The conceptions of chaos in antiquity fluctuate between that of empty space (Hesiod, Arist. Lucr., etc.) and the 'rudis indigestaque moles' of Ovid (Met. i. 7). The Babylonian representation embraces the elements of darkness and water, and there is no doubt that this is the central idea of the Genesis narrative. It is singular, however, that of the three clauses of v.2 only the second (which includes the two elements mentioned) exercises any influence on the subsequent description (for on any view the 'waters' of the third must be identical with the Tĕhôm of the second). It is possible, therefore, that the verse combines ideas drawn from diverse sources which are not capable of complete synthesis. Only on this supposition would it be possible to accept Gu.'s interpretation of the first clause as a description of empty space. In that case the earth is probably not inclusive of, but contrasted with, Tĕhôm: it denotes the space now occupied by the earth, which being empty leaves nothing but the deep and the darkness.
3-5. First work: Creation of light.—[And] God said] On the connexion, see above, pp. 13 ff.; and on the
significance of the fiat, p. 7.—Let there be light] The
thought of light as the first creation, naturally suggested
by the phenomenon of the dawn, appears in several cosmogonies;
but is not expressed in any known form of the
Babylonian legend. There the creator, being the sun-god,
is in a manner identified with the primal element of the
kosmos; and the antithesis of light and darkness is dramatised
as a conflict between the god and the Chaos monster.
In Persian cosmogony also, light, as the sphere in which
Mazda dwells, is uncreated and eternal (Tiele, Gesch. d. Rel.
ii. 295 f.). In Is. 457 both light and darkness are creations
of Yahwe, but that is certainly not the idea here. Comp.
Milton's Parad. Lost, iii. 1 ff.:
"Hail, holy Light! offspring of heaven first-born;
Or, of the Eternal co-eternal beam," etc.
4. saw that the light was good] The formula of approval does not extend to the darkness, nor even to the coexistence of light and darkness, but is restricted to the light. "Good" expresses the contrast of God's work to the chaos of which darkness is an element. Gu. goes too far in suggesting that the expression covers a 'strong anthropomorphism'
3. (
Hebrew characters) corresponds to the (Hebrew characters) of subsequent acts.—4. (Hebrew characters)]
