As long ago as the eleventh century CE, the influential Jewish scholar, Rashi, said that Genesis 1:1 should be read, "
When God began to create" or "
In the beginning of God's creation ". This is not the usual translation in most English-language Bibles in use today, but a more literal translation sometimes used (for example
New American Bible): "In
the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters." The basics were already there - the waters, the dry land, the wind and therefore the air. The ocean was already present and a wind moved across the surface. The seas rested on the dry land, which appeared on day 3 when God gathered the waters together. Genesis 1:3-5 clearly states that when God created the light of day, this was the first day.
Many experts in Hebrew have carefully examined the texts and confirm that this is what they say. The biblical creations were not
ex nihilo and therefore God did not create the earth according to the Bible.
Detailed explanations of the biblical creation stories can be found in
Genesis (Anchor Bible Series
) by Speiser and
Middle Eastern Mythology by Hooke.