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this divine epithet. Deut. 32:6 makes this meaning certain in that
%
is parallel to
, “to make”: “Is he not your father, who created (
%
) you, who made (
)
you and established (
$
) you?” (
RSV
). Ps. 78:54; 139:13; and Prov. 8:22-23 also suggest
the idea of creation.
The cognate languages usually follow the Hebrew in the basic meaning of “to get,
acquire.” Ugaritic, however, attests the meaning “create.” In fact,
%
is the primary
Ugaritic term to express creation. The close relationship of Hebrew and Ugaritic and the
contextual meaning of
%
as “create” in the Old Testament passages cited above
argue for the use of
%
as a synonym for “create” along with
,
, and
.
(
*
, 6213), “to create, do, make.” This verb, which occurs over 2600 times
in the Old Testament, is used as a synonym for “create” only about 60 times. There is
nothing inherent in the word to indicate the nature of the creation involved; it is only
when
is parallel to
that we can be sure that it implies creation.
Unfortunately, the word is not attested in cognate languages contemporary with the
Old Testament, and its etymology is unclear. Because
describes the most common
of human (and divine) activities, it is ill-suited to communicate theological meaning—
except where it is used with
or other terms whose technical meanings are clearly
established.
The most instructive occurrences of
are in the early chapters of Genesis. Gen.
1:1 uses the verb
to introduce the Creation account, and Gen. 1:7 speaks of its
detailed execution: “And God made [
] the firmament.…” Whether or not the
firmament was made of existing material cannot be determined, since the passage uses
only
. But it is clear that the verb expresses creation, since it is used in that context
and follows the technical word
. The same can be said of other verses in Genesis:
1:16 (the lights of heaven); 1:25, 3:1 (the animals); 1:31; 2:2 (all his work); and 6:6
(man). In Gen. 1:26-27, however,
must mean creation from nothing, since it is used
as a synonym for
. The text reads, “Let us make [
] man in our image, after our
likeness.… So God created [
] man in his own image.…” Similarly, Gen. 2:4 states:
“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created
[
], in the day that the Lord God made [
] the earth and the heavens.” Finally,
Gen. 5:1 equates the two as follows: “In the day that God created [
] man, in the
likeness of God made [
] he him.” The unusual juxtaposition of
and
in
Gen. 2:3 refers to the totality of creation, which God had “created” by “making.”
It is unwarranted to overly refine the meaning of
to suggest that it means
creation from something, as opposed to creation from nothing. Only context can
determine its special nuance. It can mean either, depending upon the situation.
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