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Amennnnnnnn

How do we know the early Abrahamics, knowing barely a thing about science didn't just look around and say
down=hell,
here=earth
up=heaven
?

I mean it's interesting, but how can we assume they took that train of thought?

Okay in hebrew the word to translate to English mean so much different, as I said. I only know the basic fact but I will look depth

Richard W Thomas

I have a RL Doctorate degree in the Hebrew language of the OT.

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃

That's what you are dealing with in Genesis 1:1.

The three words you are querying are as follows:
בְּרֵאשִׁית - This is where you get the "In the Beginning" from. In the Hebrew idiom, it has more to do with the beginning of reality than merely the beginning of time.

The best way to understand בְּרֵאשִׁית is probably just with the word "Genesis". We get that word from the Septuagint's choice for translating it and it is closer in meaning, in my mind, than "beginning" which, as you pointed out above, denotes more of a time reference. The concept of time is definitely within the semantic field of בְּרֵאשִׁית but so is everything else (except, obviously, the creator who clearly preceeds the בְּרֵאשִׁית)

Thx Gnilraps

The second word in question is הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם which gets translated "heavens". It is a slightly odd word in that it is plural (note the יִם ending). I'd like to do a bit more digging about before I comment too much on this word, I'd like to see it in other Biblical contexts, but at least I can say this, it would have included at least what you refer to above as "space". My guess is that there will be more to it than just that though... I'll get back to you on it.

הָאָרֶץ is probably the most benign of the words here, as it always and ever just means the ground, the dirt, the land, the world you walk on. So saying "mass" is sort of accurate. Best to understand it in the Hebrew idiom as rocks,trees,bushes,lakes,sand,etc... I am not sure what all you mean by "mass" but I'm guessing you are sort of talking about basically the same thing. The reason I hesitate to agree entirely is because humans are "mass" too, and there is a unique account for their genesis.

and actually I pasted slightly wrongly above, the word for "earth" doesn't include that first character. That's just an article. So the word in question is actually אָֽרֶץ and not הָאָֽרֶץ but who really cares...

I kinda care Gnilraps. Interesting stuff.

It's turtles all the way down.

kudos for your Doctorate, could not have been easy, as you point out it's up to interpretation, any bible thumping idiot can misinterpret just as readily as anyone else.

A little science takes man away from god; alot of science brings him back.---enstien.

Very Interesting Gnilraps.
Voted!

The bible also claimed that bats were birds and the universe is 6000 years old.

Call time! God control time! Kaaron Vaine

no, the bible never says the earth is 6000 years old, that is just some stuff twisted around.

I agree with Jett Cyber

God creates light before he creates anything capable of emitting light. God created plants before creating a sun to drive their photosynthetic processes.

Faith has no place in science.

God creat light to give us stars that is the sun...
The bible is write in hebrew okay... and english people is so lazy to give more depth.

I can tell you're a master of English as well.