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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 1:2 - And the earth was without form, and void

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  • From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 1:2 - And the earth was without form, and void
  • Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 13:20:02 -0500

Dear Herman,

Hello Schmuel,
A completely different viewpoint, but imho a very legitimate one
(there's been a nice controversy about this on this forum before) is
to reanalyse the syntax of Gen 1,1-3.
I don't think we should go over the entire discussion, but I'll just
give here a translation that represents the syntactic viewpoint of
Rashi, Ibn Ezra, the Stone Chumash, quite a few scholars I know in
Leiden, Alter's translation, etc.

"In the beginning of God's creating the heavens and the earth - when
the earth was astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the surface of
the deep, and the Divine Presence hovered upon the surface of the
waters - God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

As far as Hebrew syntax is concerned, this is, I think, the most
plausible analysis.
The result is that the first actual verb (as a predicate, not in a
circumstantial clause) is "[God] said". As we know, in Jewish
"theology" the simple act of God "speaking" is what creates, this is
the nicest analysis of this passage. The words "[b-reshit] bara" can't
really be the first predicate of the Tora, because it's a perfect (in
smichut), not an "imperfect consecutive"- form. The idea that "light",
rather than "heaven(s) and earth" was created first
is of course very symbolic, and a great image. It is actually a
scientific fact, too (for those who like to reconcile the biblical
account with the science of astronomy).


HH: If you are claiming that light was the first thing created, you are in difficulty with the text, which says that before the light, there was darkness over the surface of the deep. There were waters. So there were other things in existence prior to light.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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