| “created” | בָּרָ֥א | (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes) | created |
| “he them.” | בָּרָ֥א | (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes) | he them |
See Genesis 1:27 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
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25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
• Genesis creation narrative Wikipedia Article
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.