Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>]

Lawrence, you are entitled to your view, but this is not what Genesis
1:1-2 clearly teaches, though it does not necessarily deny it either.
Jeremiah 4:23 may teach this, although it seems to me that this passage
refers not to past events of creation but to a future judgment,
deliberately portrayed in language suggesting a reversal of creation.

Do you claim that you are taking your understanding of creation from the
Bible? If so, I suggest that you learn the languages it is written in
before attempting to interpret it. Many serious errors have been made by
interpreters relying on translations.

Peter Kirk

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lawrence May [mailto:lgmay AT mindspring.com]
> Sent: 03 April 2002 19:45
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: Re: TOHUW WA BOHUW in Gen & Jer.
> 
> I am not qualified to debate with you the linguistic constructions of
the
> Hebrew
> language, but your interpretation implies that the heavens and the
earth
> already
> existed in some form before God (majestic plural) or the three persons
of
> the Godhead
> began to prepare it for habitation by man and other living things.
> 
> My understanding is that there was a previous creation as stated in
verse
> 1.  There was
> a rebellion and the Earth was wasted in the conflict.  The imagery of
the
> Spirit of
> God hovering like a mother bird over the earth to warm or hatch
implies to
> me that the
> Earth may have became encased in ice.  Science teaches that there was
a
> ice age on this
> Earth as well as a universal flood in Noah's time. (i.e. all the earth
has
> been covered
> by water at one time).
> 
> Peter Kirk wrote:
> 
> > I guess you are implying that 1:2 is sequential to 1:1, and would
> > translate something like "In the beginning God created the heavens
and
> > the earth. Then the earth became TOHU..." But this is not what the
> > Hebrew text says. The X-QATAL construction implies not
consecutiveness
> > but a previous state: "The earth had been TOHU..." The verb form is
not
> > enough to settle this issue decisively, but it is enough to suggest
that
> > as the more probable interpretation.
> >
> > Peter Kirk
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Lawrence May [mailto:lgmay AT mindspring.com]
> > > Sent: 02 April 2002 23:12
> > > To: Biblical Hebrew
> > > Subject: TOHUW WA BOHUW in Gen & Jer.
> > >
> > > I believe Genesis 1:2 should be compared with Jeremiah 4:23.
These
> > verses
> > > use both the
> > > words 'tohuw wa bohuw.'  Jeremiah used it to describe the Southern
> > Kingdom
> > > after its
> > > destruction by the Chaldeans and Israel's enemies. I believe
Genesis
> > 1:2
> > > describes the
> > > Earth after the rebellion of  Lucifer and his followers. What
> > linguistic
> > > analysis is
> > > there that would deny this interpretation?
> > >
> >
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