by A Paduan 12 Replies latest watchtower bible
- notable point about the darkness
He saw the light was good, but the light and dark are not mentioned collectively as being seen as good, whereas the dry land and gathered Seas were seen as a good thing. It could be said that the deep was made with the earth - would you think that the "water under the heavens" came from man ?, as opposed to the water above the heavens ("whosoever drinks the water which I give") - it seems unlikely - but perhaps this is water altered by man - salted water.
In Genesis 1 man seems to be out of the process.
In the earlier Mesopotamian Enuma Elish there are two primitive oceans mixed before creation proper starts -- one of fresh water, one of salted water apparently.
The tehom ("deep") of Genesis is of fresh water, as it is considered as the source of the sources and fountains (7:11; 8:2; 49:25; Deuteronomy 8:7; 33:13 etc.); but elsewhere it is also used in parallel to yam, the (salty) sea; inasmuch as the waters above are connected with rain they are fresh, too.
In the "new heaven and new earth" of Revelation 21 there is neither sea (v. 1) nor night (v. 25).
Fwiw.
Man seems to be out of the process - but there is ground and seed; and trees that bear fruit according to their kind; heavenly illumination for signs; and various beasts ("go tell that fox")
Man is later created as an image of God. "...if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation..."
