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Exegesis of Genesis 1:1, 2:A synthesis of several papers written for doctoral courses at William Carey International

University

October, 2006

CONTENTS

! Introduction"resuppositions"urpose and si#nificance of this paper Overview

2! $%e#esis of &enesis ', 2Interpretive summary of &enesis "rinciples of biblical e%e#esis(ummary of )alph *! Winter+s interpretation of &enesis An $%amination of the value and le#itimacy of )alph *! Winter+s interpretation of

&enesis ', 2 in li#ht of the biblical conte%t and the history of the e%e#esis of

the passa#e

! Word (tudies from &enesis ', 2-e#innin# .reshit /Created .bara/eavens and earth .ha’shamayim we’et ha’aretz /$arth .aretz /Was .hayeta/Tohu wabohu

1! ermeneutical Applications

Warfare missiolo#y as the theme of the -ible-e#innin#s of a theolo#y of disease



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INTRODUCTION

"resuppositions"urpose and si#nificance of this paper

Overview

Bereshit bara elohim et hashamayim we’et ha’aretz we’ha’aretz

hayeta tohu wabohu

we’hosek al-pene tehomwe’ruach elohim merachepet al-pene hammayim

In the be#innin# &od created the heavens and the earth!As for the earth,

it was destroyed and desolate .tohu wabohu/,with darness on the face of the deep,

but the (pirit of &od stirrin# over the face of the waters!.&enesis ', 23 ori#inal translation from the ebrew/!

Presuppositions

(omethin# is wron# in this world! 45ature, red in tooth and claw, is a patternacted out at all levels of life, from micropredators to macropredators3 from diseasecaused by microbes to social diseases caused by humans such as war, slavery orapartheid! .(ee 7c5eil 896':1/! Intelli#ent evil is at wor, distortin# &od+s ori#inal#ood purposes! All of life needs to be oriented to the war a#ainst evil that is the theme ofhuman history, fi#htin# a battle that be#an with (atan+ ;all! umans were created to <oin&od in rescuin# Creation from the in#dom of darness, includin# the physical and socialresults of intelli#ent evil, and in brin#in# transformation that represents the advance of&od=s in#dom! )alph Winter+s call to the evan#elical world to include fi#htin# disease asan aspect of mission .200:a'>0/ echoes biblical themes that have their ori#in in &enesis'2! In this Winter is also echoin# $dwin ?ewis who said in 81>,

a speaer who called upon the American people to cease believin# in&od because seventeen million persons now livin# would die of cancerwould have made a much better and a much wiser use of his time hadhe called upon the American people to join with God in the fight



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against cancer @emphasis added by the use of the very means which&od is seein# to put into their hands for this purpose, because theonly way in which &od can use the means is throu#h human minds andhuman hands! 4We are laborers to#ether with &od! .81>'18, :0/

A presupposition of this paper is that &enesis 'B sets the tone and theme forthe entire -ible! At some point followin# &od+s ori#inal #ood creation, is intentionswere undercut and the disastrous result is described as tohu wabohu in &enesis '2!&od+s response was to overcome evil .tohu/ with #ood .tob/! As the Creation storyrepeatedly points out re#ardin# is initiatives' 4&od saw that it was #ood! he wholeearth is under <ud#ment by default due to the fall of (atan and the subseDuent fall ofAdam and $ve! .4he whole earth lies in the power of the evil one accordin# to Eohn:'8!/ Correctin# the root causes of the evils around us is the <ob of &od+s people inwhatever area of reality they find themselves! We need to follow the pattern shown in&enesis to wor toward overcomin# the root causes of conditions that are the oppositeof &od+s #ood intentions, whether physical diseases such as cancer or AI*(, or socialdiseases such as wars or apartheid!

If the interpretation of tohu I present in this paper is accepted, then &enesis becomes an illustration of the theme of the entire -ible' fi#htin# bac a#ainst oppositionto &od+s will, overcomin# evil with #ood, actin# out the answer to the prayer Eesustau#ht is disciples, 4hy Fin#dom come, hy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!As believers demonstrate what &od+s will is and what e is lie, the peoples of the earthwill be attracted to follow that ind of &od!

Purpose and signifiane of t!is paper

7uch disease consists of breadown, disorderin#, disinte#ration .tohu wabohu/ atthe cellular level, e!#! cancer cells! Applyin# the findin# of this paper, that tohu is a

metaphor for anythin# contrary to &od+s will, to &od=s intent to reverse such cellulartohu wabohu, is presented here as a candidate for the be#innin#s of a theolo#y of disease!

O"er"ie#

his paper taes an e%e#etical approach to e%plorin# the conte%t and implicationsof the terms tohu and tohu wabohu and concludes that &enesis '2ff is the theolo#ical basis for fi#htin# evil, includin# disease! A detailed discussion of the term tohu shows thatin every occurrence of this term in (cripture the conte%t indicates somethin# that is theopposite of &od+s #ood intentions for creation, and this condition is always correctedthrou#h a <ud#ment of some sort, followed by a demonstration of &od+s will! .(ee chartin the Appendi%!/

Anythin# that brin#s order out of chaos is a step toward restorin# &od+s will onearth! his is the ori#in of a theolo#y of disease! .*isBease is the opposite of ease3 theopposite of order3 the opposite of &od+s intentions G tohu!/ In &enesis , how does &odrespond to the condition described as tohu wabohuH he first few verses show the patternfor the rest of the chapter and #ive the ey to the entire -ible! (omethin# opposite to&od+s intentions e%ists and is described in &enesis '2! he author of &enesis shows inthe rest of the first chapter how &od #oes about demonstratin# is intentions for the



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earth which are the e%act opposite of the chaotic conditions! e does this by emphasiin#a definite pattern in the creation story that is #iven to enable &od+s people to imitate himin overcomin# evil with #ood! hese verses show that &od has evil under control and patiently counterBacts and replaces it with acts of creativity, includin# the creation ofhumans to <oin im in fi#htin# bac a#ainst forces that oppose im! As a description ofthe conseDuences of opposin# &od+s intentions, the fi#ure of speech, tohu wabohu, alsocontains within itself the solution to addressin# the root problem that causes thatopposition! -elievers have the privile#e of allowin# &od+s (pirit .ruach elohim/ to worthrou#h them to demonstrate is #lory, by brin#in# order out of chaos and byovercomin# evil with #ood .ebrew, tob, a word play with the similarBsoundin# tohu/!

he rest of the -ible e%plains how to overcome andJor avoid tohu, opposition to&od, at various levels .physical, personal, family, social, political/ or it shows whathappens when tohu is not overcome .the visible chaotic result can then be called tohuwabohu/! he whole theme of (cripture is to fi#ht bac a#ainst the opposition to &od+sintentions! his is the biblical worldview demonstrated throu#hout Israel+s history, in the prophets+ interpretation of that history, in Eesus+ activity and words, and in "aul+sdescription of livin# in the Fin#dom! Where &od+s Fin#dom does not yet e%ist, tohu

rei#ns, with visible evidence of conditions contrary to &od+s will .includin# disease andviolence/, and missionary activity is needed to continue Christ+s mission of destroyin# thewors of &od+s adversary, the devil! .(ee Eohn '>!/ "hilip Eenins summaries thismission in his new boo, The New aces of !hristianity" Belie#ing the Bible in theGlobal $outh' 4In his acts of healin#, Eesus was not <ust curin# individuals, but tramplin#diabolical forces underfoot, and the si#ns and wonders represented visible and materialtoens of Christ+s victory over very real forces of evil! .2006'88/ Overcomin# tohu,opposition to &od+s will, is central to the mission of the -ody of Christ, the Church!7ission en#a#es this opposition at all levels of e%istence' personal, family, societal, inapplied science and medicine, biolo#y, environmental science, and across culturesthrou#h mission activity! Tohu Kwherever it is foundKis not &od+s will! *emonstration

of &od+s will and &od+s #lory is the responsibility of the -ody of Christ, so that all peoples can come to now and obey im, in fulfillment of the &reat Commission!

7edical missionary )obert u#hes, in (hillon#, India from 88L68, wrote in his <ournal, 4this in#dom of disease, death, i#norance, pre<udice, fear, malnutrition andab<ect poverty @is most surely a in#dom which ou#ht to be overthrown by the in#domof our &od .)ees 200/!

Where does this opposition to &od come fromH *istortions of human socialrelations, distortions of nature .4natural disasters/, distortions by disease' these are thecate#ories represented by three of the horses of the apocalypse .war, famine, and pla#ue/,all leadin# to death .)ev! 6'B>/! At the end of this planet+s history, the )ider on thewhite horse will conDuer these demonstrations of tohu, opposition to &od+s will .see)evelation 8/! In the meantime, why does &od permit the obvious evil we see now innature and in 4man+s inhumanity to manH Why has &od allowed people throu#houthistory to torture others or shun them as nonBhumanH Is &od pleased when a tsunamiwipes out hundreds of thousands of people without warnin#, or a hurricane destroys ama<or city, or an earthDuae buries children alive in the rubble of their schoolH Is &od#lorified by what #reatly troubled *arwin, that a particular ind of wasp lays its e##sinside a caterpillar so that when the e##s hatch, the larvae eat their way out of thecaterpillar while it is still livin#H *o diseases such as cancer, AI*(, malaria, and small po%, that literally eat people alive, ori#inate from or#anisms desi#ned by a perfect and



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#ood CreatorH What went wron#H

4he creation waits in ea#er e%pectation for the sons of &od to be revealed! M We now that the whole creation has been#roanin# as in the pains of childbirth ri#ht up to the present time.)omans >'20B22!

E$EGESIS O% GENESIS 1:1, 2

Interpretive summary of &enesis

"rinciples of -iblical $%e#esis

(ummary of )alph *! Winter+s Interpretation of &enesis

An $%amination of the Nalue and ?e#itimacy of )alph *! Winter+s Interpretationof &enesis ', 2 in ?i#ht of the -iblical Conte%t and the istory of the

$%e#esis of the "assa#e

All cultures have to answer the Duestion, ow shall we brin# order out of chaos.in the physical world, in society, in a family, in a relationship/H Or as ;rancis (haefferhas put it, 4ow shall we then liveH

ow should mission and international development worers address the issue ofdistortions of &od+s will within a cultureH

What is &od #oin# to do about the evil in this worldHow does &od e%pect is people to liveH

4he ability of future #enerations to mae the te%t answer their Duestions, withoutdistortin# it beyond reco#nition, is part of the -ible+s power! .Wildavsy 8>1'2/ hehermeneutical tas, followin# the e%e#etical tas of findin# out what the te%t ori#inallymeant, is to 4learn to hear that same meanin# in the variety of new or different conte%tsof our own day! .;ee and (tuart 88'/

In answer, then, to the Duestions above that are of concern to missionaries andinternational development worers, I offer followin# interpretive translation of &enesis'B: followed by a #eneral interpretive summary of the rest of the chapter! he rationalefor the choices made in translatin# each word of the ebrew in verses and 2 as well astwo ma<or terms in verse is e%plained in detail in the course of this paper! he value ofthis interpretation of &enesis is in its ability to help crossBcultural worers address thestumblin# bloc of the 4problem of evil, and to point toward the be#innin#s of a biblicaltheolo#y of disease!

Interpreti"e Trans&ation of Genesis 1:1'( and Su))ar* of Genesis 1



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&enesis 'B:In one of &od+s new be#innin#s e reBfashioned everythin# in nature as we now

it because the land had been destroyed @by an asteroidal collisionH and left desolate after&od+s <ud#ment on conditions contrary to is will! -ut &od had not #iven up on the landand its people! he (pirit of &od was stirrin# over the deep chaos that was blaneted bydarness! .(uddenly/ &od said, 4?et there be li#ht, and there it was &od saw that theli#ht was #ood and e separated the li#ht from the darness! e called the li#ht 4dayand the darness 4ni#ht! (o after evenin#, there was mornin#, one day!

(ummary of the rest of the chapter he ne%t thin# &od did was to mae some basic structural divisions, to be

followed later by fillin# in the details! e wasn+t in a hurry to #et everythin# ready atonce! Instead e wored within the framewor of evenin#s and mornin#s toward is#oal of main# a land habitable for humans, who could then continue worin# with imaccordin# to is e%ample of how to wor and live well! $ach day saw increasin# order brou#ht out of the chaos! Within the rhythm of evenin# followed by mornin#, &oddivided the upper and lower waters, undoin# their min#lin# and main# it possible to

distin#uish what was #ood and helpful from what was bad and not conducive to life! 5e%the provided for some stability by separatin# dry land from the lower waters! hee%istence of the land made it possible for basic subsistence and now plants and fruit bearin# trees were created! 5e%t, purpose was #iven to the heavenly bodies .their re#ularcycles had become visible as the mury atmosphere cleared/ to mar the times andseasons in a predictable way, looin# ahead toward the need of humans to remember howto tae care of the land and to remember to honor their Creator, on whose behalf theywould be stewards of the land! After that, movin# creatures in the water, air and land populated the area, with increasin# de#rees of ability to choose how to use their mobility!;inally everythin# was ready for &od+s masterpiece and helperKthe first humans whome made to help him continue the process of brin#in# order out of chaos .and defeatin#

evil/! &od #ave our first parents freedom of choice, hopin# they would choose to worwith im in obedience, followin# the pattern e had demonstrated in the process ofmain# their land ready for them! he seventh day was set aside for them and for us tofollow &od+s e%ample of restin# from wor! &od wanted is people to reflect on theirrelationship to im and to reco#nie their need to submit to im as the #ood, orderly,allBpowerful, and soverei#n ruler who is in control of all!

@5ote' he tone and lan#ua#e of this chapter reflect the characteristics of &od as bein# orderly and in control, so the opposite of this orderliness, the chaos &od wascalmly combatin#, has to be learned about elsewhere in (cripture!

Prinip&es of +i&ia& Exegesis

4he openin# verses of &enesis are amon# the most difficult to interpret in theentire Old estament! .;retheim 868':/ he purpose of this paper is to e%amine thevalue of )alph Winter+s interpretation of &enesis ', 2 for missions and internationaldevelopment, and to establish the le#itimacy of his interpretation within the history of thee%e#esis of &enesis ! Althou#h Eewish social historian Aaron Wildavsy has stated .inre#ard to the possibility of #leanin# historical insi#hts from the Old estament/, 4there isno lac of Pdata+ in the -ibleKonly, in view of human limitations, an absence of creativityamon# interpreters .8>1'2/, it will be obvious that there is no lac of creativity inWinter+s interpretation of the data!



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In approachin# an interpretation of &enesis , with a primary focus on the firstfew verses, the e%e#etical principles that will be followed first need to be set out! $ach ofthe principles listed here will be briefly e%plained and a sample application #iven from thefirst chapter of &enesis before movin# into a detailed study that uses these principles tounderstand &enesis in a new li#ht!

$%e#etical "rinciples'! ;ind out what the te%t ori#inally meant!2! ?earn to hear that same meanin# within new conte%ts, of our own day and in

other cultures .hermeneutics/!! As the ri#ht Duestions of the te%t!1! -e clear about the nature and manner of inspiration and revelation of the te%t!:! Investi#ate the conte%t of &enesis

a! istorical conte%t b! ?iterary conte%t i! &enre .includin# fi#ures of speech/

ii! (tructure iii! ?e%ical conte%t' meanin#s of words in similar conte%ts and

#rammatical usa#e .philolo#ical approach/c! -iblical conte%t

6! $n#a#e in the hermeneutical circleJspiral9! $valuate the contributions of commentators throu#hout history as each of the

above aspects is considered!

! ;ind out what the te%t ori#inally meant7ost commentators on the -oo of &enesis have reco#nied the importance of

first discoverin# the author+s purpose and what the ori#inal audience would haveunderstood by what was written! wo hi#hly respected Old estament scholars havestated this very well, one from the evan#elical and one from the Eewish tradition'

4he primary tas of the -iblical scholar is to unfold the meanin# of the te%t of(cripture as it was ori#inally intended to be understood by the writer of that te%t!.Faiser 890'1>/

4he aim of this commentary is to e%plain, with the help of an historicoB philolo#ical method of interpretation, the simple meanin# of the biblical te%t, and toarrive, as nearly as possible, at the sense that the words of the orah were intended tohave for their reader at the time when they were written! .Cassuto 811'/

his primary tas reDuires acnowled#in# the limitations of looin# bac from acontemporary western worldview at te%ts written in ancient times! he worldview of thewriter of &enesis was not that of the western scientific culture of today! We should note%pect that the human author and ori#inal audience of &enesis new or cared about our present day scientific astronomy, #eolo#y, biolo#y, etc!, as enri -locher .8>1'29/ and(tanley Eai .882b/ emphasie! errence ;retheim #ives another perspective by callin#attention to evidence in &enesis that the biblical writer had preBscientific interests inshowin# an awareness of classification of plants and animals and by addressin# Duestionsabout how the earth was created! -ut the answers #rew out of 4nowled#e of the naturalworld available to them in their culture! .;retheim 200:'29/ he principle must be eptin mind that what was understood by the ori#inal author and audience is what the te%tstill means! As ;ee and (tuart put it, 4a te%t cannot mean what it never meant! .88'8/If the author did not ori#inally intend to teach scientific truths, it should not be viewed in



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any a#e as teachin# scientific truths, which are always in process and sub<ect to chan#e!4o claim that &od created the world and all that e%ists is a matter of faith, M .seeebrews '/ and is not the result of scientific investi#ation! .;retheim 200:'29/

-locher, Eai and others feel stron#ly that the e%e#esis of &enesis must 4freeitself from e%cessive concern with science! .-locher 8>1'29/ Eai speas of the4concordist trap that commentators throu#hout the a#es have fallen into while tryin# toharmonie the current state of science with what they thin &enesis is teachin#! ;or themost part, these authors, includin# those in the Qoun# $arth camp today, miss importanttheolo#ical truths and the ey role of &enesis in the -ible because they are focused ontryin# to mae it mean somethin# it was never intended to mean!

In cautionin# a#ainst readin# into the te%t meanin#s that were not ori#inally there,;ee and (tuart mention the 7ormon practice of baptiin# for the dead .based on theirreadin# of Corinthians :'28/ and the prosperity doctrine of the charismatic movement.taen from Eohn 2/ as e%amples of those who have started with 4the here and now andhave read into the te%ts meanin#s that were not ori#inally there! .88'>/

he creation science interpretation of &enesis is an additional e%ample of thistype of 4eise#esis! -ased on the presupposition that a biblical account of the creation of

the world must be scientifically accurate .or rather, specifically, the &enesis account/,they have looed for scientific accuracy in ancient literature and have found it necessaryto claim that science is wron# in some respects to support their theory! his is whathappened in &alileo+s time, resultin# in widespread disrespect for &od+s Word!

his paper will not spend much time on the 4problem of science and (cripture!Instead, the approach taen here will follow the e%e#etical principles listed earlier withthe aim of discoverin# from the te%t itself what its ori#inal author and audienceunderstood it to mean! 4he ey tas, finally, both for that time and for our own, becomes that of inte#ratin# materials from various fields into a coherent statement aboutthe created order! In effect, &enesis invites every #eneration to en#a#e in this same process! .;retheim 200:'2>/ Eohn (ailhamer stated his intention and approach that this

paper will also follow' 47y desire in this boo is to mae clear what I am convinced isthe central messa#e of the first two chapters of &enesis! @In this paper the concern is primarily with the first two verses! A lar#e part of that tas will be dealin# with wellBworn opinions about these chapters! In many cases those opinions are correct and must be incorporated into a proper interpretation3 in other cases they are not correct and needto be replaced with a new understandin#! .886'21/

Only after the first tas is completed, of uncoverin# the ori#inal meanin# of thete%t, can the Duestion be addressed, 4what does &enesis mean for a specific culturetodayH

2! ?earn to hear that same meanin# in the variety of new or different conte%ts of our ownday .hermeneutics/

;indin# the relevance of the te%t for today in a variety of new conte%ts is how ;eeand (tuart define the hermeneutical tas, which comes only after the first step of e%e#esishas been done! .88'>/ 5athan (arna draws attention to the distinctive patterns ofthou#ht and ways of speain# of the ancient Israelite people! o understand their writin#swe need to be careful not to confuse their way of speain#, includin# metaphoricallan#ua#e, with the reality behind the metaphor! 4he two have to be disentan#led fromeach other and the idea conveyed must be translated into the idiom of our own day!.866'/ he true meanin# of the biblical te%t for today, for any culture, is what &od



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ori#inally intended it to mean when it was first spoen!All societies have to answer the Duestion, ow shall we brin# order out of chaosH

"eople tryin# to be submitted to &od in any culture need to find their own particularimplications for how to live in ri#ht relationship with &od within that culture! he principles of &enesis are timeless and apply in all cultures in addressin# these and otherDuestions! he last section of this paper will apply these hermeneutical principles inarrivin# at a missiolo#y and theolo#y that concern how the -ody of Christ should addressdisease!

! As the ri#ht Duestions of the te%t;ee and (tuart state that the secret of e%e#esis is asin# the ri#ht Duestions of the

te%t! .88'/ Eohn (ailhamer .886'>2/ and ?eon Fass .200'26/ as many inductiveDuestions of &enesis , such as the followin#'

What is the meanin# of the phrase translated 4in the be#innin#HWhy this ind of be#innin#HIs it lo#ically or peda#o#ically necessary for what comes ne%tHow is the cosmolo#y of the chapter related to ethical or political issuesH

*oes the acceptance of &od+s later commandments depend on first reco#niin#&od+s power as creatorH

What is the overall purpose and theme of the "entateuchHow do these early chapters prepare us for understandin# and appreciatin# all

that follows in the "entateuchH

1! -e clear about the nature and manner of inspiration and revelation of the te%t!Appreciatin# the si#nificance of what &enesis says or implies in relation to these

and other Duestions reDuires an acnowled#ment that &od was involved in a process ofrevealin# himself and is plans to the writer or editor of &enesis !

)alph Winter is addressin# the issue of the means of revelation when he insists

that the author of &enesis could not have intended &enesis ' to refer to the creation ofthe whole world as we now now it, because at that time there was only a limitedawareness of the e%tent of the e%tent of the land! In re#ard to what the biblical authorswere able to now and write about, Ale%ander eidel #ives this translation of ;ran"ieper of Concordia heolo#ical (eminary .(t ?ouis, 7issouri, 821, Christliche*o#mati I, p! 2>1/' 4As the oly &host employed the style which he found in theindividual writers, thus e also utilied the historical nowled#e which the writersalready possessed! .eidel 8:'6/

And yet, in the process of inspiration, includin# meditation by the writer of(cripture on actual historical events .possibly even eyewitness accounts of the eventsdescribed in &enesis @Winter 200:c'/, &od conveyed truths that are timeless andwider than what the author was able to now and be aware of! $dwin ?ewis points outthe need to find the underlyin# #eneral truth of revelation and separate that from thehistorical conditions by which the revelation came! 4If we can accomplish that, we willarrive at principles that will be true for any time or anywhere in the world! .$! ?ewis81>'21/

Eust as the #ospel must always come to people clothed in a culture, so the ori#inalrevelation and word of &od to humanind could only come clothed in humanity! 4&od+sWord to us was first of all is Word to them! If they were #oin# to hear it, it could onlyhave come throu#h events and in lan#ua#e they could have understood! .;ee R (tuart



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88'>/&enesis is the be#innin# of that revelation, clothed in the human limitations of

the ancient Israelite culture! Eesus came much later, in fulfillment of the promise in&enesis ':, as the revelation and Word of &od! e came clothed in a human body andlived within the limitations of the Israelite culture of is time!

;rom the first to the last, &od+s (pirit was superintendin# the process ofinspiration .4all (cripture is #iven by inspiration of &od/ <ust as &enesis '2 shows the(pirit of &od superintendin# the preparation for the days of Creation! hrou#h theselection of authors within a chosen culture, the (pirit superintended what would bewritten so that it would convey what &od wanted to reveal in ways that would be validfor all time and all peoples! )evelation :'8 shows that &od wants to be nown by allcultures and each is able to contribute somethin# to the composite of humanity+snowled#e of &od! -ut in is soverei#nty and wisdom, &od chose the culture of one people, Israel, to mold for the purpose of communicatin# himself to the rest of the world!

-eyond the words of the inspired authors, &ordon Wenham speas of the form inwhich &od+s revelation was preserved' 4hese liewise were conditioned by the cultureof the time and place! .8>9'21/ e #oes on to refer to the obvious chan#es that

occurred in Israel+s cultural e%pression of their faith as a result of their e%perience of the$%ile! hese modifications, includin# an increased awareness of &od+s adversary, werenecessary before the (pirit, superintendin# the course of history and inspiration, woulddecide the 4fullness of time had been reached for &od to send the ultimate revelation ofhimselfKEesus, the human and divine Word of &od!

Catholic theolo#ian enricus )encens #ives a #ood e%ample of the doctrine ofinspiration in &enesis! 4&enesis will mean more to us if we loo at it in the li#ht of thedoctrine of inspiration! hrou#h this Israelite speain# to his compatriots, &od isspeain#Kto them and to us! e is not sayin# more to us than e was sayin# to them,thou#h we can of course understand more and better than they could, now that e hasspoen fully in Christ! .861'2/

:! Investi#ate the conte%t of &enesis he conte%t of &enesis includes its historical, literary, and biblical conte%t, with

subdivisions within each of these cate#ories!

a! %istorical conte&tWithin the historical conte%t, the Duestion of authorship can be considered briefly!

he position taen in this paper is that even if the somewhat discredited documentaryhypothesis .see Cassuto 811'29/ were accepted .that &enesis was patched to#etherfrom various sources/, we could still, as Fass says, 4#ive the redactor the benefit of thedoubt and assume that he new precisely what he was about! .200'1/ In the end, theDuestion of inspiration reDuires a decision of faith, and whether &od inspired a sin#leauthor or a sin#le editor is irrelevant! he final product of the -oo of &enesis is whatwe have to deal with in decidin# how to respond to its truths! hrou#hout the rest of this paper when the Duestion of authorship arises, the assumption will be that 7oses wrotethe -oo of &enesis alon# with the rest of the orah or "entateuch! his is the positiontaen by the respected Old estament evan#elical scholar -ruce Walte .88'23200'2/, by (ailhamer .886'21/, -locher .8>1'1/ and many others!

What was #oin# on in Israel that called forth such a documentH he occasion forthe writin# of a boo is part of its historical conte%t which also includes the time and



11

culture of the author and his readers, as well as relevant #eo#raphical and politicalfactors! .;ee R (tuart 88'8/

As Walte .88'23 200'22/, Fass .200'8/, -ernard Och .88:'2/ and othershave shown, &enesis #ave Israel the history of its ori#ins and its connection to theCreator and ?ord of history! It introduces the orah, the biblical teachin# about howhuman bein#s are to live! In other words, &enesis can be taen as an introduction to thedocuments 7oses was providin#, under &od+s #uidance, as a sort of constitution for theemer#in# nation of Israel! As Walte says, 4every political and Jor reli#ious communitymust have a memory of its history that defines and distin#uishes it! .200'22/ And 4tounder#ird @the covenant @at 7t! (inai, an inspired 7oses #ave Israel this creation storyallowin# only one &od, Creator of heaven and earth, who alone deserves worship, trustand obedience! .Walte 88'2/

he people comin# out of the chaos of slavery in $#ypt would have seen thecreation account as &od+s demonstration of brin#in# order out of chaos, turnin# darnessinto li#ht! -ernard Och sees &enesis , the prolo#ue to the orah, as affirmation thatS&od has #iven the history of is people its meanin# throu#h creation!S .88:'2/

he nation of Israel emer#ed in the historical conte%t of many other ancient 5ear

$astern peoples, all of whom were polytheistic! Israel+s distinctive mission was toannounce that there is one &od, Qahweh, who was #ivin# them the ?and e hadori#inally created, as a sendin# base to mae im nown to all peoples!

he creation account in &enesis reflects the literary forms and mythical ima#eryof these other nations, but it contrasts with them radically! .A! )oss 886'2/ Cassutofeels 4it is not possible to understand the purpose of @&enesis without constantreference to the lore and learnin#, the doctrines, and traditions of the nei#hborin# peoples! .811'2/

ow the &enesis account differed, and where other biblical accounts of creationwere similar but with different meanin#s will be e%plored in the word studies of &enesis'2!

b! 'iterary !onte&t he meanin# and purpose of a passa#e of (cripture cannot be determined without

careful consideration of the literary conte%t! his includes determinin# the #enre, thestructure of the boo or passa#e, the meanin# of words and their #rammatical usa#e .the philolo#ical approach/, what fi#ures of speech are used, as well as its place within the restof the -ible!

Identifyin# the #enre of a passa#e is important since it will determine the waywords and fi#ures of speech are understood! 4he indications of the literary #enre of ate%t affect its overall readin# by showin# that the laws of #enre have affected its writin#!.-locher 8>1'8/

Commentators #enerally assi#n &enesis to the #enre of narrative literature .W!Faiser 890'63 Alter 8>'23 Wenham 8>9'93 A! )oss 886'/, althou#h -locherconsiders it to be a composite of narrative and other types of prose with a hi#her de#reeof structure than is usual for narrative stories! .8>1':2/ Walte a#rees with -locher that&enesis is a 4literaryBartistic representation of the creation! o this we add the purpose,namely, to #round the covenant people+s worship and life in the Creator, whotransformed chaos into cosmos, and their ethics in is created order! .Walte 88'8/

-iblical narratives are selective in what they tell about within the conte%t of theoverall story of the -ible! In The (rt of Biblical Narrati#e, )obert Alter states, 4biblical



12

narrative M is selectively silent in a purposeful way! .8>':/ A narrative such as thecreation account tells only one part of the overall picture of &od+s purposes in history!;ee and (tuart elaborate on this trait of biblical narrative' 4we have to learn to besatisfied with that limited understandin#, and restrain our curiosity at many points, or elsewe will end up tryin# to read between the lines so much that we end up readin# intostories thin#s that are not there! .88'>/ his caution is particularly appropriate for&enesis !

he structure of &enesis chapter is established throu#h a pattern of repeatedwords and occurrences, or#anied around the framewor of the si% days of creation!&od+s creative word, the report of it+s bein# effective, is evaluation of the created entityas 4#ood .in most cases/, and the numberin# of each day are the most obvious elementsof the structure of this chapter! &od said M &od saw M &od separated M &od called M&od made M &od blessed M &od finished M ! here is a stately rhythm in theorderliness of &od+s creative acts! In re#ard to this or#aniin# structure, Wenham isdisappointed that 4one device which our narrative uses to e%press the coherence and purposiveness of the Creator+s wor, namely, the distribution of the various creative actsto si% days, has been seied on and interpreted overBliteralistically! .8>9'8/

Amon# other literary elements, &enesis has a rhetorical pattern in common withother biblical te%ts in which first the main parts are listed, followed by fillin# in the detailswith the main particulars of those parts! .Eai 882'/ his is obvious in the parallels between the first set of three days and the second set of three days, in which details aboutthe main parts of creation are filled in, in the same order as they were first listed! ;orinstance, days one and four deal with li#ht and the li#htBbearin# heavenly bodies3 daystwo and five deal with the division of the upper and lower waters and the creatures populatin# those areas, while days three and si% deal with the dry land and thosecreatures livin# there!

he care with which the author has structured the chapter is also evident at themore detailed level of his choice of words! 45othin# is here by chance3 everythin# must

be considered carefully, deliberately, and precisely! .von )ad'89'9/Umberto Cassuto, by his own valuation, was the first commentator on &enesis to

#ive particular attention to the detailed literary rules followed by the -ible in various#enre, and to tae into consideration all the lin#uistic details of the te%t, includin##rammar and fi#ures of speech, for arrivin# at an understandin# of the author+s intention!.4his is the first commentary ever written on these sections of the "entateuch inaccordance with the principles that I have outlined above @literary, lin#uistic andhistorical principles!/ .811' HH/ -locher adds a warnin# a#ainst twistin# the #rammarto mean somethin# we wish the te%t would mean! .8>1'1/ hat warnin# will need to beconsidered seriously in the analysis of &enesis ', 2!

A characteristic of biblical narrative literature, accordin# to )obert Alter.8>'98/ is the importance of the way words are used! -ecause the biblical narrativeleaves out so many details that mi#ht have been included, the author+s choice of wordsand phrases that are included can be particularly si#nificant in determinin# the purposeand meanin# of the narrative passa#e within the overall biblical story! )epetition of wordsor phrases is common and points toward the theme the writer is developin#! When anarrative is short and to the point, as in &enesis , anythin# selected by the author forinclusion is meanin#ful and helpful for interpretin# the passa#e!

c) Biblical conte&t



13

he overall biblical story is the ultimate conte%t for any passa#e of (cripture!Althou#h (tanley Eai ob<ects to callin# &enesis a narrative, because he doesn+t see in ita plot with characters in conflict .882'2/, the chapter is uniDue in standin# at the be#innin# of the -ible, servin# as a prolo#ue to the biblical story! It #ives the settin# forthe biblical drama and sets the sta#e for the plot that be#ins soon enou#h with theentrance of the serpent in the &arden! It #ives the necessary bac#round to now why, in&enesis 2, &od commissions Abraham to 4bless all the nations of the earth!

Interpretin# (cripture throu#h the lens of other (cripture is advocated by &re#ory-oyd, in $atan and the *roblem of +#il ! 4If we accept the plenary inspiration of(cripture, the &enesis account should be read as a piece of the whole mosaic of(cripture+s view of creation, not as the whole picture itself! .200'220/ enri -locher.8>1'9/ also encoura#es main# use of (cripture to illumine difficulties in other(cripture passa#es, tain# advanta#e of their 4common inspiration! his principle allowsfor interpretin# &enesis '2 in the li#ht of other biblical accounts of creation whichcontain some of the cosmic battle themes present in the historical literature of the ancient 5ear $ast!

Walte .200'1/ a#rees that &enesis needs to be interpreted in li#ht of the whole

-ible and ass, 4what is the entirety of the -ible all aboutH )alph Winter would answerthat Duestion by sayin# the -ible is the story of the battle for our planet between the powers of darness and the in#dom of &od! &od+s purpose throu#hout (cripture ismissiolo#ical in nature' to defeat evil wherever it is found and in this way to brin# aboutthe #lorious triumph of is Fin#dom amon# all the peoples of the earth! .200:c'8/ hisis the conte%t in which the prolo#ue of the -ible must be understood!

6! $n#a#e in the hermeneutical circleJspiralIn followin# the processes described above, the student of (cripture will be

increasin# in understandin# of the te%t! E! "! ;oelman .89:'9/ describes thehermeneutic circle that starts with an assumption or intuitive <ud#ment! is own initial

assumption, that the stories of &enesis have the status of a literary wor of art, had to bevalidated by the results of his interpretive wor! With those results, a fresh hypothesis can be made and the hermeneutic circle continues! Walte uses the term 4spiral, which mi#ht be a better term since there is a #oal in the e%e#etical process of achievin# increasedunderstandin# of specific portions of (cripture! Walte uses this term to describe thedialo# the interpreter has with the te%t! 4One approaches the te%t with ideas about itstechniDues and principles, which the te%t then proves or disproves! .200'/ -locher#ives a wise caution re#ardin# the assumptions we start with in the hermeneutic spiralwhen he says, 4we have the ri#ht to brin# our prior nowled#e of reality to bear only asfar as we can presuppose it in the human author of the biblical te%t! .8>1'26/

?eon Fass .200'1/ lists his assumptions at the start of his efforts at aninterpretation of &enesis'

! here is a coherent order and plan to the whole2! he order of the stories is of more than chronolo#ical si#nificance! $very word counts1! One can approach the te%t in a spirit of inDuiry, even if one comes as a result to

learn the limitations of such philosophic activity!

9! $valuate the contributions of commentators throu#hout history as each of the aboveaspects is considered!



14

&erman theolo#ian Wolfhart "annenbur# summaries the interpretive effort as 4acreative act, an attempt to achieve a synthesis! .890'8/ his paper will attempt toachieve a synthesis of the interpretation of &enesis ', 2 within its historical and literaryconte%t, and tain# into account the history of the e%e#esis of &enesis chapter ! As(ailhamer says, 4interpretations, whether ancient or modern, must be evaluated by howwell they enable us to e%plain the te%t! *o they help us understand what the te%t meansHOr do they overloo important features of the te%tH .886'60/

he hermeneutic circle or spiral that I will follow in this paper starts with theassumption that )alph Winter+s interpretation of &enesis ', 2 is le#itimate within thehistorical and literary conte%t! he paper will follow the e%e#etical principles outlinedhere while drawin# upon the contributions from various commentators to help illuminethe meanin# of &enesis ', 2 within a warfare missiolo#ical theolo#y of (cripture!

Su))ar* of Ra&p! -inter.s interpretation and onerns

)alph Winter has several concerns that led him, independently of other scholars,to propose a preB&enesis ' creation and to speculate that the first chapter of the -ible

may be describin# a local rather than a cosmic 4creation! here is support fromevan#elical commentators for each of these positions, althou#h Winter is uniDue in postulatin# both a new be#innin# after a preB&enesis ' creation and a local creation!

Winter sees &enesis ' as a local new be#innin# in the 7iddle $ast after a ma<ordisaster, such as an asteroidal collision, had wiped out life in that part of a preB&enesis' creation! his disaster would have been the result of <ud#ment, as is the case prior toother biblical new be#innin#s such as the ;lood, the callin# of Abraham, and the comin#of Eesus the 7essiah! he ori#in and ;all of (atan .see $eiel 2>'2B9/ and thee%istence of the vicious life forms seen in the fossil record .Winter 200:c/ all belon# tothis preB&enesis ' creation! 2 &enesis shows &od preparin# the land for a newhumanity, made in is ima#e for the purpose of worin# with im to brin# order out of

chaos and to defeat the intentions of the adversary! Winter+s ma<or concern that headdresses in his interpretation of &enesis is to show that the battle between #ood andevil has been present from before the 4be#innin# and humanind was created to <oin that battle! Included in that battle is the mandate to fi#ht disease alon# with other evils inworin# with &od to restore order to his #ood creation and to restore is #lory andreputation!

/n Exa)ination of t!e 0a&ue and egiti)a* of Ra&p! D -inter.s Interpretationof Genesis 1:1, 2 in ig!t of t!e +i&ia& Context and t!e 3istor* of t!eExegesis of t!e Passage

Fey Duestions need to be ased in evaluatin# Winter+s interpretation of the firstverses in the -ible'

! Is it le#itimate to say that there was a preB&enesis ' creationH .&rammaticallyand conte%tually is this a possible interpretationH ow do other new be#innin#s in the-ible shed li#ht on this hypothesisH What do respected scholars sayH/

2! Is it le#itimate to consider &enesis to be a local creation in si% daysH.&rammatically and conte%tually is this a possible interpretationH What do respectedscholars sayH What li#ht does this interpretation shed on other parts of (criptureH/

! ow do these two interpretations lead to a better understandin# of the reality



15

of the adversary and the creation of a new human couple to wor with &od in combatin#the adversaryH

he missiolo#ical value of these speculations, if they can be validated throu#h proper e%e#esis, is the provision of a foundational interpretation of (cripture that4enlar#ens and refocuses our understandin# of Christian mission today! .Winter200:c'/ Winter+s interpretation provides the basis for viewin# 4humanity in a wartimein#dom as an a#ent on &od+s side doin# whatever can #lorify im! .200:c'8/ isapproach #ives the intellectuals of the world an interpretation that won+t offend them orturn them away from faith by unnecessarily attributin# evil to &od or by unnecessarilycontradictin# scientific understandin#s! Winter+s e%planation of &enesis ', 2 addressestwo ma<or intellectual problems arisin# from interpretations of &enesis that eep manythinin# people from believin# the rest of the -ible! ow to reconcile widely respectedscientific understandin#s with the creation story and how to account for the obvious presence of evil in a world &od created and called 4#ood are missiolo#ical problems thatultimately must be addressed if certain #roups of people are to be reached with the faithof the -ible! hese two issues will be considered in reverse order!

he problem that arises if room is not made for (atan+s e%istence before &enesis', is illustrated by the position of -asil of Caesera .00L9>/, as Duoted by W! ! &rohin his paper presented at the Euly, 200: "ascal Conference, 4CreationBheolo#y, -iblicalermeneutics and 5atural "hilosophy in Western Christianity! 4In creation M there isnothin# lie evil! It is impossible for evil to stem from &od! $vil in its proper sense hastaen its ori#in from our ;all! .200:'>/ he Duestion immediately arises, What aboutthe ;all of (atanH Also, who does -asil thin the serpent was or representedH When wasthe serpent createdH Unless one is willin# to attribute the ori#in of the tempter to the si%days of creation, which -asil obviously is not, the alternative is that the adversary whomthe serpent represents must have e%isted before the creation events of &enesis !

In Winter+s understandin# of the basic story of (cripture and history, &od+s

adversary rebelled a#ainst im at some indefinite time before the new 4be#innin#spoen of in &enesis '! At the time of his rebellion, (atan had responsibility for rulin#this world! his position is supported by 5ew estament understandin#s'

Eohn 2'' 4now the prince of this world will be driven out!Eude 6' 4M an#els which ept not their own principality, but left their proper

habitation, incurred the wrath of &od! .5otice the disre#ard for separation and boundaries, basic concepts that are built into the Creation story!/

$phesians 6'2' 4our stru##le is M a#ainst the authorities, a#ainst the powers ofthis dar world and a#ainst the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms!

Colossians '' 4he has rescued us from the dominion of darness and brou#htus into the in#dom of the (on he loves!

Farl Femp .200'81/ e%plores the implications of $eiel 2>'B: with re#ardto the nature of (atan prior to the creation account in &enesis ! Un#er .8>':/ andWalte .89:'1/ a#ree that these verses apparently are talin# about a hi#hBlevelan#elic bein# before he sinned throu#h pride and became &od+s adversary! here seemsto be some correspondence between (atan+s ori#inal role and the office of the hi#h priest!welve precious stones are listed in connection with the fallen an#elic bein#+s prior state3nine of these were included in the twelve stones of the hi#h priest+s breastplate describedin $%odus 2>'9B20, althou#h in differin# order! It would seem to be a fair assumptionthat in a preBcreation state these stones had spiritual si#nificance about the role of the



16

in#Blie or priestBlie an#elic bein# who fell! In the description of the &arden of $den in&enesis 2 .which is where $eiel 2> says this fallen an#el had been at one time/, the beauty of the #old and ony% is mentioned! 4?ater biblical literature su##ests that the purpose of such descriptions is to show the #lory of &od=s presence throu#h the physical beauty of the land! .(ailhamer 886'91/ Apparently there is also a postBcreationalsi#nificance to these stones, as seven of the twelve listed in $eiel 2>, and nine of thetwelve listed in $%odus 2>, are included in the foundation of the heavenly city of the newcreation .)evelation 8'8 ff!/! (piritual realities are reflected in Israel+s history, whichoften serves as a literal metaphor for spiritual truth! In this case the details of the stonesin the hi#h priest+s breastplate seem to #ive a #limpse of the nature of the fallen an#elic bein# that e%isted before the creation described in &enesis !

$rich (auer .862'9/ postulates that (atan+s area of power had been #ranted tohim le#ally before his fall and that &od+s plan to tae the rulership of the world bac fromhim had to be done 4le#ally in order to reflect is <ustice! his meant, accordin# to(auer, that &od would have to tae the rulership of the world bac without force,throu#h the free choices of neutral bein#s who would have to decide for themselveswhich ruler to follow! his was obviously a bi# ris for &od, as &re#ory -oyd points

out! .200'>6/ In effect, by creatin# humans and puttin# them in char#e of a local part ofthe world, &od was settin# up a counter Fin#dom and throwin# out a challen#e to (atan!he serpent+s insinuation to $ve was (atan+s initially successful response to thatchallen#e! -ut &od struc bac with a lon#Bterm plan, first mentioned in &enesis ':, todefeat the dar prince of this world and restore the world to what it was ori#inallyintended to be, under the rule of the CreatorBFin#!

A biblical theolo#y needs to account for the role of the devil in the unfoldin#drama of creation and redemption, thus avoidin# attributin# evil to &od! Winter+s ma<orconcern re#ardin# the need to reco#nie the e%istence of (atan is missiolo#ical! In hisunderstandin# of the ma<or theme of (cripture Winter hi#hli#hts the role of humanind in <oinin# &od to defeat the adversary and redeem all creation for the purposes &od

ori#inally intended for it, resultin# in the advance of is Fin#dom as is #lory is madenown in all the earth!

he e%istence of the adversary was well nown to the early Church ;athers!$laine "a#els shows that before Au#ustine and commentators after him, Ori#in wasaware of intentional evil in the world opposin# &od+s will! 47any instances of humanevil, as well as certain seemin#ly #ratuitous natural catastrophes, lie floods, volcanoes,and earthDuaes, are insti#ated by Pevil daimones and evil an#els+ @Contral Celsum9!6>B>!B2! Tuoted by $laine "a#els .88:'1/

(imple people, lie those for whom 7oses wrote the boo of &enesis, havealways noticed that evil is min#led with #ood in this world! 45othin# M can chan#e thefact that in our e%perience M there is #ood and there is evil! .Wenham 8>9'2/ 47anhas always suspected that behind all creation lies the abyss of formlessness! .von )ad89':2/ Althou#h &enesis may have been written to simple, uneducated people,7oses himself was an intellectual who had been wellBeducated in $#ypt! e left room inhis orderly, calm presentation in &enesis of the ori#ins of the nation of Israel, forreaders in all a#es to see that &od is not the author of evil!

If a ma<or section of the Christian movement maintains a position that, byimplication, attributes evil to &od, this becomes a si#nificant missiolo#ical problem thatneeds to be solved! One of the problems with the Intelli#ent *esi#n movement, as Winterhas said, is that it 4neither acnowled#es nor e%plains the pervasive evidence of a fallen



17

creation, a distorted creation, an intelli#ently dama#ed creation! .200:b/ hese realitiesspea of the need to rescue &od+s reputation! here is a need to e%plain 4how nature became so violent a scene and how bad thin#s may not always be the Pmysterious+ will of&od! .Winter 200:c/ 5atural disasters, for instance, are often unthinin#ly called 4anact of &od! -ut these can better be seen as diabolical .-oyd 200'0/ and should not be attributed to &od, who, as &enesis shows, created the world to be orderly throu#h a process of subduin# of chaos! As enry 7orris says, it would be monstrous to attributeto &od a creation that included vicious life when e called that creation 4very #ood!.896'98/ In other words, there needs to be a (atan in the picture!

-ut since 7orris puts all the vicious life after Adam+s ;all .because he, lie -asilof Caesera, doesn+t have a (atan in the picture until then/, he has to postulate thatvirtually the whole scientific world is wron# so he can account for the vicious animal liferecorded in the fossils which he claims fit into only a few thousand rather than a fewmillion years!

his hi#hli#hts the other aspect of Winter+s concern in relation to thinin# people bein# turned away from the -ible by inadeDuate interpretations of &enesis ! -ruceWalte a#rees' 4;or the most part the attempt to harmonie the scientific data with a

strai#htBforward readin# of &enesis is not credible and as a result the -ible+s messa#e isre<ected as a viable option in the maretplace of competin# world and life views!.88'2/

Walte #oes on to point out in his article on the #enre of &enesis that theauthor of &enesis 4was not #rapplin# with issues arisin# out of modern scientific attemptsto understand the physical universe! e needed to brea the power of a#esBold reli#iousnotions that still held many in thrall! .88'/ If modern scientific concerns can be setaside, &enesis can be seen for what it was intended to be' a revelation to Israel thatannihilated the symbols of the polytheistic worldview and #ave instead new and truesymbols pointin# toward how to live well in covenant life with &od!

his foundational basic theme of the openin# chapter of &enesis, as well as the

theme of the entire orah, is overlooed in attempts to harmonie an ancient literary te%twith modern science! &enesis is not a scientific description of how the whole world wascreated, contrary to Au#ustine+s belief! Au#ustine seems to be a source ofmisinterpretation of this chapter in more than one way! In addition to bein# the one whoencoura#ed the habit of attributin# evil to &od .because he was overBreactin# to7anichean dualism and didn+t want to #ive too much credit to (atan3 see -oyd200'281/, Au#ustine also worried repeatedly throu#hout his three commentaries on the-oo of &enesis about the 4how of creation! -y tain# &enesis for 4a true history ofthe main# of the physical world .Eai 882'>3 also see owell 200:'9/ Au#ustinesidetraced many, perhaps a ma<ority, of subseDuent commentators! Eai emphasies theresultin# 4concordist trap repeatedly in his boo, Genesis ne through the (ges!

In his !onfessions, Au#ustine had a concern identical to )alph Winter+s' 4owcould the pa#ans believe those boos in matters concernin# the resurrection of the dead,and the in#dom of heaven, when they thin their pa#es are full of falsehoods on factswhich they themselves have learnt from e%perience and the li#ht of reasonHS .Duoted byEai @882'>/ Au#ustine never did resolve the dilemma caused by tain# &enesis as atrue scientific history and tryin# to harmonie that with what scientists learn frome%perience and reason!

Winter is tryin# to propose a le#itimate interpretation for the intellectuals of thisa#e that will not offend them and that will not turn people away from faith due to foolish



18

denial of what is nown about &od+s -oo of 5ature! One way Winter uses that -oo of 5ature is to tae into consideration the scientific world+s discovery, at the time of themoon landin#, that the craters on the moon were caused by the impact of lar#e asteroids!e uses the scientific world+s realiation that the earth has also e%perienced massiveimpacts from asteriods as a lens to loo at &enesis ! .200:a'18/ ow mi#ht nowin#that life was apparently wiped out in lar#e re#ions of the planet a number of times #ive anew understandin# of the 4tohu wabohu of &enesis '2H 4As our understandin# of theworld chan#es, so does our understandin# of &enesis ! .(ailhamer 886'6/ Eohn "ye(mith also saw a local disaster behind &enesis '2 .>61'2:/! he local disaster andlocal creation theories will be e%plored in detail later in the study of this verse!

avin# described the startin# hypothesis in the hermeneutical cycle of this studyof &enesis ', 2, and the reasons why this interpretation is helpful for missiolo#ical purposes, the study will continue by demonstratin# the le#itimacy of that interpretation point by point, throu#h word studies that include the e%e#etical elements of historical bac#round, literary and immediate conte%t and other relevant Old and 5ew estament passa#es, with insi#hts from the history of e%e#esis to show how others have interpreted

each point, who else has thou#ht of or disa#reed with Winter+s hypotheses, and showin#the variety of le#itimate interpretations throu#h the a#es of ey aspects of &en!', 2.and parts of verses B:/!

I will show at the conclusion of this hermeneutical spiral that )alph Winter+sunderstandin# of &enesis ', 2 is an e%e#etically le#itimate interpretation of this passa#eand that his interpretation sheds li#ht on the nature of the missiolo#ical tas and therelated tas of arrivin# at a theolo#y of disease! &enesis was written to show how tounderstand who &od is in contrast to a pa#an worldview! he application for today isthat &enesis introduces the theme of livin# out biblical faith in the conte%t of nonB biblical reli#iousJcultural traditions!

-ORD STUDIES %RO4 GENESIS 1:1,2

-e#innin# .reshit /Created .bara/

eavens and earth .hashamayim we’et ha’aretz /$arth .aretz /Was .hayeta/Tohu wabohu



19


hayeta tohu wabohuwe’hosek al-pene tehomwe’ruach elohim merachepet al-pene hammayim




In be#innin# a study of the first two verses of &enesis, 4we must hear @&enesis as the be#innin# of a symphony whose interpretative and illuminative power transcendsall cultural diversity! hese pa#es come to us as the openin# pa#es of the -ible, and the

-ible has demonstrated sufficiently that it is not <ust any ancient boo! .-locher8>1'6/

he first two verses of the -ible literally say, 4In be#innin# &od created theheavens and the earth! And the earth was @tohu wabohu and darness was over thesurface of the deep, and the (pirit of &od was @doin# somethin# over the waters!

he interpretive translation presented earlier in this paper for verses B: reads' 4Inone of &od+s new be#innin#s e reBfashioned everythin# in nature as we now it becausethe land had been destroyed @by an asteroidal collisionH and left desolate after &od+s <ud#ment on conditions contrary to is will! -ut &od had not #iven up on the land andits people! he (pirit of &od was stirrin# over the deep chaos that was blaneted bydarness! .(uddenly/ &od said, 4?et there be li#ht, and there it was &od saw that the

li#ht was #ood and e separated the li#ht from the darness! e called the li#ht 4dayand the darness 4ni#ht! (o after evenin#, there was mornin#, one day!

7y ori#inal e%e#etical translation of &enesis ',2 from the ebrew reads'In the be#innin# &od created the heavens and the earth!As for the earth,


but the (pirit of &od stirrin# over the face of the waters!

o e%plain the choices made in these translations and to show why nonBliteraltranslations lie these are necessary for understandin# the missiolo#ical purposes of &odin history, this paper e%amines each of the ey words in detail!

eshit .-e#innin#3 (tron#+s 922:/

he first word of the -ible, bereshit, immediately plun#es us into the issue ofinterpretation! he fact that, in all the thousands of years since this word was chosen bythe biblical author, there has not been complete a#reement on how to interpret it is anindication that we cannot e%pect to neatly classify and fully comprehend &od+s dealin#s



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with humanind! As "aul said in writin# to the Corinthians, 4now we see throu#h a #lassdarly . Corinthians '2/!

What is the si#nificance of this bein# the first word of the -ibleH In our e%e#eticalassumptions we are postulatin# that every word of &enesis chapter was chosen withcare and for a purpose! ?eon Fass ass re#ardin# the -ible+s first creation story, 4Whythis ind of be#innin#H .200'26/

-locher+s statement that 4the first verse of &enesis breas with all themytholo#ies of the ancient $ast, .8>1'62/ is not Duite stron# enou#h! In fact, it is thefirst word of &enesis that throws out a challen#e to the worldviews of the ancient 5ear$ast! he -ible be#ins with the word 4be#innin# which was a forei#n concept to thecyclic worldviews of all peoples of the world at that time! istory had a be#innin#' thatwas new news And if somethin# has a be#innin#, it will have an endin#! hat was not inthe worldview of the ancient peoples! Eac ;ine#an states that the bi# chan#e withIsraelite doctrine 4was the revelation that time runs on from its be#innin# into a futurethat is always new and different! ime moves toward some culmination, the ultimateintent of which cannot be outside the purpose of &od! .862'6/

In his boo, $cience and !reation" rom +ternal !ycles to an scillating

.ni#erse, (tanley Eai shows that this concept of purposeful history, traced to the veryfirst word of &enesis, was the ori#in of the cosmolo#y that eventually made it possiblefor science to arise in EudeoBChristian western culture! -y contrast, there has been astillbirth of science in all cultures throu#hout history that have had a cosmolo#y thatreflects a view of nature cau#ht in an eternal cyclic treadmill! .891':6/ Only a belief ina be#innin# ori#inatin# from a rational, orderly Creator could #ive people the confidenceto e%periment and systematically investi#ate the orderly laws by which the worldoperates!

here is no parallel to this openin# word or sentence in 7esopotamian literature!.Walte 89:'221/ he epics of the Ancient 5ear $ast traditionally opened with theeDuivalent of the ebrew word, 4beyom, meanin# 4on the day that, or 4when! .eidel

8:'8:/ ;or instance, the -abylonian Creation $pic, the +numa +lish, be#ins, 4Whenon hi#h M! 4Once upon a time mi#ht be an eDuivalent contemporary phrase! -ut theauthor of &enesis breas from that tradition and uses the word 4bereshit .literally 4in be#innin#/ as an adverb 4standin# ma<estically alone .Eai 88>'2/ and without literary parallel at the be#innin# of the inspired Word of &od! While W! ;! Albri#ht tried to showearly in the twentieth century that &enesis depended heavily on the 7esopotamiancreation accounts, actually pointin# to the word bereshit as evidence for this dependency,Ale%ander eidel contradicted him by sayin#, 4in fact, it points in the opposite direction!.8:'86/ It had to point in the opposite direction! 7esopotamian culture had no conceptof a be#innin# and endin# to the world as they new it!

In addition to conveyin# a sense of direction and purpose to history, the biblicalconte%t of the openin# word of &enesis causes it to convey somethin# else! (omethin#e%isted before the be#innin#! ;rancis (chaeffer says, in his boo, Genesis in $pace andTime, 4althou#h &enesis be#ins, Pin the be#innin#,+ that does not mean that there wasnot anythin# before that! .892'6/

In Eohn 9'21, Eesus prays M 4Qou loved me before the creation of the world!$phesians '1' 4@&od chose us in him before the creation of the world!&od+s purposes for Eesus in redeemin# the world were established 4before the

creation of the world! . "eter '20/4(omethin# e%isted before creation and that somethin# was personal and not



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static3 the ;ather loved the (on3 there was a plan, there was communication3 and promises were made prior to the creation of the heavens and the earth! .(chaeffer892'>/

In imitation of the first words of &enesis, the &ospel of Eohn says, 4In the be#innin# already was the Word and the Word already was with &od and the Wordalready was &od! hrou#h him all thin#s were made! .(chaeffer proposes that Eohn 'B should be translated with the &ree imperfect tense for 4was! @892'22/

he writer of ebrews affirms' 4In the be#innin#, O ?ord, you laid thefoundations of the earth, and the heavens are the wor of your hands! hey will perish, but you remain3 they will all wear out lie a #arment M .'0, /! his verse brin#s outan important implication of the word 4be#innin#Kthere will be an endin#!

Wisdom also e%isted before the be#innin# as seen in "roverbs >'2ff' 4I @wisdomwas appointed from eternity, from the be#innin# @mereshit , before the world be#an!When there were no oceans, I was #iven birthM when he mared out the foundations ofthe earth, then I was the craftsman at his side!

In addition to 4wisdom and the relationship between the ;ather and the (on thate%isted before the be#innin#, $eiel 2> shows a fallen cherub+s e%istence before the

be#innin# .presumed by many commentators, includin# 7errill Un#er, to be (atan@8>':/! 4Qou were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty! MQou were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until wicedness wasfound in you! (o I drove you in dis#race from the mount of &od and I e%pelled you, O#uardian cherub M Qour heart became proud M and you corrupted your wisdom.$eiel 2>'2, :B9/!

;or the wider purposes of this paper it is important to note that <ust as 4wisdomassisted in creation from before the world be#an, it is le#itimate to hypothesie that (atanin his preBfallen an#elic state assisted in creation! It is also important to note the role ofthis created bein# in opposin# &od+s creative order after his fall! his opposition to&od+s #ood intentions for creation, tohu, and the results of the opposition, tohu wabohu,

will be e%plained in detail later in this paper!&enesis chapter opens the biblical record by showin# &od+s intention to

relentlessly oppose this opposition to his purposes by startin# over as often as necessary!)alph Winter sees &enesis ' as one of a number of new be#innin#s in the -ible.200:a'18/! $ach of these comes after a crisis that could be described as tohu, theopposite of &od+s intentions! A list of new be#innin#s in the -ible includes'

V 5oah+s family rescued in the Ar, followin# the destructive ;loodV he callin# of Abraham, followin# the confusion of lan#ua#esV he $%odus, followin# the 4nothin#ness and despair of slavery in $#yptV he restoration of the Eewish people to their land after deportation to -abylonV he comin# of Eesus, followin# centuries of apostasy by Israel and the 100 years

of an absence of hearin# from &od! Eesus+ comin# was accompanied by the chaos oferod+s slau#hter of the boy babies and Eesus+ demonstration of fi#htin# bac a#ainsttohu by castin# out many demons

V "entecost, followin# Eesus+ death, resurrection and ascension and the resultin#confusion in the minds of the disciples

V ;ollowers of Eesus becomin# new creations in Christ .2 Corinthians :'9/,renewed after livin# lives of slavery to the #od of this a#e

V he new heaven and new earth, finally endin# the #roanin#s of creation andthousands of years of troubled history on this planet



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4-e#innin# is a ey word for the biblical story and very appropriate as the firstword of that story! his openin# word of the -ible leaves room for the eternal e%istenceof &od prior to any earthly be#innin#! he author of &enesis does not follow the e%ampleof the other creation stories of the Ancient 5ear $ast that e%plain the ori#ins of the #ods!&od always e%isted from before the be#innin# and does not need to be e%plained! 4-eforeanythin# be#an to be, &od was! .)encens 861'>2/

-ut should the openin# word, bereshit , that includes the prefi% 4beth .and doesnot include the definite article, 4the/, be translated 4in the be#innin# or 4in a be#innin#H (hould we tae the first verse as an independent clause or as subordinate tothe second or third verseH ere is where technical details of the conte%t #et complicated,with no consensus!

he two first verses of the -ible are so familiar that we rarely #ive themthe attention they deserve! When we do be#in to thin about what theymean, we find that they are full of difficulties! We will have to spend alon# time on them if we wish to do <ustice to their messa#e for their owna#e and restate it authentically for our own! -ecause of some unusual

features in the ebrew, they are difficult even to translate! .&ibson'8>*aily (tudy -ible (eries' &enesis, Nol! , Westminster, Eohn Fno% "ress3accessed throu#h ?o#os -ible (oftware, pa#e unnown/

&ordon Wenham provides the most complete list of the possibilities for the clausestructure of &enesis 'B .8>9'/ so his cate#ories will be used as the basis for a chartcomparin# the views and rationale for those views of several ma<or commentators!

Options for Interpretin# the Clauses of &enesis 'Band Niews of Commentators on $ach Option

Gordon -en!a).s Categories51678: 119

Co))entators. Opinions

! Nerse is a temporal clause subordinateto the main clause in verse 2' 4In the be#innin# when &od created M the earthwas without form!M

! Wenham' this first view was proposed byIbn $ra but has little support! It presupposesthe e%istence of chaotic preBe%istent matter before the wor of creation be#an!



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2! Nerse is a temporal clause subordinateto the main clause in verse .verse 2 is a parenthetic comment/' 4In the be#innin#when &od created .now the earth was

formless/ &od said M

2! Wenham' does not favor this view thatwas first proposed by )ashi! )ecentdefenders' -auer, -ayer, errmann,umbert, (inner, (peiser3 )(N, 5$-,

5A-, $N! his interpretation observes that berehsit does not have the definite article 4the! It presupposes the e%istence of chaotic preBe%istent matter before the wor of creation be#an!

W!;! Albri#ht pointed out the 4when Mthen translation for &en 'B as a borrowin# of the -abylonian style from the$numa $lish! 4his proposal can be <ustified by the #rammar and can be illustrated

elsewhere in the ebrew scriptures, but doesnot meet all the demands of the te%t as $! E!Qoun# has pointed out! .Faiser 890' :> /

Fidner' &rammatically &enesis ' could betranslated as introducin# a clause completedin verse after a parenthetical verse 2'4When &od be#an to create M .the earthwas without form M/, &od said, ?et there beli#ht!.869' 1/ -ut Fidner favors thefourth, traditional interpretation, which he

considers to be eDually valid!

)obert Alter' ;ollowin# the source criticismschool of thou#ht, Alter assi#ns &enesis tothe priestly 4" author and assumes that he be#ins his account, accordin# to the #eneralconvention of openin# formulas for ancient 5ear $astern creation epics, with anintroductory adverbial clause, 4When &od be#an to create heaven and earth M .Alter8>' 12/

errence ;retheim Duotes, with approval,he 5ew Eewish Nersion' 4When &od be#anto create the heaven and the earthKthe earth bein# unformed and void, with the darnessover the surface of the deep and a wind from&od sweepin# over the waterK&od said,?et there be li#ht!



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! Nerse is a main clause, summariin# allthe events described in the chapter! It is atitle to the chapter as a whole!

Wenham' his view presupposes thee%istence of chaotic preBe%istent matter before the wor of creation be#an!

-locher' points out that temporal phrasesre#ularly occur without the article! .8>1'62/

All the ancient versions, the ?, Nul#ate,and most modern translations interpret verse, 4In the be#innin# &od created! heapostle Eohn confirms this choice when heechoes the prolo#ue of &enesis in Eohn '!

-locher states that he a#rees with Qoun#,Westermann, Walte, Cassuto, -eauchamp,

and von )ad' 4in retainin# the readin# of theancient versions! It avoids ascribin# adifficult construction to the te%t and is moresuitable for the first verse of the -ible, theopenin# of a ma<estic passa#e! PIn the be#innin# &od created+ acts as a title, as-eauchamp and others have seen! 5ote' -locher does not distin#uish betweenthose who see &enesis ' as a title that presupposes a creation before &enesis 'and those who see this verse in the more

traditional view as the title for the descriptionof the first act of creation! -oth of theseviews a#ree that the verse is an independentsentence!

Walte e%amines le%ical and #rammaticalar#uments in #reat detail! e ass, 4Isbereshit in the construct or absolute stateH Ifit is construct @such as, 4at the be#innin#, or4from the be#innin#, then verse is adependent clause! If it is in the absolute statethe traditional renderin# will stand! .89:'222/ Althou#h Walte acnowled#es thatbereshit is nearly always used in theconstruct state, he feels the one e%ception inIsaiah 16'0 .4I mae nown the end fromthe be#innin#/ shows that the word canle#itimately be considered to be in theabsolute state in &enesis ', with a temporalmeanin#! e further ar#ues that if 7oses had



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wanted to be unambi#uous he could haveused the 4infinite construct as in &enesis2'1' 4When they were created @behibara!Apparently Walte thins the author couldhave chosen to omit the word reshit and start

the first verse as he ended the passa#e if hisclear intention had been to be#in the passa#eas other ancient literature often be#an! 5ote' It would seem very sensible to use anambi#uous #rammatical construction at the be#innin# of a section of (cripture that &odnew would be understood in many differentways down throu#h history! Walte sees no problem with the absenceof the definite article! e refers to Ale%andereidel who states that terms lie reshith .be#innin#/, rosh, .be#innin#/, /edem .olden

times/ and olam, .eternity/, 4when used inadverbial e%pressions, occur almostinvariably without the article, and that in theabsolute state! .8:' 82/ Walte considers even more convincin#that the word should be understood as anabsolute is the fact that 4all ancient versions.?, Nul#ate, ADuila, ar#um Onelos/construed the form as absolute and verse asan independent clause! .89:' 22/ Walte concludes that the chaotic state

described in verse 2 e%isted before thecreation spoen of in the -ible, and heunderstands verse as an independent clauseand verse 2 as a circumstantial clauseconnected with verse ! 4Accordin# to thisview, verse is a summary statement, orformal introduction, which is epe%e#eted inthe rest of the narrative! It appears to thisauthor that this is the only viewpoint thatcompletely satisfies the demands of ebrew#rammar! .89:' 22:, 226/

5et -ible' he editors a#ree with Waltethat the word translated 4be#innin# is in theabsolute state rather than the construct.which would be translated, 4when &odcreated/! 4In other words, the clause in v! is a main clause, v! 2 has three clauses thatare descriptive and supply bac#roundinformation, and v! be#ins the narrative



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1! Nerse is a main clause describin# the

first act of creation! Nerses 2 and describethe subseDuent phases in &od+s creativeactivity!

seDuence proper! he referent of the wordSbe#innin#S @of whatH has to be definedfrom the conte%t since there is no be#innin#or endin# with &od! he 5et -ible+s editors see the verse as a

summary statement of the rest of the chapter'about &od+s creatin# the world 4as we nowit! 5ote' It is interestin# to see that the editorsdid not say, 4as they new it which couldonly have been the case, since the ancientebrews had no concept of the world as wenow now it! he editors conclude that &enesis itselfdoes not account for the ori#inal creation ofmatter but this does not deny that the -ibleteaches that &od created everythin# out of

nothin#Kit simply says that &enesis is notwhere that is tau#ht! his view presupposesmatter that e%isted before the &enesis creation account!

1! Wenham' his is the traditional viewadopted in our translation! 5ote' Wenham bases his choice on the

presupposition that &en! has to e%plain theori#inal creation of everythin# out ofnothin#! e re<ects the first three options because they 4presuppose the e%istence ofchaotic preBe%istent matter before the worof creation be#an! .8>9' /

(ailhamer follows this view when he statesthat in the 4be#innin# &od created theuniverse3 no time limitations are placed onthat period! .886'28/

Faiser analyes verse as an independentclause .for reasons mentioned below/, but hedoes not mae clear whether he believes thesentence is functionin# as a title or as the firstact of creation since he is mainly interested inclarifyin# the literary style of the chapter.history, myth, etc!/! (ince Faiser tends tomae conservative choices, I have put his



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comments under the fourth view! Faiser sees&enesis ' as an independent sentence forthese reasons'a! the 7assoretes used the symbol thatresembles our 4' showin# the end of a

sentence, indicatin# their early understandin#of the verse as an independent clause b! the ancient versions treat the verse as anindependent clausec! the position of the sub<ect prior to the verb.rather than the usual position of followin#the verb/ in verse 2 indicates that the secondverse contains subordinate clauses to verse .Faiser 890' :> /

Fidner' e considers the familiar translation,4In the be#innin# &od M to be <ust as valid

#rammatically as be#innin# with 4When &odM e favors this fourth view because itaffirms 4uneDuivocally the truth laid downelsewhere .eb! '/ that until &od spoe,nothin# e%isted! .869' 1/ 5ote' A number of commentators base theirultimate choice on the #rammar that mosteasily supports creation out of nothin# ratherthan implyin# somethin# e%istin# before the be#innin#!

$ummary and e#aluation' With the traditional interpretation either a #ap must beacnowled#ed between verses and 2 or it has to be said that &od ori#inally created theearth to be tohu wabohu Kdestroyed, desolate and inhospitable for life! (ince the other planets in our solar system could be described as inhospitable for life, this may not be asdifficult to accept as some have thou#ht, who base their views on Isaiah 1:'>' 4e whocreated the heavens, M who fashioned and made the earth, M he did not create it to be

empty @tohu, but formed it to be inhabited!It would be hard to ar#ue with -ruce Walte+s carefully ar#ued position, seein#&enesis ' as an independent summary statement for the chapter, as he is considered to be the top $van#elical ebrew and Old estament scholar! In the end, with any of theinterpretations, we can acnowled#e that &od is the ultimate Creator of everythin#, someof that creation has been inhospitable for life either before or after &enesis ', so &odfashioned or reBfashioned the earth to be a place where life could e%ist! his may havehappened repeatedly in preBhistory, as indicated by the chart in )alph Winter+s writin#sshowin# ma<or asteroidal collisions on the earth over millions of years! .Winter 200:a'18/



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&enesis , in Winter+s view, represents a local refashionin# of the land followin# a ma<ordisaster, #ettin# it ready for humans in &od+s ima#e to mae a new be#innin# in the battlea#ainst the adversary!

An e%e#etical word study of the ebrew word reshit , translated 4be#innin# in&enesis ', shows that Winter+s interpretation of &enesis ', in which he sees the4be#innin# as one amon# many new be#innin#s, is compatible with the meanin# of theword! eshit often refers to an indefinite period of time at the be#innin# of a seDuence ofevents rather than to a specific startin# point .for which another ebrew word e%ists/!(ailhamer bases his interpretation on this meanin# when he says about the first verse.referrin# to the ori#inal creation of the universe/, 4no time limitations are placed on that period! .886'28/

$%amples of the use of the word, reshit , include'&enesis 0'0 the be#innin# of his in#dom&enesis 18' the be#innin# of my stren#th .5IN' When Eacob blessed his sons he said to)euben, you are my firstborn, my mi#ht, the first si#n of my stren#th M/$%odus 2'8' the first of the firstfruits of the land @5IN' -rin# the best of the firstfruits*euteronomy '2' from the be#innin# of the year to its end @an indefinite period of

time, not an instant (amuel 2'28' the chiefest of all the offerin#s 5O$' ;irstfruits seems to be the most common use of the term reshit "roverbs 1'9' wisdom is the principal thin#"roverbs >'22' I was appointed from eternity, from the be#innin#, before the world be#an!"roverbs 9'1' the be#innin# of strife .5IN' (tartin# a Duarrel is lie M/Isaiah 16'0' declarin# the end from the be#innin#Eereremiah 26'' in the be#innin# of the rei#n of .5IN' $arly in the rei#n of Eehoaim/Eereremiah 18'1' early in the rei#n of of Xedeiah M7icah '' you who live in ?achish, M you were the be#innin# of sin to the *au#hter of

Xion @#ives a sense of ori#ins

he root word for reshit is rosh .(tron#+s 92>/! )osh is translated head, chief,on top of, captain, principal, forefront!$ccl! '' they cannot fathom what &od has done from be#innin# @rosh to endIs! 10'2' told you from the be#innin# @roshIs! 1'26' who told of this from the be#innin# @rosh, so we could now' from the start,the source!

Another word for 4be#innin# is the word for a definite startin# point' t’ghillah.(tron#+s >162/&en! '' where his tent had been at the be#innin#&en! 1'2' still ill favoured, as at the be#innin#&en 1'>' in our sacs at the first timeEud! 20'>' which of us shall #o up first)uth '22' in the be#innin# of barley harvest"rov! 8'0' the fear of the ?ord is the be#innin# of wisdom

arris, Archer, and Walte, in the Theological 0ordbook of the ld Testament e%plain that reshit may refer to the initiation of a series of historical events .&en 0'0,



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Eer 6'/3 it may indicate a foundational or necessary condition such as the fear of &od ."s'03 "rov '9/3 the initiation of a life .Eob >'9/3 the best of a #roup or class of thin#sto be set aside for &od .4first fruits @?ev! 2'2/!

Considerin# the evidence for the use of reshit and the other words available to theauthor if he had wanted to convey a definite startin# point, it would seem to bereasonable to postulate that 4in the be#innin# refers to an indefinite period of time whichcould have stretched both bacwards, before creation, and forwards into the early eventsof creation! (ince reshit does not refer to a definite startin# point, the translation, 4in oneof &od+s new be#innin#s would seem to be a valid interpretation! If the definite articlehad been used this translation would have been problematic, but since the article is notused, it would seem permissible to su##est that the te%t may be intentionally ambi#uous!

A number of respected scholars a#ree that &enesis ' does not refer to the be#innin# of 4everythin# but to somethin# more recent! he followin# summarysupports Winter+s interpretation of this verse and chapter, Duotin# or paraphrasin#several commentators who consider &enesis ' to be a 4relative be#innin# or a 4new be#innin# as Winter prefers to call it!

0ie#s of Co))entators

A ")$B&$5$(I( ' C)$AIO5 A5* A 5$W -$&I55I5&

4erri&& % Unger4It is more liely that verse @of &enesis refers to a relative be#innin# rather

than the absolute be#innin#! he chapter would then be accountin# for the Creation ofthe universe as man nows it, not the be#innin# of everythin#, and verses B2 would provide the introduction to it! he fall of (atan and entrance of sin into &od+s ori#inalCreation would precede this! .8>':/

/&&en Ross4PIn the be#innin#+ is a relative be#innin# in which the cosmos was reshaped for

the latecomerKman! -rou#ht into e%istence before sin entered the universe .$eiel 2>,Isa! 1/, the ori#inal earth was desi#ned to be the habitation of &od+s first sinless an#eliccreatures .Eob >3 Isa! 1:/! his sinless earth was evidently the place where sin be#an in&od+s hitherto sinless universe in connection with the revolt of (atan! .886'98/

4In the first part of &enesis '2, there is M an ominous, uncomfortable tone! heclauses describe not the results of divine creation but a chaos at the earliest sta#e of thisworld! It is not the purpose of &enesis to tell the reader how the chaos came about! Mhe e%positor must draw some conclusions from other passa#es with similar descriptions!If one can posit that the fall of (atan .$e 2>/ brou#ht about the chaos in &od+s ori#inalcreation, then &enesis describes a reBcreation, or &od+s first act of redemption,salva#in# his world and creatin# all thin#s new! .886'09/

4In view of the synta% of the first three verses and the meanin#s of all the wordschosen, the view of &erhard von )ad seems to carry the most e%e#etical support! hat is,verse is the summary statement of the contents of chapter ! Nerse 2 providescircumstantial clauses that describe the state of the earth when &od spoeKit was wasteand void, enveloped in darness, covered with the deep, but the (pirit of &od washoverin# over the face of the waters! he first day of creation would actually be#in with



30

verse , althou#h verse 2 provides the circumstances! he chapter records the brin#in# ofcreation as we now it out of chaos! ;or the initial creation, or ori#inal creation, one hasto loo elsewhere in the -ible! his view M reco#nies that 4be#innin#s with &od arenot necessarily absolute be#innin#s! .886'92/

+rue -a&t;e4P-e#innin#+ refers to the entire created event, the si% days of creation, not somethin# before the si% days! M his is a relative be#innin#! As verse 2 seems to indicate, there is a preB&enesis time and space! .200':>/Walte a#rees with the view 4that M sees the chaotic state described in verse 2 ase%istin# before the creation spoen of in the -ible! @It understands verse as anindependent clause and verse 2 as a circumstantial clause connected with vs! !.89:'22:/

Terrene E %ret!ei)4When &od be#an to create the heaven and the earthKthe earth bein# unformed andvoid, with the darness over the surface of the deep and a wind from &od sweepin# over

the waterK&od said, ?et there be li#ht! .he 5ew Eewish Nersion/;retheim prefers this translation and says this means the time involved would be relative,sometime in the past, but not the absolute be#innin# of time! 4his would appear to bethe meanin# of the word Pbe#innin#+ in Isa! 16'0 @reshit 3 10'2 @rosh3 1'1 @rosh!.868':1/

<o!n 3 Sai&!a)er4wo distinct time periods are mentioned in &en '! he Pbe#innin#+ when &od created the universe3 no time limitations are placed on that period!2! &enesis '2B2'1a'&od prepared the &arden of $den for man+s dwellin#3 that activity

occurred in one wee! .886'28/4he ebrew word reshit has a very specific sense in (cripture! It always refers to ane%tended yet indeterminate duration of timeKnot a specific moment! It refers to aduration of time which falls before a series of events! .886'>/4&od created the universe durin# an indeterminate period of time before the actualreconin# of a seDuence of time be#an! Other ebrew words were available to the authorto convey the temporal concept of a Pbe#innin#!+ e could have used a ebrew wordsimilar to the $n#lish word Pstart+ or Pinitial point!+ .886'10, 1/

(ailhamer is close to )alph Winter+s opinion, but he considers &enesis ' to bethe description of the ori#inal, universal creation, in summary form! (o he sees a #ap before the local reBcreation starts in verse rather than a creation before &enesis ',which is Winter+s and Un#er+s preference! Winter sees &enesis ' as a local new be#innin# in the 7iddle $ast after a ma<or disaster had wiped out life in that part of a preB&enesis ' creation! his disaster may have been the result of <ud#ment, as is the case prior to other biblical new be#innin#s! he ori#in and ;all of (atan and the e%istence ofthe vicious life forms seen in the fossil record all belon# to this preB&enesis ' creation,in Winter+s view! &enesis shows &od preparin# a land for a new humanity, made in isima#e for the purpose of worin# with im to brin# order out of chaos and to defeat theintentions of the adversary!



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Bara +lohim .&od Created3 bara' (tron#+s 2:1/' It is not necessary to infer a creationout of nothin# .e& nihilo/ from the ebrew, bara!

$%amples from a concordance search of the word bara show that often the wordis in the conte%t of reBcreatin# somethin#'

"s :'0' Create in me a clean heart, O &odIsa 1'2B:' In that day M the ?ord Mwill cleanse the bloodstains from Eerusalem

by a spirit of <ud#ment and a spirit of fire! hen the ?ord will create over all of 7ountXion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoe by day and a #low of flamin#fire by ni#ht3 over all the #lory will be a canopy!

Isa :9'>, 8' I have seen his ways, but I will heal him3 I will #uide him andrestore comfort to him, creatin# praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel!

Isa 6:'9' I create new heavens and a new earth3"s 01'0' when you send your (pirit, they are created, and you renew the face of

the earth

hese e%amples lend support to the le#itimacy of the interpretation of &enesis as a refashionin# of a previously <ud#ed and destroyed earth! Bara does not have to referto an ori#inal creation out of nothin#!

A concordance study of the word bara shows that in the al and niphal forms it isalways &od who creates, but in the piel .added intensity/ people are the sub<ect of bara, bein# told to bara .cut down/ a forest of trees in Eosh 9':, > .or 4mae a place forthemselves!/ he reference in the piel form is to the operation of brin#in# into orderwaste forest land, or turnin# chaos, the tohu wabohu of desolate and uninhabitable land,into a wellBarran#ed, cultivated, and lifeBsupportin# territory! (o this rare use of the wordbara is also important as another implication of the disorder precedin# the creationevents that could have been understood by the ori#inal audience of &enesis ', 2! It also

hints at the theme of evenin# followed by mornin# repeated throu#hout &enesis ' thathumans can imitate &od in the creative process by main# uninhabitable areas becomeinhabitable, metaphorically causin# evenin# to become mornin#! In this sense, Eoshua9': could be seen as a literal metaphor that illustrates what it means for &od to havereBmade the land in &enesis ', 2 that was in an uninhabitable state!

Other shades of meanin# for bara come from closely associated ebrew words'barach .bless, mentioned by Wenham 8>9'1/ and barar .cleanse, mentioned by! ?ewis >::'18/! Creation as blessin# and creation as cleansin# are helpful additionalassociations that would have possibly been cau#ht by the ori#inal listenin# audiencethrou#h the similar sounds of the ebrew words! he sense of cleansin# and purifyin#combined with the sense of cuttin# away or slashin# what is unhelpful for life .compareebrews 1'2'the Word of &od is M sharper than any twoBed#ed sword/ is seen in theuse of bara in "salm :'' 4Create in me a clean heart, O &od, and renew a ri#ht spiritwithin me! (o creation is a clearin# up, a cleansin#, a purifyin#, a brin#in# into order.out of tohu wabohu/!

Eohn (ailhamer, who advocates seein# &enesis as a local creation of the ?and ofIsrael, points out that bara is often synonymous with another ebrew word, asah,.4maeK it is used synonymously with bara in &enesis 2'1/ which can be used to meanto wash one+s feet or trim one+s beard .notice the associations a#ain with cuttin# andcleanin# that are associated with the piel form of bara/'



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2 (am! 8'2:' wash .asah' doJ tae care ofJ dressJ prepare/ one+s feet2 (am 8'2:' trim .asah' do/ one+s beard(ailhamer concludes that when &enesis 2'1 says &od 4made .asah/ the earth and

heavens .that he had baraJcreated/, it means the same as the $n#lish e%pression StomaeS a bed! When the land was covered with water it was not inhabitable! &od slashed aseparation between the waters and commanded the waters below to recede from the landto 4mae a place fit for human habitation! he word bara, supplemented with themeanin#s of its piel form and its synonym, asah, means to put somethin# in #ood order,to mae it ri#ht!

%ashamayim we’et ha’aretz . eavens and earth/ eavens' (tron#+s >0613 $arth'(tron#+s 996/ 4eavens and earth is a literary term that means more than the sum ofits parts!

&en '' In the be#innin# &od created the heaven and the earth&en 2'' the heavens and the earth were finished&en 2'1' &od made the earth and the heavens

$% '9' the ?ord made heaven and earth2 Fin#s 8':' you have made heaven and earth"s :':' 7ay you be blessed by the ?ord, the 7aer of heaven and earth!"s 21'>' Our help is in the name of the ?ord, who made heaven and earthIsa 9'6' eeiah+s prayer' O ?ord Almi#hty, &od of Israel, enthroned between thecherubim, you alone are &od over all the in#doms of the earth! Qou have made heavenand earth!Isa 66'22' As the new heavens and the new earth that I mae will endure before me,declares the ?ord, so will your name and descendants endure!Eer 2'9' Ah (overei#n ?ord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your #reat power and outstretched arm! 5othin# is too hard for you!

a# 2'6, 2' his is what the ?ord Almi#hty says' In a little while I will once more shaethe heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land! I will shae all nations, and thedesired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with #lory, M

In the ma<ority of uses of this term, the conte%t is of &od bein# the Creator or7aer of heaven and earth, of everythin# that is nown! is bein# the Creator of heavenand earth is an indication of his power and authority, includin# over other nations, and his#lory and honor, includin# reco#nition from leaders of other nations that the &od ofIsrael is uniDue as Creator of heaven and earth! is power to help is tied to this phrase!is blessin# is special because of is bein# so hi#h above all others that he could createeverythin#! -ecause &od is maer of heaven and earth, 4nothin# is too hard for im!

&ordon Wenham points out that this type of literary term 4is characteristic ofmany lan#ua#es to describe the totality of somethin# in terms of its e%tremes! e!#!, P#oodand bad, Pbi# and little,+ etc! .8>9':/ (ailhamer describes this fi#ure of speech as a4merism that combines two words that tae on a distinct meanin# of their own toe%press a sin#le idea! 4A merism e%presses Ptotality+ by combinin# two contrasts ore%tremes! .886'::/ e #ives an e%ample of a merism in "s! 8'2' 4you now mysittin# down and my risin# up! he fi#ure of speech means the ?ord nows everythin#about *avid! 4-y linin# M Pheavens and earth+ the ebrew lan#ua#e e%presses thetotality of all that e%ists! he e%pression stands for the Pentirety of the universe!+ Itincludes not only the two e%tremes but also all that they contain! .886':6/



33

-ased on this understandin#, &en! ' could therefore be translated PIn the be#innin# &od created everythin#!+ his raises the thou#ht that &od inspired the authorto use phrases that can e%pand in meanin# throu#hout time! What the ancient ebrewsthou#ht 4heaven and earth meant is not the same as what we now today, but both aretrue!

Commentators often insist that the phrase 4heaven and earth denotes theuniverse as we now it today, but this is an anachronistic readin# of the ancient te%t!"hysicist and Catholic theolo#ian (tanley Eai bemoans that while Au#ustine realied thatthe e%pression 4heaven and earth was 4Pcarefully chosen by a spiritual man in a mannerthat is accommodated to unlearned readers or hearers+ Au#ustine did not #o further andset forth 4what Punlearned men+ understood on hearin# &enesis recited to them! o thismost important tas, in which lay the #enuine clue to &enesis , Au#ustine failed toaddress himself! .Eai 882b'>6/ In other words, the ori#inal audience hearin# &enesis for the first time would not have been thinin# in terms of a scientific description of howthe universe and planet earth came into e%istence! )ather they would have taen the termas an idiom for the totality of the visible world, as they new it, that had its ori#in with&od!

he 5et -ible illustrates this common mistae amon# commentators when theeditors e%plain that the first verse of the -ible refers to the be#innin# of the world as4we now it, rather than more sensibly statin# that 4heaven and earth refers to thetotality of the world as 4they new it!

(retz hayeta .$arth wasJhad become/ $arthJaretz ' (tron#+s 9963 wasJhayeta' (tron#+s 86! In these word studies I include e%e#etical <ustification for the concept of a localcreation!

Umberto Cassuto translates wa’aretz hayeta' 4as for the earth, it was M and

calls attention to the unusual word order! 5ormally in ebrew the verb precedes thesub<ect, but 4whenever the sub<ect comes before the predicate, as here, the intention ofthe -ible is to #ive emphasis to the sub<ect and tell us somethin# new about it!.811'he (tory of the ;irst *ay/

$%amples of the sub<ect precedin# the verb'&enesis '' we’ha’ghahsh hayeta ahroom mekohl .5ow the serpent was more

crafty/Eonah '' we’Niyne#eh hayeta ur gedolah .5ow 5ineveh was a #reat city/Xechariah '' wa’1ehoshua hayeta lah#ash .5ow Eoshua was clothed @with

filthy #arments/&enesis '2' we’ha’aretz hayeta tohu wabohu .5ow the earth was tohu wabohu/his sentence construction focuses the reader+s .or listener+s/ attention on the

sub<ect of the sentence! 4As for the earth alluded to in the first verse, I must tell you thatat the be#innin# of its creation, it was without form or life, etc! .Cassuto 811' he(tory of the ;irst *ay/

A concordance study of the word 4earth reveals that aretz can be translated torefer to the whole nown earth or to a local area, dependin# on how the translator thinsit should be interpreted! After the ;lood, the term seems to be used more often to refer toa localied or specialied land'

&en '2>' in the land of his nativity



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&en '' to #o into the land of Canaan&en 2'' &et thee out of thy country3 unto a land that I will shew thee&en '8' is not the whole land before theeH .cal ha’aretz 3 referrin# to Abram+s

invitation to ?ot to choose the part of the land he wanted to live in, obviously notreferrin# to the whole planet or even the nown earth at that time/

:'>' unto thy seed have I #iven this land .a local area described in detail by its boundaries/

land of Canaanland of $#yptland of "hilistines, etc!Eob 0'2, 22' land of darnessWith these uses of the word aretz in mind, it becomes necessary to apply the

e%e#etical principle of considerin# what the ori#inal audience would have understood bythe term in order to interpret the use of this word in &enesis '2! What was 7oses+ purpose in tellin# the people about the aretz and the need to refashion the ne#ative stateof 4the earth or 4land .aretz / and what would the people have thou#ht he was referrin#toH

Within the hermeneutical spiral, in which we eep returnin# to some of the samewords and phrases, after havin# #athered insi#hts while e%plorin# other aspects of&enesis ', 2, the answers to these Duestions will assume the word aretz to refer to thelocal land! (o in order to e%plore the purposes for which 7oses described the aretz in&enesis '2, we will first need to loo at the evidence showin# it was liely that the localland was what the ori#inal audience would have understood 7oses to be referrin# to!

he ;rench commentator )ashi, writin# durin# the 7iddle A#es, #ives us)abbi Isaac+s social e%planation @for creation! It is in order that e mi#ht#ive them the herita#e of the nations! ;or should the peoples of the worldsay to Israel, PQou are robbers, because you too by force the lands of theseven nations of Canaan,+ Israel may reply to them PAll the earth belon#s

to the oly One, blessed be e3 e created it and #ave it to whom e pleased!+ .)osenbaum 816'2/

ere )ashi is Duotin# from Eeremiah 29':, an understandin# of the earth that Eohn(ailhamer feels it would be natural for the people of Israel to have held from their be#innin# as a nation .886'26/' 4his is what the ?ord Almi#hty, the &od of Israel,says' Pell this to your masters' With my #reat power and outBstretched arm I made theearth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I #ive it to anyone I please!+.Eeremiah 29'1, :/

(ailhamer, the most outspoen contemporary proponent of the local earth theory.see $nd 5ote / cautions in his boo, Genesis .nbound , that 4today the word Pearth+too easily calls up ima#es of the whole planet on which we live! .886':>/ he modernview of the universe should not be allowed to control our understandin# of what theauthor of &enesis would have meant by 4earth! One of (ailhamer+s sources, Eohn "ye(mith, stated, 4a most important inDuiry is the meanin# of the word which we renderearth! .>:1'218/ e #oes on to point out that the ancient ebrews could not have hadany conception of the planet as we now it .4the spheroidal fi#ure of the earth/, so wemust base our understandin# of the 4earth 4in conformity with the ideas of the peoplewho used it! M ;reDuently it stands for the land of "alestine, and indeed for any country



35

or district that is mentioned or referred to! (ometimes @aretz denotes a mere plot of#round3 and sometimes the soil, clay, and sand, or any earthy matter! .>:1'2:0/

7ost commentators, without any e%planation, simply assume that the modernconception of the planet is what is meant by aretz in &enesis '2! -ut several have somethou#htful comments that can be taen in support of the local earth theory if thee%e#etical principle is applied to their thinin#, that the meanin# of the words to theori#inal audience is what it still means today! ;or instance, the editors of the 5et -iblee%plain aretz as 4this is what we now call Pthe earth!+ "rior to this the substance which became the earth .Gdry land/ lay dormant under the water! -ut why would thesecommentators thin of the meanin# of the 4earth in &enesis '2 in today+s termsH heeditors could have better e%plained aretz as 4what $Q called Pthe earth!+ hat wouldhave opened a profitable line of inDuiry that relatively few scholars have taen the troubleto e%plore!

&ordon Wenham Duotes a 8th century commentator, sayin#, 4Accordin# to(tadelmann @author of %ebrew !onception of the 0orld , p! 29, Pthe term aretz means primarily the entire area in which man thins of himself as livin#, as opposed to there#ions of heaven or the underworld!+ .8>9':/ his commentator could <ust as easily

have ended his sentence without the final phrase, which would have been to admit thataretz means the area in which a people thins of themselves as livin# locally!

-ruce Walte ob<ects to (ailhamer+s 4novel su##estion of limitin# 4the earth toa local creation, because Walte is 4bound .as (ailhamer puts it/ by his assumption thatin &enesis ' 4heaven and earth refers to the entire cosmos! .(ailhamer himself ends up bein# bound by this same assumption, as shown below, even thou#h he wrote his boo,Genesis .nbound , to try to avoid <ust such an e%e#etical trap as Walte describes!/Walte ob<ects to the local earth interpretation on the basis of the literary devise of theinclusio formed by ' and 2'! .200':8/

&enesis ' In the be#innin# &od created the heavens and the earth! .5IN/&enesis 2' hus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array!

.5IN/Walte+s .and (ailhamer+s/ assumption that ' refers to the cosmos means the

same must be true in 2', and lo#ically, then, the narrative in between must also refer towhat the summary statements refer toKaccordin# to them, the entire cosmos! If this lineof reasonin# is accepted, and it seems very lo#ical to mae this connection, (ailhamer+sar#ument for a local creation has a fatal flaw! -ut on the other hand, this is an e%cellentar#ument in support of )alph Winter+s theory in which he insists that ' must refer tothe same local area as the preBcreation .&enesis '2/ and creation sections .the rest of thechapter/ refer to .200:a'1:/! Walte+s ob<ections to a local creation disappear if we taethe ori#inal hearers+ understandin# of Sheavens and earthS as bein# 4everythin# theynew of, and the 4earth as the local land, perhaps of Israel .which could be seen as ametaphor standin# for the whole earth as it be#an to be more fully e%plored and nown/!

Catholic theolo#ian, enricus )encens, came close to reco#niin# the localnature of the creation story in &enesis when he said, 4we have thus in &enesis the storyof the creation told from start to finish in function of the actual world as it is empiricallyobserved to be! he creation on the one hand, and on the other the actual world of theauthor+s own observation, are completely bound up to#ether in his mind! Unfortunatelyhe missed the implications of his insi#ht when he added, 4And his world was the same asour own! .861'1>, 18/ -ut the author+s world was not the same as our own! It was theland of Israel, not the whole #lobe, which was unnown at that time!



36

Eohn (ailhamer follows Eohn ?i#htfoote and Eohn "ye (mith, and, apparentlyunwittin#ly, a littleBnown woman named Isabella *uncan .writin# durin# Charles*arwin+s time, and in response to his theories @&ould 888/, in seein# the land of Israelas the actual landscape where the creation events occurred, with &enesis and 2 bein#about the same thin#!

ain# the &enesis creation accounts as a refashionin# .see discussion of theword 4bara/ of the land of Israel after a local disaster means this was an event thatcould have been witnessed by any humans .or humanBlie creatures/ livin# <ust outsidethe devastated and reBbuilt area! (tanley Eai e%plains the common elements in the $numaelish and &enesis by su##estin# that 4both were formulated within one and the samelandscape! .882b'8/ ;ollowin# )alph Winter+s line of reasonin#, we can furtherspeculate that the same asteroidal local collision and its aftermath could be what wasdescribed and handed down in oral tradition as a battle between the #ods in the $numaelish, usin# mythical and metaphorical lan#ua#e, and described as tohu wabohu in&enesis '2!

(tafford Wri#ht specifically confirms this hypothesis, asin# 4(uppose it is truethat &od made a new be#innin# with a man and a woman with moral and spiritual

capacities in the re#ion of the Upper $uphrates, round about 6000 -C! Why should not atrue tradition have been transmitted of actual events MH .8:6'29/

(ailhamer affirms this new be#innin# and says the &enesis and 2 creationversions are about the same events and in the same settin#, from different perspectives!.886':/ e feels the author 4e%pected his readers to see a meanin#ful lin between&enesis and 2! .886'80/ In support of this claim, he says the two accounts follow the pattern of other narratives in &enesis L in which the author first #ives a #eneraldescription of an event, followed by another narrative with more detail about the sameevent! (ailhamer seems to be referrin# to the 4toledot sections of &enesis B in whichWalte and his coBauthor, literary e%pert Cathy ;redrics, see, amon# other patterns inthe structure of the toledot cycles, one they call 4#eneraliation and particulariation!

.200'1/ he followin# summary of the pattern of #eneraliations and details is a resultof ori#inal inductive research'

&en! :'B2'he #eneral written account .toledot / of Adam+s line, endin# with 5oah and his sons!

his is followed by two detailed stories'&en! 6'B>' he problem with the 5ephilim and evil amon# the people in #eneral,

leadin# &od to decide to wipe them from face of the earth .his passa#e functions bothas a detailed account in relation to the precedin# passa#e and as a #eneral account inrelation to the ne%t passa#e!/

&en! 6'8L>'22' &ives a detailed account from 5oah+s life of how &od went aboutwipin# the evil people out but preservin# 5oah+s line

&en' 8'>, 8' In a #eneral section, the sons of 5oah are named .4from themcame the people who were scattered over the earth/

&en! 8'20B29' &ives the detailed story about 5oah and his sons when he wasdrun and the conseDuences of curses and blessin#s!

&en! 0'B2' he toledot of (hem, am and Eapheth, 5oah+s sons, ends with the#eneral statement, 4they spread out over the earth after the flood!



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&en! 'B8' &ives the detailed account of how that spreadin# out happened dueto the <ud#ment at the tower of -abel

&en! '0B26' he #eneral toledot of (hem, is a flashbac to two years after theflood, up to the time of Abraham

&en! '29B2' he toledot of erah, a descendant of (hem, is a detailed story oferah+s family and the account of how he too Abram and ?ot to aran!

In li#ht of this literary conte%t, it is feasible to assume that within the conte%t ofthe other #eneralJparticular sections of &enesis B, the first two chapters could be seenas havin# the followin# pattern of #eneral accounts nested with detailed accounts'

&eneral' &enesis ', 2' a #eneral statement about the refashionin# of a locallydestroyed area

*etail' &enesis 'L2' or 1' details about that reBcreation event!&eneral' the first three days of creation describe the preparation for the

4heavens and earth to be inhabited by livin# bein#s*etail' the second three days of creation #ive the account of the creation

of the livin# bein#s for each of the three respective habitats' air,water, and land!

&eneral' &enesis '2L2' or 1 serves at the same time as a #eneral account inrelation to the ne%t section

*etail' &enesis chapter 2 #ives details about specific humans and the preparationof a specific land for them to live in!

his nestin# of #eneral account Jdetailed account doublin# as another #eneralaccount Jdetailed account, is parallel to &enesis 6'B>, which serves both as a detailedstory for the #eneral section endin# with :', and in its own turn as a #eneral account thatis followed by the more detailed account from 5oah+s life, be#innin# in &enesis 6'8,e%plainin# how &od accomplished what was briefly summaried earlier!

hese e%amples of #eneral statements or accounts followed by detailed accountsfollow a pattern that was common amon# the ancient ebrews! Umberto Cassuto callsattention to this characteristic of ebrew thinin#' 4One should first state the #eneral proposition and then specify the particulars! .811'/ (tanley Eai #ives four pa#es ofe%amples from the Old estament of #eneral statements followed by the particulars!.882b'299ff!/ "!-! arner, writin# in 2etus Testamentum, refers to 4the Pholistic+ Dualityof Israelite thinin#, the tendency to apprehend a totality and inte#rate details into thewhole! .869'0:/ -ruce Walte claims this tendency and pattern as evidence for his.and von )ad+s/ position that the first verse of &enesis serves as a summary statement!

he evidence seems convincin# that verse should be construed as a broad, #eneral declaration of the fact that &od created the cosmos and the

rest of the chapter e%plicates that statement! his reflects normal (emiticthou#ht which first states the #eneral proposition and then specifies the particulars! .Walte 89:'2'229/

In summary, this biblical literary pattern of #eneraliation followed by particularscan be seen as corroboration for considerin# &enesis 2 to be a detailed description of amore #eneral account in &enesis ! ;ollowin# the #eneral statements about the creationof humans, &enesis 2 is about a specific human couple in a specific location, the &ardenof $den! he ebrew word aretz in &enesis '2, that is usually translated 4earth and



38

understood by many as 4the planet, could <ust as le#itimately be understood instead as bein# what is described in &enesis 2 .which Eohn (ailhamer #oes to #reat len#ths to showis the same as the SlandS promised to Israel @886':>/!

In answer to Allen )oss+ Duestion, SWhy did the new nation of Israel need tohave this material and to have it written as it isHS .886'02/, three main possibilities will be e%plored'

! he people needed to now why the land they were #oin# to enter couldle#itimately be considered theirs!

2! he process of &od+s main# the uninhabitable SearthS or SlandS into a placefor people to live serves as metaphor for the creation of a society, the nation of Israel, outof the chaos of slavery!

! he people could learn important lessons about &od and their relationship tohim from this creation account! 7any of these lessons will be elaborated in studies ofother words in the first verses of &enesis!

! As 7oses was leadin# the people of Israel to the "romised ?and, the peopleneeded to now why the land they were #oin# to enter could le#itimately be considered

theirs! (ocial historian Aaron Wildavsy, in his anthropolo#ical history of the be#innin#sof the people of Israel .The Nursing ather" 3oses as a *olitical 'eader / claims' 4heCreation is not about <ust anybody! It rationalies one of the most important claims7oses made for this peopleKthe land of Israel is theirs by ri#ht because the Owner #aveit to them! .8>1'>0/ In this he echoes )ashi+s assertion, which is based on Eeremiah29':, Duoted earlier! .4(hould the peoples of the world say to Israel, PQou are robbers, because you too by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan,+ Israel may reply tothem PAll the earth belon#s to the oly One, blessed be e3 e created it and #ave it towhom e pleased!+ @)osenbaum 816'2/

2! Althou#h we have shown it is lo#ical to consider that a local refashionin# of the

land was what 7oses+ ori#inal audience would have understood him to be referrin# to,this account can also serve as metaphor for the creation of the local society of the peopleof Israel out of chaos .a situation that most societies throu#hout history and acrosscultures can identify with/!

)obert Alter, in The (rt of Biblical Narrati#e, e%plains the nature of biblicalliterature' 4)ecurrence, parallels, and analo#y are the hallmars of reported action in the biblical tale! he use of narrative analo#y, where one part of the story provides acommentary on or a foil to another should be familiar from later literature @such as a(haespearian double plot! .8>'>0/ With this in mind, a local creation story could be seen as servin# as a metaphor or commentary on the creation of a society! Waltestates, SA nation consists of a common people, normally sharin# a common land,submissive to a common law, and led by a common ruler! he boo of &enesis isconcerned principally in identifyin# both the people who submit to &od+s commands andthe land that sustains them!S .200'1:/

7oses spoe and wrote the boos of the "entateuch, or orah, to provide <ustthis bac#round for the emer#in# nation! With the recent events of the $%odus foremostin their minds, the people would have seen echoes of those events interpreted in a broader conte%t throu#h the ima#ery of &enesis ! It helped them see themselves as the people of &od .a common people/, about to inherit a common land made for them by&od! he laws they were to follow were the focus of the orah for which &enesis



39

serves as an introduction! It is clear from the first chapters of &enesis .and from theaccounts of the $%odus, and even in the first two verses of &enesis/ that &od intended to be their allBpowerful ruler in the land they were #oin# to inhabit!

he importance to the people of the ancient 5ear $ast of the ori#in andor#aniation of a society sharin# a common land is hard for modern people to realie!oday we are asin# Duestions about the physical world and some loo for answers tosuch Duestions in &enesis ! -ut 4to the ancients, human society or#anied in a particular place was @what was important, and this was reflected in their creation stories! 4In theAadian epic $numa elish M the e%altation of 7ardu amon# the #ods is parallel to theor#aniation of -abylonian society! he -ible too contains similar cosmo#onies by whicha society is established in a particular place! .Clifford 8>:':08, :0/

he story of the formation of the people of Israel into a nation be#ins withemphasis on the ne#ative, chaotic conditions under which they were livin# in slavery in$#ypt, <ust as &enesis '2 be#ins with emphasis on the ne#ative, chaotic condition of theland before &od started main# it inhabitable! In main# a people for himself, 4&odreacts to "haraoh+s antiBcreational desi#ns by unleashin# forces of nature to punish anddestroy! he moral chaos of human enslavement is countered by the natural chaos of

*ivine retribution! .-ernard Och 88:'>/ his is the eDuivalent of tohu wabohu, as theearth is called in &enesis '2! he implications of this parallel will be e%plored in detail inthe word study of this term! &od overcomes the tohu wabohu of the people of Israelwhen they cross throu#h the )ed (ea! Accounts of the escape of the people of Israelfrom $#ypt as they confront and overcome the challen#e of crossin# the (ea are oftendescribed in terms that echo themes from the &enesis Creation account!

"salm 99':, 6, 8' 4With your mi#hty arm you redeemed your people, thedescendants of Eacob and Eoseph! he waters .mayim/ saw you, O &od, M and writhed3the very depths .tehom/ were convulsed! M Qour path led throu#h the sea, your waythrou#h the mi#hty waters!

$%odus :'0 adds another theme from &enesis '2' 4Qou blew with your wind

.ruach/!$%odus 1'2, 22'he waters were divided and the Israelites went throu#h the

sea on dry . yabbahshah/ #roundhe ebrew word for 4dry, used repeatedly in the $%odus accounts, is the same

word used in &enesis when &od separates the inhospitable waters and causes dry landto appear! his word .(tron#+s number 001/ is relatively rare and is used mainly in theconte%t of the $%odus, crossin# the Eordan and Creation! As 7oses ori#inally spoe theword, yabbahshah, to his audience in &enesis '8, it is liely that the people would haveidentified at an emotional level with the term for dry land, the miracle that led to their lastminute rescue! his reminder of their recent e%perience with the )ed (ea would have tiedto#ether in their thinin# the Creation or 4main# of the land with the creation ormain# of themselves as a people! In both cases, life was only possible because of ami#hty act of &od in pushin# bac the waters to mae a dry, lifeBsustainin# place!

Eonah e%perienced a smallBscale personal version of this same lifeBsustainin# act of&od! ;urther support for the parallels between the physical creation and the creation ofthe people of Israel is seen in Eonah '8 where he says, 4I am a ebrew and I worshipthe ?ord, the &od of heaven, who made the sea and the dry .land/! .?ater the fish spitsEonah out on the dry @land!/ ere Eonah is claimin# his herita#e as a ebrew, and theway he supports his claim is to refer to the two most basic and formative acts of &od inthe ori#in of the ebrew nation' the creation of 4everythin# .heaven, sea, and dry land/,



40

and the ori#in of the ebrew people by their passin# throu#h the sea on dry land! Eonah+sspeech shows his understandin#, as a ebrew familiar with the orah, that deliverancefrom the sea is tied to &od+s creation of the nation of Israel and is creation of4everythin#!

In the $%odus, Qahweh creates a way throu#h the sea by separatin# the waterfrom the land by his windJspiritJbreath .ruach/, not allowin# 4the deep .see "salms99'63 06'>3 Isaiah :'03 6'/ to eep his people from their land! In the &enesiscreation account &od+s wind .ruachJspirit/ is blowin# over the water .previously called4the deep,/ preparin# it for the ma<or separation of brin#in# forth the 4dry. yabbahshah, &enesis '8, 0/, the same word used for the result of &od+s wind in$%odus 1'6, 22, 28 and :'8!

.(ide 5ote' Israel+s deliverance from the sea, with &od dryin# up a path throu#hthe sea, foreshadows the fulfillment of history when &od will dry even the smallestamounts of salty tears @)evelation 2'1, representative of the troubles and chaos theancient ebrews traditionally associated with the sea!/

7ovement from a state of chaos and trouble, includin# social disor#aniation, toa state of peace in the land, is the pattern )ichard Clifford sees in the poetic accounts of

the $%odus ."salm 99':B83 9>'12B:: and $%odus :/! 4o the ancients, the primaryfocus is on describin# the cosmos from the point of view of what assumptions arenecessary if human bein#s are to live optimally in the world! .8>:':0, :/

! A of description of what is necessary to live well in the world is e%actly what isfound in &enesis ! ;rom the description of the uninhabitable condition of the land in&enesis '2 and the subseDuent acts of &od to prepare the land as a place for humans toleave peacefully, the people would have learned important lessons about &od and theirrelationship to him! he intentional emphasis on the word, 4land in verse 2 would havefocused attention on the covenant that &od was main# throu#h 7oses with the people,of which the land was a visible representation!

?ie a lovin# father, Pin the be#innin#+ &od #ave is children a place todwell, a #ood land, filled with divine blessin#s! (o also in his covenantwith Israel at (inai, &od a#ain promised to #ive them a P#ood land+ wherethey could en<oy his blessin# and have fellowship with im! hey had toremain faithful and obedient, however! .(ailhamer 886'9/

he lesson learned by the lin between land and covenant is that obedience isnecessary, otherwise <ud#ment on the land and loss of the land will follow! he rest of theOld estament could be seen as a commentary on this relationship between the land andobedience to the covenant! o emphasie the importance of not incurrin# &od+s <ud#ment throu#h disobedience, the tohu wabohu condition of the land prior to theCreation events serves as advance warnin#!

he author of the Creation passa#e certainly new how to #et his readers+ andlisteners+ attention! he emphatic description of the land, tohu wabohu, is lined to theword, aretz Jland which is in an emphatic position, and this is followed by an emphaticform of the verb 4to beJhayeta What factors need to be considered in translatin# thisverb and what are the implicationsH

A word study on the verb, hayeta .(tron#+s 86/, usin# the New +nglishman’s %ebrew !oncordance .which admittedly #ives only a few uses of the word as e%amples/shows that this verb .a form of the verb 4to be/ is often used in association with stron#



41

emotions or si#nificant circumstances that need to be particularly noticed or emphasied!hese are the e%amples #iven for the al preterite form of the verb'&en '2 and the earth was .tohu wabohu/&en ' 5ow the serpent was more crafty&en 1'1 I shall be a va#abond and fu#itive on the earth and it will be that

whoever finds me will ill me!&en ' the slime was to them for morter .the 5IN says they used tar instead of

mortar to mae the brics to build the tower of -abel/' where his tent had been at the be#innin# @note' this word for be#innin#,

t’ghillah, denotes a definite startin# point, and where he had first @rosh built an altar!here Abram called on the name of the ?ord! .(o in this case it is a stron# positive eventthat hahyah is emphasiin#! his was the place where the ?ord told Abram he would #ivethe land to his offsprin#!/

&en! :'' the word of the ?ord came unto @was to Abram&en! ':' the &od of my father has been with me$%! '' now 7oses was tendin# the floc @when the an#el of the ?ord appeared

to him in the burnin# bush

5um! :'10' and be holy unto your &od 5um! :'1' I am the ?ord your &od, who brou#ht you out of $#ypt to be your

&od!Eud! 2'2' I and my people were at #reat strife (am! 2'' and the child was servin# Fin#s 20'6' and it shall be .that/ whatever is pleasin# in your eyes they will put

it in their hand and carry it away!Isa! '8' We should have been as (odomIn li#ht of such si#nificant uses of the verb hayah, it seems reasonable to assume

that a verse as important as &enesis '2, at the be#innin# of the ebrew -ible, wouldalso carry the connotation of havin# stron#ly emotional, si#nificant conte%t' 4And the

earth was tohu wabohu! It calls attention to an important state of the earth that needs to be noticed and understood! he insi#ht that this verb is often emphatic is confirmed bythe definitions #iven by two ma<or reference wors'

(tron#+s *ictionar y' definition of the root, haya' 4be or become, come to pass.always emphatic/3 brea, cause M!

-rowns, *river and -ri##s define the word' 4fall out, come to pass, become, be!Nery often' come about, come to pass .which specific translation (tron#+s says is alwaysemphatic/!

A similar word with the same consonants but different vowel points .(tron#+s 8623 hayyah/ means 4ruin calamity, which is a further indication that to the ori#inalaudience, hearin# &enesis '2 spoen aloud, the sounds of the ebrew would have brou#ht to mind ima#es of somethin# with a stron# ne#ative emotional connotation.which will be further e%plored with the term tohu wabohu/!

In &enesis '2, the verb is in the al preterite form! If it were in the passive niphalform, it would have been appropriate to translate it 4had become, as in *euteronomy29'8' 4O Israel M you have now become the people of the ?ord your &od! -ut enri-locher warns a#ainst translatin# we’aretz hayeta as 4and the earth became, sayin# this4translation taes inadmissible liberties with the ebrew #rammar! he only admissibletranslation is 4and or now the earth was, by analo#y with constructions that are totallysimilar in Eonah ' .now 5ineveh was / and &enesis ' .now the snae was/! Only in



42

defiance of philolo#y may the pseudoBtranslation Sthe earth becameS act as the basis ofthe @reconstructionist or #ap theory! .8>1'1/

Walte, considered by some to be the top contemporary evan#elical ebrewscholar, a#rees that it is unliely that the su##estion of #apBproponent Custance is theri#ht interpretation, 4but the earth had become! e points to parallel word constructions.the con<unction, waw, <oined to a noun, rather than as usual to a verb, followed by theverb, hayah/, in Eonah ' .now 5inevah was/ and Xechariah ' .now Eoshua was/ inwhich the verb hayah is translated 4was rather than 4had become! e concludes, 4nomodern or ancient versions understand the verb @in &enesis '2 in the sense of Phad become!+ It would be most unusual for an author to introduce his story with a pluperfect@had become! .Walte 89:'"art III'229/

-ut in the end, whether the #rammar is taen as meanin# 4the land was or 4theland had become, the conte%t and the interpretation of that conte%t bein# developed inthis paper indicate that somethin# had e%isted prior to the conditions described in &enesis'2! We can translate accordin# to strict #rammar, as -locher and Walte insist, but wewill still need to interpret accordin# to the meanin# of the rest of the passa#e!

In the discussion of the term tohu wabohu we will see that in each of the other

two occurrences of that term in (cripture .or even the word tohu used alone/, the conte%tshows that <ud#ment has been involved in some way! It would therefore be reasonable toattribute a conte%t of <ud#ment to &enesis '2 as well! If that is admitted as a validhypothesis, then sayin# that 4the land was tohu wabohu .as a result of <ud#ment/ meansthe same as 4the land had become tohu wabohu .destroyed and desolate/! In either case,it had e%perienced a chan#e from conditions hospitable to life to uninhabitable conditions!he author of &enesis shows in the first chapter how &od #oes about correctin# theseconditions that are contrary to his will! e does this by emphasiin# a definite pattern inthe creation story that is #iven to enable &od+s people to imitate him in overcomin# evilwith #ood!

Tohu wabohu .*estroyed and desolate3 (tron#+s >11 and 122/ his word study wasori#inally a len#thy paper in itself intended to demonstrate that tohu represents oppositionto &od+s intentions and that tohu wabohu represents the disastrous results of &od+s <ud#ment precedin# his correction of that opposition to is will!

When the world is upside down from &od+s intentions .which in turn are upsidedown from human e%pectations/, &od has to shae somethin# to #et peoples+ attentionand rearran#e thin#s! his is what is meant by the term tohu wabohu, which is adescription of the conseDuences of opposition to &od, and it is the ori#in of a theolo#y ofdisease!

In the discussion of the term tohu wabohu we will see that in every otheroccurrence of that term in (cripture .includin# the word tohu when used alone/, theconte%t shows that <ud#ment has been involved in some way! It would therefore bereasonable to attribute a conte%t of <ud#ment to &enesis '2 as well! he ne#ativecondition of the land precedin# &od+s creative, corrective wor is evident in -ruceWalte+s detailed comparison of &enesis ', 2 to &enesis 2'1B9! .89:'2'22: ff!/.)ecall that Eohn (ailhamer considers that 4the &enesis and 2 narratives are about thesame events and have the same settin#! What we see &od doin# in &enesis 2 is merelyanother perspective on what e does in &enesis ! @886':/ $ach of these passa#es



43

has an introductory statement that summaries the rest of the chapter, followed by acircumstantial clause that modifies the upcomin# verse! his second element in each casefollows the nonBusual, emphatic pattern 4waw Y noun Y verb .hayah/ describin# ane#ative state before creation! ;inally the introduction to each creation account brin#s inthe main clause that uses the normal ebrew verbJsub<ect pattern 4waw consecutive Y prefi%ed con<u#ation form describin# the creation! .Walte 89:'2'22:/

he editors of the 5et -ible #ive a somewhat simpler summary'4his literary structure @of &enesis ', 2 is paralleled in the second portion of

the boo' &en 2'1 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2':B6 use dis<unctiveclause structures to #ive bac#round information for the followin# narrative, and 2'9 be#ins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefi%ed verbal form!

his sounds comple%, but is easily illustrated with the followin# chart'

Co)parison of Genesis 1:1, 2 #it! Genesis 2:='8.In illustration of Walte 89:' "art III'22:/

&en ', 2 &en 2'1B9

! Introductory In the be#innin# &od his is the accountsummary statement created the heavens of the heavens and

and the earth! .'/ the earth when theywere created! .2'1/

2! Circumstantial clause 5ow the earth was 5ow no shrub of theof the pattern waw Y noun Y verb @tohu wabohu .'2/ field was yet in the.hayah/3 an emphatic earth .2':, 6/description of a ne#ative state before creation

! 7ain clause of the usual hen &od said let hen the ?ord &od pattern waw Y verb there be li#ht M formed man! .2'9/describin# the creation .'/

his parallel construction emphasies the ne#ative condition of the earth prior tocreation! In &enesis ', 2, this ne#ative state is called, tohu wabohu! his phrase is at theheart of the discussion about the purposes of &od in history, as indicated in the -ible, and



44

the missiolo#ical implications for brin#in# order out of chaos wherever crossBculturalworers #o as representatives of the in#dom of &od! &od+s way of dealin# with the physical condition of the earth described in &enesis '2 #ives direction to is followersfor dealin# with the roots of human problems at personal, community, and crossBculturallevels!

he fi#ure of speech in the ebrew, tohu wabohu, startles the listener or readerwith its rhymin# Duality and calls attention to the fact that somethin# surprisin# andsi#nificant is bein# said, somethin# une%pected that will throw the reader and listener off balance! It is a thesis of this paper that this rhymin# pair of words are a ey tounderstandin# the purpose of the &enesis creation story, the drama of (cripture, the purpose of all of history, and it represents the ori#in of a theolo#y of disease!

Tohu wabohu'V describes a <ud#ed and destroyed state of the earthV implies the e%istence of evil and the need to correct and overcome that evilV points to root of human problems and the reason for the creation of humans

.and the preparation of a land for them/' to <oin &od in is wor of overcomin# evil with#ood!

V serves as the be#innin# of the framewor for all of (cripture, showin# that&od+s purpose in history is to reverse <ud#ment and usher in the eternal (abbath rest thatis the #oal of Creation! he last chapter in the -ible, )evelation 22, provides the otherend of the biblical framewor .an 4inclusio, as literaryBminded biblical scholars call it/,showin# that all of history, the story of humans worin# with &od, has reached its #oal'45o lon#er will there be any curse M here will be no more ni#ht M &od will #ive themli#ht! And they will rei#n for ever and ever! .)evelation 22', :/

V introduces the need for a theolo#y of evil, defined as opposition to &od+s will,which includes disease! Where did disease come fromH ow can it be eliminatedH Whatdoes &od e%pect is people to do about it .and about other human problems that arecontrary to is will for the earth/H

Tohu wabohu is a compound term that occurs only two other times in the Oldestament .Isaiah 1' and Eeremiah 1'2/! he word tohu alone occurs another 9times, but it must be ept in mind that the compound term, as a fi#ure of speech, willmean somethin# more than the sum of its component parts! o arrive at a satisfactorymeanin# for this rare term the followin# process will be followed'

! A review of relevant literary considerations2! An e%amination of the conte%t of the passa#es in which tohu or tohu wabohu is

used! A summary chart of the word associations found with these terms1! A review of a number of ma<or commentators+ opinions:! A rationale for the most helpful translation6! A discussion of the application of the concept at various levels!

iterar* ConsiderationsA review of relevant literary considerations for this phrase involves noticin# the

importance of the sounds of words in ebrew, the si#nificance of the use of fi#ures ofspeech and rhyme, and the role of parallelism in ebrew writin#s for determinin# themeanin#s of obscure terms!

he ori#inal audience must have heard &enesis spoen aloud as part of the oralliterature of ancient Israel! $verett ;o%, a specialist in 5ear $astern and Eudaic (tudies,



45

points out that the 4ebrew -ible ori#inated lar#ely as a spoen literature @and must betranslated with careful attention to rhythm and sound! .8>'i%/ 7oses+ listeners, whohad recently escaped from the chaos of slavery and nonBentity in $#ypt and hade%perienced deliverance from the destructive waters of the )ed (ea, would have beencau#ht up in the ima#ery evoed by the words and sounds of &enesis ', 2! heir ownrecent e%perience would have caused them to resonate with the word play and meanin#of the rhymin# tohu wabohu and the assonance of ruachJ merachepet .the consonant andvowel sounds in merachepet .4stirrin#/ echo the sound of ruach .4spirit/!.Fselman'89>'61/! he <u%taposition of these two sets of word plays must have been areassurin# sound to the people of &od as 7oses be#an to e%plain to them how their &odhad prepared a place for them to live by brin#in# order and #oodness out of a land thatwas tohu wabohu Kdestroyed and desolate, turned upside down .that+s lie us theywould have reco#nied/Kand that e had never left that land .or the people/ without the presence of is ruach merachepet .spirit stirrin#/!

Word plays and the assonance of deliberate repeated sounds would have cau#htthe attention of the ori#inal audience, alertin# them to notice that somethin# out of theordinary was bein# said! "erhaps the rhyme #ave a playful, as well as memorable, twist to

the depiction of antiBcreational chaos! Eob seems to do somethin# similar in hisdescription of the feared sea monster, ?eviathan, in Eob 1':' 4Can you pull in theleviathan with a fishhooH M Can you mae a pet of himH "erhaps by the very sound ofthe words he was inspired to choose, tohu wabohu, 7oses was reassurin# the people that&od has chaos under control and that even conditions contrary to &od+s will can beturned to is #ood purposes!

Closely related to the sounds of the words is the use of fi#ures of speech, whichcan include deliberate plays on the sounds of words, as with tohu wabohu! In the ?o#os?ibroni% version of 4;i#ures of (peech Used in the -ible' $%plained and Illustrated, it is pointed out that fi#ures of speech such as rhymin# words or 4paronomasia .to bee%plained shortly/ draw the attention of the readerJlistener to an important statement

which mi#ht not otherwise have been adeDuately noticed! he use of this fi#ure of speechis never to be disre#arded! In other words, when we see a rhymin# fi#ure of speech suchas tohu wabohu we need to as, 4what is #oin# on here that is unusualH 7ichael;ishbane also refers to the 4paronomasia as a semantic device' 4Eustification for theutiliation of puns and allusions in e%e#esis lies in the acnowled#ed independent andefficacious power of words! hey are pre#nant with meanin#! .89'6/

We can e%amine the meanin# of tohu wabohu from the perspective of two fi#uresof speech' hendiadys .which includes the compound nature of the term/ and paronomasia.which includes the rhymin# Duality of the term and the possibility that it is intended to bea pun/! $ach of these will shed li#ht on the interpretation of the term tohu wabohu oncethe meanin#s of the separate words are investi#ated!

Webster+s *ictionary defines 4hendiadys as 4POne by two+' the e%pression of anidea by two nouns connected by Pand,+ instead of by a noun and an ad<ective! heO%ford $n#lish *ictionary #ives this definition' 4a fi#ure of speech in which a sin#lecomple% idea is e%pressed by two words connected by a con<unction! We need tounderstand somethin# about the word tohu, and if possible about the word bohu .whichis never used as a separate word/, before we can now what the author had in mind in <oinin# these words to#ether, althou#h we can be sure that the compound phrase willmean more than the <ust the sum of its parts!

Walte #ives these e%amples of hendiadys' 4dribs and drabs, spic and span, hem



46

and haw, and says the hendiadys, tohu wabohu, si#nifies 4utter chaos! 4It wasuninhabitable and uninhabited, Punformed and unfilled!+ .88'1/ As a side note,accordin# to Walte+s illustrations of hendiadys, it could be considered a possibility thatone word of the pair of words could have been invented to mae a playful and memorablesound with the other! We will loo into this possibility after a discussion of thesi#nificance of the rhymin# Duality of tohu wabohu!

he rhymin# Duality of this term is an aspect of the fi#ure of speech nown as paronomasia' 4a word play, especially a pun, to call by a different name! .Webster+s*ictionary/ 7ichael ;ishbane .89'6/ mentions this fi#ure of speech in relation totohu wabohu! he &ford +nglish 4ictionary points out that paronomasia comes fromthe &ree words meanin# 4after namin#! "aronomasia means 4to alter sli#htly innamin#3 a playin# on words that sound alie3 a wordBplay3 a pun! he entry #ives ane%ample of a boo title from >>> that is 4cleverly paronomastical' 4A Cursory istoryof (wearin#! he whimsical and rhymin# Duality of a paronomasia is somethin# to eepin mind in determinin# the meanin# of tohu wabohu!

he rhymin# Duality of the term tohu wabohu comes from a sli#ht alteration ofthe sound of the first word .chan#in# the 4t to 4b/, combined with the ebrew

con<unction 4wa .and/! ?ater we will loo at evidence that the word bohu may have been invented for the purpose of rhymin# with tohu by alterin# a similarBsoundin#ebrew word with a compatible meanin#! -efore looin# into that possibility, we need toloo at the value of rhyme for illuminatin# the meanin# of the biblical te%t! In a passa#erelated to &enesis '2, Isaiah 1:'>, the use of rhyme calls attention to somethin#si#nificant the author wants the reader to notice, and perhaps because of its closerelationship to &enesis '2, the rhyme may be indirectly #ivin# us another e%ample of themeanin# of the full phrase, tohu wabohu!

In the ebrew it can be seen that Isaiah 1:'> is a poem that rhymes and has thesame number of syllables, somethin# that is not necessary or usual in ebrew poetry'

'o tohu bera’a 'asebet yesara

e did not create it to be @tohu-ut formed it to be inhabited

(ince most ebrew poetry does not rhyme, the fact that this is the secondoccurrence of rhyme in association with the word tohu indicates somethin# si#nificant is bein# said that needs e%tra thou#ht! Could it be that Isaiah introduced this word play because he had the rhymin# sound of tohu wabohu in mind when he chose to use theword tohu in this conte%tH In that case then, we would have a fourth .implied/ conte%t forthe term tohu wabohu! his playful rhyme in Isaiah 1:'> shows that &od wants to turnthe ori#inal conditions upside down that can be described by the rhymin# words tohuwabohu! e wants to reverse the <ud#ed state of the land .described earlier in thechapter/, to mae it inhabited and lifeB#ivin#! he conte%t shows that Cyrus, as &od+sservant, is #oin# to rebuild what &od had allowed to be destroyed!

his same passa#e #ives an e%cellent e%ample of parallelism, a common literarydevice in ebrew poetry! In determinin# the meanin# of each of the words separately aswell as the term, tohu wabohu, as a whole, the use of parallelism is a ey e%e#etical tool!An e%ample of the usefulness of this tool is found in determinin# the meanin# of tohu in



47

Isaiah 1:'>! he four lines in parallel structure are related to each other in this way'.A/ e who fashioned and made the earth.A+/ e founded it.-/ e did not create it to be @ tohu.-+/ -ut formed it to be inhabited!In lines .-/ and .-+/, which are obviously intended to be synonymous, 4not M

tohu is paired with 4inhabited, #ivin# us a clue to the meanin# of tohu' empty oruninhabited or perhaps purposelessJmeanin#less! he Word Associations chart in theAppendi% was constructed usin# similar lo#ic, also tain# into consideration wordassociations in the immediate and broad conte%t of the chapters in which the word tohu appears!

his e%ample from Isaiah 1:'> shows how parallelism and conte%t can helpdetermine the meanin# of tohu wabohu in &enesis '2'

As for the earth,.A/ it was tohu wabohu

.-/ with darness on the face of .the/ deep

.C/ but the (pirit of &od stirrin# over the face of the waters!With these three lines, the Duestion must be addressed, is parallelism involved

here, and if so, which lines are parallel to each other, and in what relationshipH herepetition of the phrase, 4on the face of seems to indicate that it would be appropriate toconsider these lines as a form of parallelism, typical in ebrew poetry! .Fselman89>'68/ his supposition is further supported by the fact that the last word of both lines.-/ and .C/ is about water .the deepJtehom and waterJmayim/! We need to now whichtype of parallelism is intended here' synonymous, synthetic, or antitheticH It would be practically blasphemous to consider synonymous parallelism in lines .-/ and .C/, in whichcase 4darness would be eDuated with 4(pirit of &od! (ynthetic parallelism seemsinappropriate as well' the concept of the (pirit of &od does not add to our understandin#

of what it means for darness to be on the face of the deep! he third option, antithetical parallelism, fits the conte%t very well! he (pirit of &od is the antithesis of darness! &odhas not left his land or his people totally without is presence, even in the midst ofdarness!

It could also be ar#ued that lines .A/ and .-/ stand in synthetic relationship toeach other, with 4darness and 4deep servin# as an elaboration of the meanin# andconnotations of tohu wabohu! *arness is a common biblical symbol of evil and it is thefirst thin# &od corrects in &enesis as he sets about overcomin# evil with #ood! -oththe words 4darnessJhosek and 4deepJtehom would no doubt have sent shivers ofremembered horror down the spines of 7oses+ listeners! hey had <ust escaped fromslavery .societal tohu wabohu/ in the land of $#ypt where the pla#ue of darness hadhelped chan#e "haraoh+s mind about lettin# them #o, associated with the last pla#ue ofthe illin# of the firstBborn sons durin# the ni#ht in all the $#yptian households! 7oses+audience had <ust escaped from the 4deeps of the feared sea by the ruach of &od.$%odus :'0, another allusion from &enesis '2/ separatin# the water and main# a dry path, followed by the drownin# of their enemies! here is no doubt but that the ima#erycon<ured up by the lan#ua#e in the parallelism of &enesis '2 would have meant to7oses+ audience that the land 4at the be#innin#, before &od started main# it livable,was an ominous, hostile place!

In tain# 4darness on the face of the deep as an elaboration of the meanin# of



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tohu wabohu, as well as the antithesis of the spirit of &od movin# on the face of thewaters, line .-/ serves double duty in functionin# with each of the other two lines indifferent types of parallelism! hese various literary devises used in the ebrew lan#ua#eare helpful for comin# to a better understandin# of the term tohu wabohu! Applyin# whathas been learned about the ancient ebrew interest in assonance, paronomasia, and parallelism, to the word bohu, which occurs only three times in the Old estament andalways combined with tohu, will help us eventually arrive at a useful interpretation for thecombined term!

he ancient ebrews+ deli#ht in soundBalie words will be a factor in determinin#the ori#in and meanin# of the sin#le word bohu! $tymolo#ical studies will also be helpful, patterned after Old estament and ancient lan#ua#es scholar *avid sumura+s e%ample!;ollowin# an etymolo#ical study of the meanin# of bohu, we will e%amine the conte%t ofeach occurrence of tohu and tohu wabohu in detail! Word associations will be noted thatwill further illumine the meanin# and si#nificance of the compound term!

Et*)o&og* of Bohu>

*avid sumura #oes into #reat detail to e%amine possible co#nates for bohu .andseparately for tohu/ in closely related lan#ua#es of the ancient 5ear $ast!

Arabic' bahiya 4to be empty .he -rown, *river and -ri##s+ %ebrew-+nglish 'e&icon su##ests this etymolo#y!/ 4his Arabic term is used to describe the empty orvacant state of a tent or house that contains nothin# or little furniture or #oods! hus ithas basically a concrete meanin# rather than an abstract meanin# such as Pnothin#ness+ orPemptiness!+ .200:'/

Aadian' W! ;! Albri#ht su##ests the Aadian term bubutu, 4$mptiness,hun#er, as a possible co#nate of the ebrew bohu! -ut sumura lists several reasonswhy this is not a valid su##estion, mainly based on an error by Albri#ht in attributin# the

definition of 4emptiness, hun#er to the Aadian term, which has other meanin#saccordin# to lin#uistic sources! .881'/ sumura is of the opinion that 4many of theerrors made in interpretin# the biblical te%t we are dealin# with @&enesis '2 stem fromfaulty etymolo#y! .200:'1/

"hoenician' sumura finds no evidence that the ebrew term had any connectionwith the "hoenician divine name -aav, the #oddess of 4ni#ht, 4e%cept for their possiblecommon derivation from the root, bhw! .881'1/

sumura concludes, 4In the li#ht of the above discussion, ebrew bohu, thou#hstill lacin# definite etymolo#y, seems to be a (emitic term based on the root bhw and possibly a co#nate of Arabic bahiya Pto be empty!+ .881':/

his su##ested etymolo#y a#rees with conte%tual studies in which associations ofemptiness and darness .ni#ht/ are seen repeatedly in connection with tohu and tohuwabohu! -ut I would lie to propose a further, ori#inal etymolo#ical study! A ebrewword closely related to bohu, hah#al .(tron#+s >8/, has an abstract meanin#associated with the interpretation of 4emptiness, namely, 4vain or 4worthless thin#s.empty of meanin#/! Considerin# the ebrews+ deli#ht in word associations of similarmeanin# and similar sounds leads me to propose the theory that bohu is a word invented by the author of &enesis '2 .the term later bein# copied by Isaiah and Eeremiah in antiBcreational conte%ts/ to rhyme with tohu and carry the meanin# of 4emptiness in both theabstract and concrete senses, and conveyin# a state of bein# 4mi%ed up or 4upside



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down!he line of reasonin# be#ins with Eeremiah >'6, 8, a passa#e that seems relevant

because of the presence of several words or themes often associated with tohu wabohu'shain# or tremblin#, disaster as a result of <ud#ment, worthless idols, vain thin#s! .(eethe Word Associations chart in the Appendi%! his reasonin# assumes the continuity ofthe ebrew lan#ua#e from the time &enesis was written until the rest of the Oldestament was written!/

Eeremiah >'6, 8' 4M at the nei#hin# of their stallions the whole land trembles@shaes! hey have come to devour the land and everythin# in it! Why have they provoed me to an#er with their ima#es, with their worthless forei#n idolsH @with theirvanities G be’heh#el , >82, which has the root of (tron#+s >8 mentioned above

he phrase 4with their vanities, be’he#el , with the prefi% for the preposition,4withJbe, sounds very much lie the vowel sounds of wabohu with the consonants in <umbled order, eepin# in mind that in ebrew the 4v and the 4b sound are somewhatinterchan#eable! As was previously mentioned, paronomasia means 4to alter sli#htly innamin#, so it would seem to be a valid e%ercise to follow sumura+s e%amples in whichhe speculates on how one word can #radually evolve into other forms .200:'6, 9, 12B

1:/! he word bohu could have been invented and combined with tohu throu#h thefollowin# mental steps, based on similar sounds and similar meanin#s of the wordsinvolved! (tartin# with be’heh#el .vanities, thin#s empty of purpose/, the followin#sta#es could have taen place'

! (witch the 4v and the initial 4h of 4hehvel G be+vehhel2! Chan#e the 4v sound to the closely related 4b G be+behhel! Chan#e 4withJbe to 4andJwa G wa+behhel1! *rop the 4l sound G wa+behhe:! Chan#e the vowels to cause the newly coined term to rhyme with tohu G

wa’bohuAnother e%ample, followin# sumura+s approach, with fewer steps and more

obvious connections, comes from 2 Fin#s 9':' 4they went after vain thin#s and becamevain .wahebalu/ .(tron#+s >8!/ In this case the second occurrence of the wordalready has the con<unction, 4wawJwa, and in this #rammatical form of the word the 4vsound is already 4b, so only three sta#es would be needed for it to evolve into4wabohu'

! *rop the syllable, 4he G wabalu2! $%chan#e the 4l sound for the dropped 4h G wabahu! 7ae the minor correction in the vowel sound to cause the newly coined term

to rhyme with tohu G wa’bohuhese su##estions are in eepin# with the fi#ure of speech nown as

paronomasia, mentioned by 7ichael ;ishbane in relation to tohu wabohu! .89'6/.The &ford +nglish 4ictionary defines paronomasia as, 4to alter sli#htly in namin#3 a playin# on words that sound alie3 a wordBplay3 a pun!/ If this proposal is accepted, themi%edBup ori#in of the phrase already hints at the meanin# of the term tohu wabohu, communicatin# by its sound a mi%ed up, disordered state of bein#! he ori#inal word thatwas 4mi%ed up in creatin# the new term is more liely to have been the one used in 2Fin#s 9':! In this passa#e the people fell under <ud#ment for #oin# after the vain orworthless thin#Jha’hah#al .idols/ .(tron#+s >8/ and they themselves became vain,worthlessJwahebalu .(tron#+s >8/! If we consider the phrase tohu wabohu .avariation of tohu wehabalu/ to be a pun, we could speculate that former inhabitants of the



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he followin# cate#ories of information are #iven for each passa#e'! he primary meanin# of tohu .or tohu wabohu/2! Any parallel terms .indicated by the #eometric si#n' JJ /! -roader conte%t of the verse .in most cases, the rest of the chapter in which it

occurs/1! 7otifs or word associations within that broad conte%t:! (ummary of the opposition to &od+s intentions6! ow &od corrected this opposition and demonstrated is will

*eut 2'' tohu! barren and howlin# waste2! JJ to desert land! -roader conte%t' &od+s care with the metaphor of an ea#le stirrin# up its nest3approval that forei#n #ods are not in the picture1! 7otifs'desertJ howlin# wasteJ barren

careJshieldJea#le stirrin# its nestno forei#n #ods:! Opposite of &od+s will' &odBforsaen .empty/ wilderness3 2':, 6' the people hadacted corruptly, they were no lon#er his children, were warped, crooed .mi%edBup/,foolish, unwise!6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' &od found these people who acted inthese nonBproductive ways in a desolate place and called them out! e became a refu#eand shield for them!

(amuel 2'2' tohu occurs twice! useless idolsJvain thin#s

2! the translations for tohu are JJ to each other .*o not turn away after tohu @useless orvain thin#s which can do you no #ood, nor can they deliver, because they are tohu @useless/! -roader conte%t' The people were doing evil by asking for a king3 thunder and rainwere sent to #et their attention3 &od had ori#inally made the people his own3 serve &odfaithfully3 if you persist in evil you will be swept away .with the useless thin#s/1! 7otifs'uselessidolsvain thin#sidols cannot rescuecreation of a people&od will not re<ect the faithful .eDuivalent to ri#hteousH/evil doers swept away:! Opposite of &od+s will' servin# vain thin#s .that are nothin#/ that do not profitJ do notdeliver 6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' (amuel ur#es the people to as for &odhimself and to serve and fear im! (amuel promsises to pray for the people and teachthem the way that is #ood and ri#ht!



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2! JJ to 4nothin#! -roader conte%t' 4*eath writhes @shaes and destruction lies uncoveredKisn+t that adescription of tohu wabohu in &en '2H .I thin death and destruction lyin# uncoveredare the 4nothin# and 4empty space that &od is coverin# by spreadin# out the sies increation' overcomin# evil with #ood!/ &od is undoin# destruction throu#h reBcreation3&od+s 4battle with the deep and the sea monsters in this conte%t is metaphorical of is brin#in# order out of chaos by separatin# the waters above and below and separatin#li#ht and dar!1! 7otifs'deathwrithin# .shain#/destructioncreation theme .separatin# waters, li#htJdar/voidJ nothin# J empty place .the deepH/*arnessDuain# .pillars of heaven/sea monsters illed

storm calmed breath .of &od/:! Opposite of &od+s will' emptiness, absence of life, death, destruction6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' &od corrects this emptiness by fillin# itthrou#h the Creation process3 e spreads out the sies over the empty space!

"s 09'10' tohu! wander in a waste .without a path/3 void placeJtracless waste2! JJ pourin# contempt on nobles .(ee Eob 2'21 G deprived of reason, eDuivalent tochaos!/! -roader conte%t' recountin# the history of &od+s people and &od+s rescue when they

called to him out of darness and distress3 &od+s control of the sea3 main# the desertfruitful3 &od pours contempt on leaders who oppressed the people and maes themwander in a tracless waste or desert, where there is no path .nothin#/3 the needy arehelped .<ustice/1! 7otifs'wander in a wastewithout a path J tracless wastevoid placecry for helpsaved from distressdarness J #loomseawors of the ?orddeep .not tehom/storm calmeddesertfruitful landwicedness:! Opposite of &od+s will' wasteland that does not support life, oppression of &od+s people



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6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' &od corrects the desert with flowin#sprin#s .vs! :B>/! e corrects the oppression caused by corrupt nobles by liftin# theneedy out of affliction! Isa 21'0' tohu! ruined city lies desolateJempty2! JJ the entrance to every house is barred! -roader conte%t' he ?ord+s devastation of the earth .various un#odly nations/3 theearth defiled by the people so a curse consumes the earth3 other analo#ies are #iven' froma#riculture3 from flood#ates of heaven and earth bein# shaen3 earth reels lie adrunard3 all imply chaos1! 7otifs'city of confusion is broen downruinsemptylay wastedevastate

defiled .by the people/disobediencecurse#uiltdesolate beatenfloodshaedrunard .reels/rebellion:! Opposite of &od+s will' breaking God’s laws and covenant

6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' 21'1B6 and chapter 2:' acclaimin# the?ord+s ma<esty, #ivin# #lory to the )i#hteous One3 &od+s rescue of is people,removin# the dis#race of his peopleJ

Isa 28'2' tohu! empty pleas3 a thin# of nau#ht .no account/3 false testimony2! JJensnare the defender in court! -roader conte%t' Woe to *avid+s City! Eud#ment and destruction are comin#! hosewho try to hide their plans from the ?ord are worin# in darness! &od will turn thin#supside down .vs! 6/! &od will help the humble! he ruthless who tae advanta#e of theinnocent .throu#h false testimony/ will be cut down and disappear!1! 7otifs#reat depths .metaphorical/hidewoedarnessupside down .a meanin# or implication of tohu wabohuH/formed J mae .potter and clay/fertile field#loom



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blind will seeruthlessJ mocers J evilvanish J disappear J cut down#uiltydeprivin# the innocent of <usticefalse testimony J empty pleas J a thin# of nau#ht .no account/:! Opposite of &od+s will' empty pleasJfalse testimony deprive the innocent of <ustice!6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' &od will <ud#e the ruthless and thehumble will re<oice!

Isa 1'' tohu wabohu"! measurin# line of chaos .tohu/ and the plumb line of desolation .bohuJ emptiness/2! JJ nothin# there to be called a in#dom JJ all her princes will vanish away! -roader conte%t' Eud#ment a#ainst the nations specifically $dom! Nerses 8, 0 soundlie a description of the results of a volcanic eruption! he opposite of buildin# ima#ery isused K$dom will be measured with a line of desolation and emptiness! Fin#doms willvanish3 nobles will have nothin# left to call a in#dom! ;ormerly inhabited area will

become a wilderness with only wild animals inhabitin# it!1! 7otifs'heavens will be dissolvedstreams and land become pitch @dar3 a description of the results of a volcanic eruptiondesolatedesert.howlin#/ owlthe measurin# line of chaos .tohu/and the plumb line of desolation .bohu/nothin# there to be called a in#domuninhabited .implied/

princes will vanish:! Opposite of &od+s will' desert populated only by wild animals6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' Chapter : describes the wildernessre<oicin# and blossomin#3 the burnin# sand becomin# a pool, and a hi#hway for theredeemed to wal upon with no ferocious beasts to be found!

Isa 10'9, 2' tohu! vanityJ worthless3 nothin#2! JJnothin#, less than nothin# .9/ JJ brin#s princes to nau#ht .2/! -roader conte%t' Israel thins &od has for#otten her! he chapter describes &od+scomfort for his people after they have learned their lesson from &od+s punishment for sin!he desert is turned into a hi#hway for &od, &od cares for is people as for lovedanimals! he ima#ery of creation is used repeatedly and the #reatness of &od inrelationship to the nations and their rulers is emphasied! hey are as nothin# andworthless by comparison! &od brin#s the rulers of this world to nothin#! hose who hopein the ?ord will renew their stren#th and soar on win#s lie ea#les!1! 7otifs'desert J wilderness



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hi#hway J strai#ht paths .opposite of writhin# and twistin#/shepherdmeasuredwatersnothin# J as dust on scales or drop in bucetworthlessidols be#innin# J earth foundedstren#th to wearyea#les+ win#s:! Opposite of &od+s will' nations in a condition of nothingness and emptiness6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' 1' the nations will renew their stren#th.no lon#er be as nothin#/

Isa 1'28' tohu! vanity .lie the wind/

2! JJ deeds amount to nothin#! -roader conte%t' -ut &od is the helper of Israel! e will rescue them from theirenemies who are as nothin# to &od and will mae the land watered and fruitful! he idolsare less than nothin#! &od wasn+t able to find a prophet who wasn+t false to tell thesethin#s to the people!1! 7otifs'ends of earthfear .the ?ord/trembleservant .chosen by &od/stren#then J help

ri#hteousra#e Jopposeashamed J dis#racedJ as nothin# J perishrivers flow J sprin#s J pools of water barren J desertidolsless than nothin#worthlessdestablestirred up one from the northfalsedeeds amount to nothin#ima#es are wind J vanity J confusion:! Opposite of &od+s will' vanity, or empty works that amount to nothing6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' Chapter 12 describes the (ervant of the?ord who demonstrates &od+s will, unlie Israel who was intended to be the &od+sservant and unlie the situation described in 1'2>' there is no one amon# them to #ivecounsel!

Isa 11'8' tohu



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! #raven ima#es .or those main# them/ are vanityJ nothin#2! JJ worthless! -roader conte%t' Israel is &od+s chosen servant! e will pour is (pirit on them, as pictured by waterin# the dry #round! Idols are worthless! Ima#ery of creation nowapplied to Israel, the people and their sins are for#iven! Creation ima#ery of physcialworld! Cities will be rebuilt!1! 7otifs'dry #round J thirsty land(piritoffsprin# J descendantsflowin# streamsestablished ancient people .creation of people/tremble .do not/maers of idols are nothin#worthless blind J i#norantshame

servant Israelcreation of people, Israelredeemedinhabitedcreation of physical world describedstretched out heavensfalse prophetsoverthrow learnin# of wise J nonsenserestore ruins build up citydry up the watery deep

:! Opposite of &od+s will' people main# and worshipin# idols6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' 11'22' I have swept away your offensesM the ?ord redeems Eacob

Isa 1:'>, 8' tohu! created the earth not in vain .to no purpose/ .vs >/2! JJ inhabited .vs >/! he didn+t say 4see me in vain .falsely/ .vs 8/2! JJ spea the truth J declare what is ri#ht .vs 8/

5ote'sumura+s insistence, as we will see later, on a literal desert for tohu in Isa!1:'8 is not in harmony with the te%t! ere tohu .in vain/ means 4falsely3 &od is not#ivin# false testimony .as in 28'2/!! -roader conte%t for both verses' &od did not intend for the world to be empty or purposeless! &od creates li#ht and darness, brin#s both prosperity and disaster,accordin# to the way the people relate to &od+s ways! e created the world, sets Cyrusin place to carry out is plans to rebuild the City and to destroy those who mae andworship idols! e intends that the earth to be inhabited and that Eacob+s descendents andall the earth should see him!1! 7otifs'anointed



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li#htdarness prosperitydisaster creation of earth and manindri#hteousness J ways strai#htrebuild cityset e%iles freemaers of idolsdis#raced J put to shamenot to be emptyinhabitednot in secretnot in land of darnessdescendantssee menot in vain

spea truth J what is ri#htturn and be savedends of earthno other &odri#hteousnessstren#th:! Opposite of &od+s will' empty heavens, empty or vain words6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will'

a! &od created the heavens full of heavenly bodies b! &od tells the people to #ather to#ether, turn to him and be saved

Isa 18'1' tohu! spent my stren#th for nothin#2! JJ no purpose J nothin#! -roader conte%t' he prophet is addressin# the far away peoples, tellin# them the ?ordhas called him, but he feels lie he has labored for no purpose . tohu/! &od tells him hewill not only help Israel, but all other nations as well, #ivin# them the opportunity to beset free!1! 7otifs'servant of the ?ordislands J distant nations J ends of the earth J &entiles&od+s 4main# of his servant .from birth/arrow J Duiver .as a tool for &od to use/stren#thspent to no purposenothin#?ord+s hand J rewardrestoresalvationcovenant



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desolateinheritancecaptives made freedarnessnot hun#er, thirstdesertcompassion#uidesprin#s of water :! Opposite of &od+s will' &od+s servant should not labor for nothin# or spend hisstren#th in vain6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' &od brin#s Israel to himself and maesthem a li#ht to the &entiles' #ives them a purpose vs! laborin# for nothin#

Isa :8'1' tohu! they trust in vanityJrely on empty ar#uments and spea lies

2! JJ they conceive trouble and #ive birth to evil! -roader conte%t' In the conte%t of sin, confession and redemption3 sins have separated people from &od3 <ustice is not bein# done3 people are relyin# on false testimony,condemnin# the innocent! In the midst of this metaphorical darness, &od stepped in to brin# salvation and ri#hteousness, in the conte%t of battle!1! 7otifs'save J hear iniDuities, sinseparated <usticeinte#rity

empty ar#umentsliestroubleevilshed innocent bloodruindestructionno peaceno <usticeno ri#hteousnessdarnessdeep shadowsintercedesalvationri#hteousness as a breastplatehelmet of salvation#arments of ven#eancewrapped in eal as in a cloa :! Opposite of &od+s will' Absence of <ustice! "eople rely on empty ar#uments3 theyconceive trouble and #ive birth to evil!



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6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' vs! 6 ff' &od corrects the lac of <ustice,sends <ud#ment, then the redeemer will come to Xion

Eer! 1'2' tohu wabohu! earth was ruined, the opposite of creation2! JJ heavens'their li#ht was #one JJ mountains'Duain# and hills swayin# JJ no people3 JJ every bird in the sy had flown away! JJ the fruitful land was a desert3 JJ all its towns lay in ruins! -roader conte%t' )eturn to me Israel3 &od is sendin# an a#ent from the north todestroy the people of Israel! he towns will be ruined and will become desert! his is because &od+s people foolishly refuse to now and obey im! heir moral values arecompletely reversed! 4hey are silled in doin# evil3 they now not how to do #ood .v!22/! (ymbolically or literally the earth has become empty, shaen, ruined .shattered/

because of the ?ord+s an#er a#ainst evil! Creation is bein# undone in a sense! he earthwill mourn and the heavens will be dar because of this punishment on &od+s people!1! 7otifs'doin# evildestroyer of nationslay waste the landtowns ruinedwithout inhabitantscorchin# wind barren hei#htsdesert

<ud#mentwhirlwindcloudsea#lesconductdisaster destroyedfools J no understandin# J do not now meevilearth formless and emptyli#ht #one .darness/mountains Duain#no people or birdsdesertmournheavens #row dar towns deserted J no one lives in them:! Opposite of &od+s will' people bein# silled at doin# evil3 don+t now how to do#ood3 earth is in ruins and empty .destroyed and desolate/3 li#ht is #one, there is nothin#6! Correction and demonstration of &od+s will' &od corrects this only after many



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chapters of descriptions of punishment! ;inally in 0'2 we read about the ?ord+sindness, <ustice, ri#hteousness3 1'22' our hope is in you3 9'9' blessed is the man whotrusts in the ?ord, he will be lie a tree planted by water!

Su))ar* of ter)s assoiated #it! tohu his term is always used to describe somethin# that is the opposite of &od+s will and thatcondition is always corrected in the broad conte%t of the passa#e!"referred translation for tohu' $mpty, useless, desolate, (piritBabandoned!"referred translation for tohu wabohu' destroyed and desolate

"assa#es cate#oried by the usa#e of tohu or tohu wabohu '5) 'iteral 4esert as a $piritual 3etaphor

*eut 2' .desertJemptiness' to tell where &od found the people he created 4outof nothin#/

Eob 6'> .wastelandJemptiness' to describe undependable 4comforters/

Eob 2'21 .tracless wasteJemptines' metaphor to describe how &od will dealwith @false advisors, rulers who lose their sanity as a result of <ud#ment@sounds lie 5ebuchedear/

"s 09'10 .tracless wasteJemptiness' metaphor for pourin# contempt and <ud#ment on un<ust nobles/

6) 2anity7emptiness7nothing7confusionA! Useless J false idols or nations that are as nothin#

(am 2'2 .useless idols do you no #ood/Isa 10'9 .nations and its rulers are as nothin# to &od/Isa 1'28 .molten ima#es are wind and confusion, useless/Isa 11'8 #raven ima#es .or those main# them/ are vanity, nothin#,

worthlessIsa 18'1 I have spent my stren#th for nothin#, no purpose

-! )uined and uninhabited cityJ City of confusionIsa! 21'0 ruined city lies desolateIsa! 1:'> he did not create the earth to be ruined or empty, but to be

inhabitedC! Nain speain# that is false

Isa 28'2 they ensare the defender in court with empty pleasJspeain#what is false

Isa 1:'8 I did not spea in vain @falsely, I spea the truth .opposite oftohu/3 I declare what is ri#ht

Isa :8'1 they trust in vanityJrely on empty ar#uments and spea lies*! $mpty place .representin# destroyed area/

Eob 26'9 .spreads out sies over the empty space' over death anddestruction that lie naed and uncovered/

8) Tohu 0abohu" .pside down from God’s intended order 9The transliterated renche&pression, tohu bohu, means topsy tur#ey:

Isa 1'' the measurin# line of chaosJconfusion .tohu/ and the plumb line ofdesolation .bohu/! he opposite of creation and buildin# construction aredescribed as <ud#ment



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Eer 1'2'earth was tohu wabohuthe people are silled at doin# evil3 don+t now how to do #ood .4heirmoral values are completely reversed @;einber# 8>2':/towns ruined, deserted, without inhabitanthe opposite of creation and buildin# construction are described as <ud#ment

his study shows that the followin# themes are associated with the term tohuwabohu'V the opposite of creation is describedV citiesJtownsJin#doms are bein# torn downV everythin# is upside down from &od+s intended order' the land is desertBlie3 no peopleV the tone is desolateJmournin#

he Word Association chart in the Appendi% summaries the most common wordassociations and primary meanin#s of tohu and tohu wabohu discovered in the precedin#conte%t studies and listed here! hese words are always used in a conte%t of <ud#ment'*arness

(hain#Water in ne#ative connotations' flood or lac of it in drou#htCreation ima#ery)efu#e, care, shield*estruction*esert, wastelandWorthless .idols, forei#n #ods/Eustice-uildin#, city$vilInhabited or not

Nain, nothin#, no purpose$nds of the earthEud#ment .associated with tohu in every case/

Co))entators. 0ie#s-efore summariin# the conclusions reached throu#h the inductive studies of the

conte%ts and word associations of tohu and tohu wabohu, we will review the opinions ofvarious commentators and in some cases critiDue these! -ruce F! Walte and *avid !sumura have each done e%tensive inBdepth studies of the terms, tohu and tohu wabohu,comin# to conclusions that I will analye and evaluate in more detail, comparin# themwith the conclusions I have reached in this independent study!

In this evaluation of the views of other scholars, I have noticed that often acommentator arrives at an unhelpful conclusion for one or more of these reasons'

V hey don+t consider the possibility of &enesis describin# the local land, sothey #et tripped up on verse as a summary statement for the creation of the wholeearth, or they are avoidin# the #ap theory, etc!

V hey have preBdetermined to use tohu wabohu as an outline for &enesis V hey have preBdetermined to tae a simplistic approach to the parallelism in

&enesis '2 in eDuatin# tohu wabohu with darnessV hey have apparently not thorou#hly e%amined all the conte%ts of tohu



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.<ud#ment/ and how it is used in each case .fi#uratively, literally, desert, vain, false,worthless, etc!/

V hey have not ept in mind that the phrase means more than the sum of its partsV hey are not consistent in applyin# hermeneutical principles, such as conte%t

$ummary of meanings claimed by commentators for tohu wabohu")ashi .about 00/translated by )abbi A! 7! (ilbermann

Tohu wabohu" *esolate and void! he word tohu si#nifies astonishment andamaement, for a person would have been astonished and amaed at its emptiness! Tohu is found in old ;rench! Bohu, void' the word si#nifies emptiness and empty space!.81'/

?uther and Calvin .:00s/&od ori#inally created the earth as an unformed mass!

Eohn "ye (mith .>:1/

Tohu wabohu is translated 4without form and void!Writin# in >:1 this author #ives a #ood physical description of the condition of

the earth that is implied by &enesis '2! e proposes the possibility that the state of tohuwabohu was produced by a natural disaster such as an earthDuae or volcanic eruption!e didn+t now about asteroidal collisions or he would surely have su##ested that as a possibility as well, in a#reement with )alph Winter+s theory! 4$%treme darness has beenoften nown to accompany such phenomena! his is the unforced meanin# of the twowords rendered Pwithout form and void!+ hose words .tohu #abohu/ are elsewhere inthe ebrew -ible used to describe ruined cities, wild wastes of desertBland, andfi#uratively any thin# that is empty, unsubstantial, or useless! .>:1'21>/

ayler ?ewis .>::/Tohu and bohu' without form and void, referrin# to irre#ularity of dimension and

the deficiency of #ravity, denotin# not so much an absolute as relative want of wei#ht! e bases his conclusion on Isaiah 1' which speas in terms of measurement with the lineof confusion and the stones of emptiness .no wei#ht to the plumb stone or to the stonesused for wei#hin# in balances/! .>::':>/

Umberto Cassuto .811/Tohu wabohu means 4without form or life!Cassuto helpfully hi#hli#hts the importance of tain# the two words as a

compound with more si#nificance than the separate component words of tohu' wildernessand bohu' emptiness! 4In lan#ua#e as in chemistry, a compound may be found to possessDualities absent from its constituent elements! M he sense of the idiom can bedetermined only from the conte%t, that is, from the continuation of the verse, whichreads, and darness was upon the face of the deep! .811'2/ In other words, Cassutosees the concepts of darness and deep as the e%planation of what is meant by tohuwabohu! -y describin# tohu as wilderness, it is obvious that Cassuto has not e%aminedevery passa#e in which the word occurs! (ee the summary list above of the uses of theterm, some of which are definitely not talin# about wilderness! *avid sumura maesthe same mistae, as we will e%amine in detail shortly!



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7errill ;! Un#er .8:>, 8>/4&od did not create the earth in the state of a chaos of wasteness, emptiness, and

darness! .Eohn >'1, 93 Isa! 1:'>/! It was reduced to this condition because it was thetheater where sin be#an in &od+s ori#inally sinless universe in connection with the revoltof ?ucifer .(atan/ and his an#els .Isa! 1'2B13 $e! 2>', :B93 )ev! 2'1/! hechaos was the result of &od+s <ud#ment upon the ori#inally sinless earth! .8>':/!

-ernard )amm .Duoted by $! (auer @862'2:/4When &od made the earth he made it lie a marble bloc out of which e would

brin# the beautiful world! Tohu means lac of form3 bohu means lac of content!Comment' his is pure speculation based on the author+s preconceived ideas

taen from ?uther and Calvin and wantin# to use the term as an outline for the narrationof the Creation events!

$rich (auer .862/

4In both other occurrences @Isaiah 1' and Eeremiah 1'2 it means adestruction which is the result of a divine <ud#ment! M In both cases it has the passivemeanin# of bein# made desolate and empty! .862'22/ (auer shows that the &ap or)estitution theory loos to this interpretation for &enesis '2! -ut since (auer does notwant to endorse the &ap heory, he concludes, 4It is surely more advisable to interpretthe words tohu and bohu in their #eneraland usual sense of Pformlessness,+ Pemptiness+ asa simple description of the ori#inal form of the earth at the be#innin# of creation!.862'21/ (auer, lie Walte, #ives a #ood e%planation of the use of the term in theother two passa#es, then concludes that it means somethin# different in &enesis '2, basin# his decision for how to translate the term on preconceived preferences!

enricus )encens, (!E! .861/Tohu wabohu means 4absolutely nothin# whatever .861'>1/

$phraim $! (peiser .861/Tohu wabohu is a hendiadys meanin# 4a formless waste .(peiser 861':/

*onald &! -arnhouse .86:/e lists words for tohu wabohu in &enesis '2, from various translations' without

form, void, waste, desolate, empty, wrec, ruin! -arnhouse prefers the last two as analliterative phrase! 4In ;rench there is a common e%pression which translates our idea oftopsyBturvy' it is tohuBbohuKan e%pression transliterated from the ebrew of this secondverse of &enesis! .86:':/

errence $! ;retheim .868/Tohu wabohu is 4that in which nothin# can be distin#uished or defined, with the

added idea of desolateness or abandonedness .chaos/! his is simply a definition of thewords Pdeep+ and Pwaters+ which also occur in this verse! his is the unformed materialfrom which most of the earth was now to be fashioned! .868':9/

&erhard von )ad .892/



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Tohu wabohu is seen as referrin# to the abyss of formlessness that 4all creation isalways ready to sin into! MNerse 2 M speas first of the formless and the abysmal outof which &od+s will lifted creation and above which it holds it unceasin#ly! ;or thecosmos stands permanently in need of this supportin# Creator+s will! .892':2/

-ruce F! Walte .89:, 88, 200/"referred translation of tohu wabohu' ;ormless and void, not the aftermath of

destruction or <ud#ment! he ne#ative state of the earth reflects a situation in which theearth is not producin# life! Unformed and unfilled3 the opposite of creation!

Walte #ives an e%tremely detailed analysis of tohu wabohu, showin# e%actlywhat it means in the other two Old estament passa#es where the term is used, thenconcludes that it means somethin# different in &enesis , namely what he wants it tomean' formless and void, not the aftermath of destruction due to &od+s <ud#ment!

In his Bibliothe/ue $acre series, "art II, p! 1, Walte states that it is fallaciousreasonin# to thin that because the <ud#ment on the land in Eeremiah taes the form ofdismantlin# creation that therefore the precreative state itself is the result of &od+s furyand <ud#ment! -ut Walte+s own reasonin# is fallacious! e is attributin# a false position

to other scholars by assumin# that their conclusion .re#ardin# the aspect of <ud#ment in&enesis '2/ is based on a simplistic lo#ic similar to 4if a G b, then b G a! his .falselyattributed/ position can be shown as follows'

If antiBcreation as a form of <ud#ment in Eeremiah 1'2 G tohu wabohuthen

Tohu wabohu in &enesis '2 G antiBcreation as a form of <ud#ment!

While I a#ree with others that the preBcreation state of tohu wabohu was theresult of &od+s <ud#ment, this conclusion is not based on the 4fallacious reasonin#Walte attributes to those who see &enesis '2 as a <ud#ed state of the earth! .e fails to

tae into consideration the other occurrence of tohu wabohu, in Isaiah 1', in whichthe result of <ud#ment is the dismantlin# of civiliation rather than of creation!/ heconclusion that tohu wabohu represents the disastrous result of &od+s <ud#ment isreached by simply tain# the few occurrences of a uniDue term and noticin# that each ofthe others are used in the conte%t of <ud#ment .as are all occurrences of the sin#le word,tohu/! o disre#ard the meanin# discovered in those conte%ts seems lie poor e%e#esis!

Walte seems to decide that the only other two uses of tohu wabohu areirrelevant for his purposes because he wants to use tohu and bohu as an outline for therest of the chapter' first the broad form is stated .vs! formless/ then the details are filled in.vs! unfilled/! his desire to use the phrase as an outline brin#s a western, literary mindsetto the te%t and imposes a meanin# that is not necessarily there .or not the only meanin#/!It also causes Walte to be inconsistent in his e%e#esis, since he reco#nies the e%istenceof (atan before Creation .89:'2'1/, yet does not want to attribute a meanin# totohu wabohu that would imply <ud#ment on (atan+s activities!

e concludes that tohu wabohu 4denotes a state of material devoid of order, orwithout bein# shaped or formed into somethin# .89:'2'11/ and that tohu wabohu 4is an antonym to the Pheavens and the earth,+ si#nifyin# somethin# uncreated ordisordered .Eer! 1'2B29/! MChronolo#ically, this must describe the state of the earth prior to verse , as it would be a contradiction to represent the creation as formedcosmos and the earth as unformed! .200':8/



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Walte+s interpretation implies the preBe%istence of this unformed matter! (incehe is an advocate of a preB&enesis ' creation, he would a#ree that &od created theunformed matter at some other time, perhaps in the same sense that &od created theother planets in our solar system that could be described as tohu wabohu in sumura+sinterpretation of the termKuninhabitable, inhospitable to life!

-ut Walte doesn+t follow throu#h on the lo#ic of his own position! *id &odcreate the preB&enesis ' matter in a state of lifelessness, as with the other planetsH hatdoesn+t address the issue of the #eolo#ic a#es of the earth that clearly show that lifee%isted lon# before humans came on the scene! hen did somethin# subseDuently turn theearth into chaos, meanin# the absence of lifeBsupportin# conditionsH &iven that the earth.or land/ was disordered, how did it #et that wayH *id <ud#ment play some role in this precreation periodH It is hard to understand why Walte would bal at considerin# thestate of the earth in &enesis '2 to be the result of evil andJor <ud#ment! e i#nores thehints in every one of the other 8 occurrences of the word tohu in (cripture .includin#the other two in which tohu is combined with bohu/! e even mentions in "art of his Bibliothe/ue $acre article that the basic thou#ht of the Old estament is that Qahwehwill triumph over all is enemies in the establishment of is rule of ri#hteousness!

.89:'6/ Where did those enemies come fromH It would mae sense that the first versesof the -ible would introduce a theme so basic and prevalent, even if in a veiled and lowBey way so as not to sound as if Qahweh were competin# with the #ods of the otherancient 5ear $astern creation accounts! hrou#h all the biblical creation accounts .orallusions to creation/, in fact, it seems not to be a bi# problem to Qahweh that (atan andchaos are at lar#e in the world .see Eob 10, 1, for instance/! &od nows he has theadversary on a leash! .)ecall the discussion of the whimsical nature of tohu wabohu which hints at this aspect of &od+s ultimate control over evil!/

In the end, Walte+s ar#uments are academic without leadin# to answers to theDuestions we are brin#in# to the te%t! As we saw in a discussion of the word earthJ eretz ,he sorts out the #rammar of the first three verses, but refuses to acnowled#e or address

the interpretive implications of that #rammar!As one e%ample of where his analysis falls short of application, he reco#nies,

with *avid sumura, that the ne#ative state of the earth reflects a situation in which theearth is not producin# life! his fits well with )alph Winter+s hypothesis of a meteorimpact that wiped out life locally! It would seem that it would be easier for Walte toaccept that &enesis '2 refers to &od+s <ud#ment on a local area, rather than on thewhole planet, as he taes &enesis to be referrin# to, since the Old estament is full oflocal <ud#ments, includin# natural disasters!

he value of seein# &enesis as the record of a local event, inspired by &od to be preserved for posterity, is that it can serve as an e%ample or metaphor for the chaosthat has occurred repeatedly throu#hout time in different parts of the earth and for thespiritual chaos of evil that all peoples of all times have had to deal with! Chaos caused byevil intention always lurs in the bac#round, as von )ad points out .892':2/! It is thetheme of (cripture that &od deals creatively with the results of evil! As Eoseph said to his brothers, 4Qou intended evil a#ainst me, but &od meant it for #ood .&enesis :0'20/!

Walte+s interpretation of tohu wabohu falls short of leadin# to these theolo#icalDuestions and issues!

Eohn &ibson .8>/Tohu wabohu' chaos and confusion or desolation and disorder! 4he two



67

alliterative pairs of nouns are my attempts to catch in $n#lish the weird flavor of theebrew tohu wabohu! .8>' accessed throu#h ?o#os ?ibroni%, no pa#e numbersavailable/

4It is a little disconcertin# to find that if we read verse 2 and some of thefollowin# verses more closely, they seem <ust lie the -abylonian account to be tracin#the be#innin# of the world bac to a ind of chaos!

4*oes this mean that &od created the chaos, or, worse, that is was there in the be#innin#, independent of himH he chapter does not #ive an uneDuivocal answer!

In the other two passa#es with the phrase tohu wabohu, M 45early all of theima#es are violent ones and mae us thin of the desolation of confusion left behind by anearthDuae or a whirlwind or an invadin# army rather than of mere emptiness!

&ibson fails to follow throu#h on the implications of this statement which is ri#htin harmony with )alph Winter+s thinin#!

$verett ;o% .8>/4When the earth was wild and waste @tohu #a-#ohu indicatin# Pemptiness!+

.Duoted by Armstron#, 886'1/

&ordon Wenham .8>9/Tohu wabohu means 4total chaos! It is an e%ample of a 4hendiadys, meanin#

literally, 4Waste and void! 4his fri#htenin# disor#aniation is the antithesis to the orderthat characteried the wor of creation when it was complete! .8>9':, 6/

Eon ?evenson .8>>/his author e%tends the meanin# of tohu wabohu beyond the merely physical

conditions of the earth to tae it as an 4affirmation that &od as the creator of the world isdirected a#ainst the forces that oppose him and his acts of creationKthe forces ofdisorder, in<ustice, affliction, and chaos, which are, in the Israelite worldview, one!

.8>>'%i%/

*avid (tacey .88/4he words chaos and <umble translate tohu and bohu, words that appear in &en

'2 with the meanin# Pwithout form and void+! .88'208/(tacey brin#s out the helpful fact that the immediate conte%t of Isaiah 1' .vs!

8, 0/ describes the results of volcanic activity! .4$dom+s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burnin# sulfur3 her land will become blain# pitch It will not beDuenched ni#ht and day3 its smoe will rise forever!/ e su##ests this could also be anallusion to the <ud#ment on (odom and &omorrah! .4hen the ?ord rained down burnin#sulfur on (odom and &omorrah M and @Abraham saw dense smoe risin# from the land,lie smoe from a furnace @&enesis 8'21, 2>!/

(tacey probably bases his interpretation of 4<umble and chaos for tohu wabohu on the list of unliely animals he calls attention to, some of which cannot even bedefinitely identified by scholars! .Another commentator, Christopher (eit, sees in thischapter, in which the animals+ mates are mentioned three times, an allusion to the chaosof 5oah+s flood! @88'29/ Isaiah piles up as much ima#ery in chapter 1 as he canthin of, includin# the allusion to the chaos precedin# creation, to mae his point that$dom will be <ud#ed



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-ernhard Anderson .881/Anderson, writin# as ?evenson was with the realities of World War II in mind,

also sees tohu wabohu as representative of the chaos faced in life at many levels! 4hePchaos and desolation+ of &en '2 is not <ust a statement about primeval times3 it is astatement about a present possibility! Commentin# on this verse, &erhard von )adobserves that human bein#s have always had a hauntin# awareness Pthat behind allcreation lies the abyss of the formless!+ .Genesis, p! :/ .881'/

Allen )oss .886/Tohu wabohu means a chaos of wasteness, emptiness, and darness! 4&enesis

#ives no e%planation for the chaos, but we may #ather from the words used and from parallel passa#es that is was a <ud#ment on rebellion, that (atan was somehow involved,and that oppressive evil e%isted instead of the fullness of life! .)oss 886'9:/4(omethin# is drastically wron# at the outset! he earth was Pwaste and void+ orPformless and empty!+ .886'0:/

Eohn (ailhamer .886/

e states that the correct sense of the ebrew phrase is 4uninhabitable and4wilderness! Tohu wabohu would never have been translated 4formless and void or4formless and empty 4were it not for the &ree notion of Pprimeval chaos!+ he sense ofthe ebrew phrase su##ests somethin# Duite different, a sense which some earlytranslators identified Duite clearly! $arly nonB&ree versions such as the Aramaicar#ums show no trace of the concepts found in the ?! One early Aramaic ar#umtranslates tohu wabohu as Pdesolate without human bein#s or beasts and void of allcultivation of plants and of trees!+ .886'6/ his early translation is similar tosumura+s and Walte+s preferences! It is an interpolation of the conditions described in&enesis 2'1, : bac into &enesis '2!

(ailhamer concludes that 4the ebrew e%pression tohu wabohu refers simply to a

Pwilderness+ that has not yet become inhabitable for human bein#s! .*eut! 2'0/.886'6/ 5otice, however that *eut! 2'0 uses only the term tohu! (ailhamer has nottaen into consideration what added insi#hts are intended to be #ained from the rhymin#fi#ure of speech, tohu wabohu! e does however, have an insi#ht into another word playin the ori#inal ebrew' tohu and tob! Tohu describes the land before it was tobJ#ood!.886'6/ .-etter yet, could this be an ellipsis of opposite terms, combined to show thesolution to the ne#ative conditionH Tohu wabohu becomes tob)/

&re#ory -oyd .889/4he earth became .or had become/ formless and empty! hese are usually

pe<orative terms in (cripture, denotin# somethin# one wron#, laid waste or <ud#ed! Mhis theory postulates a prehumanoid world of indefinite duration about which we nownothin# more than that it somehow became a battlefield between #ood and evil and wasconseDuently made into a total wasteland! .889'0>/

)obert Alter .2001/Alter reco#nies the validity of the ancient translation of tohu wabohu in the

-abylonian almud by )abbi )esh ?aish' 4he orah was #iven to Israel Pto teach usthat the oly One made a condition with all created thin#s, sayin# to them, 4If Israelaccepts the orah, you will continue to e%ist! If not, I shall return you to welter and



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waste @tohu wabohu!+ .-abylonian almud'(habbat >>A/! .2001'i%/

errence $! ;retheim .200:/he author is concerned in this later writin# that if we admit that &od shows

violence .in dealin# with supposed evil represented by tohu wabohu/, that #ives peoplethe <ustification for violence toward each other! .200:'08/ -ut ;retheim is notconsistent! e doesn+t deny &od+s use of force in <ud#ment in Israel+s history, so whydeny it in &enesis H

4sumura shows that the phrase tohu wabohu .formless void/ has nothin# to dowith Pchaos+ and simply means Pemptiness+ and refers to the earth which is an empty place, i!e!, Pan unproductive an uninhabited place!+ his point of view denies that verse 2depicts evil as bein# a constitutive dimension of the created order, even in limited sense!.200:'1/

his view doesn+t deal with reality! ?evenson and Anderson both had to deal withthe realities of WWII and now evil is present in this world and must be accounted for!;retheim+s more recent view leads him to say that since some disorder has persisted

beyond Creation, then such elements of disorder are 4#ood! .200:'11/ his is e%actlythe type of thinin# )alph Winter is tryin# to counteract in his call to the evan#elicalworld to fi#ht conditions contrary to &od+s will wherever it is found, specifically in therealm of disease!

In his ob<ections to the 4chaosamph theories of the 5ear $astern reli#ions bein#attributed to &od, ;retheim would have benefited from the perspective (tafford Wri#ht!Wri#ht proposed that references to mythical battles and chaos monsters in the ancientstories may be 4preservin# a primeval truth that underlies the biblical conception of thefall of (atan and the warfare between (atan and &od! .8:6'29/

*avid oshio sumura .8>>, 881, 200:/

is preferred translation of tohu wabohu' A desertBlie, uninhabited place, awaste land! e also a#rees with the translation, 4emptiness, but denies that this hasanythin# to do with 4chaos! e sees the term in &enesis '2 as referrin# to the earth in astate without life, uninhabited, empty!

sumura, lie Walte, #oes into #reat detail about the meanin# of tohu wabohu,in several different publications, and in the end does not wrestle with the core issue, whatis the si#nificance of the meanin# of this termH ow does the e%e#etical process brin# uscloser to understandin# &od+s ways and purposes with humanindH sumura does not#ive any help in this direction!

In his article, 4ohu in Isa 1:'8, in 2etus Testamentum, sumura #ives ane%cellent comprehensive e%e#etical study of tohu, but he doesn+t address the Duestion, inthat or in any of his other writin#s, whether tohu wabohu taen as a fi#ure of speechmeans somethin# different than each of the words separately!

sumura+s approach to discoverin# the meanin# of the term tohu wabohu in&enesis '2 is throu#h a detailed semantic investi#ation throu#h literary analysis .conte%t,e%amination of the terms in other passa#es, parallelisms, fi#ures of speech/ andetymolo#y' U#aritic, Aadian, and Arabic roots! is e%e#etical approach providedseveral e%amples of approaches I have followed in my ori#inal research on the meanin# oftohu wabohu! sumura+s e%tensive use of parallelism to arrive at possible meanin#s fordisputed terms was a very helpful e%ample! is etymolo#ical speculations led me to do



70

my own speculations on a possible ebrew co#nate for bohu, discussed earlier! islistin# of cate#ories for the meanin# of the term tohu as it is used in each conte%t, and hisown detailed analysis of each passa#e, led me to do my own inductive studies, chartin#the results and reachin# conclusions independently of other commentators!

An ori#inal insi#ht was reached by sumura throu#h his inductive study! he factthat tohu wabohu is related in some way to hosek Jdarness .or 4no li#ht/ is seen in parallel structures in both &enesis '2 and Eeremiah 1'2! sumura says this had never been noticed by commentators before! 4In this case, the term tohu correspondin# directlyto hosek Pdarness+ probably means Pdesolation!+ .881'20/ A dia#ram is provided hereto mae it easier to follow sumura+s line of reasonin#, as well as to illustrate itscomple%ity! In the followin# e%amples, A and - are closely related, as are and Q!.sumura wrote an article in 2etus Testamentum specifically to <ustify the use of thisAQ- pattern! @8>>b'21B26/

&enesis '2'.A/ 5ow the earth

./ was formless and empty .tohu wabohu/,

.Q/ darness was over the surface.-/ of the deep!

Eeremiah 1'2'.A/ I looed at the earth

./ and it was formless and empty .tohu wabohu/.-+/ and at the heavens,

.Q/ and their li#ht was #one!

sumura doesn+t say anythin# about the fact that in &enesis '2 the comparison is between the earth and the 4deep, while in Eeremiah 1'2 the comparison is between the

earth and the 4heavens! -ut in both cases, it is true that darness accompanies thecondition of tohu wabohu! his association of ideas that sumura calls attention to ledme to e%plore a number of other word associations with tohu and with tohu wabohu! heWord Associations chart in the Appendi% summaries the results of that research andcontributes to a fuller understandin# of the si#nificance of the term!

A more strai#htforward e%ample of the use of parallelism to discoverconnotations and uses of the word tohu was seen earlier in this paper in Isaiah 1:'>, ane%ample sumura leans heavily upon for his own conclusions!

Isaiah 1:'>.(/ ;or this is what the ?ord saysBB

.A/ he who created the heavens, he is &od3

.A/ he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it3

.-/ he did not create it to be .tohu/

.-+/ but formed it to be inhabited.(/ he says'M

ebrew parallelism is often synonymous, as it is in this verse! (ince the#rammatical structure indicates that the two phrases labeled 4- each e%press the samethou#ht, one in ne#ative and the other in positive terms, this leads to a meanin# of



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4uninhabited .sumura+s preference/ or 4empty, a broader, more inclusive term which I prefer since it #ives more fle%ibility in translatin# the same word in other conte%ts! .Inthose verses that sumura is willin# to admit the word is used abstractly he alsoadvocates 4emptiness as the interpretation! @881'6/ 4$mpty can mean uninhabitedor desert, in the sense of physical emptiness, but it can also mean empty of meanin#, suchas worthless, purposeless, or false .as in empty words/ in other conte%ts, as can be seenin the Word Associations chart! In fact, based on the lar#er conte%t, it would beappropriate to use 4purposeless for tohu in Isaiah 1:'> .&od did not create the worldto be purposeless/! As a side note, Carl Armerdin# comes to this conclusion as well in hisdiscussion about the contrast between a cyclical view of history and the ebrew purposeful worldview' 4Isaiah 1:'> reaffirms this human aspect of creation when itdeclares, 4he did not create it a chaos .or Pwithout purpose+/, he created it to beinhabited! .891'1/ !C! ?eupold+s translation a#rees' 4e did not create it to no purpose J he formed it for men to dwell in! .?eupold 89'28/ he mission and purpose of &od+s people is specified a few verses later' 4urn to me and be saved, all youends of the earth M -efore me every nee will bow3 by me every ton#ue will swear.Isaiah 1:'22, 2/!

ain# uninhabited and 4desert as the main meanin# of tohu, as sumura does,does not allow one to find a root meanin# of the word that can mae sense in both literaland abstract uses and conte%ts! sumura+s preference for a literal meanin# leads him toan unhelpful conclusion in his discussion of tohu in Isaiah 1:'8! In fact, his presupposition leads him to i#nore a main e%e#etical principle of interpretin# accordin# tothe conte%t! e #ets too close to the immediate conte%t of the parallelism within the verseto notice the lar#er conte%t of the chapter or even the rest of the verse'

Isaiah 1:'8 .5IN/I have not spoen in secret,

from somewhere in a land of darness3

I have not said to Eacob+s descendants,4(ee me in vain .tohu/!

I, the ?ord, spea the truth3I declare what is ri#ht

In this verse sumura taes tohu to be in parallel with 4in a land of darness! euses circular reasonin# to decide which elements of the verse correspond to each other,supportin# his choice 4by the fact that tohu basically means Pa waste land+ .or Pdesert+/!.881'62/ After a number of pa#es of complicated ar#uments, sumura arrives at thefollowin# translation of Isaiah 1:'8'

I did not spea in secret,In a land of darness,I did not say to Eacob+s descendants.in a land of/ desolation, 4(ee me .881'62/

his is almost the e%act opposite of my conclusion, which uses a broader term fortohu that incorporates abstract as well as physical meanin#s! sumura is implyin# that&od did not spea at all .e did not say, 4(ee me!/ Why insist on tohu bein# a physical place in this passa#eH And how does he account for the last phrases of the verse



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that say &od speas ri#ht thin#s3 the truthH .e completely i#nores this immediateconte%t in his discussion!/ sumura+s translation is unhelpful for illuminatin# the conte%tof the chapter! is insistence on a literal desert for tohu is not in harmony with the te%t!Tohu in this conte%t means 4empty in the sense of 4no purpose, in vain, falsely3 &od isnot #ivin# false testimony! .(ee this obvious use of tohu in Isaiah 28'2!/

sumura has overlooed the rest of the verse in his ea#erness to find support forhis literal interpretation of tohu! he parallelism and translation should be as follows'

.A/ I have not spoen in secret

.A/ from somewhere in a land of darness.-/ I have not said falselyJto no purpose to Eacob+s descendants, 4(ee me,

.C/ I, the ?ord, spea the truth3

.C/ I declare what is ri#ht!

his translation, supported by additional evidence in the $nd 5otes, 1 hasmissionary implications that are made specific by &od+s invitation two verses later, 4urnto me and be saved, all you ends of the earth .Isaiah 1:'22/! In other words, &od spoe

plainly, in the li#ht, and his ri#hteous speain# was not in vain, purposeless, or fornothin#! (ome of Eacob+s seed did see him and some of his descendents did fulfill &od+s purposes! Israel was created as a nation to mae im nown to the ends of the earth!his is in line with )alph Winter+s thesis that humans were created to <oin the battlea#ainst the powers of darness!

It may be that sumura+s overlooin# of the last phrases of the verse, and as aconseDuence missin# the meanin# of the passa#e, is due to his specialty of technicaletymolo#ical studies, which reDuires payin# close attention to one word at a time!hrou#h these studies sumura reaches the conclusion, 4it is probable that U#aritic thw isa co#nate of ebrew tohu and that both have the common meanin# of Pa desert!+.881'2/ e further concludes that the ebrew bohu, 4thou#h still lacin# definite

etymolo#y, seems to be a (emitic term based on the root bhw and possibly a co#nate ofArabic bahiya Pto be empty!+ .881'/ An e%ample of how his etymolo#ical studieshave led to his understandin# of tohu is found in a U#aritic te%t in which parallelismassists in discoverin# shades of meanin#! In this line the U#aritic term for 4out of orderis eDuivalent to the ebrew tohu' 4he earth shaes JJ the earth is out of order .thw/! : ;rom this sumura concludes that 4unproductive is an appropriate translation both forthe U#aritic and the ebrew term! .sumura 200:'2/ .And 4unproductive isdescriptive of sumura+s favorite translation for tohu, 4desert, as well as part of his finalconclusion for the translation tohu wabohu!/ I was encoura#ed to try an informaletymolo#ical study of the word bohu .discussed previously/ based on sumura+s e%ampleof informed speculation!

In summary, in sumura+s classification of the uses of tohu, he sees both literaland fi#urative or abstract uses, but he is determined to conclude that the word most oftenmeans 4desert or 4uninhabited! As a result he #ives unsatisfyin# e%planations for thecases in which the term is used abstractly, or when it is used symbolically as a literalmetaphor! In the end sumura does not even mae a #ood case for tohu usually meanin#desert, since in &enesis '2 everythin# is wet -ut at least he considers the term4empty Jdesolate to be an implication of his preferred interpretation, 4desertBlie! .ereco#nies that in Isaiah 21'0B2, tohu is synonymously parallel to the term fordesolation followin# the destruction of a city! @881'8/ 4*esolation is more helpful



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than 4desert in arrivin# at an e%planation for the compound phrase, tohu wabohu!sumura+s final conclusion at the end of a lon# and comple% investi#ation is that 4boththe biblical conte%t and e%traBbiblical parallels su##est that the phrase tohu wabohu in&en '2 has nothin# to do with Pchaos+ and simply means Pemptiness+ and refers to theearth which is an empty place, i!e!, an unproductive and uninhabited place! .881'>/

!onsolidated 'ist of !ommentators’ ;nterpretations of Tohu wabohuIn concludin# this section on the contributions of a number of commentators to

the meanin# of tohu wabohu, a consolidated list of their interpretations is provided'Without form and voidChaos as a result of <ud#ment .*arness and the deep as part of the chaos/Unformed and unfilled*esolate and empty 5othin# whatever ;ormless waste 5ot producin# or supportin# life

Opposite or contrary to creationWrec and ruin*esolation and disorder Wild and wasteWelter and waste;orces that oppose &odUninhabitable and wilderness*esertBlie$mptinessUnproductive and uninhabitable7eanin#lessness, shapelessness

Instability and emptinessChaos and <umble

Con&usions and app&iations of t!e )eaning of tohu wabohu

)alph Winter+s preferred phrase for tohu wabohu, destroyed and desolate, fitswell with this assortment of interpretations! Tohu wabohu Kwherever it is foundKis thedisastrous result of followin# a course of behavior that is not &od+s will! In eachoccurrence of this term it describes a <ud#ed and destroyed state of the earth and 4thisemptiness and meanin#lessness comes about because it is deserved! .7otyer 88'29/It implies the e%istence of evil and the need to overcome that evil in order for &od+s willto be done .4on earth as it is in heaven/!

ranslations for tohu wabohu ran#e from topsy turvey, e%tremely empty,unproductive and uninhabitable, desertBlie, not producin# or supportin# life, wrec andruin, destroyed and desolate, the opposite of creation! hese layers of meanin# .fromwhimsical to deadly and antiBcreational/ can apply in the cultural, societal and personal.mental or physical/ realms as well as to the ne#ative, mi%edBup state of the physicalcreation! Eon ?evenson, in !reation and the *ersistence of +#il , e%tends the meanin# oftohu wabohu beyond the merely physical conditions of the earth to tae it as an4affirmation that &od as the creator of the world is directed a#ainst the forces thatoppose him and his acts of creationKthe forces of disorder, in<ustice, affliction, and



74

chaos, which are, in the Israelite worldview, one! .8>>'%i%/ his is a ey insi#ht withimplications for a warfare missiolo#y! Tohu wabohu includes all forces of disorder,whether visible or internal! .(ee $nd 5ote 6 for a study of the similarities betweendescriptions of tohu and descriptions of a heart that is not ri#ht with &od, and viceversa!/ he pattern shown in &enesis demonstrates that &od wants to turn disorder intoorder, evil into #ood, tohu into tob!

As we have seen in this len#thy discussion of tohu wabohu, destruction anddesolation are inherent in a mind rebellin# a#ainst &od! .(ee $nd 5ote 6!/ $vil choicesare the evidence of a mind in opposition to &od, and that mind .or society/ can becharacteried by the physical metaphor of tohu wabohu Kdestroyed and desolate! It isdestroyed because it isn+t worin# the way &od made it to worKit is twisted, turned towron# purposes, therefore purposeless from &od+s perspective! It is desolate because the(pirit has withdrawn from that life or society, as in $eiel+s vision of the (pirit in thewheels leavin# the temple and the land! $vil choices result in the (pirit leavin# .4my(pirit will not always strive with man/ and the withdrawal of the (pirit of &od leaves behind a desolate personJsociety that selfBdestructs!

owever, this pessimistic picture isn+t the end of the story! In &enesis '2, the

(pirit is hoverin# or stirrin# over the deep in preparation for a new be#innin# that willovercome tohu with tob, or evil with #ood! (imilarly, in the &ospel of Eohn we see thetradition that healin# would tae place at the pool called -ethesda when an an#el stirredup the waters, main# them lifeBproducin#Jhealin#! he only hope for (piritBabandonedindividuals or societies is for those who have the (pirit dwellin# in them to brin# the(pirit to the desolate person or society! hose worin# in places where people are silledat doin# evil and where the (pirit does not have a restrainin# influence may need to be prepared to #ive up their lives in the attempt to overcome evil with #ood before theFin#dom can come and &od+s will can be done on earth as in heaven in that corner ofworld!

3ER4ENEUTIC/ /PPIC/TIONS

Warfare missiolo#y as a theme of the -ible'-rin#in# order out of chaos

Correctin# conditions that are contrary to &od+s will

-e#innin#s of a theolo#y of disease


hayeta tohu wabohuwe’hosek al-pene tehomwe’ruach elohim merachepet al-pene hammayim



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All societies have to answer the Duestion, ow shall we brin# order out of chaosH"eople tryin# to be submitted to &od in any culture need to find their own particularimplications for how to live in ri#ht relationship with &od within that culture! he principles of &enesis are timeless and apply in all cultures in addressin# these and otherDuestions! he last section of this paper will apply these principles in arrivin# at amissiolo#y and theolo#y that concern how the -ody of Christ should address disease!

For the ancient Israelite culture the desert represented the tohu wabohu waiting

in the wings to take over if they didn’t care for their land or if their enemies destroyed it..Non )ad points out that people have always nown that evil lurs in the bac#round oftheir e%perience! 47an has always suspected that behind all creation lies the abyss offormlessness3 Mthat the chaos, therefore, si#nifies simply the threat to everythin#created! @892':2/ In all cultures throu#hout history, disease is one form of the chaosthat is always waitin# in the win#s to overtae and destroy! AI*(, cancer, malaria,tuberculosisKthese are not the evidences of a lovin# Creator+s intentions for isCreation! hese are e%amples of opposition to &od+s willKin other words, these arewors of the adversary, the devil! he physical condition of the earth described as tohuwabohu serves as a metaphor for the physical, personal and social problems that must beaddressed by a radical missiolo#y! Where &od+s Fin#dom does not yet e%ist, tohu rei#ns,

with visible evidence of conditions contrary to &od+s will .includin# disease andviolence/, and missionary activity is needed to continue Christ+s mission of destroyin# thewors of &od+s adversary, the devil! *emonstration of &od+s will and &od+s #lory is theresponsibility of the -ody of Christ! CrossBcultural worers are under the mandate of&enesis to brin# order out of chaos wherever they #o as representatives of the in#domof &od! &od+s purposes for humans in history have to do with overcomin# the evilori#ins of tohu wabohu by followin# is e%ample in &enesis as well as in otherscriptural passa#es, such as )omans 2'2 and Eohn '>!

he conte%t in which the concept of tohu wabohu is introduced ri#ht at the be#innin# of (cripture, shows &od+s purpose is to correct conditions that are contrary tohis will! Genesis 1 shows God preparing the land for a new humanity, made in His imagefor the purpose of working with Him to bring order out of chaos and to defeat theopposition of the adversary. .-oth the causes and often violent conseDuences of thatopposition can be #rouped under the two terms, tohu and , tohu wabohu!/ All of lifeneeds to be oriented to the war a#ainst evil that is the theme of human history! A warfaremissiolo#y reco#nies that humans were created to <oin &od in rescuin# Creation fromthe in#dom of darness, includin# the physical and social results of intelli#ent evil, andin brin#in# transformation that represents the advance of &od=s in#dom! )alph Winter+scall to the evan#elical world to include fi#htin# disease as an aspect of mission.200:a'>0/ echoes biblical themes that have their ori#in in &enesis '2!



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At the end of (cripture, in the -oo of )evelation, we see the fulfillment of&od+s purposes in history described in terms showin# that the state of tohu wabohu hasfinally been reversed' there is no more death, cryin# or pain, and darness and ni#ht have been permanently replaced with 4#ood li#ht .see )evelation 2', 13 22':/! In betweenthis be#innin# and endin# of (cripture, the rest of the -ible e%plains how to avoid orcorrect tohu wabohu at various levels or it shows what happens when tohu wabohu is notcorrected and the evil one+s influence is allowed to continue! umans are called to <oin&od in overcomin# the cause of tohu wabohu .evil/, with #ood .)omans 2'/! Eohn(ailhamer+s insi#ht illustrates this theme' 4tohu describes the land before &od made it4tobJ#ood! .886'6/ It is fi#htin# bac a#ainst the forces of evil that cause tohuwabohu to do anythin# that brin#s order out of chaos! his is the ori#in of a theolo#y ofdisease .disBease/Kthe opposite of ease, the opposite of order, disintegration (tohu

wabohu) at the cellular level. Applying the finding of this paper, that tohu is a metaphorfor anything contrary to God’s will, to God's intent to reverse such cellular tohu

wabohu, is presented here as a candidate for the beginnings of a theology of disease.-y describin# the opposite of &od+s intentions in the conte%t of the Creation

account, tohu wabohu points toward the #oal of that creationKa place that can be

inhabited by humans in purposeful fellowship with &od! his term #ives the ey to theOld estament, and to the entire -ible! An adversary that is hostile to life and whoopposes &od+s intentions e%ists! he whole theme of e%istence is to fi#ht bac a#ainst theadversary who orchestrates disorder and chaos in opposition to &od! he rest of &enesis points the way in showin# that it is possible to restore order with creativity and patience, showin# how to overcome evil with #ood! umans <oinin# &od to defeat theadversary in this way can turn their world upside down, as was said of the disciples in the boo of Acts! Or perhaps we should say, they can help turn the world ri#ht side up,restorin# it in some ways to &od+s ori#inal intentions and brin#in# im #lory in the process! As believers demonstrate what &od+s will is and what e is lie, the peoples ofthe earth will be attracted to follow that ind of &od!

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”



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END NOTES

! Eohn (ailhamer, the most outspoen contemporary proponent of the local earth theory,cautions in his boo, Genesis .nbound , that 4today the word Pearth+ too easily calls upima#es of the whole planet on which we live! .886':>/ he modern view of theuniverse should not be allowed to control our understandin# of what the author of&enesis would have meant by 4earth! One of (ailhamer+s sources, Eohn "ye (mith,stated, 4a most important inDuiry is the meanin# of the word @aretz which we render

earth! .>:1'218/ e #oes on to point out that the ancient ebrews could not have hadany conception of the planet as we now it .4the spheroidal fi#ure of the earth/, so wemust base our understandin# of the 4earth 4in conformity with the ideas of the peoplewho used it! M ;reDuently it stands for the land of "alestine, and indeed for any countryor district that is mentioned or referred to! (ometimes @aretz denotes a mere plot of#round3 and sometimes the soil, clay, and sand, or any earthy matter! .>:1'2:0/

2! A number of respected scholars a#ree that &enesis ' does not refer to the be#innin#of 4everythin# but to somethin# more recent! 7errill Un#er represents the conservativeevan#elical understandin#' 4&enesis ', 2 evidently describes not the primeval creatione& nihilo, celebrated by the an#els .Eob >'93 Isa 1:'>/, but the much later refashionin#

of a <ud#mentBridden earth in preparation for a new order of creationKman! he &enesisaccount deals only with &od+s creative activity as it concerns the human race in its ori#in,fall and redemption! .8:>'2>/

! Umberto Cassuto ob<ects to findin# the meanin# of tohu wabohu by seein# tounderstand the meanin#s of the component words! e #ives the illustration of4broadcast in which the separate meanin#s of 4broad and 4cast would not be particularly helpful in e%plainin# the term to someone unfamiliar with the word! 4Any onewho does not now what Pbroadcast+ denotes will not be able to #uess the connotation ofthe word from its separate elements of Pbroad+ and Pcast!+ ;or the same reason it is profitless to compare other passa#es in which either of the words tohu or bohu occurs!.811'22/! owever, I respectfully disa#ree with Cassuto+s reasonin#! is ar#ument failsto tae into account the fi#ure of speech nown as a 4hendiadys, mentioned inconnection with tohu wabohu in &enesis '2 by both Walte .88'1/ and Wenham.8>9':/! -ecause tohu wabohu is a fi#ure of speech in which two separate words are <oined with a con<unction, Cassuto+s ar#ument usin# the sin#le word broadcast does notseem applicable! It is important to understand the meanin# of each of the separate wordsin order to arrive at an understandin# of the connotations of the compound term!

1! Isaiah 1:'8' -ased on my ori#inal e%e#etical research, the parallelism and translation



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should be as follows'.A/ I have not spoen in secret.A/ from somewhere in a land of darness .-/ I have not said falselyJto no purpose to Eacob+s descendants, 4(ee me,.C/ I, the ?ord, spea the truth3.C/ I declare what is ri#ht!

he middle phrase .-/ is e%plained by both sets of parallelisms' &od did not speato them in secret, but openly, and he did not spea to them falsely or to no purpose, buttruthfully! In describin# &od as speain# openly, and not in a secret, dar place, Isaiahmay have had in mind the incident in &enesis >'9, >, when the ?ord said, 4(hall I hidefrom Abraham what I am about to doH Abraham will surely become a #reat and powerfulnation, and all nations on earth will be blessed throu#h him! his also fits the lar#erconte%t of the Isaiah 1: in which &od is invitin# all the peoples of the earth to turn tohim! he implication of Isaiah 1:'8, is that it is throu#h Eacob+s seed that the peoples ofthe earth should now &od and be able to see him!

he fact that &od+s plea to Abraham+s and Eacob+s descendants was not

worthless or false is supported by the use of the word tohu in Isaiah 28'2 to mean4falsely! In that conte%t Isaiah reports the ?ord as sayin# the people are displeasin# him by turnin# thin#s 4upside down .28'6/ from what is ri#ht, and one way they are doin#this is by deprivin# the innocent of <ustice with a 4vain thin# or 4worthless thin# .tohu/,translated 4false testimony by the 5IN! &od+s words are not false testimony, they arenot worthless or in vain, or to no purpose! Interpretatin# tohu as 4to no purpose, alsoapplies to the usa#e of tohu in the precedin# verse .Isaiah 1:'>'&od did not create theworld to be purposeless or meanin#less, but to be inhabited @by people with a purpose bein# spelled out in the lar#er conte%t of the chapter!/

he lar#er conte%t of the chapter shows that &od did not create the world to be <ud#ed .tohu/, in which case there would have been no purpose in creatin# it in the first

place3 the world would have been tohu, purposeless! he conte%t of the chapter showsthat Cyrus, as &od+s servant, is #oin# to rebuild what &od had allowed to be destroyed!&od wants all nations to be included in this rebuildin#, not <ust Israel! he sense of verse8 is that what &od declares .not in secret, and not to no purpose/ is ri#ht and true whene says, 4turn to me and be saved all you ends of the earth .verse 22/! he content ofwhat &od said to Eacob+s descendants in relation to 4see me is 4turn to me and besavedBBand he intends for that to happen! e is not #ivin# a false word of hope, and he isnot sayin# that he never said, 4(ee me, as sumura+s translation implies!

After arrivin# at these conclusions throu#h an inductive study, the authordiscovered confirmation for this interpretation from a number of commentators! -revardChilds summaries this point of view'4&od did not spea in secret, or conceal himself inambi#uous oracle! M &od has always spoen the truth and declared with is ri#ht!.200'::/ 7ichael )osenbaum points out that Israel had brou#ht the char#e a#ainstQahweh that he had hidden himself from them .see Isaiah 10'29 and the immediateconte%t of 1:':/ and they 4wondered whether it was worthwhile seein# Qahweh at all!heir claim was that it was Pvain+ to see Qahweh since he did not answer! Qahwehcounters that he can be trusted to do what is ri#ht3 it is not Pvain+ to see him!.889'6/ Qehoshua &itay draws on the political conte%t, 4the complaint about &od+shiddenness @v! : sounds also lie a complaint about &od+s apparently passive role inthe current political situation! v! 8'PI have not said to Eacob+s descendants'see me for



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nothin#,+ which declares that there is a purpose and benefit in seein# &od, responds in#eneralterms to the complaint! .&itay 8>'8:/

&! W! Wade #ives additional historical bac#round for the verse'4he ?ord+s predictions were public and e%plicit so that men could <ud#e of the correspondence ofevents with them and in this respect they differed from many heathen oracles which wereoften to be obtained only in outBofBtheBway localities and were ambi#uous and eni#maticin character! M It was not the custom of the ?ord, as it was of the heathen oracles, toinvite men to consult im and then afford them no real help! .828'289/ Wade+se%planation combines both the literal and fi#urative aspects of what is meant by &od notspeain# in 4tohu, <ust as this author concluded above!

(o it must be admitted that sumura is not completely wron# in his very detailed <ustification for a physical location as the meanin# of tohu in Isaiah 1:'8! ohu can betaen in two ways simultaneously' as a place parallel to a land of darness .such as awilderness/ and also as not bein# 4in vain or 4false! &od did not spea from a desertarea or secret, dar place, because this is true, public information, and also when hedecides to restore his people, the deserts will no lon#er be a wasteland, or tohu, butinstead will become fertile, filled with water and #rowin# thin#s!

(ee the description in Isaiah : of the reversal of tohu, &od+s #oal for history'4he desert and the parched land will be #lad3

the wilderness will re<oice and blossom! .vs! /Water will #ush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert! .vs! 6/he burnin# sand will become a pool,

the thirsty #round bubblin# sprin#s!In the haunts where <acals once lay,

#rass and reeds and papyrus will #row! .vs! 9/And a hi#hway will be there3

it will be called the Way of oliness!

he unclean will not <ourney on it3It will be for those who wal in that Way .vs! >/

5o lion will be there,nor will any ferocious beast #et up on it3they will not be found there!

-ut only the redeemed will wal there, .vs! 8/and the ransomed of the ?ord will return! M

&ladness and <oy will overtae them,and sorrow and si#hin# will flee away! .vs! 0/

:! An additional insi#ht can be #ained from these parallel U#aritic lines, 4he earthshaes JJ the earth is out of order, in which the U#aritic for 4out of order is eDuivalentto the ebrew tohu! .sumura 200:'2/ In my studies I had been investi#atin# whether4shain# was associated with tohu, and found confirmation in the parallelism of thise%ample! In addition, confirmation is found in the verse followin# Eeremiah 1'2' 4Ilooed at the mountains, and they were Duain#3 all the hills were swayin# .Eer 1'21/! Inhis commentary on the -oo of Eeremiah, $lliott -inns remars, 4the effect ofearthDuaes seems to have made a deep impression on the mind of @people in all a#es!M he tremblin# of the mountains represents to them the overturnin# of all that is stableand trustworthy! Our ?ord adopts this ind of lan#ua#e in speain# of the Plast thin#s+



80

.7ar >'>, 21 ff!/ and 7uhammed habitually speas of the <ud#ement as the day whenthe mountains will be set in motion .Foran, l%i%! 1, l%%viii!20, %ci%! etc!/ .88'1:/

he Word Associations chart in the Appendi% shows the biblical conte%tualassociations of shain# with tohu! he si#nificance of 4shain# bein# part of theimplications of the term tohu is seen in Eob >'2, ' 4have you ever #iven orders to themornin#, or shown the dawn its place that it mi#ht tae the earth by the ed#es and shaethe wiced out of itH In Eob > 4shain# is whimsically associated with creationima#ery, indicatin# that the appearance of li#ht causes the wiced to be shaen out oftheir hidin# place in the darness! .his almost sounds lie an allusion to a tentBdwellin#nomad shain# the bed bu#s out of his sleepin# blanet in the mornin#/

Tohu wabohu is a whimsical term referrin# to serious conseDuences of whattemporarily happens to the people and the land when they are in a condition that isopposed to &od+s will! -ut &od+s (pirit ensures that is purposes will eventually beaccomplished and that the condition of tohu wabohu will not last forever! e did notcreate the world to be tohuJ<ud#edJtopsy turveyJpurposeless, etc! etc!

6! Additional word study comparin# the word tohu with the word 4heart to show theconnection between inner and outer tohu andJor tohu wabohu)ypothesis'

Tohu wabohu .4destroyed and desolate/ or <ust tohu applies to inner chaos andrebellion a#ainst &od as well as to the outer evidences of <ud#ment! As a description ofconditions that are not &od+s will, tohu wabohu describes the visible or felt results of theroot cause of human problems, namely opposition to &od+s will! hese results includeviolence at all levels of e%istence!, includin# disease! When evil choices are madeintentionally and repeatedly, the heartJ societyJ earthJ body be#ins to selfBdestruct and iswithout the help of the (pirit of &od! he same terms are used in association with boththe inner and outer states of tohu wabohu! his will be seen in the word study on 4heart!

A heart that is in opposition to &od+s will is described by terms similar to those used inassociation with the condition of tohu or tohu wabohu! A heart that is ri#ht with &od isdescribed in terms that are the opposite of the words used in association with thecondition of tohu or tohu wabohu!

It is important to see no dichotomy between innerJspiritual and outerJphysical orvisible tohu wabohu! here is a continuum rather than a dichotomy! If a person letsopposition to &od+s will and rebellion a#ainst biblical wisdom #et a foothold in theirmind, it will be e%pressed in inward and outward chaos at the personal, social, political,and cosmic levels!

he cosmic level includes weather, productivity of the land and #eolo#ical forces!I am speculatin# alon# with olein .899'2/ that (atan and his minions havedestructively built tohu wabohu into the condition of the planet and this results in randomhurricanes, tsunamis, earthDuaes, asteroidal collisions, etc! &od holds these disasters bac throu#h the prayers of enou#h of his people! his is the Abraham and ?ot syndromewith the cities of (odom of &omorrah! Also see 2 hess! 2'6B>' 45ow you now what isholdin# him @the man of lawlessness bac, so that he may be revealed at the proper time!;or the secret power of lawlessness is already at wor3 but the one who now holds it bac will continue to do so till he is taen out of the way! And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the ?ord Eesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth anddestroy by the splendor of his comin#!



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7y interpretation of tohu wabohu avoids attributin# evil to &od! It is &od+smercy to allow natural conseDuences of evil to wipe out pocets of the enemy+sstron#holds! It is &od+s passivity rather than his activity that brin#s <ud#ment! e allowsthe wicedness of one #roup to punish the wicedness of another #roup! Or he allows thedestructive forces that (atan built into the cosmos to be unleashed in random destructionwhere the (pirit of &od has not been able to be sufficiently influential throu#h believersand their prayers to ward off disaster! Innocent as well as #uilty people fall victim to the builtBin patterns and conseDuences of unrestrained evil, which becomes &od+s <ud#ment by default! AI*(, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc! are potential e%amples of this!

!oncordance and conte&t study on the word <heart,= with a comparison of themesassociated with tohu and themes associated with either a right or an e#il heart)

$%pected findin#' the inner turmoil of a heart in rebellion a#ainst &od, not submitted tohis will, can be described as tohu wabohu! his inner reality is connected with outerevidences that can also be called tohu wabohu .destroyed and desolate/! he same termswill be found to describe both the inner and outer conditions of tohu wabohu! A heart

that is ri#ht with &od will be found to be described in terms that are the opposite of thoseassociated with tohu wabohu! hese findin#s will show that it is the condition of the heartthat determines the behavior and the natural or lo#ical conseDuences of that behavior.<ud#ment or blessin#/!

Word Associations in tohu passa#es .see Word Associations chart in the Appendi% /'*eath*arness(hain#Water in ne#ative connotations' flood or lac of it in drou#ht*estruction

*esert, wastelandNain, nothin#, no purposeWorthless .idols, forei#n #ods/?ac of purpose, lac of <ustice;alse testimonyEud#mentUninhabitedConfusion*esolation;ear Wicedness)uinsInsanity, deprived of reason*runen sta##erin#;ools(illed at doin# evil

&en! 6': 5IN' he ?ord saw how #reat man+s wicedness on earth had become and thatevery inclination of the thou#hts of his heart was only evil all the time!Tohu themes found in this conte%t of 5oah+s flood'



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evildeath <ud#mentwater in a ne#ative conte%tviolencedestroy

$%! :': 5IN' e has filled them with sill @wisdom of heart to do all inds of wor ascraftsmen and M desi#ners!6'2' whom the ?ord had #iven ability @into whose heart the ?ord had put wisdom andwho was willin# to come and do the wor!hemes that are the opposite of tohu wabohu'wisdom vs! fools(illed at doin# ri#ht vs! silled at doin# evil

*eut! 6':' love the ?ord thy &od with all thine heart-road conte%t in vs! 21ff' he ?ord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear

the ?ord our &od, so that we mi#ht always prosper and be ept alive, as is the casetoday! And if we are careful to obey all this law before the ?ord our &od, as he hascommanded us, that will be our ri#hteousness!hemes that are the opposite of tohu wabohu' prosper vs! destruction or worthlessalive vs! deathri#hteousness vs! wicedness

*eut! >'2' to now what was in thine heart>'1' thine heart be lifted up, and thou for#et-road conte%t in vs! 8 ff' If you ever for#et the ?ord your &od and follow other #ods

and worship and bow down to them, I testify a#ainst you today that you will surely bedestroyed! ?ie the nations the ?ord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed fornot obeyin# the ?ord your &od! 5O$' what is in their heart is what comes outTohu themes found in this conte%t'follow other #odsdestroyed

2 Chr! 26'6' his @Uiah+s heart was lifted up to his destruction 5IN'After Uiah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall! e was unfaithful tothe ?ord is &odhis is an e%ample of the fact that the Old estament is a commentary on what happenswhen opposition to &od+s will is not overcomeK tohu wabohu results!

2 Chron '2' @eeiah did it with all his heart and prosperedCone%t' e was doin# what was #ood and ri#ht and faithful before the ?ord his &od! Ineverythin# that he undertoo M and in obedience to the law and the commands, hesou#ht his &od and wored wholeheartedly! And so he prospered! 5O$' he historical boos #ive physical and literal e%amples and metaphors for the principles articulated in the "salms!



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"s 9'0 5IN' 7y shield is &od 7ost i#h, who saves the upri#ht in heart!"s 9'1 e who is pre#nant with evil and conceives trouble #ives birth to disillusionment!e who di#s a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made! he trouble he causesrecoils on himself, his violence comes down on his own head! 5O$' Opposition to &od+s ways .rebellion a#ainst &od, deliberate evil/ is the rootcause of the conseDuences that fall under the cate#ory of tohu wabohu!hemes that compare with tohu wabohu'upri#ht vs! wicedness, pre#nant with evilviolencedisillusionment .nothin#, no purpose/

"s! :' Who may dwell in your sanctuaryH e who has clean hands and a pure heart! heone who is blameless, ri#hteous, speas truth, no slander, does no wron#, casts no slur,honors those who fear the ?ord, eeps his oath, does not accept a bribe! e who doesthese thin#s will never be shaen! 5O$' his person is not a candidate for tohu wabohu .will never be shaen/!Comparisons to tohu wabohu themes'

blameless, ri#hteous vs! wiced, evilspea truth vs! false testimonyno slander vs! lac of <usticenever shaen vs! shaen and destroyed

"s 8'>' the precepts of the ?ord are ri#ht, re<oicin# the heart"salm 8', 1' Feep your servant also from willful sins3 may they not rule over me!hen will I be blameless, innocent of #reat trans#ression! 7ay the words of my mouthand the meditation of my heart be pleasin# in your si#ht, O ?ord, my )oc and my)edeemer! 5O$' willful sins determine the course of a person+s life3 they lead down the trac of

violence recoilin# on one+s own head ."s! 9'0/ and visible tohu wabohu!

"s! 6'0' Continue your love to those who now you, your ri#hteousness to the upri#htin heart!-road conte%t in vs! B1, 2' an oracle concernin# the sinfulness of the wiced! here isno fear of &od before his eyes3 M the words of his mouth are wiced and deceitful3 hehas ceased to be wise and to do #ood! $ven on his bed he plots evil3 he commits himselfto a sinful course and does not re<ect what is wron#! M (ee how the evildoers lie fallenK thrown down, not able to rise 5O$' inner tohu wabohu results in physical tohu wabohu! he ori#in of disaster waswhen the wiced were plottin# evil and choosin# a sinful course! &od withholds is protection from these people! -ut those who are followin# &od+s ri#hteous ways canclaim these verses in the same chapter' 4O ?ord, you preserve both man and beast .vs! 6/347ay the foot of the proud not come a#asint me, nor the hand of the wiced drive meaway .verse /!In this conte%t, these themes indicate that tohu wabohu and its opposite are present at thethou#ht level'wiceddeceitfulnot wise .fool/



84

plot evil .silled at evil/ri#hteousness vs! wicedness <usticerefu#e vs! destructionriver of deli#hts vs! desert, destructive water life vs! deathli#ht vs! darnessevildoers fallen .result of shain# and destruction/

"s :'0, 9' create in me a clean heart O &od! M A broen and a contrite heart, O &od,you will not despise!A heart ri#ht with &od e%hibits the opposite of the characteristics of tohu wabohu'Cleansed from sintruthwisdom <oy and #ladness"s :' *o not cast me from your presence or tae your oly (pirit from me

@desolation 5O$' his lends support to my speculation for how outer tohu wabohu comes about'the oly (pirit is withdrawn from actively preventin# the conseDuences of sin

"s 66'>' If I re#ard iniDuity in my heart, the ?ord will not hear me! 5O$' he absence of &od+s (pirit not worin# in the hearts of those who 4are silledat evil, and the resultin# desolation, leads to physical tohu wabohu .4the ?ord will nothear me and who nows what disaster the ?ord will conseDuently not preventH/

"s 68'2' Qour heart shall live that see &od .5IN' Qou who see &od, may your heartslive/

he conte%t includes themes associated with tohu'68' (ave me, O &od, for the waters @mayim have come up to my nec!68'2 I sin in the miry depths, M I have come into the deep waters3 the floods en#ulf me!68'1 )escue me from the mire, do not let me sin3 deliver me from those who hate me,from the deep waters

68': *o not let the floodwaters en#ulf me or the depths swallow me up 5O$ the parallelism between sinin# in deep waters and bein# hated! his is talin#about the condition of the mind with metaphors from the condition of tohu wabohuConte%t similarities to word associations of tohu"floodwatersdepths .not tehom in this chapter/drunards .vs! 2/rescue .not <ud#e/retributiondarness .vs! 2' 7ay their eyes be darened so they cannot see/wrathJan#er place be desertedno one to dwell in their tents



85

Is! :8' rebellion and treachery a#ainst the ?ord, turnin# our bacs on our &od,fomentin# oppression and revolt, utterin# lies our hearts have conceived 5O$' he ori#in of the evidences of tohu wabohu .rebellion, treachery/ was in theheart!

Eer! '9' At that time they will call Eerusalem he hrone of the ?ord and all nations will#ather in Eerusalem to honor the name of the ?ord! 5o lon#er will they follow thestubbornness of their evil hearts! 5O$' Tohu wabohu, opposition to &od+s will and the disastrous conseDuences, whichEeremiah is describin# the in the rest of the boo, starts in the heart!

Eer! 9'8' he heart is deceitful above all thin#s and beyond cure! Who can understand itH9'0' I the ?ord search the heart and e%amine the mind, to reward a man accordin# tohis conduct, accordin# to what his deeds deserve! 5O$' his verse seems to imply that what is in the mind is eDuivalent to conduct anddeeds!

Eer! >', 2' I am preparin# a disaster for you and devisin# a plan a#ainst you! (o turnfrom your evil ways M hey will reply M we will continue with our own plans3 each ofus will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart! 5O$' ;ollowin# this declaration is a description of tohu wabohu'>':' 7y people have for#otten me3 they burn incense to worthless idols, which madethem stumble in their waysM>'6' heir land will be laid waste, an ob<ect of lastin# scorn>'9' I will show them my bac and not my face in the day of their disaster!>'20' should #ood be repaid with evilH 5O$' In this paper I am callin# attention to the fact that a ma<or theme of (cripture isto overcome evil with #ood! -ut in order to demonstrate is #oodness, &od chooses to

allow disaster on people and societies whose hearts are stubbornly turned away fromim! hen those who are not intentionally rebellious will have opportunity to e%perience&od+s #oodness and restoration! his is symbolied throu#hout the prophets by thedesert become fruitful!

$eiel '8 I will #ive them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them$eiel >' )id yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and #et a new heartand a new spirit! 5O$' his is the solution to the root of all human problems' a new heart that follows&od+s ways!

Xech! 9'0' *o not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor! In yourhearts do not thin evil of each other! 5O$' he first is the direct conseDuence of the second3 oppression is the result ofthinin# evil of others!

Conclusion'hese sample studies of passa#es in which the word 4heart occurs show that

destruction and desolation are inherent in a mind rebellin# a#ainst &od! $vil choices arethe evidence of a mind in opposition to &od, and that mind .or society/ can be



86

characteried by the physical metaphor of tohu wabohu Kdestroyed and desolate!

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