"very good"

Much weight has been put on to the phrase "very good" in the Bible. It is quoted and expanded in our Statement of Faith and we made an interpretation of it the subject of one of our formalised questions.

Key verses illustrating the breadth of its meaning are:

• Numbers 14:7, where it refers to land;
• 1 Samuel 19:4, where it refers to behaviour; and
• Genesis 24:16, where it refers to physical beauty.

Both of these meanings, and more, can be applied to the phrase in Genesis 1:31. The question that we considered in the context of our task was :-

In Genesis 1:31 all of God’s creation was described as “very good”. This has been taken to mean that humans (as part of God’s creation) were neither immortal nor (yet) dying. Is this a justifiable interpretation?