Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bill Ross" <wross AT farmerstel.com>]

<Peter>
...A ridiculously over-literal translation of 1:1-2 could go something like:

In the beginning of God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth
was/became formless and void...

<Bill>
My understanding of a couple of details would be inclined to modify your
gloss thus...

"With/In a beginning, God created the heavens and the earth; and the earth
was/became unformed and unfilled..."

I lean toward "with" and because "beginning" has no definite article, so it
flows better: "with a begininng" instead of "in a beginning".

I like the way "unformed/unfilled" capture the alliteration of the original.

I believe the vowel points were added much later, so disregarding them, the
"of" difficulty disappears. Am I correct on this?

With a reading of "with a beginning", could we have textual support for a
"renewal" of the heavens and Earth occuring?

"God started with raw materials when He created the heavens and the earth,
and the Earth was formless and void"

Just asking...

Bill Ross