Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Joshua Gelatt <christiangrowth.mi AT juno.com>]

Lee,

Thank you for your comments.

I am not sure if there is a substantial difference between the idea of
"forming" something and "creating" something.  While the context of
Genesis 1 seems to imply the idea of creatio ex nihilo, the word "create"
itself does not need to carry this idea  (it is a product of the context
- as we now understand it today -, not the word).

You had stated:

I repeat, nothing is created in Gen. 2.  Adam is formed from the dirt
which
already existed

The concept of "forming" man is parralled in Chapter 1, verse 27  (an
attempt to "seperate" the two is to call for two creations).  This is an
act of creation, whether God used dust (which he had already created) or
nothing at all it would have hardly mattered. Chptr 1 clearly states that
God created man, and chptr 2 gives the details of that creation. 
Isa 45:12 states the Yhwh "created" man (bara).  (scripture does not
seperate the idea of ex nihilo creation and "formation" when using the
word bara - this is my observation anyway  *S*)

Now, I agree that this is not an account of the entire creation process -
as this was not the intent of the passage.  So, while I can concede on
this point, I personally can not see how it can be concluded that this is
not an account of creation at all.  To quote Allen Ross:
'The record of the creation of man and women in the Garden is not
another, divergent tradition of creation; it is a rehearsing of the
creation of man and woman that establishes their nature and place in
God's world."  (Creation & Blessing Baker 1988)

While chapter one focuses on the creation of the whole of nature, chpter
2 focuses on the creation of man (and possibly the natural world as it
relates to him).

I'll check out Brevard Childs work,  thanks for the reference.

Respectfully,

Josh Gelatt