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begins with the uncreated chaos of verses 1:2’s, as the presupposition and background of God’s creation:49
—Genesis 1:2—
“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.”
Genesis 1 echoes Babylon’s Enuma Elish, whereby heaven and earth were molded from Tiamat’s body, the chaos monster, “[the] deep” of Genesis 1:2,50 suggesting creation out of something; or at least positing that water pre-exists creation (as in the Qur’an).51 Thus, a literal translation of Genesis 1:1-2 would be: “When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was formless and void...” This is perhaps the reason why the author of the Wisdom of Solomon (11:17), says Anderson, still wrote of God’s “all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter” (κτισασα τον κοσμον εξ αμορφου υλης).52
49 Anderson, B.W. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia. “Creation.” Ed. Arthur Buttrick and Emory Stevens Bucke. Volume I. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962. 728
50 Sanders, J.N. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia. “The World.” Ed. Arthur Buttrick and Emory Stevens Bucke. Volume 4. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962.
51 Allah creates his throne on the waters (Q 11,7). The role of water in Creation is important in ancient mythologies, for ancient civilizations were physically surrounded by it. Indeed, Thales thought it to be the first principle. For more, see Q 21,30; 24,45; 32,8.
52 Anderson, B.W. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia. “Creation.” Ed. Arthur Buttrick and Emory Stevens Bucke. Volume I. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962. 874.
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