Norman Habel has pointed out the similarity
between this sequence and the birth process. See Norman Habel, The Birth,
the Curse and the Greening of the Earth: An Ecological Reading of Genesis 1-11,
earth Bible Series (Sheffield, MA: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2011), 31-33: “The
implication of this reading that a womb/birth metaphor lies behind the imagery
for the setting and appearance of Erets [earth] on day three may seem
surprising, given the tendency of many interpreters to view tehom and
the waters as evidence of primal chaos. That Erets has been viewed as a mother
in some biblical passages is well known (Ps. 139:13-15). Job cries out, ‘Naked
I came from my mother’s womb and naked I shall return there’ (Job 1:21). A
primal birth image is explicit in passages such as Job 38:8 where sea comes
forth from a primal womb to be clothed and constrained by God. Immediately
relevant is the imagery of Ps. 90:2 where the psalmist asserts that El, the
creator God, was present before the mountains were born (yld) and before
Erets and the inhabited world came to birth and was brought forth in labour (chwl).
This passage quite explicitly speaks of the origin of Erets at the hands of the
maker-midwife in terms of a birthing process—a tradition that I suggest is also
reflected in Genesis 1. . . . If we recognize the validity of the birth
metaphor, the progression from Gen. 1:2-10 becomes clear. A form, like an embryo,
is located in the waters of the deep. These waters suggest a placid womb rather
than a raging sea. Light and space are created so this form can be revealed. At
the ‘birth’ moment, the waters separate/burst as a newborn child. God names the
form Erets, looks at her and responds with delight.” We thus see God portrayed
in terms of Father and giver of life in the creation. (Daniel L. Belnap, “In
the Beginning: Genesis 1-3 and Its Significance to the Latter-day Saints,” in From
Creation to Sinai: The Old Testament Through the Lens of the Restoration,
eds., Daniel L. Belnap and Aaron P. Schade [Provo, Utah: Religious Studies
Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021], 6-7 n. 7, emphasis in bold added)