Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Andrew Kulikovsky" <hermeneutics AT kulikovskyonline.net>]

Hi All!

I read through the discussions over bereshit in the archives, and I have
concluded that: YOU'RE ALL WRONG! :-)

So anyway I thought I'd share my view since I have thought long and hard
about it. I will outline the view first then justify it. Any criticisms
are welcome.

1. v. 1 is the beginning of the narrative proper, not a title.
2. v. 1 describes God's initial creative act - the creation of the
"heavens and the earth" which is not a merism for "universe" (the
Israelite people had no concept of a "universe" at this time), but a
merism indicating the totality of all that exists, seen and unseen, on
earth and in the heavens.
3. v. 2 contains 3 circumstantial clauses describing the situation just
after God's initial creative act. There appears to be a gigantic ball of
water called the deep. The earth was actually indistinguishable at this
point.
4. v. 3 resumes the narrative with God's second creative act - the
creation of light.

Re (1), taking verse 1 as a title sets up a contradiction between the
first two verses: How can it be said that God created the earth when in
fact it already existed in some form? Fruthermore, v. 1 cannot be a title
because the connective conjunction we in verse 2 suggests a grammatical
dependency.

The form of the text in Gen 1 is absolutely typical of normal Hebrew
historical narrative. It begins with a qatal (bara) and continues with a
string of wayyiqtols (wayehi, wayyomer etc), it has direct speech, and
frequent use of repetition.

Re (2), a GRAMCORD search of "et hassamayim waet ha'arez" reveals 12
occurrences outside of Gen 1:1. Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28 all refer to
heaven and earth (i.e. all creation) as witnesses. 2 Kgs 19:15 and Isa
37:16 relate to the totality of God's dominion. Jer 23:24 refers to God's
omnipresence. Thus the chief thrust appears to be a reference to the
totality of all that exists. As A. M. Wolters (Creation Regained) puts it:
"…the Scriptures here [Genesis 1] use both 'heaven' and 'earth' in broad
and narrow senses. It is the broad sense that is meant in the opening
statement that God created heaven and earth. The focus of the narrative
then immediately turns to the earth…and heaven in that original sense
(presumably heaven as the place of God's throne and the home of the
angels) is no longer spoken of."

Re (3), the circumstantial clauses indicate that what God initially
created, although it was the totality of all that exists, it was still not
complete. There was still work for God to do. ie. it appears that God
created the raw materials for his creation in v. 1. The idea of a gigantic
ball of water appropriately named "the deep" which was the raw meterials
for the earth and the rest of the universe appears to be supported by 2
Pet 3:5.

Note also that the point of Isaiah 45:18 is that God did not create the
earth to be empty but to be inhabited. Indeed, the qal infinitive
lashebet, "to dwell" indicates that purpose is in view.  Therefore, this
verse describes God's intended purpose for the earth. It does not exclude
the possibility that God created the earth initially uninhabitable before
transforming it into an environment which can support life.

cheers,
Andrew
--
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