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  • From: "Kevin L. Barney" <klbarney AT yahoo.com>
  • To: b-hebrew
  • Subject: Gen 1.1-2
  • Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 16:5:28


I agree with Irene and Ian (I also agree with much of what Edgar had to
say, although I do think that Gen 1:1-2 portrays the creation as being from
formless matter). Whether Genesis 1:1 is a main clause (which tends to
favor a creatio ex nihilo reading) or a dependent clause (which does not
tend to favor such a reading) is a subject of vigorous debate. To my
perception, the majority scholarly view these days is that Gen. 1:1 is a
dependent clause, marked by a construct noun immediately followed by a verb
(I have seen this referred to as an "asyndetic relative clause" if this
means anything to the grammarians out there). Some people deny that
re'shit (I saw a number of the posts trying to set forth a unform
transliteration methodology, but my impression is that ad hoc
transliterations are still acceptable here) is necessarily a construct form
here; others observe that this construction normally takes an infinitive
construct rather than a finite verb, etc., etc. There's a pretty extensive
literature on this debate. There's also a tendency (as is often the case)
for theological concerns to play a significant role in how one reads the
evidence. I don't think creatio ex nihilo as a theological concept was a
concern in the Genesis account.

Kevin L. Barney
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
klbarney AT yahoo.com




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