Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lee R. Martin" <lmartin AT vol.com>]

Dear Jack and George,
Allow me to address a couple of issues.
1- Words do not transmit all of their senses in individual contexts.  ToHu 
may mean
both "vanity" and "disorder," but these two senses are not  brought to every 
use of
the word.
2- Rarely do any two languages have word-for-word equivalents, so we need 
only find a
translation equivalent that fits each context.  It is not necessary (nor 
possible) to
find an English word that corresponds exactly to each Hebrew word.
3- The hendiadys may be a fossilized term that means something different from 
the sum
of its parts, e.g. a greenhouse is not green and neither is it a house.
4- Isaiah's use of ToHu may or may not be relevant to Gen. 1, but it must not 
be
assumed that both writers intended the same sense.  Their writings may be 
separated by
centuries, and language changes.

Lee R. Martin

Jack Vogt wrote:

> ----------
> > From: George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>
> > To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> > Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> > Subject: Re: Gen 1:1-2
> > Date: January 5, 1999 2:14 PM
> >
> > Lee R. Martin wrote:
> >
> > > [...]
> > > Yes,  ToHu can mean chaos or vanity, but it basically connotes
> emptiness,
> > > thus uninhabitedness.
> >
> > Certainly, Lee, it does imply emptiness. However, there is a little more
> nuance in the
> > word. ToHU also means disordered, confused, strewn about, decrepit. The
> idea is picked
> > up in Isa 34:11 where ToHU is used to describe a city which has been
> destroyed in
> > warfare. It also has the connotation of something without substance, as
> it is often
> > used to describe idols.
> >
> > As with others, I don't think "chaos" quite captures the full meaning of
> ToHU,
> > although it does describe to some extent a portion of the meaning. I just
> don't think
> > we have one English word which captures all that ToHU implies.
>
> While we do not have one English word which captures all that ToHU
> decribes, we should keep in mind that Tohu vaboho works together. The pair
> also comes up in Jer 4:23 where it speaks of the destruction of the
> Southern Kingdom; there is more than ordinary disorder. It speaks of
> disorder so that even the light from heaven is no more. Verse 25 indicates
> that it is an empty place.  The focus is not on creation but rather the
> destruction of order. Whatever Tohu vaboho implies, it is something that is
> not in keeping with the created order, whether that is nothing or chaos.
>
> Wishing you the best:
> Jack Vogt
>
> Enjoy the warmth, we are at -43 c.
> E-mail jvogt AT dawson.net.
>
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