בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ (bə·ṣal·mōw) in Genesis 1:27: Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ (bə·ṣal·mōw) in Genesis 1:27
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Genesis 1:27 links the English rendering "in His [own] image" with בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ, Strong's H6754, and the morphology tag Prep-b | N-msc | 3ms.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form clarifies that the image phrase is not abstract in this line: it is God's own image in view as humanity is created.
How To Communicate It
When teaching Genesis 1:27, use this form to show how the grammar ties the image phrase to God while keeping the full doctrine of the image of God anchored in Genesis 1:26-28.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not draw a full doctrine of the image of God from this form alone.
- Do not treat grammatical masculine marking as a claim that the image of God belongs only to males.
- Do not detach the phrase from Genesis 1:26-28, where humanity, male and female, is in view.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for every use of H6754.
- Do not use the grammar profile as a shortcut around the wording and logic of the verse.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-nominal
Preposition
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Bet preposition
Third person masculine singular
This form carries the BSB rendering "in His [own] image" within Genesis 1:27. Genesis 1 presents God ordering, filling, naming, blessing, and giving life to the created world by his word.
Masculine
Singular
Construct
What The Form Does In This Verse
The creation statement that humanity is made in God's own image in Genesis 1:27
The repeated creation formula in the verse
The prefixed bet and third-person suffix directly support the phrase "in His [own] image," tying the image phrase to God in the act of creating humanity.
The form does not by itself exhaust the doctrine of the image of God, human vocation, dignity, or male and female; Genesis 1:26-28 supplies the immediate frame.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form directly affects how readers identify whose image is in view in a foundational creation text.
Prefixed bet with suffixed construct noun in the image phrase. ties the image phrase to God through the third-person suffix. Attached to the creation statement about humanity in Genesis 1:27. Governed by the repeated creation formula in the verse. The grammar identifies the relation in this clause but does not exhaust the doctrine of the image of God.
Whose image is in view? God's image is in view.
Direct: The prefixed bet and third-person suffix directly support the English phrase in His own image.
The masculine suffix refers back to God in the verse context; it should not be turned into a claim that the image of God belongs only to males. The form supports the local wording in Genesis 1:27, while Genesis 1:26-28 supplies the broader creation frame.
Masculine grammar limits the image of God to males: The suffix points back to God in context; Genesis 1:27 includes humanity, male and female. image noun alone defines the whole doctrine of humanity: The form identifies the phrase, but the doctrine must be read from the immediate passage and the canon.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Genesis 1:27 links the English rendering "in His [own] image" with בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ, Strong's H6754, and the morphology tag Prep-b | N-msc | 3ms.
H6754 is represented here by the lemma צֶלֶם. This guide is limited to the occurrence rendered "in His [own] image" in Genesis 1:27.
The prefixed bet places the noun inside the image phrase, and the third-person suffix ties that image phrase back to God in the creation statement.
Genesis 1 presents God ordering, filling, naming, blessing, and giving life to the created world by his word.
The form fits Scripture's opening witness that humanity receives identity, dignity, and vocation under God's creating word.
When teaching Genesis 1:27, use this form to show how the grammar ties the image phrase to God while keeping the full doctrine of the image of God anchored in Genesis 1:26-28.
Do not use the suffix, grammatical gender, or image noun alone to settle the full doctrine of the image of God. The form identifies one occurrence inside the creation statement.