Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Hi Karl,

I never said that tohu and\or bohu refer to a silencing, and I don't think
the phrase tohu vabohu, probably a hendiadys, does refer a silencing of rule
or authority.  I said that the phrase refers to an uncivilized and/or
unproductive condition.  It's quoted below.   Anyhow, wilderness, by nature,
is uncivilized and unproductive.  As for idols, they may be silent, but
*essentially* the prophets describe them as unproductive.

Shalom,  Bryan

Karl:
>
> What about things that are not abandoned nor where authority and rule are
silenced, things like the wilderness which was never settled in the first
place and idols that were being worshipped at that time? They were called
"thw"-lifeless or uninhabited. In the case of the idols, it is in contrast
to Israel's "living  God" (e.g. 2 Kings 19:4, 16). Examples like these make
me question your answer.
>

Karl:
> > >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).
> > >
> >
Bryan:
> > 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."
> >


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

ph: 315.437.6744
fx: 315.437.6766