Should Genesis 1:2 be translated "And the earth became without form..."?

Question

The Gap theory seems to be based largely on translating Genesis 1:2 differently from the usual translations, eg. KJV:

1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

1:2 And the earth ~~was~~ became without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Is this a sound translation? Why is was the more usual one?

score 12 · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-24T18:43:47.177

12

The Hebrew verb "was" is in the Qal (indicative) perfect tense. "Became" is a fanciful translation. There's nothing wrong with fanciful translations and midrasch. But it's probably best to avoid basing tonnage of doctrine on midrasch or fancy.

There is an ambiguity in Hebrew about past or future actions, but that crops up when the IMperfect tense is used, not the perfect.

edited Aug 24 '11 at 18:43

answered Aug 24 '11 at 02:12

The verb in question, like so many other Hebrew words can be translated in a multitude of ways. The tense is only one indication of how to translate. There exists no 1:1 mapping between words in modern languages an biblical Hebrew. That being said. Any theory based upon so little evidence as a common, non-technical, word like "was" or "became" is unsubstantiated. It would be even if the precise translation was available. – itpastorn Mar 11 '12 at 13:44

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 15 '13 at 17:52

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The Father is not Elohim, Elohim stands for god's, holy children. The son of men is not God. Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? There is only one spirit and this is God. How many holy spirits see you.Eph 4:4. There is one Spirit,..... not Elohim but Eloah what stands for one holy spirit.

answered Dec 15 '13 at 17:52

Gerhard

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This answer would be better if you could add references showing that this is a common understanding, and who teaches/believes it. On this site, we're not looking for personal interpretation, but rather focusing on what various Christian groups teach. See How we are different than other sites? and What makes a good supported answer? You may be right, and if so it should be easy to find references. – David Stratton Dec 15 '13 at 19:15

score -3 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 23 '11 at 21:00

-3

Because the earth is no longer without form. When this was written, the earth was no longer without form.

The earth has form, as a testimony and to the Glory of God.

answered Aug 23 '11 at 21:00

capitalaudience.com

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Jonathon whatever you are trying to say here seems to be getting lost on your audience. Perhaps you could give another stab at this? – Caleb Sep 17 '11 at 20:09
Sorry, it's hard to participate on my android :) took me forever to type my answer lol I will attempt again when I get the chance. – capitalaudience.com Sep 17 '11 at 21:35

Should Genesis 1:2 be translated "And the earth became without form..."?

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