From: Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] bara vs' bero in Genesis 1:1
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 09:42:18 -0500
Sounds like they copied the Torah, not vice versa - took from a
universal account, and put mythological figures into the story. And
they did not understand the theology/nature of G-d as pre-existing
everything.
It basically relates a theory of vowel pointing to
support the theory that the author of Genesis 1 ripped
off Marduk mythology.
Here is the reasoning presented:
BEGIN QUOTE
ÄúIn the beginning, God created the heavens and the earthÄù is only
one of possible translations. When the word ×ë×®×ê is vowel-pointed
as ×ë÷º÷½×®÷½×ê (bÅrÅ), it is a verb meaning Äúhe createdÄù.
However, it is probable that the original vowel-pointing was
×ë÷º÷×®÷¼×ê (berç), which is a gerund meaning ÄúcreatingÄù; in
which case the verse translates as Äúin the beginning of GodÄôs
creating the heavens and the earthÄù. This provides a much clearer
setting for what comes after.
In the beginning of GodÄôs creating the heavens and the earth, there
was not a state of total nothingness or nihilum: there was a primeval
realm of water to be resolved into the reality of sea and sky we see
today. The word tehçm, meaning ÄúabyssÄù, is an allusion to an
ancient, pre-Biblical Babylonian myth. According to Babylonian
mythology, the god Marduk fought the water-goddess Tiamat (=tehçm),
slew her and cut her into two: the sea and the sky.
END QUOTE