A Discourse Analysis of the Biblical Account of Creation

Abstract

This paper employs the framework of discourse analysis to examine the biblical creation narrative in Genesis 1:1–31, with particular attention to its lexical choices, syntactic structures, and thematic organisation. Utilising Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as a guiding theoretical approach, the paper investigates how language functions not merely as a medium of description but as a vehicle of divine authority, intentionality, and cosmic order. A detailed textual analysis highlights key discourse features such as repetition, parallelism, lexical cohesion, and deixis, revealing how these elements contribute to both the structural coherence and theological significance of the passage. The repetitive use of formulaic expressions (e.g., ‘And God said...’) and the structured sequencing of the creative acts reflect a deliberate linguistic strategy that mirrors the ordered unfolding of creation. Furthermore, the paper emphasises the performative nature of divine speech acts within the text; language not only communicates but also enacts creation itself, shaping reality through verbal proclamation. This performativity underscores the theological concept of a Sovereign Deity Whose spoken Word has generative power. The paper also considers the role of thematic development, including the progression from chaos to order, darkness to light, and emptiness to fullness, light to dawn, ignorance to wisdom, ignition to fire, storm to calm, death to rebirth, void to infinity, disorder to harmony, frost to bloom, confusion to clarity, despair to hope, as reflected through linguistic markers and discourse patterns. Ultimately, the paper concludes that Genesis, Chapter 1 exemplifies a profound interplay between linguistic form and theological meaning, wherein discourse features are harnessed to convey a cosmological vision grounded in divine intentionality and linguistic creativity.