In a message dated 8/1/01 10:00:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
dillfest95 AT hotmail.com writes:
Thwm never has the article, anywhere it appears. I don't know why. Maybe it
is a proper name?
This is a reasonable assumption. It may or may not be related to the deity
Tiamat.
Everett Fox translates this verse:
"when the earth was wild and waste,
darkness over the face of Ocean,
rushing-spirit of G-d hovering over the face of the waters --"
and he comments: "Ocean: The primeval waters, a common (and usually divine)
image in ancient Near Eastern mythology."