clause connected with verse 3. According to this view, verse 1 is a summary statement, or formal introduction, which is epexegeted in the rest of the narrative. It appears to this author that this is the only viewpoint that completely satisfies the demands of Hebrew grammar. It has already been shown from the study of בראשׁית that verse 1 is best construed as an independent clause. But it is yet to be demonstrated that verse 2 should be construed as a circumstantial clause to the main clause of verse