The Lost World of Genesis One (8 page)

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 tohu and bohu. These terms are translated in a variety ofways 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 tohu 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 tohu because the second
term, bohu, occurs only three times, and in all three is used in combination
with tohu. The Hebrew word tohu occurs twenty times, as follows:

Table 2

Studying this list, one can see nothing in these contexts that
would lead us to believe that tohu 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
tohu was translated in material terms.

But even the material translation of tohu 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 tohu and bohu
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 (tohu); 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
tohu 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.2 This provides further evidence that tohu 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 tohu 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.3 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.5

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:

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.