In the Beginning

Last night, I sat down with my newly-arrived Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensis (BHS, for short) - the standard critical edition of the Hebrew Bible. Armed only with the Bible and five weeks of Hebrew crammed into my brain, I read the words:

The words came haltingly out of my lips at first, and then repeated they came faster: "Bere'shith bara' 'elohim eth hash-shamayim weth ha-arets." I was elated not only to be able to read the words, but to know what those particular words mean.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

Not a bad way to start. I could sound out, but didn't know the meaning of a single word for six more verses, so I guess it's time to get back to my Hebrew notes.