God Pronounced it Very Good

          And God pronounced it all “very good.” That’s what Genesis tells us. He called His creation “very good”. Well, what does that mean? Was He just simply happy with it? Did it mean He liked the way it all worked together? Or did it mean He created the world with absolute perfection?

           Scholars with far greater knowledge then I debate things as this. After all, I am just a photographer infatuated with the beauty of creation. Perhaps the answer to the above question lies in that beauty?

           According to Brian S. Chan in his book The Purple Curtain, The Hebrew word translated to “good” in the Genesis phrase “very good” is the Hebrew word “tob” or “tov”. Chan writes, “Tob speaks of an aesthetic quality that evokes a reaction of pleasure in someone, like the pleasantness experienced from listening to a fine melody as in 1 Samuel 16:16…” Strong’s Concordance ascribes the terms “pleasant” “agreeable” and “pleasing” to this word.

 Several Beautiful Woman

         In the Bible tob describes the appearance of several women, such as David’s daughter Tamar and Queen Ester. These were woman of great beauty. Tob describes extraordinary beauty, but when combined with the Hebrew word “meod”, the description of tob becomes magnified. Meod is the Hebrew translated to “very” in the Genesis phrase very good.

           For the Hebrew word “meod” Strong’s uses the terms, “muchness”, “abundance” and “force” to define it. When combined with “tob” as “tob meod” the phrase means “a very great aesthetic delight which evokes a reaction of pleasure in someone.”* Outside of Genesis phrase exists only five other times in the Bible; three of those times it describes the beauty of Sarah, Rebekah and Bathsheba. The beauty of these three women went beyond extraordinary beauty and it had an extremely powerful impact on men.

Aesthetic Delight

           When a young man looks at the face of a young woman with this rare beauty, she captures him. His heart flutters inside him and his breath escapes him. God created the world with this kind of great beauty. When He finished creating He took an extreme aesthetic delight in His masterpiece. It pleased Him.

           God made the creation to delight us as well and as something we can enjoy. Even with the fallen state of nature, when we gaze upon its beauty, our hearts still flutter and our breath escapes us. As our Creator desired, a feeling of great aesthetic delight fills us and a reaction of pleasure stirs inside us. We are overcome with awe at the majesty and beauty of God’s hand.