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)