Biblical Hebrew Forum

["B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com>]

Hi Karl, You wrote:

> >From its connection to tohu, I get the impression that bohu refers to the
stillness of an uninhabited (by humans) place. (The opposite is a crowd,
referred to as a "hubbub" (hmwn) for its constant restless motion and
noise.)
>
> Hence, in Genesis 1:2 the translation would be more accurately rendered,
"And the earth came into being lifeless (uninhabited) and still, and
darkness upon the face of the depths, and (my next question).
>

Or it refers to the condition that results when authority and rule are
silenced, that is, wildness.  The literary images associated with tohu
vabohu describe the symbols of civilization, such as walls and palaces,
being broken down and overrun with scavengers from the jackel to the raven
to the thornbush.  No one is there to maintain, protect, cultivate.  For a
translation of tohu vabohu I might suggest "uncivilized and unproductive,"
or as Fox put it so euphonically: "wild and waste."

Shalom,
Bryan

B. M. Rocine
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13206

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