So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Parallel translations
- WEB God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
- KJV So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
- BSB So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
- NKJV So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
- NASB So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God makes humanity — male and female together — in his own image, giving every person dignity and a calling to represent him.
Overview
The verse's poetry triples "image/created" and lands on "male and female." Both sexes equally bear the image; the dignity is not earned and not erased by the fall. To be the image is to represent God's rule and reflect his character — a vocation the New Testament says is perfected in Christ and restored in those united to him.
Cross-references & the web
Theme
- Image & GloryHumanity made in God's image.
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 19:4He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
- Gen 5:1–2This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness.
- Eph 2:10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
- Mark 10:6But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
- Gen 2:21–25Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
- Eph 4:24and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
- Ps 139:14I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
- Isa 43:7everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.’”
- Col 1:15who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
- Gen 2:18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
- 1 Cor 11:7–9For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.
- Mal 2:15Did he not make you one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
- Col 1:26the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Lay
A six-minute primer that makes the imago dei click — what it meant in the ancient world and why it matters now.
The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.
Pastoral
The beloved devotional-pastoral classic, free and public domain — warm, quotable, verse by verse.
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 1:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.