Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jerry Shepherd <jshepherd53 AT gmail.com>]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for joining in on the conversation.   Let me explain part of what is
at issue here.

You say, "In v1 God created the heavens and the earth. In the following
verses, the planet earth already existed. So, v1 cannot be a summary, but
an action. In vv9-10 He made the dry land and named that "earth". That is a
different meaning of the word earth: the planet earth in v1, and the dry
land in v10. Similarly in v1, the heavens is the universe, but in v8, God
made the atmosphere around the earth and named that "heavens" also. "Day"
has 3 meanings in Gen 1-2:4."

The logic you've produced in this paragraph only works if "create" in this
chapter means "to create out of nothing."  But that really is not the
meaning of the verb.  Further, a large number of commentators/scholars
believe that the creation account in Gen 1, like other creation accounts
from the ANE, assumes a setting where chaotic conditions are in play.  So
v. 1 is a title or summary statement for the entire chapter; v. 2 gives
what the conditions were like when God started the process of creation; and
then v. 3, "Let there be light," is the first act of creation, i.e., God's
turning the chaos conditions of v. 2 into an ordered universe.  On this
understanding then, the "heavens" of v. 8, i.e., the sky, the solid
vault-like structure that separates the waters above from the waters below,
is not different from the "heavens" of v. 1; they are the same.   Likewise,
when God forms the dry land in v. 10, it is not different from the earth of
v. 1; they are the same.

Again, holding to this understanding does not mean that one cannot still
believe in a creation out of nothing.  There are other statements in the
canon that indicate that.  It only means that this particular account is
not describing such a creation.   I hope this at least makes the position
clear, whether is is indeed correct or not.

Blessings,

Jerry Shepherd
Taylor Seminary
Edmonton, Alberta

Jerry Shepherd
jshepherd53 AT gmail.com