Genesis Chapter One Read in Hebrew

No apologies needed. Do you have a reference for John Walton's views? The Tehom/Tiamat equivalence was proposed by Alexander Heidel in his "The Babylonian Genesis". It is dated and likely not as rigorous as moden scholarship, but I appreciate how they took a position what the limited knowledge they had.

Hey Jeff! (Josh here). Sorry; I have a bit of a time navigating these sites. I saw your comment earlier, but I've been a bit swamped with Megan away and still trying to keep things going. Okay, complicated questions, but I'll give it a shot :-) So, I would say that Genesis one is likely a polemic against Babylonian mythology, and there appear to be several things in Genesis that set Yahweh apart from the other Mesopotamian deities (the flood account, for example). Bara can definitely have nuanced meaning, but I wouldn't go as far as someone like John Walton who wants it to be "organization" all the time; it can mean to create something. I haven't done a great deal of research on Tehom, particularly with its connection to Tiamat... I'll have to get back to you on that. I think you are on the right track :-) Hope that helps. J

Digital Hammurabi

I would like your more expert opinion. I already posted much of this content in the comments of your Youtube vid. I see the Genesis 1 account as a significant upgrade over the prevailing Mesopotamian view: 1. its thorough-going transcendence of the Divine as a concept different from anthropomorphic beings that are frail like men, only carrying thunderbolts and such. 2. "bara" is full of possible understandings from an outright "ex nihilo" creation to a lower-tech ordering of chaos... (is that spectrum baked in from future readings, or has it always been ambiguous?) 3. Tehom--equally full of possible meanings (was it straight-up thought of as Tiamat?). So... in my imprecise and possibly uninformed opinion, Enuma Elish and Genesis share a LOT of the same chromosomes, but the difference is between a higher primate and a reptile. I get the sense you don't agree with this position... please correct my biases if you can.