Thoughts about Genesis (6)

Genesis 1:9-13
⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.
¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Two distinct creative acts occur on the third day of creation:

1.  The land and sea are separated.
2.  The land produces plants.

One of the main criticisms against the third day is that God created the plants and started them to grow without sunlight. Light, however, was created on day one. However, it is quite possible that there was useable light in the correct frequency range to allow photosynthesis to occur in the plants.

Day 3 starts with “and God said,” and ends with “and there was evening and there was morning.” On the 3rd day of creation, God separated the water on the earth so that dry land became visible. On this day God would create all of the plant life. Why create plant life first? Plants create the oxygen that every other form of life needs to live. Even the plants that live beneath the surface of the ocean produce oxygen that the sea creatures need to live. The O₂ that is produced under the water doesn’t stay there. It floats up to the surface and enters the atmosphere. According to Scientists working for the Smithsonian Institute, roughly half of all the oxygen produced on the planet comes from plants in the oceans and seas.¹

On day 2 God separated the water from the land from the water in the sky. The focus of day 2 was the atmosphere. Now God will shift his focus to the land. Before verse 9 took place, the entire “land” was covered in water. It is now time to move forward.

Genesis 1:9
And God (אלהים - Elohim) said (אמר - amar), “Let the waters (מים - mayim) under (תחת - tachath) the heavens (שׁמים - shamayim) be gathered together (קוה - qavah) into (אל - el) one (אחד - ehad) place (מקום - maqom), and let the dry land (יבשׂה - yabbashah) appear (ראה - raah).” And it was (היה - hayah) so (כּן - ken).

The term said (Strong’s H559) means “to speak, say.” The word is also used quite often to refer to what a person is thinking or had thought, and then put that thought into words. In other words, what’s in the head comes out the mouth. However, in this case it is the heart of God that is “speaking.” An example of this is Ecclesiastes 3:17, “I said (amar) in my heart.” In most cases however, amar tends to reflect the act of speaking from the heart. ²

Skip Moen claims that amar is event language. “Its etymological background comes from the idea of making something visible. In fact, it seems to originally have been connected with the idea of seeing. Thus, amar can be used in all of the following senses: announce, declare, promise, refuse, predict, repeat, inform, mention, assure, answer, praise, command, think, consider, discuss and explain. This Hebrew verb has a very wide application. Amar is distinctive because it is always about a personal relationship. Even when amar is used with inanimate things, the speaker always has some personal relationship with the objects. In this regard, there is no distinction between the sacred use of ‘amar and the secular use of the verb. Amar is about a complex cluster of personal revelation activities that create relationship between the speaker and the object.”³

The phrase be gathered together (Strong’s H6960) is the Hebrew word “qavah.” This word means “to bind together,” or ”the twisting or winding of a strand of cord or rope.”⁴ The word is used to describe the process of making rope, or braiding hair. To bind together like a cord, what does that mean? First, let me explain what “to bind together like a cord” does not mean. It does not mean to tie a cord around a bundle of sticks to keep them together. Instead, picture in your mind the process of making a rope (cord) by twisting or weaving (binding) thin threads together to form the rope. The more strands that are twisted or woven together in a rope, the greater is its strength. So what is it that is being bound together? The answer is contained in the rest of the verse.

God bound (qavah) the waters under the heavens (sky) into one place. In other words, God was binding together (qavah), or gathering, the water that covers the land into one place. The result of this “binding” was that it caused “dry land” to become visible. In our modern scientific way of thinking, this does not make sense. We want to know where the excess water went. Did God use a giant syringe to suck up the unwanted water and then eject it into outer space? Perhaps the earth has a drain plug (it could happen). We’ll never know, but it must have been impressive to watch.

Notice that the land was described as “dry” (Strong’s H3004). The word means “to become dry.”⁵ As the water very quickly receded, the land was immediately dry. For the ancient Israelites, crossing the Red Sea was a similar experience. As God pushed back the water, dry land appeared, allowing the Israelites to start crossing immediately. They didn’t have to wait for the land to dry out. More than likely, the ancient Israelites would have applied that same logic from the Red Sea to the creation story of the land becoming dry as the water quickly receded.

The word appear (Strong’s H7200), has many definitions. In the context of this verse, it means “to appear, to become visible, to be seen.”⁶ In verse nine, this verb us is used in a passive niphil form (the subject of the verb is receiving the action rather than performing the action) and means “to show.”⁷ The action is the water receding. The land is not performing the action of the receding water, it is receiving the action of the water receding. The resulting action is that as the water receded, the dry land became visible (showed itself). The water may have receded quickly, revealing mountain tops, valleys, plains, and oceanfront.

The phrase and it was so confirms that what God commanded happened. The phrase consists of two Hebrew words, the verb “היה - hayah” and the adverb “כּן - ken.” Hayah (Strong’s H1961) means “to be” or “to become” or “to exist.”⁸ As a verb, hayah means ‘to be doing something that defines to doer’ or, in the case of some unfolding event, to happen.⁹ The word hayah defines the doer (God) in that what he says comes to pass. The unfolding event was the dry land becoming visible as the water receded. The adverb “כּן - ken” (Strong’s H3651) (an adverb modifies a verb) expresses confirmation of something previously expressed: usually translated as “yes,” or “so,” or “thus,” but also conveys cause and effect.¹⁰ The word ken lets us know that what God said, came to pass.

Genesis 1:10
And God (אלהים - Elohim) called (קרא - qara) the dry land (יבשׂה - yabbashah) earth (ארץ - erets) and the waters (מים - mayim) that were gathered together (מקוה - miqveh) He called (קרא - qara) seas (ימם - yam). And God (אלהים - Elohim) saw (ראה - raah) that (כי - kee) it was good (טוֹב - towb).

The term called (Strong’s H7121) means “to call out, to proclaim, to name.”¹¹ I would prefer to translate this word as “named.” The word called states explicitly what God did. He named the dry land “earth, or land.” If you remember from previous lessons, the word translated as “earth” actually means land. Because we think of “earth” as a planet, and the ancient Israelites did not, I prefer to translate this word (erets) as ”land.” Remember that to the Ancient Israelites, land was what was above the oceans and seas. The land that was beneath the water was something else.

The phrase that were gathered together is the word miqveh (Strong’s H4325). Miqveh is translated in different ways in the Old Testament, depending on the context of the verses. Genesis 1:10, Exodus 7:19, and Leviticus 11:36 refer to the gathering together of water or men. In Ezra 10:2 and Jeremiah 14:8, the word is translated as “hope.” However, even if miqveh was translated as “gathered together” in the examples of Ezra and Jeremiah, the verses would still make sense in context with their chapters.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 71% of our planet is covered with water, with the oceans containing 96.5% of all of Earth’s water.¹² When God “lowered” (or removed) the water to reveal “dry land,” he only removed 29% of the water. That would be enough land for all humanity to settle on. It’s more than enough. Even with the current population of 7 billion, you could, in theory, house the entire population of earth into the state of Texas, at a population density of 27,000 people per square mile.¹³ This is about the same population density as New York City (and substantially less than Paris, for example).

God named the waters that he had gathered together seas. This word (a plural word) denotes the general concept of seas or the whole of all the seas.¹⁴ The ancient Israelites more than likely only knew about the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. They unlikely knew about the various oceans and seas surrounding our planet. Their “world” was not anywhere near the size of ours.

And God saw that it was good. The word saw (Strong’s H7200) means to see, look at, or inspect. The word is often used in the Old Testament to describe seeing with the eyes.¹⁵ The “seeing” that occurs in the verse is deliberate. God did not accidentally notice that the seas were good. He inspected the seas and oceans by looking them over and giving them his approval.

His creation of the seas was good. The Hebrew word towb (Strong’s H2896) means good, beneficial, pleasant, or superior quality.¹⁶ Most of the definition comes into play when God declared the things he created as “good.” God was pleased with the seas, and his inspection revealed that they operated precisely as designed. He, therefore, gave them his stamp of approval.

Genesis 1:11
And God (אלהים - Elohim) said (אמר - amar) “Let the earth (ארץ - erets) sprout (דשׁא - dasha) vegetation (דּשׁא - deshe), plants (עשׂב - eseb) yielding (זריע - zara) seed (זרע - zera), and fruit (פּרי - peri) trees (צץ - ets) bearing (צשׂה - asah) fruit (פּרי - peri) in which (אשׁר - asher) is their seed (זרע - zera), each according to its kind (מין - min), on the earth (ארץ - erets).” And it was (היה - hayah) so (כּן - ken).

Once again, we see God speaking. In this verse, God spoke the plant life into existence. The word sprout (Strong’s H1876) (dasha) means “to sprout, to spring forth, to become green.”¹⁷ God caused the land to sprout (spring forth from the ground) with all types of vegetation. All of these plants are going to grow up out of the ground as if from seeds. I think the plants will mature very quickly; probably by the end of the day they will be fully grown as God temporarily sped up the growing process.

The word vegetation (Strong’s H776) is a word that points to grassy plants and shrubs. These are plants that populate pastures and that herbivores eat. It is a pretty rare word in the Hebrew Bible – and could refer to all of the plants that are growing on the land (as can be implied from the English translation), or it could refer to the ‘green grass’ only – since that is the initial meaning of this Hebrew word.¹⁸

The word plants (Strong’s H6212) refers specifically to herbs and agricultural produce. These are plants that humanity can eat. They have edible roots, such as carrots and beets, or produce edible seeds, like peas and corn. These include ground fruit plants such as grapes, sorghum, and berries.

The word yields (Strong’s H2232) means “to produce seed.” It refers to seeds produced by herbs, grasses, and trees.¹⁹ The word can also mean to scatter seed, to sow a field, and to produce seed. It shows that God designed the plants to reproduce themselves. God’s creative process included a process to continue that creative process.

Fruit trees are exactly what you think they are. The Israelites were familiar with date palms, fig trees, and pomegranate trees. However, God would not have limited himself to only the fruit trees with which the Israelites were familiar. There are fruit trees that are indigenous to various parts of the planet. The main point is that God is providing trees with fruit that humanity can eat. In addition, the seeds produced in the fruit can be used to plant more trees.

The word seed (Strong’s H2233) means exactly what you think it means, the reproductive part of the plant. Once again, God displays his creative genius by creating self-sustaining plant life. By allowing the plants to reproduce, the creation process never stops.

Verse 11 shows us God creating 3 types of vegetation:

1.  edible for animals.
2.  edible for humans.
3.  fruit trees edible by both.

Verse 11 tells us that God created the plants to reproduce after their kind. This phrase represents the boundaries within which a group of organisms can reproduce. These boundaries, however, allow for a significant amount of variation among organisms and microorganisms yet provide limits or boundaries to that variation. Organisms have never varied outside the boundaries of their “kinds,” and they never will in the future. For example, grapes only produce grapes, but there are many different types (kinds) of grapes. Keep in mind that the Israelites were farmers and shepherds. God is using language that they could easily relate to and understand.

The phrase and it was so confirms that what God commanded happened. The phrase consists of two Hebrew words, the verb “היה - hayah” and the adverb “כּן - ken.” Hayah (Strong’s H1961) means “to be” or “to become” or “to exist.”²⁰ As a verb, hayah means ‘to be doing something that defines to doer’ or, in the case of some unfolding event, to happen.²¹ The word hayah defines the doer (God) in that what he says comes to pass. The unfolding event was the dry land becoming visible as the water receded. The adverb “כּן - ken” (Strong’s H3651) (an adverb modifies a verb) expresses confirmation of something previously expressed: usually translated as “yes,” or “so,” or “thus,” but also conveys cause and effect.²² The word ken lets us know that what God said, came to pass.

Genesis 1:12
The earth (ארץ - erets) brought forth (יעא - yatsa) vegetation (דּשׁא - deshe), plants (עשׂב - eseb) yielding (זרע - zara) seed (זרע - zera) according to their own kinds (מין - min), and (צץ - ets) bearing (צשׂה - asah) fruit (פּרי - peri) in which (צשׂה - asah) is their seed (זרע - zera), each according to its kind (מין - min). And God (אלהים - Elohim) saw (ראה - raah) that (כי - kee) it was good (טוֹב - towb).

Verse 12 confirms that what God had spoken had come to pass. Everything God had planned with and for the plant life had happened exactly as he wanted and willed it to. Isaiah 46:11 states, “I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” God’s power was on display through his spoken word. Once again, we have the phrase, and God saw that it was good. God was pleased with the plant life he had created, and his inspection revealed that they operated precisely as designed. He, therefore, gave them his stamp of approval.

Genesis 1:13
And there was (ויהי - wayhi) evening (ערב - ereb) and there was (ויהי - wayhi) morning (בקר - boqer), the third (שׁלישׁי - shelishi) day (יום - yom).

There was evening, and there was morning, the third day. Remember, an evening and a morning was simply another way of stating that twenty-four hours had passed. The evening is at sunset, and the morning is at sunrise. Another way of looking at this portion of the verse is, “There was sunset, and there was sunrise, the third day.

References
[1] Brittany Hook, “Phenomenal Phytoplankton: Scientists Uncover Cellular Process behind Oxygen Production,” Scripps Institution of Oceanography, accessed July 29, 2024, https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/phenomenal-phytoplankton-scientists-uncover-cellular-process-behind-oxygen-production.
[2] Abarim Publications, “אמר: Abarim Publications Theological Dictionary (Old Testament Hebrew)” (Abarim Publications, May 19, 2021), last modified May 19, 2021, accessed July 30, 2024, https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/a/a-m-r.html.
[3] Skip Moen, “Speak Easy,” Hebrew Word Study | Skip Moen, accessed July 30, 2024, https://skipmoen.com/2009/08/speak-easy/.
[4] Warren Baker and Eugene Carpenter, The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 986.
[5] Abarim Publications, “יבש,” Abarim Publications, May 5, 2014, accessed July 31, 2024, https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/he/he-y-he.html.
[6] Robert D. Culver, “raah” in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago IL: Moody Publishers, 1980), 823.
[7] Jeff A Benner, “Resh,” R.A.H ראה, 1999, accessed August 5, 2024, https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/ahlb/resh.html.
[8] Chaim Bentorah, “{word Study} to Exist ‘Hayah,’” Chaim Bentorah Biblical Hebrew Studies, accessed July 31, 2024, https://www.chaimbentorah.com/2013/02/word-study-exist-hayah/.
[9] Abarim Publications, “היה,” Abarim Publications, May 5, 2014, accessed July 31, 2024, https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/he/he-y-he.html.
[10] Baker, Warren, and Eugene Carpenter. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003.), 511.
[11] Baker, Warren, and Eugene Carpenter. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003.), 1009.
[12] Walter Science School, “The Distribution of Water on, in, and above the Earth,” The Distribution of Water on, in, and above the Earth | U.S. Geological Survey, October 25, 2019, accessed August 2, 2024, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/distribution-water-and-above-earth#:~:text=About%2071%20percent%20of%20the,in%20you%20and%20your%20dog
[13] Alice S. Kaswell, “SCIENCE LESSON - Everyone Move to Texas?,” Science Lesson - Everyone in Texas?, 2002, accessed August 2, 2024, https://improbable.com/teach/lessons2002/people-in-texas.html.
[14] Abarim Publications, “ימם,” Abarim Publications, May 5, 2014, accessed July 31, 2024, https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/he/he-y-he.html.
[15] Robert D. Culver, “ראה” in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago IL: Moody Publishers, 1980), 823.
[16] Andrew Bowling, “טוב” in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago IL: Moody Publishers, 1980), 345.
[17] Herbert Wolf, “דשׁא” in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago IL: Moody Publishers, 1980), 199.
[18] Ariel Jaffe, “Vegetation, Plants, and Trees: A Study of Botanical Biblical Hebrew,” Hebrewversity, accessed August 19, 2024, https://www.hebrewversity.com/vegetation-plants-trees-study-botanical-biblical-hebrew/.
[19] Walter C. Kaiser, “זרע” in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago IL: Moody Publishers, 1980), 252.
[20] Chaim Bentorah, “{word Study} to Exist ‘Hayah,’” Chaim Bentorah Biblical Hebrew Studies, accessed July 31, 2024, https://www.chaimbentorah.com/2013/02/word-study-exist-hayah/.
[21] Abarim Publications, “היה,” Abarim Publications, May 5, 2014, accessed July 31, 2024, https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/he/he-y-he.html.
[22] Baker, Warren, and Eugene Carpenter. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003.), 511.

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