5E The Gathering of the Waters (optional excursus)

An excursus is similar to an appendix and provides a digression from the main text. The excursuses are completely optional and are not part of the course. The excursuses in first 12 chapters are my updates to a popular interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis in the 19th century: the day-age interpretation of Arnold Guyot. 

In v. 9, two niphal imperatives are used as jussive verbs (let the waters be gathered, let the dry land appear). Theologians are not certain whether these processes were sequential or took place at the same time. In the Lichtenberg sequence, the inner terrestrial planetesimals were initially wet, probably half water, and then they dried out by energy release of radioactive aluminum 26. If this was the sequence of formation and drying, then they might be viewed as sequential events. 

The word translated as "be gathered together" is yiqqawû (root qavah), which is not used anywhere else in the Bible. In this case, it means to collect or bind together. Bind together implies that a solid is formed. The word originated from processes such as binding sheaves of wheat together or binding a rope. This type gathering is a good match for the formation of a planet. Most interpreters envision gathering of waters forming a body of water, but what could farther from binding together than liquid water?

The waters were to be gathered to one place. The phrase translated as “one place” is ʾel-maqôm ʾehad. The word ʾehad means “one,” and the word māqôm can mean a central place, region, or country. The waters gathered to “one place.” As with qavah, continental uplift and resultant formation of seas is not a good fit with "one place." The meaning of “one place” is a central location or single region. A planet or planetesimal is a single location. The Septuagint translators translated “one place” (ʾel-maqôm ʾehad) as “gathering” (synagogue).  

Verse 9 describes the appearance of dry land. The word translated as “the dry land” is hayyabbasâ, which literally means “the dry.” Hayyabbasâ is a suitable description of the dry Earth and other terrestrial planets in the inner solar system. 

In contrast to the gathering of waters into one solid place in the form of a planet, the distribution of waters into liquid oceans spread around the world is almost the opposite of the meaning of yiqqawû ʾel-maqôm ʾehad. The oceans are about as far from a gathered solid in one place as one can imagine. 

The waters and minerals that gathered to form the planetesimals and planet earth eventually become the land and seas on Earth. In v. 10, God named the Earth and seas. The word translated as seas is “yam,” which refers to oceans, lakes, and rivers. While one might consider that the oceans are at the gravitational low point, this is not true of rivers and lakes, a common meaning of yam; however, if the planet is the one place, then this would be the location of all rivers, lakes, and seas.

Day three does not end with Earth but continues with the formation of plant life. The fact that Moses combined the formation of earth and seas with the origin of plant life on the third day is justified by the fact that period of asteroid bombardment was directly connected to the origin of life. The Late Heavy Bombardment was the last phase in planet formation and ended 3.85 Ga. The first probable evidence of photosynthetic life is 3.83 Ga. The Late Heavy Bombardment might have led to the origin of life since it created a methane atmosphere for approximately 1 million years, which was necessary for the stability of early molecules of life. 

Moses' first 2.5 days. 

During the third day, Moses shifts from astronomical topics and focuses on Earth and life; thus, this is an appropriate point in the days of Moses to compare the natural history of the solar system to Moses' account.

First day

1. A cloud existed with the following characteristics.    

   1. Earth

   2. Void 

   3. Formless 

   4. Dark

   5. Vast 

   6. Waters

2. Light formed in the darkness 

3. God physically separated the light from the darkness

Second day

4.  A flat disk formed,

5.  The flat disk equally split the waters,

6.  The flat disk naturally separated (a process of separation) useful material from nonuseful material,

7.  God physically separated the outer part of the waters (cloud/expanse) from the lower part of the waters (cloud/expanse), with below or lower referring to a location closer to the sun.

Third day a

8.   Waters closest to the sun (lower part or below the heavens) gathered to one place,

9.   Dry land appeared,

10.  The waters and dry land became earth and seas. 

The following list combines Moses’ first 2.5 days with natural history.  

1. A formless and void earth and waters in a vast dark cloud.

   • A dark molecular cloud with earth and waters as the primary solids.    

2. Light, which was the sun, formed in the darkness (Day 1a)

   • The sun formed in a dark molecular cloud

3. God physically separated the light from the darkness (Day 1b)

   • No explanation for separation of sun from birth environment

4. A flat disk formed (Day 2a)

   • The midplane dust layer formed 

5. The flat disk bisected the waters (Day 2b)

   • Midplane dust layer equally divided waters in the disk above and below

6. The flat disk naturally separated (a process of separation) useful material from nonuseful material (Day 2c)

   • Gravitational force at midplane dust layer separated solid water and dust from gases.

7. God physically separated the outer part of the disk from the lower part of the disk  (Day 2d)

   • An unexplained gap in the circumsolar disk caused formation of inner solar system.

8. Waters closest to the sun (lower part of expanse) gathered together (Day 3a)

   • Terrestrial planets formed wet in inner solar system.

9. Dry land appeared (Day 3b) 

   • Planetesimals dried out due to radioactive aluminum 26, which formed dry inner planets.

10. The waters and dry land named earth and seas. (Day 3c) 

    • Earth and seas formed from materials in inner solar system

Figure 5E-2 shows Moses’ sequence of the first three days in the context of natural history and also includes days 4 and 5, which are explained in subsequent chapters. There is a logarithmic scale because the lengths of the first three days increased logarithmically. 

The 19th century debate

Based on yiqqawû ʾel-maqôm ʾehad, Guyot thought that v. 9 described “the condensation of matter (in space) into the solid globe.” [1] Beyond this aspect of the interpretation, he ran into problems. Unfortunately, the 19th century model of planetary formation was that the earth was initially a sun that formed from a ring of phosphorescent material left behind as the sun shrank from the size of the solar system, as in the Laplace nebular hypothesis. Morton criticized the idea that this verse could possibly refer to formation of the Earth as a sun, subsequent cooling, and formation of a solid planet, as per the 19th century nebular hypothesis. As Morton argued, there is no indication in the day three account that the Earth once glowed like a sun, had a hot phase, or had a fading photosphere.  [2] Morton correctly identified that the details of the 19th century conception of planetary formation had little agreement with the details of the Biblical description of planetary formation. 

The modern concept of formation of planets supports Guyot’s interpretation of v. 9, yiqqawû ʾel-maqôm ʾehad, the gathering of matter into a solid planet. Charles Hodge supported Guyot’s interpretation, [3] which means he would have supported the same interpretation in this work. Also in support of the updated interpretation, Guyot proposed that the “waters below” referred to the waters in the lower part of the heavenly expanse, which he stated was the part of the expanse closer to the sun (the gravitational low point). [4]

Morton stated that the “waters below” referred to the waters under the dome, which was a giant sea that covered the earth; [5] however, as described in chapter 4, "below" refers to the gravitational low point, or the point near the sun. Along with many other theologians, he thought that the meaning of “gathered” is that continental uplift moved the waters off the land and dry land appeared; however, the word qavah, or its derivatives, is never used to describe waters flowing into valleys. Another Hebrew word, hō·lə·kîm,  describes the flowing of rivers into seas. There is no mention of mountain uplift or tectonic uplift in Genesis or in the rest of the Bible. Finally, from a scientific perspective, plate tectonics did not begin until after the Late Heavy Bombardment.

There are several disagreements with the text in Morton’s interpretation. “One place” refers to a central location, yiqqawû refers to the formation of a solid, tectonic uplift was unknown in 1600 BC or 600 BC, lifting of lands or mountains is not mentioned in the second day, or anywhere else in the Bible that I know of, and yiqqawû does not describe waters flowing into seas. 

References

[1] Guyot, Arnold. Creation, the Biblical Cosmogony in the Light of Modern Science. (New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1884). Free in Google books.

[2] Morton, Henry. "The Cosmogony of Genesis and its reconcilers." Part A. Bibliotheca Sacra. 54 (1897)

[3] Hodge, Charles, Systematic Theology, (New York: Scribner Armstrong and Company, 1873), 573. 

[4] Guyot, Cosmogony.

[5] Morton, Reconcilers

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Picture of the Earth. Credit: NASA.