Saturday, July 1, 2023

Bruce K. Waltke on ברא (bārā’) and עשׂה (‘śh) being used interchangeably


That bārā’ is used synonymously with the more colorless word ‘śh seems evident from the following comparisons:

 

COMPARISON OF BāRā’ AND ‘śa

Gen.

1.21

God created the sea monsters br’

 

1:25

“ made the bests ‘śh

 

1:26

God said, ‘Let us make man’ ‘śh

 

1:27

And God created man br’

 

2:4a

When the heavens and the earth were created br’
When the Lord God made earth and heaven ‘śh

 

1:1

God created the heavens and the earth br’

Ex.

19:11

God made the heavens and the earth ‘śh

Gen.

1:16

God made the two great lights .and stars ‘śh

Ps.

148:3, 5

Praise Him, sun, moon, . . . stars
He who commanded and they were created br’

Isa.

40:26

Who created these [sun, moon, stars] br’

Figure 3

 

We conclude from this comparative study that the words are synonymous. Anderson set forth similar comparisons in the use of the words in Isaiah 40-66 and found that bārā’, ‘śh, and yṣr are all used synonymously. (Bernard W. Anderson, Creation Versus Chaos [New York: Association Press, 1967], pp. 124-26) (Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Biblical Cosmogony [Portland, Oreg.: Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1974], 50)

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