The Lost World of Genesis One-Session 4

If existence in the ancient world was best defined in functional terms rather than material ones, as suggested in previous chapters, and “create” is the activity that brings the transition from nonexistence to existence, then “creation” would also be a functional activity (as suggested for the Hebrew terminology in chapter 3). Further evidence should then be found in how creation accounts describe the “before” and “after” conditions. If the text offered an account of material origins, we would expect it to begin with no material. If the text offered an account of functional origins, we would expect it to begin with no functions.

Genesis 1 offers its starting point in verse 2, where it describes the earth as tōhû and bōhû.

These terms are translated in a variety of ways in the most well-known English translations but with little true variation:

kjv, nasv: Formless and void

esv, nkjv: Without form and void

niv, nlt: Formless and empty

nrsv: A formless void

njps: Unformed and void

Net Bible: Without shape and empty

ncv: Empty and had no form

In contrast, detailed technical studies on the terms point in other directions. For example, David Tsumura, after a full semantic analysis, translates tōhû as “unproductive” rather than descriptive of something without physical form or shape. As with our previous word study in chapter three, we must again take a look at the usage of the term to understand its meaning. In this study we must focus our attention on tōhû because the second term, bōhû, occurs only three times, and in all three is used in combination with tōhû. The Hebrew word tōhû occurs twenty times, as follows:[1]

Deut 32:10

parallel to the wilderness; described by “howling”

1 Sam 12:21

descriptive of idols who can accomplish nothing

Job 6:18

wasteland away from wadis where caravans perish for lack of water

Job 12:24

wandering in a trackless waste

Job 26:7

what the north is stretched over

Psalm 107:40

wandering in a trackless waste

Is 24:10

a tōhû settlement is described as desolate

Is 29:21

with tōhû they turn aside righteousness (similar to Is 59:4)

Is 34:11

measuring line of tōhû and plumb stone of bōhû

Is 40:17

worthlessness of the nations; parallel to “nothingness” and the “end”(?)

Is 40:23

rulers of the world made as tōhû; parallel to “nothingness”

Is 41:29

images are wind and tōhû; parallel to “end”(?) of their deeds

Is 44:9

all who make images are tōhû; parallel to without profit

Is 45:18

God did not bring it into existence tōhû; but in contrast formed it for habitation (intended function)

Is 45:19

Israelites not instructed to seek God in waste places; parallel to land of darkness

Is 49:4

expending one’s strength to no purpose (tōhû)

Is 59:4

describes relying on empty arguments or worthless words (i.e., dissembling); parallel to that which is false or worthless

Jer 4:23

description of tōhû and bōhû: light gone, mountains quaking, no people, no birds, fruitful lands waste, towns in ruins[2]

Studying this list, one can see nothing in these contexts that would lead us to believe that tōhû has anything to do with material form. The contexts in which they occur and the words and phrases used in parallel suggest rather that the word describes that which is nonfunctional, having no purpose and generally unproductive in human terms. Applying it as a descriptive term to nouns that represent geographical areas, nations, cities, people or idols all suggest the same conclusion. A word that had to do with material shape would not serve well in these contexts.

Why then has the term been so consistently translated as a reference to the absence of material form? One can only surmise that the translation tradition has been driven by the predominant material focus of the cultures that produced the translations. We must never forget that translation is the most basic act of interpretation. One cannot convey words meaningfully from a source language to a target language without first determining what they think the text means to say. If the translators were interpreting the text as an account of material origins, it is no surprise that tōhû was translated in material terms.

But even the material translation of tōhû could not obscure what is clear in verse 2: here at the beginning of the creation process, there is already material in existence—the waters of the deep. These primeval cosmic waters are the classic form that nonexistence takes in the functionally oriented ancient world.

Given the semantic information presented above and the treatment in the technical literature, we propose that tōhû and bōhû together convey the idea of nonexistence (in their functional ontology), that is, that the earth is described as not yet functioning in an ordered system. (Functional) creation has not yet taken place and therefore there is only (functional) nonexistence.

With this concept in mind, we return to Job 26:7: “He spreads out the northern (skies) over empty space (tōhû); he suspends the earth over nothing.” The word translated “nothing” occurs only here in the Old Testament but is very important as it is parallel to tōhû in the passage. Technical analysis leads me to the conclusion that Job 26:7 describes the creation of heaven and earth in relation to the “nonexistent” cosmic waters above and below. This provides further evidence that tōhû refers to the functionally nonexistent, which it represents geographically in the cosmic waters and the deserts as is common in the ancient Near Eastern texts.

Thus the adjective tōhû could be used to refer

• to the precosmic condition (the beginning state in Genesis);

• to the functionless cosmic waters;

• or in the ordered creation to those places on which order had not been imposed, the desert and the cosmic waters above and below—surrounding the ordered cosmos.

The creation account in Genesis 1 can then be seen to begin with no functions rather than with no material. At this point, however, it is important to establish what we mean when we talk of functions. In our culture we even think of functions in material terms. We describe functions in scientific terms and understand function as a result of material properties. So we might describe the sun functionally as a burning ball of gas that projects heat and light, and which, by virtue of its gravitational pull, holds the solar system in orbit around it. In contrast, in the ancient world, function was not the result of material properties, but the result of purpose. The sun looks down on all and is associated with the god of justice. It functions as a marker for time and seasons. When the ancient texts talk about how something functions in an ordered system, the system under discussion is not a cosmic or ecological system. It is a system inhabited by beings. In the ancient Near East the functions were focused on the gods, who had created everything to work for their benefit and under their authority.

In the Old Testament God has no needs and focuses functionality around people. We will see increasing evidence of this understanding as we move through the remainder of Genesis 1. Consequently, functionality cannot exist without people in the picture. In Genesis people are not put in place until day six, but functionality is established with their needs and situation in mind.

This conclusion is further supported by the meaning of the repeated formula “it was good,” which I propose refers to “functioning properly.” Such a conclusion is not arbitrary but based on the context. Throughout Genesis 1 any number of possible meanings have been proposed for “good.” In the history of interpretation it has often been understood in moral/ethical terms or as a reference to the quality of the workmanship. While the Hebrew term could be used in any of those ways, the context indicates a different direction. We can find out what the author means when saying all of these things are “good” by inquiring what it would mean for something not to be good. Fortunately the near context offers us just such an opportunity: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). This verse has nothing to do with moral perfection or quality of workmanship—it is a comment concerning function. The human condition is not functionally complete without the woman. Thus throughout Genesis 1 the refrain “it was good” expressed the functional readiness of the cosmos for human beings. Readers were assured that all functions were operating well and in accord with God’s purposes and direction. Moreover the order and function established and maintained by God renders the cosmos both purposeful and intelligible. So there is reason or motivation for studying the detailed nature of creation, which we now call science, even if the ancient Hebrews didn’t take up this particular study.

Based on the above assessment of the beginning state as it is presented in Genesis, we are now in a position to compare it to what we find in the ancient world. In the ancient Near East the precosmic condition is neither an abstraction (“Chaos”) nor a personified adversary. But the primordial sea, which is the principal element of the precreation condition, is personified by Nammu in Sumer and by Nun in Egypt, and it can be perceived in an adversarial role.

More specifically, Egyptian texts describe the precosmic condition both in terms of what is lacking as well as by its positive features. That which is absent includes the spatial world (not yet separated), inhabitable places, life/death, procreation, time, conflict and diversity. Positive features include limitless waters and total darkness.4 Everything is brought into existence by being differentiated. The “after” picture is consequently one of inestimable diversity.

When Sumerian and Akkadian sources document creation activities, we can observe both the situation before and after the activity, as well as what sorts of verbs are used. All of this helps to determine the focus of the creative activity. Many examples exist, but here I will present just one

as an illustration, a few lines from the Sumerian text NBC6 11108:

Earth was in darkness, the lower world was [invi]sible;

The waters did not flow through the opening (in the earth),

Nothing was produced, on the vast earth the furrow had not been made.

The high priest of Enlil did not exist,

The rites of purification were not carried out,

The h[ierodul]e(?) of heaven was not adorned, she did not proclaim [the praises?]

Heaven and earth were joined to each other (forming) a unit, they were not [married].

The “before” picture here is composed both of what is present—darkness, water and the nondiscrete heaven and earth—and of what is not: the absence of productivity, of the gods and of the operation of the cult. Creative activities then alter this landscape. All of this indicates that cosmic creation in the ancient world was not viewed primarily as a process by which matter was brought into being, but as a process by which functions, roles, order, jurisdiction, organization and stability were established. This defines creation in the ancient world and in turn demonstrates that ontology was focused on something’s functional status rather than its material status.

In summary, the evidence in this chapter from the Old Testament as well as from the ancient Near East suggests that both defined the pre-creation state in similar terms and as featuring an absence of functions rather than an absence of material. Such information supports the idea that their concept of existence was linked to functionality and that creation was an activity of bringing functionality to a nonfunctional condition rather than bringing material substance to a situation in which matter was absent. The evidence of matter (the waters of the deep in Gen 1:2) in the precreation state then supports this view.

Technical Support

Tsumura, David. Creation and Destruction. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2005.[3]

[1] Walton, J. H. (2009). The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (pp. 46–47). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

[2] Walton, J. H. (2009). The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (p. 47). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

[3] Walton, J. H. (2009). The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (pp. 48–52). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

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