1:1 When God
began to create the heavens and the earth—2 the earth was empty
wilderness, the watery deep was dark, and a wind from God crept over the water—3
God Said, “Let there be light!” and there was light. (David L. Petersen,
Genesis [The Old Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox
Press, 2025], 30)
[1:1-13] The Priestly
author has offered a report that commences with deep ambiguity, even though the
grammar is clear (v. 1 is a temporal clause; v. 2 is a circumstantial clause,
and v. 3 is the main finite clause). Although the report focuses on what is
being brought into being (the temporal clause), it also reports things that
exist before God’s creative activity (the circumstantial clause).
Therein lies a virtual paradox: God will create “the earth,” but “The earth” is
present before God sets to work. Moreover, both “the empty,” but “the earth” is
present before God sets to work. Moreover, both “the empty,” but “the earth” is
present before God sets to work. Moreover, both “the empty wilderness” and a “wind
from God” exist before God speaks. IT is as if some form of matter—an empty,
wild earth and dark, watery depths—were needed as necessary as a counterpart for
the light that soon appears. And wind-whipped waves serve as a point of contrast
to the firmly fixed and tiered universe that is about to be created. (David
L. Petersen, Genesis [The Old Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2025], 32)
