In what ways does the meaning of the word "finished"in Genesis 2:1 overlap, or not overlap, with "finished" in John 19:30?

Question

Genesis 2:1 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them".

John 19:30 "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said,"It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit". All ESV.

The first coming from the Hebrew and the second from Greek do they have the same sense of something ended and completed?

If the Genesis 3 account of "The Fall" took place on the 6th day of creation, being all part of God's "very good" plan for his creation to expose the weakness of man, then "death" would be common to both "finished".

"the sixth day." Gen 1:31

"very good" Gen 1:31.

"weakness of man" Gen 3:19 "you are dust".

"death" Gen 3:19 "to dust you shall return".

"death" John 19:30 "It is finished...and gave up his spirit".

Does the John "finished" add to the Genesis "finished" or are their domains entirely separate?

Answer 1

English Standard Version Gen 2:1

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

were completed
וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ (way·ḵul·lū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Pual - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural Strong's Hebrew 3615: To be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed for now.

John 5:17

In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working."

The sense of "finish" on the cross is different from that in Genesis.

John 19:30

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

“It is finished.”
Τετέλεσται (Tetelestai)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's Greek 5055: (a) I end, finish, (b) I fulfill, accomplish, (c) I pay. From telos; to end, i.e. Complete, execute, conclude, discharge.

Does the John "finished" add to the Genesis "finished"?

I'd think so. In Genesis, it was finished at that point in the imperfect conjugation. In John, it is finished in the perfect tense.

Answer 2

The Greek and Hebrew cannot be directly compared but what we can do is compare the NT Greek with the LXX.

Gen 2:1, 2

Καὶ συνετελέσθησαν ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ καὶ πᾶς ὁ κόσμος αὐτῶν. καὶ συνετέλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἕκτῃ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, ἃ ἐποίησε, καὶ κατέπαυσε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, ὧν ἐποίησε. = And the heavens and the earth were finished, and the whole world of them. 2 And God finished on the sixth day his works which he made, and he ceased on the seventh day from all his works which he made.

[For completeness, the Hebrew word כָּלָה means "to be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent".]

John 19:30

ὅτε οὖν ἔλαβεν τὸ ὄξος ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν Τετέλεσται, καὶ κλίνας τὴν κεφαλὴν παρέδωκεν τὸ πνεῦμα. = When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.

Thus, two different but closely related verbs are used, namely, συντελέω (for Gen 2:1, 2) and τελέω (John 19:30). The first being a strengthened form of the second.

We find the same verb as in gen 2:1, 2 also used in the NT in just six places, Mark 13:4, Luke 4:2, 13, Acts 21:27, Rom 9:28, Heb 8:8; none are used in a creative sense but are a mixture of salvific and other uses.

Gen 2:1, 2 is discussing the completion of God's creation of the world; John 19:30 is discussing the completion of Jesus' sacrifice to restore and reconcile mankind to God and His relationship to us that was so ruptured at the entrance of sin.