TonyN said:
Sorry njc but God did not create the earth a chaos Isaiah 45:18 it became that way Gen.1:2.
I accept your apology.
But until now, I haven't been a participant in this thread, so why you buried your apology here rather than where it was requested is unclear to me.
Rashi on the issue: [http://www.tachash.org/metsudah/b01r.html] The numbers are not verse designators, but rather are references to the footnotes.
[9] But if you insist on the simple interpretation, interpret it thus. At the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth, when the world was unformed and desolate, G-d said, "Let there be light." This verse does not intend to teach the sequence of creation -- that these were [created] first. For if that was the intention, it should have written, "At first G-d created the heavens," etc. For the word {Hebrew Ref} never appears in Scripture except when it is annexed to the following word. For example, "At the beginning of Yehoyakim's reign,"10 [or] "The beginning of his reign,"11 [or] "The first of your corn crop."12 Here, too, you must interpret "In the beginning El-him created" as if [it were written] "At the beginning of the creating." [We find] similarly, " {Hebrew Ref} ," as if to say, "At the beginning of G-d's speaking to Hoshea, G-d said to Hoshea," etc.13 If you would claim that [the verse] intends to convey that these [i.e., heaven and earth] were created first, and its interpretation is that at the beginning of everything He created these; and that there are [other] such verses that are shortened omitting a word, such as, "For [it] did not shut the doors of my womb,"14 omitting who it is that closes [the womb]; and "[It] will remove the army of Damascus,"15 omitting who it is that takes it away; and, "Does [it] plow with oxen?"16 without explicitly stating, "Does man plow with oxen?" and, "He relates the end from the beginning,"17 without stating explicitly, "He relates from the beginning of something, the end of something." If this is so, you must question yourself.18 Because [as it happens] water preceded [the heavens and the earth,] for it is written, "The breath of El-him hovered above the surface of the water," Scripture not yet having revealed when the creation of the water took place,19 thus teaching that the waters preceded the earth. And further [proof of the above is that] since the heavens were created from fire and water,20 you are therefore forced [to admit] that Scripture did not [intend to] teach anything of the earlier or later sequence [of creation].
El-him created.21
It is not written "Ad-noy created!"22 [This is] because at first He intended to create it with the attribute of justice, but then saw that the world cannot exist and gave priority to the attribute of mercy and joined it with the attribute of justice. This [thought] is conveyed in the verse, "On the day when Ad-noy El-him made earth and heaven."23
Verse 2: Unformed and desolate.
{Hebrew Ref} signifies wonder and astonishment. I.e., a person would be awed and astonished by its emptiness. {Hebrew Ref} in Old French is estordison.
Desolate.
{Hebrew Ref} means desolation and empty space.
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9 {Hebrew Ref} is thus interpreted as {Hebrew Ref} , i.e., for the sake of those that are called {Hebrew Ref} ---the Torah and Israel.
10 Ibid. 26, 1.
11 Bereishis 10, 10.
12 Devarim 18, 4.
13 Hoshea 1, 2.
14 Iyov 3, 1.
15 Yeshayahu 8, 4.
16 Amos 6, 12.
17 Yeshayahu 46, 10.
18 If you insist on the interpretation that the verse is conveying the order of creation.
19 I.e., if Scripture intended to convey the order of creation, then before mentioning the waters, it should have related that water was created. (S.C.)
20 Chagigah 12a.
21 The Name of G-d as Judge of the Universe.
22 The Name of G-d in His merciful role.
23 Bereishis 2, 4.
