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  • From: Harold Holmyard <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: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 15:22:38 -0500

Dear Charles,

Now Doug has mentioned Einstein in response to your post, but he evidently had it backwards too, since Scripture portrays darkness as existing before light. So I am going to send these words about Isa 45:7 to the list:


Apologies to the group.

It is interesting to note in Isaiah 45:7 that God created (bara) darkness and formed (asah) light. Thus giving grammatical support that light pre-exixted darkness and was "formed" into that light which was good for man.
Charles D. Rempel
I was brain dead when I wrote that. The word is not "asah", but "yatzar".


HH: But yatzar is used in nearby Isa 45:18 for God's creation of the
earth, so it can really mean create. In Jer 10:16 and 51:19 yatzar
refers to God's creation of everything. It is just a synonym for create
(bara) in Isa 45:7. Look at the other half of the verse, which uses bara
of God's creating "evil/adversity" and 'asah of His making
"peace/well-being." Do we want to claim that evil was created first, and
well-being made out of that? No, that's the opposite of the biblical
picture. The verbs are synonyms here. In Amos 4:13 God forms (yatzar)
the mountains, and creates (bara) the wind. Is one prior to the other?
No, the verbs are synonyms used for literary variety.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard






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