In Isaiah, the verb ברא is used 21 times, always with God as the
subject. The things created include cloud and fire (4:5), heaven and its starry
hosts (40:26; 42:5; 45:18), the earth (40:28; 42:5), mankind (45:12), the
nation of Israel (43:1, 7, 15), and new things such as a new heaven, a new
earth, and a new Jerusalem (65:17, 18). However, it is not only things that are
created. The verb also takes as objects of creation such states of being as
righteousness and prosperity and "peace and calamity" (45:7, 8 ) and
natural phenomena such as light and darkness (45:7) and the environment
(41:20).
As already noted, ברא with the sense of "create" is used
largely in the Qal and Niphal. With the exception of 48:7, which is in the
Niphal, the 21 instances of the verb in Isaiah occur in the Qal, either as
perfect or participle. The participial form referring to God as the
"creating one" is used 12 times in Isaiah and comprises the majority
of the instances of ברא in the book. (Wann M. Fanwar, “Creation in Isaiah” [PhD
Dissertation; Andrews University, April 2001], 54-55)
In attempting to grasp the concepts nuanced by ברא, the issue of creatio
ex nihilo frequently comes to the forefront. There are different opinions
as to whether the word conveys the concept of creatio ex nihilo or not.
On the one hand, it could be argued that the idea of creatio ex nihilo
is not innate to the word ברא, which appears to focus more on the result of
God's act than on the process of creation. To suggest that ברא addresses this
issue would overstep the bounds of legitimate deduction as far as the meaning
of the word is concerned. On the other hand, it could also be argued that ברא
is a legitimate candidate for expressing the idea of creation out of nothing
and that it comes as close to speaking of creation in this way without actually
using the expression. It seems that the term is related to the idea of creatio
ex nihilo even though this idea itself is not necessarily inherent in ברא. (Wann
M. Fanwar, “Creation in Isaiah” [PhD Dissertation; Andrews University, April
2001], 56-57; this is an important admission, as the author is a Seventh-day
Adventist and therefore subscribes to creation ex nihilo)
