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Abstract

Table of Contents

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


WITHOUT FORM AND VOID


Arthur C. Custance

 

 Abstract

    In any understanding of God's revelation, we are dependent upon words,
upon the words in the original language -- and in their most literal sense.
This is particularly true of any account of Creation.
    Should Genesis 1:2 be rendered (as in the King James Version) "And the
earth was without form and void" OR "But the earth had become without
form and void"? The question is whether to translate the Hebrew
conjunction waw as 'and' or 'but' and whether to translate the verb hayah
simply as 'was' or by the pluperfect 'had become'.
    If the translation of 'and' and 'was' is correct, then verse 2 appears
to be merely a continuation of verse 1, signifying that its formless
condition was proper to the initial stages of God's creative activity. In
this translation we must either take 'days' to mean not literal days but
geological ages, or treat the whole chapter as poetry or allegory. These
'solutions' are not supported by the rules of linguistics.
    If the translation of 'but' and 'had become' is correct, the implication
is far different. For then verse 2 is a picture of the earth, not as it came
from the hand of God in creation, but after some intervening event had
reduced it to a state of ruin. This alternative translation allows between
verse 1 and 2 a hiatus of unknown duration (a view held in earliest times)
which can accommodate geological ages. Opponents object to this 'Gap
Theory' as simply an attempt to 'rescue' modern Geology.
    So what does the original Hebrew really say? This book is an
examination of the Hebrew words in this second verse of Genesis,
observing the rules of linguistics, of grammar and syntax, and the context
in an attempt to establish the meaning of the words as found here.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Preface

Introduction

 Chap. 1

A Long-held View

2

The Linguistic Evidence

3

The Pluperfect in Hebrew

4

The Witness of Other Versions

5

Modern Objections

6

The Rule Applied with Illustrations

 

 

Appendices

I

Excerpts from Some Supporting Authors

II

The Classical Concept of Chaos

III

Gen.1.2 According to Various Versions

IV

The Use of Hayah in Genesis,

Joshua, Job, two Psalms, and Zechariah

V

Some Occurrences of the Use of Hayah in the Future Tense

VI

The Idea of “Coming” in the Verb Hayah

VII

The Use of Hayah in the Passive Voice

VIII

The Expression of “Continuation” of State or Action

by a Compounded Use of Hayah

IX

The Existential Sense of the Verb Hayah

X

The Meaning of Hayah with Various Particles Following

XI

The Meanings of Hayah

according to Various Lexicographers

XII

Meanings of Hayah Followed by Lamedh

XIII

The Use of Hayah without the Lamedh Following

XIV

Various Renderings of waw, other than and or but

XV

Illustrations of Inverted Word Order to Signify a Pluperfect

XVI

Meaning of Descriptive Terms Found in Genesis 1.2

XVII

Use of Hayah in a Hebrew Version of the New Testament

XVIII

Some Instances where Hayah is Translated "became"

 in spite of the Absence of Lamedh Following

XIX

Meaning of     in the New Testament

XX

The Meaning of Exodus 20.11

XXI

Some Pagan Traditions of a Like Catastrophe

 

 

Indexes

Index of References

Index of Names

Index of Biblical References

 

 

General Bibliography

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