In the 2nd verse of Genesis it says, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."....
moved upon the face of the waters?? It said the earth was void - void means empty - so how come there's water? Can somebody please explain what this means?
2007-02-22 06:57:21 · 20 answers · asked by ? 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
In the old days they figured that the earth was a plate of water with land floating on it.
The water came first.
2007-02-22 07:00:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The other thing you have to realize why the first creation story was written. It was written during the exile or shortly after, and the Jews were in a time of chaos. They were thrown about the world, and they were no longer around their beloved temple. They were in desperate need for encouragement. To the Jews, darkness and water symbolized chaos because you cannot control those things very easily. This story is about a God that is able to turn chaos (dark void earth full of nothing but water) into order (creation). Also, the end of it tells the reason why the Jews have a Sabbath. The Sabbath is what separated them from the pagans more than anything else. They needed it for their very identity.
You have to remember that the Jews thought water was above the earth and below the earth. The sky was the only thing that seperated them from the waters above. But, the main point was that it is order from chaos.
Amanda
2007-02-22 07:11:13 · answer #2 · answered by One Odd Duck 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What we translate as "void" need not really mean void. The NIV has a footnote that says "was" could also be "Or possibly became"...but then the problem is still there....because it doesn't change "void" or "without form".
Chalk it up to translation to English, some words just don't translate very well so go check out the original version in Hebrew and ask a religion professor or Rabbi to explain it with more than one word.
Best bet is to just not bother to think about it - otherwise you will never get through the Bible, lots more of those to come.
2007-02-22 07:11:16 · answer #3 · answered by David M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well if you anylise it I think it is saying:
'the earth was without form' - there was at that point in time no earth on the planet just water.
'and void' - again no earth,
'and darkness was upon the face of the deep' - deep dark water,
'And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters' - that God's power turned to the surface of the waters (sea).
This is the stage before the earth was created, earth being land.
2007-02-22 07:09:53 · answer #4 · answered by CindyLoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, you are reading a King James Version which is an excellent version, but because it was written in 1620, it can be a little difficult to understand. What it is saying basically is that God made the earth and nothing else (not even light), just water and rock/dirt. "Void" means that it is empty of everything else. The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit of the Trinity, which is saying that God is directly involved with His creation.
2007-02-22 07:09:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ancient cultures, like the one that the people who first penned Genesis, considered "the waters" to be the equivalent of "the void." Think about looking into (or worse, being trapped in) a deep well. Also, void didn't mean "empty" so much as without form. Water was the closest thing they could equate to being "formless."
2007-02-22 07:07:30 · answer #6 · answered by Church Music Girl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It seems that earth was a mass ("without form") laying dormant under a blanket of water. vs. 9 & 10 describe the formation of the dry land as the waters are gathered together.
"void" means empty but empty of what - life! "void" only means something is indeed missing, not that there was absolutely nothing there.
But it is interesting that water, the most basic substance in our world, was present prior to vs. 3 where God says "let there be light!"
there is a lot we don't fully understand....
god bless
2007-02-22 07:10:18 · answer #7 · answered by happy pilgrim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The term in the original hebrew is tohu v'vohu - which does not translate well into english. The common translation of 'void and without form' doesn;t come close to the essence of the words.
But here, void does not mean empty of physical matter, it means empty of spirituality. First, God created the potential (the physicalness of the universe, but in an amorphous blob, so to speak), and then by manipulating it and arranging it, formed the universe as we know it.
2007-02-22 07:15:45 · answer #8 · answered by mzJakes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Genesis where rubbish, once Phil Collins left, 1:2 was The best selling half way album, the one between 1 and 2. The bit about the face on the water was the later video release.It has no meaning its just a bit "arty" hope this answers your question.
2007-02-22 07:14:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Void = empty
It was void of life, so God moved upon the waters and created life.
Also, remember, every detail of creation is not given. The "and" can be used as a transition word to paint more of the word picture of creation.
2007-02-22 07:05:32 · answer #10 · answered by mediocritis 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Genesis?.... Well first the earth formed , then Peter Gabriel left and Phil Collins (real name Collin Phillips) started shouting from behind the drum kit, then most of the band become extinct after the BIG BANG.. (Thai Hotel 1988)..
Its thought that small groups of Phil Collins' are trying to re populate a few backwaters in the US... like Holywood..
Peter Gabriel turned into oil for the muslims to hold on to ...
I think that just about covers everything..
2007-02-22 07:06:30 · answer #11 · answered by andy2kbaker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋