The Mayim of Creation

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The Mayim of Creation
By Gregory Bartholomew

Abstract
The creation account concludes with, "Such is the story of heaven and Earth when they were created" (Genesis 2:4 JPS), yet many who have read the account come to the conclusion that it describes the restoration of Heaven and Earth rather than their actual creation. Is the conclusion of this story a misprint? Have we not been told the whole story as some conclude? Was Yahweh referring to a different six days of creation when He told Moses that the seventh day of the week is holy because, "... in six days the LORD made Heaven and Earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:17 & 20:11 JPS)? The misconception that the creation account is an account of the restoration of Heaven and Earth stems, in part, from a misinterpretation of a key ancient Hebrew word used throughout the account. The ancient Hebrew word which is misinterpreted is מַיִם. This article will analyze the creation account and show that it does not use מַיִםmayim/water to refer to physical water as many down through the ages have tried to interpret it.

Analysis of the Creation Account
The creation account, like most stories, begins by introducing its major players. The characters and objects introduced are אֱלֹהִים, שָּׁמַיִם and אָרֶץ. This first statement in the creation account also defines the relationship between these entities. אֱלֹהִים is declared to be the creator of the שָּׁמַיִם and the אָרֶץ. It is also significant to note that, when people or things are listed, it is proper to list them in the order of their coming into existence with the oldest being listed first as is done with numerous genealogies throughout the Bible. If this first statement is proper then the שָּׁמַיִם listed with the אָרֶץ is not referring to the atmosphere of Earth because Earth's atmosphere cannot exist without Earth's gravitation to keep it from dissipating throughout eternity. Rather, the שָּׁמַיִם must be a reference to the greater heaven, our universe, within which Earth was latter created (see [Footnote 2] for more reasons why the word "שָּׁמַיִם" is evedently a reference to the greater heaven of our universe rather than just Earth's atmosphere).

The first statement of the creation account consists of seven Hebrew words as follows: "be'rashyt bara אֱלֹהִים et הַשָּׁמַיִם v'et הָאָרֶץ". Hebrew words are compounded with prefixes and suffixes that sometimes indicate articles like "the" and "in" and at other times indicate tense and plurality.

The first word, be'rashyt, is a compound word consisting of three parts. The first part, "be-", is a common Hebrew prefix which literally means "in". The same semantics can be seen in English words such as before, behind, beyond, between, beside, and because which literally mean "in fore (front)", "in back", "in [the] yonder", "in [the midst of] twain (two)", "in [proximity to the] side", and "in cause" respectively (see [Footnote 3] for some comments about the relation of the English language to the Ancient Hebrew language). The next time some English professor tells you that your English "ain't so good", you can disregard the criticism because you know that the whole English language devolved out of ancient Hebrew by means of millennia of misspellings and mispronunciation (just think what bad English a simple phrase like "in between" is now that you know what it means). The second part of the Hebrew word be'rashyt is the word "rosh" which literally means head [reference], as in a man's head, and in this context means beginning [reference]. The last part, "yt" (pronounced "eet"), is a suffix which indicates that the word it is suffixed to referrers to a group or set of related objects like a house, nation, or flock (see [Footnote 4] for further explanation of the "yt" Hebrew suffix). Here, be'rashyt (in [the] beginnings) is referring to the seven days of creation that follow this introductory statement during which Heaven and Earth were created (began) on the second and thrid days respectively. We know that something new is created on each day of the creation account because אֱלֹהִים gives proper names to each of the things that He creates without any reference to a previous name. אֱלֹהִים only gives names to things when He creates them or when they change in some significant way. When something is renamed by אֱלֹהִים due to some significant change that it has undertaken, אֱלֹהִים always specifies that the name is being changed and supplies an explanation as to why the change of the name is necessary (e.g. Lucifer to Satan, Jacob to Israel, Sari to Sarah, etc.). The lack of any reference to a previous name for the things which were created on each of the six days of creation is strong evidence that the things did not have a prior existence in any form.

The second word is "bara" and is translated into English as "created". It is important to note that bara does not mean to create from nothing. Rather, bara literally means "to fill" [reference]. Latter verses describe the שָּׁמַיִם and the אָרֶץ as having been brought into existence by being filled with מַיִם. Such a literal interpretation of the Hebew scripture, however, does not make sense unless some of the principles found in the science of quantum physics are taken into account (e.g. the relationship between matter and energy) and the Hebrew word מַיִם is taken to be a symbol for something fundamental to our physical universe (i.e. the ether (see [Footnote 1] for more details about exactly what the ether is)).

While the ether is very rarely a subject of discussion in the biblical text, there is one other verse in the Bible which appears to be refering to it. Here is an excerpt from Isaiah 30:25-26:

"There will be on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers [and] streams of water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound." (Isa 30:25-26 NKJV)

The verses just prior to this excerpt describe the millennial setting (a prophesied period of one thousand years of prosperity under Yahweh's rule which is expected to come after about six thousand years of man's rulership over Earth (Rev 20:2-7 (interestingly, the phrase "thousand years" is mentioned six times in this section of scripture))). Verses 25 through 33 of Isaiah chapter 30 appear to describe Yahweh's coming just prior to His millennial reign during which "the LORD binds up the bruise of His people". According to verse 25, an event (towers falling) ushers in a day (figuratively) of great slaughter just prior to Yahweh's return. This verse also records that there will be "water" flowing from all the mountains and hills at this time. It makes no sense to have literal water flowing from the top of a great number of mountains and hills. One issue with such and arrangment would be the energy required to sustain such a flow of water. Another would be flooding and irrigation issues. Yet another would simply be the purpose for such a construction. If, however, the water mentioned here were taken to be a symbol for the ether, something for which the ancient Hebrew language had no direct term (see [Footnote 1] for more information about the similitude of the ether and physical water), then this verse makes sense because, in our modern day, we have placed cell phone and radio antennas at the top of all our high mountains, hills and buildings for increased transmission range. In fact, one such antenna was fixed to the top of one of the world trade towers which were knocked down by Islamic terrorists. The destruction of the world trade towers directly lead to the current "war on terror" of the United States. Verse 26 also states that the light of the sun will be extraordinarily bright during this end time (the end of the six thousand years of man's rule). The year 2007 is the end of one of the Sun's eleven year solar cycles [reference]. Solar output peeks midway through its eleven year cycle, so it will be interesting to see what level of intensity the next solar cycle brings.

Another peculiar use of the word מַיִם is found in John 3:1-8. It would be very supprising if Jesus, a Jew, spoke to Nicodemus, a Phaisee, in a tongue other than Hebrew. In the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus recorded in John 3:1-8, Jesus states that, "... unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (Joh 3:5 NKJV). The Hebrew word for "water" that Jesus would have used when speaking to Nicodemus about being born again with a new spiritual body would have been מַיִם. Jesus also says that flesh and spirit are completely different (verse 6) and that what is "born of" (made of) the spirit cannot be seen (verse 8). If the מַיִם of which one must be born/made were physical water, however, then they could certainly be physically seen. It appears that Jesus is using מַיִם, in this context, as a metaphor for something which is somehow like physical water, but which cannot be physically seen.

The third word is "אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god" and is translated into English as "God" (God is a pagan word which is possibly derived from Dagon the pagan fish-god ("dag" means fish in ancient Semitic) of the Phoenicians who were originally a "sea people"). The אֱלֹהִים introduced here are being defined/introduced as the creator(s)/filler(s) of Heaven and Earth. The pronoun "who" is implied in the Hebrew as is evident in the English translations of several other related passages (see [Footnote 5] for some examples). The אֱלֹהִים are formally introduced here so that the reader of the creation account isn't distracted with questions of "who is this" and "why did he ..." while reading such statements as "אֱלֹהִים said, 'let there be light ...'". The questions of "when" (be'rashyt), "why/purpose/goal" (bara), "who" (אֱלֹהִים), and "what" (et הַשָּׁמַיִם v'et הָאָרֶץ) are all answered in the introductory statement so that the remainder of the creation account can deal with the details of "how" the world/cosmos in which we live came to be.

The creation account concludes in Genesis 2:4 with a statement that is nearly identical to the introductory statement (3 of 7 words = ~42% identical). Three things are accomplished by restating the introductory statement:

The reader is given a sense of completion/closure
The seven days of creation between the two statements are wrapped together as a single event
The creation account as a whole is made consistent with its constituent days of creation in that the pattern/"poetic style" of stating what is about to be done followed by what was done is used (e.g. "let there be light, and there was light")

While the JPS translation of Genesis 2:4a is, "Such is the story of Heaven and Earth when they were created", the Hebrew word that is being translated "story" is "toldot" which is plural ("ot" is a feminine plural suffix [reference]). The word "toldot" literally means birthings. Also, the word translated "created" in Genesis 2:4 is "bara", which is the same word as was used in Genesis 1:1, but here it is prefixed with "be-" and "he-" meaning "in" and "their" respectively and it is suffixed with the Hebrew letter "מ" which indicates plurality. So, Genesis 2:4a literally states, "These are the birthings of the Heaven and the Earth in their fillings".

The JPS translation correctly renders Genesis 2:4a as the end of the creation account. This context change is not shown correctly in the King James translation and other translations which attempt to make Genesis 2:4a (i.e. "This is the history of Heaven and Earth when they were created") a header for the remainder of chapter two which clearly is not a "history of Heaven and Earth" but rather is an account of the first days of Adam and Eve. Correctly rent, all of verses five and six of chapter two are parenthetical to the statement, "In the day (figuratively) that the LORD God made the Earth and the Heavens (--parenthetical of verses five and six here--) and the LORD God formed man ... and man became a living being ...". Verse eight of chapter two then begins the account of Adam and Eve's first days of existence. The correct rendering of the text also makes it clear that the garden of Eden was planted after אֱלֹהִים had made Heaven, Earth, and Adam and that it was planted for Adam to "till and tend".

Genesis 1:2 begins with a conjunction. The opening conjunction is represented, in the original Hebrew, by the letter "ו". The NKJV omits this important conjunction from its translation but the AV correctly renders the conjunction with the English word "and" such that Genesis 1:2 states, "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." (Ge 1:2 AV). The logical conjunction "and" is a distributive binary operator. There is some debate over whether it is the predicate or the modifier of Genesis 1:1 that is meant to be distributed across the conjunction to the three clauses of Genesis 1:2. To illustrate, let's use basic algebra to show the sentence structure of the first two verses of Genesis:

Genesis 1:1 is constructed with a modifier, predicate, and subject respectively:

Let A = the modifier = "In [the] beginnings"
Let B = the predicate = "God created"
Let C = the subject = "the Heaven and the Earth"

Some may be tempted to label "God" as the subject of the sentence and "created the Heaven and the Earth" as the predicate. The predicate of a sentence is defined as "the part of a sentence that provides information about the subject" [reference]. This sentence is not, however, about God. Genesis 1:1, like the rest of the creation account, is about "the Heaven and the Earth". More specifically, the account is about how Heaven and Earth came to be (as the conclusion re-emphasizes). While not as evident in the English translations, the first sentence of the creation account tells us that God is the one who filled the Heaven and the Earth. Genesis 1:1 would more accurately be translated into English as, "In [the] beginnings, the Heaven and the Earth [were] filled [by] God".

Hebrew is a language which has its verbs before its nouns and likewise puts its sentence predicates before its sentence subjects. Two of the next three clauses have a subject-predicate order like English grammar uses but they are the exception, not the rule. Genesis 1:3 is a good example of how Hebrew grammar differs from English. The Hebrew of Genesis 1:3 is "vi'omer אֱלֹהִים ya'hee orr, vi'hee orr". The English corresponding to each word is "vi'omer (and said) אֱלֹהִים (God) ya'hee (be) orr (light), vi'hee (and was) orr (light)". If we remove the Hebrew to see just the English we get "and said God, 'be light', and was light" which is clearly not proper English. To get proper English, we need only invert the order of the verbs and the nouns to get "and God said, 'light be', and [then] light was". As you can see, אֱלֹהִים's command "light be" is proper English with the subject (light) preceding the predicate (be) but its corresponding Hebrew sentence has an inverted ordering of the predicate and the subject (i.e. "be light"). Many English translations render this statement much more mildly than what the Hebrew conveys. The statement that אֱלֹהִים made was just two words issued with the full power of אֱלֹהִים's word. While many English translations render אֱלֹהִים's command as the mild request, "Let there be light", such translations do not accurately convey אֱלֹהִים's command. Genesis 1:3 records that אֱלֹהִים actually commanded the thing "light" to "exist". אֱלֹהִים's command is best rendered in English as "LIGHT EXIST". In the same way that the subject-predicate ordering of the Hebrew text of אֱלֹהִים's command has to be inverted for proper rendering in English, the subject-predicate ordering of Genesis 1:1 must be inverted for proper translation into English (i.e. "The Heaven and the Earth, God created" - for those familiar with the sci-fi epic "Star Wars", think "Yoda speak" when reading Hebrew).

Genesis 1:2 is constructed with a conjunction and three clauses:

Conjunction = "and"
Let D = clause 1 = "the Earth was without form and void"
Let E = clause 2 = "the face of the deep was covered with darkness" *
Let F = clause 3 = "אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of the water"

* Subject-Predicate order switched in accordance with the rules of English grammar.

If the conjunction of Genesis 1:2 is joining the modifier of Genesis 1:1 to the three clauses of Genesis 1:2, the expansion of Genesis 1:2 (by the distributive property of the "and" operator) yields:

A and (D and E and F) = (A, D) and (A, E) and (A, F):

(A, D) = "In [the] beginning", "the Earth was without form and void"
(A, E) = "In [the] beginning", "the face of the deep was covered with darkness"
(A, F) = "In [the] beginning", "אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of the water"

Whereas, if it is the predicate of Genesis 1:1 that is being distributed across the three clauses of Genesis 1:2, the expansion yeilds:

B and (D and E and F) = (B, D) and (B, E) and (B, F):

(B, D) = "God created", "the Earth was without form and void"
(B, E) = "God created", "the face of the deep was covered with darkness"
(B, F) = "God created", "אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of the water"

The first case (where the modifier is being distributed by the conjunction), makes sense as a description of the setting just prior to God's creative acts (Genesis 1:3 through 2:3).

The second case (distributing the predicate), however, has several problems. The third expansion, (B, F), has the most obvious problem of simply not making sense in the way that we understand the meanings of the words (even less so when the literal meaning of bara is taken into account). The second expansion, (B, E), almost makes sense until the literal meaning of bara (created) and the nature of choshek (darkness) are taken into account. Bara literally means to fill but choshek (darkness) is, by nature, an absence of something (specifically, light). Interestingly, there is one scripture which, at first glance, appears to say that God created darkness. The scripture is Isaiah 45:7.

"I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these [things].'" (Isa 45:7 NKJV)

This scripture is one of the most difficult for some people to grasp because it seems to be saying that our righteous God creates darkness and calamity without giving a purpose for such action. This "problem" is easily resolved, however, by understanding the literal meaning of the Hebrew words and the poetic style of the text. Hebrew poetry makes extensive use of parallelism. Also, the word translated as "created" is "bora". The word "bora", as used in Isaiah, is equivalent in meaning to the word "bara" which was mentioned earlier (Genesis says tamato, Isaiah says tomato ...). Because of the parallelism being used is this verse, what appears in the English translation to be saying two different things is really only one thing in the Hebrew. One way that this can sometimes be effectively expressed in English is to say that there is a strongly implied notion of "hence" due to the parallelism. Taking the literal meaning of bora and the parallelism of the text into account, Isaiah 45:7 literally states:

"I form light and [hence] fill the darkness. [likewise], I make the good and [hence] fill the bad. I, the LORD, do all this" (Isaiah 45:7)

It is important to note that the meaning implied by this parallel interpretation requires that the two things used in each of the two clauses be exact opposites. If the two things are not exact opposites, then the one cannot completely displace the other. Light is the opposite of darkness (darkness being a lack of light) but the two words used in the second clause are "shalom" and "ra". Shalom (peace) is not the exact opposite of ra (bad). While peace can displace the bad of war, it does not necessarily displace other bads like disease and famine. The antonym of ra (bad) is tov (good). Interestingly, the Dead Sea Scrolls record that the word "shalom", which is in all the modern versions of the Hebrew text, was originally tov (just as we would expect). It is also interesting that the article "the" (the Hebrew letter "ה") is also present in the Dead Sea Scrolls [reference] but it is suffixed to the word bora rather than prefixed to the following word in both cases (a possible case of incorrect word division by a Q scribe).

Such an understanding of this scripture also harmonizes well with other passages in the Bible like:

Jeremiah 31:13-14, "... I will turn their morning to joy, ... and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness says the LORD"
Luke 16:20, "... your sorrow will be turned into joy"
and Revelation 7:17, "for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes", and 21:4, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away"

Such an interpretation of Isaiah 45:7 also fits well with the context within which it is found because the very next verse is about אֱלֹהִים "pouring" (an allusion to the verb "bora" used in the previous verse) fourth "victory", "triumph", and "vindication" (tov/good things).

Therefore, the second expansion ((B, E) = "God created", "darkness on the face of the deep") does not make sense because darkness (an absence of light) cannot be brought into existence by the act of filling (bara) nor is such a notion supported elsewhere in scripture.

The first expansion ((B, D) = "God created", "the Earth was without form and void") is directly addressed by the LORD in Isaiah 45:18:

"For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the Earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I [am] the LORD, and [there is] no other." (Isa 45:18 NKJV)

The phrase "Who did not create it in vain" is, in Hebrew, "lo le'tohu berah" which literally means "not (lo) to (le) empty (tohu) filled (berah)". In English grammar, this is better stated "not filled to empty". The implied subject of this phrase is אֱלֹהִים and the implied object of the phrase is the Earth such that the complete statement is, "אֱלֹהִים [did] not fill the Earth to empty" (the preposition "to" is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls [reference]). This statement from Isaiah 45:18 negates the possibility that the predicate of Genesis 1:1 is meant to be distributed across the conjunction to the three clauses of Genesis 1:2 and thereby removes the ambiguity in interpretation, leaving only the first case (distributing the modifier) as a possible interpretation.

Some try to argue that the verb of Genesis 1:2 (hayah) should be interpreted as "became" rather than "was". There are two reasons why such an interpretation does not make sense. First, it does not make sense to establish a time frame of "the beginning" and immediately imply that something happened before that time (i.e "In [the] beginning the Earth 'became' empty and unfilled" does not make sense). Secondly, this one verb is shared among all three of the clauses of Genesis 1:2 and the third clause contains the auxiliary verb "hovering" which does not agree, in tense, with a main verb of "became" (i.e. "In [the] beginning, אֱלֹהִים's breath 'became' hovering over the face of the water" does not make sense). The verb phrase "was hovering", however, is viable and has a past continuous tense.

Thus far, we have shown the proper expansion of Genesis 1:1-2 to be:

In [the] beginnings, the Heaven and the Earth [were] filled [by] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god
In [the] beginning, the Earth was empty and unfilled
In [the] beginning, the face of the deep was covered with darkness
In [the] beginning, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of the water

It may seem inconsistent that the one word rashyt (beginnings) is being translated in both the plural and the singular in the above expansion but the plurality of a modifier is adaptable across a conjunction depending on what it is being applied to. In this case, the singular tense of the verb "was" forces the noun rashyt to be singular in the latter three clauses.

The three statements that follow Genesis 1:1 are not random. Each of the statements of Genesis 1:2 correspond to one of the things/persons introduced in Genesis 1:1. The three things introduced in Genesis 1:1 are the Earth, the Heaven, and אֱלֹהִים. The first statement of Genesis 1:2 describes the state of the Earth as being "empty and unfilled". The second statement discribes the state of the deep (deep space/heaven) as being "covered with darkness". The thrid statement describes the state of אֱלֹהִים as "breathing over the face of the water".

Genesis 1:1-2 is structured well enough to derive that that the prase "the deep" (תְהוֹם) is a reference to "the Heaven" (הַשָּׁמַיִם) mentioned in verse one, but there is more evidence to be found in the writings of the wise King Solomon:

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an Earth. When [there were] no depths I was brought forth, When [there were] no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth; While as yet He had not made the Earth or the fields, Or the primeval dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I [was] there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the Earth, Then I was beside Him [as] a master craftsman; And I was daily [His] delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight [was] with the sons of men." (Pr 8:22-31 NKJV)

This excerpt is clearly a reference to the creation account. In the midst of this excerpt, there is a somewhat peculiar statement that indicates that אֱלֹהִים "drew a circle on the face of the deep". The phrase "the face of the deep" is the exact same phrase that was used in Genesis 1:2. If you do a search for this phrase in the NKJV Bible text, you will find that it only appears in these two verses (i.e. Genesis 1:2 and Proverbs 8:27). This phrase is also exactly the same in Hebrew. The word for "deep" is, in both cases, the Hebrew word "תְהוֹם". The "circle" that אֱלֹהִים "drew" on the face of the תְהוֹם was the Earth. The circle that is being described here is the shape of the Earth against the backdrop of deep space which one sees when they look out over the Earth's horizon. The planet Earth (the circle) was not drawn on its oceans. Rather, the deep (תְהוֹם), which is being referred to in this excerpt (and hence its parallel in Genesis 1:2) is deep space.

While it is not evident in the English translations, Solomon was citing from the book of Job when he used the phrase "drew a circle on the face of the deep". The same phrase is used in Job 26:10 where it is recorded that אֱלֹהִים "drew a circle on the face of the water at the extreme where light and darkness meet". The reference in Job, however, has an interesting difference in that it uses the word "water" (מַיִם) in place of the word "deep" (תְהוֹם) which we find in Genesis 1:2 and Proverbs 8:27. The book of Job is the oldest book of the Bible. Job was even a contemporary of Noah's. Job's citation of this phrase from the creation account indicates two things. The first thing that we can derive from Job's citation is that the "water" that is being referred to in the creation account is a reference to something on the face of which the Earth was "drawn" (i.e. interstellar space). The second thing that we learn from Job's citation is that the word "תְהוֹם" (deep) was originally "מַיִם" (water). It is also interesting that Job knew that the Earth was a spherical planet hanging in nothingness (Job 26:7). There are great and ancient structures scattered over the face of the Earth (e.g. The Great Pyramid of Egypt, Stonehenge, The Ancient Walls of Sacsahuaman, etc.) and under its oceans (e.g. The Japanese Pyramids) which indicate that pre-flood man had explored the Earth's full circumference. Noah and his three sons were of that pre-flood generation, so it is not supprising that the nature of the Earth's shape was known for several generations after the flood. King Solomon apperently used this information about the shape of the Earth to travel to America 3000 years ago [reference]. That King Solomon's ships traveled such great distances is also supported by the record of 2 Chronicles 9:21 which indicates that their journeys took about three years.

What likely happened to cause מַיִם to become תְהוֹם in both Genesis 1:2 and Proverbs 8:27 is that the text of Genesis 1:2 was corrupted by smudging or scratching or the like (possibly because it's position on the original papyrus on which it was recorded was near where one's thumb tends to rest while they hold the document) and a later scribe recognized that Proverbs 8:27 was a reference to the creation account and "fixed" Proverbs 8:27 by "correcting" the word "מַיִם" to "תְהוֹם". The Dead Sea Scrolls may be old enough to show that Proverbs 8:27 originally used the word "מַיִם", but the corruption of Genesis 1:2 appears to be even older than the Dead Sea Scrolls.

While it is not evident in the English translations, the word "deep" (תְהוֹם) is very similar to the phrase "the water" (אֵת הַמַיִם). The Ancient Hebrew did not have vowel points, so "תְהוֹם" and "אֵת הַמַיִם" were spelled "תהום" and "את המים" respectively. With some smudging, it is not difficult to turn "את המים" into "ת ה ום" because the latter word "tehom/deep" happens to contain only two fewer letters than the former phrase "et ha'mayim" and those letters that the latter (tehom/deep) does contain happen to be in the same order as the corresponding letters in the former phrase (et ha'mayim/the water). It is noteworthy that such a transformation of the text causes the article "the", which is represented by the Hebrew letter "ה", to become embedded within the word "תְהוֹם" and that the article "ה" is indeed missing from the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:2.

Correcting for the transformation of "the water" (אֵת הַמַיִם) into "deep" (תְהוֹם) in our modern copies, Genesis 1:1-2 now reads:

"In [the] beginnings, the Heaven and the Earth [were] filled [by] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god"
"In [the] beginning, the Earth was empty and unfilled"
"In [the] beginning, the face of the water was covered with darkness"
"In [the] beginning, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of the water"

Also, the word for "Heaven" is, in Hebrew, "שָּׁמַיִם" which is a compound word that breaks down as "שָׁ" (2nd) "מַיִם" (water). So Genesis 1:1-2 reads:

"In [the] beginnings, the 2nd water and the Earth [were] filled [by] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god"
"In [the] beginning, the Earth was empty and unfilled"
"In [the] beginning, the face of the water was covered with darkness"
"In [the] beginning, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of the water"

We have shown that both מַיִם and תְהוֹם have been used to refer to deep space (Job 26:10 and Proverbs 8:27 respectively), so lets substitute the ancient metaphor/symbol "water" with the equivilent modern word "space".

"In [the] beginnings, Space-2 and the Earth [were] filled [by] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god"
"In [the] beginning, the Earth was empty and unfilled"
"In [the] beginning, the face of Space was covered with darkness"
"In [the] beginning, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of Space"

It might seem a bit odd that the Earth is being referred to as "empty and unfilled", but we must remember that אֱלֹהִים speaks of things that "do not exist as though they did" (Romans 4:17). אֱלֹהִים is describing the Earth as He saw it through His "mind's eye" before He had given it substance. In a similar way, Michelangelo the sculptor saw his creations before they existed and formed them by "chipping away all that was not a part of [them]" [reference]. In אֱלֹהִים's case, rather than removing matter to form the creation, He fills it to give it substance. Genesis 1:2 describes the Earth as something like a hologram, having the form that אֱלֹהִים had planned for it but no substance (i.e. "empty and unfilled"). Note that even light did not exist at this point (i.e. "the face of Space was covered with darkness") but this is not an issue because אֱלֹהִים does not need light to see (Psalms 139:12). The fact that light did not yet exist is, however, an issue for the theory that the Earth existed in Genesis 1:1-2 because modern physics understands light to be a component of matter (i.e. atoms cannot exist without light).

There are a few more revisions to the text that are necessary due to findings in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but lets go ahead and show the text of the creation account with the corrections that we have found so far:

Introduction:

In [the] beginnings:

Space-2 and the Earth [were] filled [by] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god

the Earth was empty and unfilled
the face of Space was covered with darkness
אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath was hovering over the face of Space

Day 1:

And [then] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god said, "RADIATION 1 EXIST"
And [then] radiation existed
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god saw the radiation, that [it was] good
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god distinguished between the radiation and the darkness
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god named [that which was] of [the] radiation יוֹמָםyo'mam/from-water 2
And He named [that which was] of [the] darkness לָיְלָהlilah/to-from-to-breath 3
And evening existed
And morning existed
(יוֹם אֶחָדyom ehhad/from-water unity)

While electro-magnetic raditaion and light are the same thing, the word "light" is typically used to refer to the small range of the electro-magnetic radition spectrum that is visible to the human eye. It is not possible, however, to create the visible part of the spectrum and the invisible part separately. Electro-magnetic radiation, visible and invisible, is one thing. When אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god created light, He created the entire electro-magnetic radiation spectrum, not just the part of it that we can see. The word that is being translated light/radiation is אוֹרor/light. This Hebrew word breaks down, letter for letter, as strong-bound-head (see [reference] for the meanings of the individual letters). Interestingly, light/radiation is an intertwining/binding of two disturbances (the electric and the magnetic) which arise out of the normally calm state of the ether (somewhat analogous to how waves are disturbances which arise out of the surface of normally calm water). A mathematical depiction of light is shown below (image lifted from the aforementioned wikipedia article on electro-magnatic radiation).

Also, it is significant to note that the atoms that make up matter cannot exist without electro-magnetic radiation because the shells of atoms are made out of electro-magnetic radiation (and possibly the sub-atomic particles). Therefore, if the six days of creation are a sequence of events, no material thing (e.g. the Earth) could have existed prior to this first day when light/radiation was created.
The Dead Sea Scrolls show that the name that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god originally gave the light that He had created was "יוֹמָםyo'mam/from-water" [reference]. אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god names things what they are and the double מmem of יוֹמָםyo'mam/from-water is probably a reference to the מַיִםmayim/water that has been the subject of discussion thus far (the ancient vowel "יyad" can be dropped when forming a new word) so yo'mam breaks down as yud-mayim meaning from-space. Interestingly, modern physics understands light to be a displacement wave which is thrown up "from space" where "space" is made of the fluidic ether.
The Hebrew word that is traditionally translated as night is "לָיְלָהlilah/to-from-to-breath". לָיְלָהlilah/to-from-to-breath is spelled lam-yad-lam-hey = to-from-to-breath (see [reference] for the meanings of the individual letters). Knowing that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god names things what they are, it is reasonable to derive that this is a reference to the darkness that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's breath/spirit was moving back and forth over before He created the physical universe as was mentioned in Genesis 1:2. So, "to-from-to-breath" (לָיְלָהlilah/to-from-to-breath) is what אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god named the darkness that His breath/spirit moved to-from-to over. Job 38:16 may also be a reference to אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's having searched out the deep darkness of eternity (perhaps for another like himself) before "the foundations of the Earth were laid" but He reveals in Isaiah that He never found another god:

"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I [am] the First and I [am] the Last; Besides Me [there is] no God. And who can proclaim as I do? ... Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared [it]? You [are] My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed [there is] no other Rock; I know not [one].'" (Isa 44:6-8 NKJV)
"יוֹם אֶחָדyo'mam ehhad/from-water unity" is traditionally thought to mean "day one". While אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's references to the creation account in Exodus 20:11 and 31:17 do indicate that it took place in a litteral six day period, this phrase does not necessarily mean "day one".

Jeff Benner, in his book "The Living Words Volume One", theorizes that "אֶחָדehhad/unity" originally meant "unity" and that this finnal phrase is stating that the "evening and morning" were "ehhad/united" to form the "yom/day" [reference]. Such an interpretation would mean that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god, in addition to creating the light, divided the day and the night into 12 hour segments and then "united" them to be one 24 hour "day" in this first creative act. It does seem that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god did have a timeline for His creative process planned out before He started His creation. The first three days were evidently 24 hours in length (one evening plus one morning) even though He had not yet established the Sun for the Earth to turn towards and away from over a 24 hour period (even the Earth did not exist on the first two days).

It is important to understand that celestial objects such as the Sun and Earth and their relative motions are not necessary to measure time. The most acurate measure of both time and space is actually light itself. Light is the only true constant in our universe by which dimension can be measured. It may even be said that light actually defines our realm of time and space (interestingly, time and space, in our universe, are inversely related just as are light's properties of frequency and wavelength). Because light's energy and speed are fixed, it's frequency and wavelength can be used to determine/measure time and space respectively. A given light wave's frequency divided by the number of cycles that it has undergone between some start point and some end point is equal to the amount of time that passed while the light was in transit between the two points. Likewise, a light ray of a given wavelength, when traveling between two points, travels a distance which is equal the the ray's wavelenght times the number of cycles it underwent while traveling between the two points. Modern scientists use light when they need to make extreamly acurate measurements because it is the only thing that is truly absolute. Everything else is relative; even space itself is "warped" along with any physical instruments that exist in space. If you understand this, then you understand why אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god created light/em-radiation first. In fact, if He had not created light first then modern physics could disprove the creation account. That the creation account records that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god created light before anything else physical, in spite of the fact that it would have been impossible for the human authors in their time to have known of light's significance to the rest of the physical universe, is very strong evidence in support of the creation account's validity.

All that being said, it is a little awkward to say that the things that were "united" during the first creative act were the periods of darkness and of light to form the period of a day because the first night was much longer than 12 hours. However, if "יוֹםyom/day" is just a shorthand for "יוֹמָםyo'mam/from-water", as it appears to be, then "יוֹם אֶחָדyo'mam ehhad/from-water unity" would translate as "from-space unity" which would be an apt summary of what אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god did on this first day - He formed light by uniting the electric and magnetic forces from space/the ether.

Interestingly, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god creates something from space (the מַיִםmayim/water/ether) on each day of creation except the sixth. Day six is also different, however, in that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god "breaths" into Adam to make him a living being. There was also some association made between the "breath" (ruach) of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god and the "water/ether/space" (מַיִםmayim/water) in Genesis 1:2. It is also interesting that acient Greek mythology purported that the ether was the "pure upper air" of heaven which the gods "breathed" and it was also purported to be the substance of light, land, heaven, sea, and stars (see [reference] and [reference]). Greek mythology doesn't necessarily have any basis in fact, but it does show that the concept that everything is made of a fundimental substance is very old. This concept also appears to be the understanding of even older Hebrews and Arabs such as King David and Job as is revealed by their writtings in Psalms 33:6 and Job 26:13 respectively.

"By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Ps 33:6 NKJV)

"By His Spirit He adorned the heavens ..." (Job 26:13 NKJV)

This concept was latter reiterated by the apostle Paul in the faith chapter.

"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." (Heb 11:3 NKJV)

It is interesting that Ps 33:6, by Hebrew parallelism, equates אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's "word" with His "breath/spirit" (ruach). Yeshua also equates these two things as is recorded in John 6:63.

"... The words that I speak to you are spirit, and [they] are life." (Joh 6:63 NKJV)

There are also many interesting metaphorical parallels drawn between "water" and "words" in such passages as Ephesians 5:26, John 15:3, John 17:17, II Peter 3:5-7, and Isaiah 55:10-11.

"that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word," (Eph 5:26 NKJV)

"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." (Joh 15:3 NKJV)

"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." (Joh 17:17 NKJV)

"For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by {the word of God} the world [that] then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth [which] are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." (2Pe 3:5-7 NKJV)

"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper [in the thing] for which I sent it." (Isa 55:10-11 NKJV)

Day 2:

And [then] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god said, "EXPANSE EXIST"
"in [the] midst [of] Space"
And [then it] existed from division between [the] Space of Space 1
And [so] אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god made the expanse
[??? saw ???] 2
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god 3 distinguished between the Space which [was] underneath of [the] expanse
And the Space which [was] outside of [the] expanse
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god named [that which was] of [the] expanse Space-2
And evening existed
And morning existed
(יוֹם שֵׁנִיyom sha'niy/from-water second)

This verse describes what is ultimately named שָּׁמַיִםsha'mayim/heaven as being created by means of the separation of one thing, the מַיִםmayim/water, into two. This שָּׁמַיִםsha'mayim/heaven is, on subsequent days, filled with the Earth, Sun, and Moon. It is obvious, therefore, that the שָּׁמַיִםsha'mayim/heaven is the spacial realm of our universe. What is further intriguing is that what is named שָּׁמַיִםsha'mayim/heaven is the "expanse" and the expanse was created "in the midst of the מַיִםmayim/water" such that our universe is being described as a region within a region. Such a notion is also found in the apostle Paul's writings in II Corinthians 12:2.

"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago - whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows - such a one was caught up to the third heaven." (2Co 12:2 NKJV)

In the above reference, the apostle Paul refers to אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's realm as "the third heaven". Where it seems that the second heaven would be our universe and the first the Earth's atmosphere.

Also, the ancient text of The Book of Enoch uses the term "heaven of heavens" to refer to אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's realm (I En 58:1; 70:6) and refers to our heaven, in which the luminaries (stars) exist, as "heaven in heaven" (I En 74:8).

The shape of the region which is our universe is also a somewhat interesting subject. Astrophysisits can only speculate about its shape as our universe is apparently much larger than what we are able to see. In recent history, experiments were done which showed that the underlying fabric of space itself was warpped/curved. This discovery lead to theories that our universe was "multiconnected"; meaning that the fabric of space was warpped to such a degree that if one traveled far enough in a straight line through our universe, they would eventually end up back where they started. The multiconnected universe theory was quite popular up until the late 1990's when the Boomerang project measured the average curvature of space and found it to be very near zero (see [reference] and [reference]). The "flat universe" theory is now popular among astrophysistis. It is interesting that the Hebrew word for expanse/firmament (raqiya) used to describe what is named Heaven has a connotation of a "thin plate/layer" (The Living Words Volume One).

There are also several symbolic theophanies in the Bible which consistantly describe a "paved work" under אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's throne. This paved work is described as being "like heaven in its clarity" and like a "sea of glass" and clear as "crystal". This paved work at the "feet" of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's throne may be a symbolic reference to our universe over which אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god is apparently still "hovering"; just as He was "in the beginning" (though a region of it had not yet been segmented off, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god was hovering over the "waters" that ultimately became our universe from the beginning).

"and they saw the God of Israel. And [there was] under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in [its] clarity." (Ex 24:10 NKJV)

"The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures [was] like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads." (Eze 1:22 NKJV)

"A voice came from above the firmament that [was] over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings. And above the firmament over their heads [was] the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne [was] a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it." (Eze 1:25-26 NKJV)

"Before the throne [there was] a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, [were] four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back." (Re 4:6 NKJV)
Interestingly, the second day is the only day that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god does not say that He "saw" what He had created. Coincidently, interstellar space is completely transparent to light.
Explicit reference to אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god found in the Dead Sea Scrolls [reference].

Day 3A:

And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god said, "SPACE GATHER"
" underneath of 1 Space-2 into one place"
"So that matter may appear"
And [then] it existed
And the Space underneath Space-2 gathered into its place and matter appeared 2
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god named the matter אָרֶץerets/Earth 3 [???] 4
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god saw that [it was] good 5

Day 3B:

And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god said, "Earth SPROUT"
...
And [then] it existed
...
[??? named ???] 6
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god saw that [it was] good

And evening existed
And morning existed
(יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁיyom shlishi/from-water third)

"of" (lamid prefix) found in DSS [reference].
Longer version of Genesis 1:9 from DSS [reference] (see also [reference]).
Because אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god names things what they are, some insight into what He has created can be gained by examining the name that He gave to what He created. On this thrid day of creation, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god names what He creates "אָרֶץerets/Earth". Jeff Benner, in his book "The Living Words Volume One", reveals that this Hebrew word is derived from the ancient root "רץrats/fragment" which literally means "fragment". The prefix to this word, אaleph/strong, literally means strong so that the word literally translates as strong-fragments. Our Earth is made out of strong fragments/pieces - we call them atoms.

There is an ancient text (nearly 2000 years old) which speaks of the creation week and claims that the Earth was made by "piling up dry rocks". These rocks of which the Earth was made are described as being "hard and big" and having been formed from "waves".

"Out of the waves I created rock hard and big, and from the rock I piled up the dry, and the dry I called Earth" (II En 28:2)

This ancient text also describes the waves/waters which were made hard/firm as being composed of seven concentric circles of light.

"I made firm the waters, that is to say the bottomless, and I made foundation of light around the water, and created seven circles from inside, and imaged the water like crystal wet and dry, that is to say like glass" (II En 27:1)

Not only is the description of "seven concentric circles/spheres of light" an apt description of the structure of an atom's energy shells which are indeed made of light/em-radiation and which do form the foundation/support for all material things, it is also a describtion which would be difficult to apply to any other natural object. Below is an image taken from WikiPedia which shows the seven, hard, electro-magnetic shells of the natural atom.

The text of II Enoch which we have today also tells a tale of a dream in which Enoch visits seven different realms of heaven. Such a description of the heavens, however, is contradictory to the far older text of I Enoch as well as the more reputable word of the apostle Paul who describes אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's realm as being the third, not seventh, from our perspective (2Co 12:2 NKJV).

The text of II Enoch is extreamly incoherent and lacks good transition between the subjects that it covers. It appears to be about what one would expect were one to ask a five year old child to recite a discussion of quantum physics. Some small phrases are true to the facts, but most of it is wild fantasy and personification which, in some cases, contradicts what is told in other ancient texts (e.g. the entire seven levels of heaven vision). An example of a portion of it which does agree with other texts is found in II En 29:2-4.

"I commanded that each one should stand in his order. And one from out the order of angels, having turned away with the order that was under him, conceived an impossible thought, to place his throne higher than the clouds above the Earth, that he might become equal in rank to my power. And I threw him out from the height with his angels, and he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless." (II En 29:2-4)

The above excerpt from II Enoch agrees with the below excerpts from Isaiah and Revelation.

"For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit." (Isa 14:13-15 NKJV)

"And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the Earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Re 12:7-9 NKJV)

II Enoch also contains several sayings of Christ's which proves that it was written after His time. The below excerpt from II Enoch would seem to indicate that the author had personally spoken with Christ about the creation of the material world.

"And the Lord summoned me, and said to me: Enoch, sit down on my left ... and the Lord spoke to me: Enoch, beloved, all that you see, all things that are standing finished I tell to you even before the very beginning, all that I created from non-being, and visible things from invisible. Hear, Enoch, and take in these my words ... before all things were visible, I alone used to go about in the invisible things ... and I conceived the thought of placing foundations, and of creating visible creation." (II En 24:1-5)

We have seen in the excerpts mentioned previously that the "foundations" appear to be a reference to the atoms which form all of the physical/visible creation. Also, the idea that the visible was created from the invisable is supported by the words of the apostle Paul in his book written to the Hebrews.

"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." (Heb 11:3 NKJV)

The idea that Christ may have actually revealed "things" of "heaven and Earth" to "babes" may be supported by His words as recorded by the apostle Luke.

"In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and Earth, that You have hidden these things from [the] wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight." (Lu 10:21 NKJV)

We are not told what the "things" that were revealed at that time where, but Christ goes on to say to His disciples who were apperently present:

"... I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen [it], and to hear what you hear, and have not heard [it]." (Lu 10:24 NKJV)

Not only is there an interesting correlation between this section of Luke's account and II Enoch in that both suggest that Christ revealed great things to young children, both also contain references to the fall of Satan. This section of Luke begins with a report that "the seventy" returned "joyfully" exclaiming, as though it were a new thing, that "even the demons are subject to us in Your name" to which Christ responded that He "saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven". It is also interesting that it was at this time that Christ gave them authority over "serpents and scorpions".

"Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Lu 10:17-19 NKJV)

We know that something very significate happened at that time because "in that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said '... All things have been delivered to Me by My Father'" (Lu 10:21-22 NKJV).

Though a strong connection between what happened and what Christ was rejoicing over is not made in Luke's account, we may be able to derive what happened by reason of the similar wording found in John's book of Revelation where it is recorded that the Kingdom was delivered to Christ as a direct consequence of Satan's defeat.

"Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." (Re 12:10 NKJV)

That Satan possessed some integral part of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's Kingdom prior to this time is supported by the account found in Luke 4.

"Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, 'All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for [this] has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" (Lu 4:5-8 NKJV)

Luke 16:16 suggests that people have been "pressing into the Kingdom of God" since "John the Baptist" (a type of Elijah, the last of the prophets).

"The law and the prophets [were] until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it." (Lu 16:16 NKJV)

The time of transition is stated as "now" in Matthew 11:11-13.

"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." (Mt 11:11-13 NKJV)

Just verses latter in Matthew's account is the parallel of Luke's account stating that great things were revealed to babes and that all things were delivered to Christ by His Father. After having the Kingdom delivered from Satan to Him by His Father, Jesus says "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" ("rest" is a metaphore for the Kingdom of God).

Those who draw near spiritually (in mentality and lifestyle) to Christ the King in a sense are "near" His Kingdom but the physical Kingdom does not come until His second comming.

The idea that Enoch was present as a "babe" at the event described in Luke 10:21 and Matthew 11:25 is pure speculation, but a small portion of II Enoch does agree with other biblical texts and with the modern understanding of the nature of the material world. Most of what is agreeable is found in chapters 24 through 33, though there is also a lot that is contrary to the biblical account in chapters 30 and 33. Much of what is contrary to other texts makes attempts to incorperate the "divine number" seven into things which it does not fit. For example, in chapter 30, man is described as a seven part being (flesh, blood, eyes, bones, intelligence, veins and hair, and soul/breath (ruach)) whereas the Genesis account and other references (e.g. Micah 6:7, Matthew 10:28, I Corinthians 6:20, II Corinthians 12:2, Ec 12:7, etc.) indicate that there were only two principle "ingredients" in the formation of man - an inanimate body from an inanimate Earth and a living "breath" from a living creator (the first and last items listed in II Enoch). It may be that several latter authors inserted their own ideas into the text of II Enoch as they speculated about the mysterious seven part entity (the atom) which Christ had described but which they could not comprehind. It wasn't until the early 1900's that Niels Bohr discovered that the atom (the basic building block of the material universe) was composed of seven electro-magnetic shells [reference] and Christ's discription of the creation of the Earth could finally be understood.

What is truely convicting is how accurate a describtion some of the phrases are of the subatomic structure of matter. It would have been impossible for mankind to have known such things by perception because they did not have the technological tools or to have guessed it correctly by chance do to the complexity of the notion (seven layers of light which form the foundation of all creation is just to bizarre of a notion to happen on to perchance - even in the most idle and wild fantasy).

The ancient text of II Enoch contains a few curious phrases in its creation account which record that Christ clarified that by "water" He meant "the bottomless". Below is a picture of Earth's Atlantic ocean taken from high above the Earth. In the below picture, one can clearly see the bottom of the Earth's ocean.

Below are the excerpts from II Enoch which make reference to "the bottomless".

"... then I made firm the waters, that is to say the bottomless, and I made foundation of light around the water, and created seven circles from inside, and imaged the water like crystal wet and dry, that is to say like glass ..." (II En 27:1)

"And then I made firm the heavenly circle, and made that the lower water which is under heaven collect itself together, into one whole, and that the chaos become dry, and it became so. Out of the waves I created rock hard and big, and from the rock I piled up the dry, and the dry I called Earth, and the midst of the Earth I called abyss, that is to say the bottomless, I collected the sea in one place and bound it together with a yoke. And I said to the sea: Behold I give you your eternal limits, and you shalt not break loose from your component parts. Thus I made fast the firmament. This day I called me the first-created." (II En 28:1-4)

While the Earth's oceans certainly are not "bottomless", deep space (particularly the third heaven from which our universe was sectioned off) may well be. Furthermore, modern physicists understand that hard matter is "made from" or "arises out of" a universal quantum field known as the ether. See [reference] for a low-level quantum description of light and the electron which shows how they are both manifistations of the same thing but in different forms (and by extension, all subatomic particles and the atom as a whole).

"One quantum forms a photon or an electron. An electron's quantum oscillates between subluminality and superluminality, while a photon's quantum is always superluminal." (Gauthier, Richard. FTL Quantum Models of the Photon and the Electron. 2007)

A "quantum" is an infinitesimal point of charge (electric or magnetic (one point can take on either orientation/value)). The "ether" is the collective or three-dimensional grid of all these infinitesimal points. The charge magnitude of 99.999% of these infinitesimal points in our universe is zero. An area of three-dimensional space in which all the quantum points of charge are zero is recognized as the vacuum of space - totally devoid of matter or energy. A quantum charge cascades through space from one point to the next in a way that is analogous to how a wave moves over the surface of water; none of the molecules which make up the body of water actually move across the surface of the water, yet the "energy" of the wave is conducted transversely across the surface of the water. Hence, space is made of the ether/"quantum field"/"zero-point feild" and the ether is like water (though the ether has no "surface" and the quantum charges can propagate in any of the three-dimensional directions). As quantum charges trace out different patterns in the quantum field, they manifest/draw the different subatomic elements that exist in our universe (e.g. one pattern of motion forms the photon and another forms the electron as discussed in the aforementioned article by Dr. Gauthier). One has to understand space at the quantum level (a level which is difficult for man to percieve but at which a true creator of our universe must of necessity not only be able to see but to manipulate with ease) in order to understand why מַיִםmayim/water is actually the ideal ancient Hebrew word to use to describe what existed before the material universe and from what the material universe was made.

There are several other interesting phrases found in the creation account of II Enoch. The excerpt is reiterated below with the modern equivelent of the wording placed in curly braces.

"And then I made firm the heavenly circle {Earth}, ~~and made~~ {by making} that the lower water {region of space} which is ~~under~~ {within} heaven {the universe} collect itself together into one whole {one body} and that the ~~chaos~~ {tohu=empty space} become dry {structured/solid in form (the atoms of the Earth were formed "dry and hard" from the fluidic ether; and from the atoms, the Earth was formed)}, and it became so. Out of the waves {fluidic ether/space} I created rock {atoms} hard and big {size is a relitive notion - compared to the photons created before, atoms are very big and their shells are very big compared to the subatomic particles at their core}, and from the rock {atoms} I piled up the dry {dry land/yabashah}, and the dry I called Earth, and the midst of the ~~Earth~~ {atoms} I called abyss {the bottomless/the ether/empty space}, that is to say the bottomless {empty space}, I collected {condensed/conformed} the ~~sea~~ {waters/ether/space} in {into} one place and bound it together with a yoke {gluon - quantum physics, a particle which binds the other subatomic particles of the atom's nucleus together (and they, in turn, hold the outer electrons by electro-static attraction) [reference]}. And I said to the ~~sea~~ {ether/space which was formed into the atom}: Behold I give you your eternal limits, and you shalt not break loose from your component parts {electrons, nutrons, protons, gluons, etc.}. Thus I made fast {firm/hard/solid} the firmament {space/ether}. This day I called me the first-created {This day was the first that material things (things made of atoms) came into existance}." (II En 28:1-4)

There is a cross reference embedded in the wording of the last part of the previous excerpt. It is Proverbs 8:29.

"When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the Earth," (Pr 8:29 NKJV)

It is very interesting that Proverbs 8:29 also makes mention of the establishing of the foundations of the Earth. Below is the scripture in context.

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an Earth. When [there were] no depths I was brought forth, When [there were] no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth; While as yet He had not made the Earth or the fields, Or the primeval dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I [was] there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the Earth, Then I was beside Him [as] a master craftsman; And I was daily [His] delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, ..." (Pr 8:22-31 NKJV)

The second half of Proverbs 8:31 is ellipsised because it begins/transitions into a separate context addressing the "sons of men" - saying that they should seek, listen to, and obey wisdom. Also, the Hebrew word which the NKJV translators here translate as "inhabited" (strongs 08398) is only translated so in this one passage. The other 35 occurrences of this word are simply translated as "world". This word clearly is not ment to encompass the inhabitants of the world because it is frequently necessary to specify the inhabitants in addition to strongs 08398 (e.g. Ps 24:1, Ps 98:7, Na 1:5, etc.). Furthermore, this word is not even being consistently translated within this small excerpt. The phrase "the primeval dust of the world" in the excerpt contains one of the other 35 occurrences of strongs 08398 which are simply translated as "world", not "inhabited".

From "The LORD possessed me ..." to "... the primeval dust of the world", the above excerpt establishes a temporal setting prior to the existance of the Earth. This introduction is then followed by six phrases (an allusion to the creation account) which each begin with "When He" (be- prefix in Hebrew (again, an allusion to be-rashyt)). The last of the six phrases, which all appear to be in the context of the established setting, is "When He marked out the foundations of the Earth". This excerpt (Pr 8:22-31 NKJV) clearly indicates that the Earth was was created, from the "foundations" up, during the creation week.

While the last of the "When He"'s of Proverbs 8:22-31 is clearly within the established context of "before there was ever an Earth" because it speeks of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's creation of the foundations of the Earth, others, like "When He assigned to the sea its limit", would seem to have occured after the creation of the Earth. It is unlikely, however, that someone as intellectual as King Solomon evidently was would write something with such clever structure and yet, out of temporal order. II Enoch 28:3 suggests a solution to the conundrum - that the referenced "sea" is not a physical body of water which rests on the surface of the Earth, but rather, it is the ether (or at least a small portion of it) which was bound/limited/confined to the shape of an atom. Such an interpretation of "sea" also makes better sense in a few other Biblical passages such as Psalms 24:1-2.

"A Psalm of David. The Earth [is] the LORD'S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters." (Ps 24:1-2 NKJV)

As can be clearly seen in the picture of the Earth's atlantic ocean above, the Earth is not "founded" upon its seas. When the seas/waters are understood to be a reference to the ether, however, Psalms 24:1-2 makes sense because the Earth does litterally rest upon its atoms which are formed from the ether.

Another passage with similar wording is Psalms 136:5-9.

"To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy [endures] forever; To Him who laid out the Earth above the waters, For His mercy [endures] forever; To Him who made great lights, For His mercy [endures] forever–– The sun to rule by day, For His mercy [endures] forever; The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy [endures] forever." (Ps 136:5-9 NKJV)

Another passage which, interestingly, associates/parallels yam (sea) with sha'mayim (heaven) is Job 9:8.

"He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea;" (Job 9:8 NKJV)

The word which is translated "waves" in Job 9:8 as referenced above is strongs 1116. Of 102 occurances, only this one is translated as "waves". 100 of the other occurances are translated "high place" and 1 is translated "heights". It is not the "waves" of the sea that the LORD treads upon, but the heights of heaven "... The clouds are the dust of [the LORD's] feet" (Nahum 1:3). In Job 9:8, even yam (sea) appears to be an acronym or shorthand for mayim (water) which has been shown to, at times, be a reference to the ether (remember that the difference in spelling in Hebrew between mayim and yam is only one initial letter).

If yam can also be a reference to the ether, as appears to be the case, there may be an interpretation that can be applied to some other scriptures like Revelation 14:7 and 21:1 which has not before been considered.

"saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.'" (Re 14:7 NKJV)

"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea." (Re 21:1 NKJV)

John's statement in the latter part of Revelation 21:1, "Also there was no more sea", is usually taken to mean that the new earth did not have seas of water, but that is not really the way the statement is worded. The statement is worded as though the "sea" were a third thing that was present in the vision all along and which "passed away" along with heaven and earth. The sea which "was no more" may be the "sea of glass" that set before the throne of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god as introduced in Revelation 4:6 (see discussion Day 2.F1 for a theoretical explination of the meaning of the "sea of glass").

"Before the throne [there was] a sea of glass, like crystal ..." (Re 4:6 NKJV)

Two "problems" are solved if the "sea of glass" before אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's throne and the "sea" which is so often listed along with heaven and earth are references to the ether. The first problem/issue being that the "sea" is often listed as though its existance were a credit to the glory of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god. The oceans of the earth, however, are little more than a puddle in comparision to the great creations of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god and they are a reminder of the closest thing to a failure that He has ever had in that they were created out of necessity due to the corrupt nature of mankind. The oceans are a blemish on the earth, not a credit to אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god's glory. The second issue with the "sea" referenced in passages such as Revelation 14:7 is that there really aren't any "springs/fountains of water" in the oceans or seas of the earth; there certainly isn't anything that deserves to be associated with the great creative power of אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god. If, however, the "sea" referenced in said passages were a reference to the ether, then the "springs/fountains" could be sources of ether or perhaps field energies closely related to the ether like light and gravitation. Such sources/springs/fountains could be references to the stars of heaven from which flow light (the root of the Hebrew word for "fountain" is the word "eye" by the way) and which are indeed magnificent in their size. Another possibly might be that the "fountains" are a reference to the subatomic electrons from which flow electric fields and which are great in their number. The fountains may even be something as yet unknown to mankind. Such an alternative explenation could also solve the issue of "the fountains of the deep" as mentioned in Proverbs 8:22-31 being listed in a context that is temporally prior to the existance of the earth and, hence, prior to the existance of its seas of water.

The account of the passing away of Heaven and Earth is also mentioned in Revelation 6:13-14, Isaiah 34:4, and II Peter 3:10.

"And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place." (Re 6:13-14 NKJV)

"All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as [fruit] falling from a fig tree." (Isa 34:4 NKJV)

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." (2Pe 3:10 NKJV)

The mentions of the fig tree are reminiscent of Christ's words in Luke 21:29-33.

"Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. "When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. "So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." (Lu 21:29-33 NKJV)

It appears that heaven and earth will pass away after only 6000 years of existance.

Another interesting phrase that occurs in II Enoch is "and imaged {formed} the water like crystal wet and dry". This phrase occurs in a context that appears to be describing the atom that was formed from "the waters". The atom is better described as "dry" than wet because it is very rigid and does not come appart very easily. What is made from the atoms/dry, however, is both wet and dry (e.g. both water and rock are made from "dry" atoms (as is the air that is the Earth's atmosphere)). A good English Bible translation will have the word "land" in Genesis 1:9 italicized or otherwise highlighted to indicate that it has been added and is not part of the original Hebrew text. The Hebrew root "בשbash/dry" simply means dry and with the yud prefix it means from-dry or, taking II Enoch into account, from-atoms (i.e. matter - both wet and dry). In the above translation of the third day of the creation account, "dry land" has been replaced with "matter" which is a more accurate modern equivelent of the ancient Hebrew "yabashah".
Contradictory (very likely non-original) text "and the gathering of Space called He seas" omitted.
An odd twist occurs here. We would expect אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god to "see" what He had made and THEN "name" it as was the case with our template day - day one. The actions are inverted, however, on this day of creation.
Interestingly, אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god stops nameing the things that He creates from Day 3B onward. The things that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god did name were the pre-existant darkness (לָיְלָהlilah/to-from-to-breath), the light (יוֹמָםyo'mam/from-water), Heavean (שָּׁמַיִםsha'mayim/heaven), and Earth (אָרֶץerets/Earth).

Day 4:

And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god said, "LIGHTS EXIST"
"in the expanse of Space-2"
"To [provide] the distinction between the day and the night"
"And they shall serve as signs for the set times (the days and the years)"
"And they shall serve as lights in the expanse of Space-2 to shine upon the Earth"
And [then] they existed
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god made the two great lights
The greater light to dominate the day
And the lesser light to dominate the night [???] 1
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god set 2 them in the expanse of Space-2
To shine upon the Earth
And to dominate the day and the night
And to [provide] the distinction between the light and the darkness
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god saw that [it was] good

And evening existed
And morning existed
(יוֹם רְבִיעִיyom revieie/from-water fourth)

Non-original text "and the stars" omitted in accordance with the DSS (see [Footnote 6] for more comments about the stars of Heaven).

The wording here is interesting. It suggests that the Sun was created outside of the realm of our universe (Space-2) and dropped/set into place. It would not be supprising if the creation of the massive Sun were too violent of an event to do in proximity to the Earth. Astrophysisits hypothesise that stars form in the midst of dense clouds in space, but such an event has never been witnessed. There is another passage which, indirectly, suggests that heavenly bodies can be moved between spacial realms. It is Matthew 24:29.

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Mt 24:29 NKJV)

From the standpoint of Physics, it is not possible that the stars could fall from heaven to Earth because they are too large and too distant. The passage does appear to be referring to the literal stars and not symbolically to the angels because a different word is used in reference to the angels in the same context (verse 31). It may be possible that אֱלֹהִים could shrink the stars to a size which could fall to the surface of the Earth and that He could somehow move the stars at such great speed without destroying them, but there is a simpler explanation. He may simply be describing how things will appear from the perspective of Earth-bound men at the end time. The description may be of the stars appearing to fall to the Earth from the perspective of someone standing in its northern hemisphere as the stars recede over the the Earth's horizon. There is still a problem, however, in that even the light from the distant stars takes a great deal of time to reach Earth. If אֱלֹהִים were to move the nearest star, it would be 100 years before its motion could be seen from Earth. Consequently, the only way to make the stars appear to move is to move the Earth. To make it appear as though all the stars of heaven had flead away, the Earth would have to be plucked from the second heaven (Space-2) and moved to the thrid heaven. Such an act would require the folding of space in a way that physicists can only theorize.

Day 5:

And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god said, "SPACE YIELD {from-second-fragments} 1"
"living creatures"
"And birds that fly over the Earth,"
"Over the face of the expanse of Space-2"
And [then] they existed 2
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god filled the great reptiles 3
And all the living creatures that creep
Which Space yielded according to their kind
And all the winged birds according to their kind
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god saw that [it was] good
And אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god blessed them saying,
"Be fertile and increase"
"And fill the Space [of Space-2] 4"
"And the birds increase in Earth"

And evening existed
And morning existed
(יוֹם חְמִישִׁיyom hhemieshe/from-water fifth)

The Hebrew word which is here translated as "YIELD" is יִשְׁרְצוּyeshretsu/from-second-fragments. The litteral breakdown of this word is yud(from)-shin(second)-rats(fragments)-shuruq(they). The מַיִםmayim/water/space from which the birds, giant reptiles, and other creeping things were brought forth on the fifth day of creation is the same mayim (ether/space) from which the Earth was formed on the third day of creation. The living creatures which were created on the fifth day of creation, unlike those created on the sixth, were formed directly from the mayim. The creatures formed on the sixth day, including man, were formed from the fragments/atoms of the Earth. One odd thing about the third-day Earth being made from the first batch of fragments/atoms created and the creatures of the fifth day of creation being referred to as having been made from a second batch of fragments/atoms is that the Sun and Moon are said to have been made on the fourth day and they are obviously composed of atoms created separately from those of the Earth. How, then, can the atoms of the fifth day's creation be called the second batch? The answer would appear to be that the atoms of the fifth day creation were the second batch created from the mayim of the sha'mayim (second heaven/our universe). The Sun and Moon are described as having been made and "set" into the expanse of our universe. There is an interesting parallel drawn between the fourth day of creation and the first in that both are describing light/lights as being created/coming from the third heaven.
Seeing that most birds and reptiles are oviparous (egg-laying), and that most mammals are viviparous, it appears that אֱלֹהִיםelohiym/god designed the creatures of the fifth and sixth day creation to reproduce in a manner that is indicative of what day their type/kind was first created on. Oviparous creatures (most birds and reptiles) appear to be formed in a way that is similar to how their first parents came into existance. Their bodies congeal from a liquid, just as their first parents were formed from the liquid ether on the fifth day. Viviparous creatures, likewise, are born/formed directly from the body of their parent, just as their first parents were born (physically) directly from the body/mass of the Earth. There are very clear cut symbolic parallels drawn between the latter three days of creation and the first three days of creation.
1. The fourth-day Sun and Moon parallel the first-day light (em-radiation); both were created in the third heaven.
2. The fifth-day egg parallels the second-day universe; both are a segmented off volume of liquid from which material beings are subsequently formed (though the "chicken" was created before the egg, the oviparous method of reproduction was obviously built into the design of the chicken).
3. The sixth-day mammalian mother parallels the third-day Earth; both are the physical body f