והארץ היתה תוהו ובוהו וחושך על פני תהום
And earth was lifeless, with darkness over the surface of the ocean
DARKNESS
After explaining that at the time of its creation planet earth did not possess any kind of life, the text goes on to describe Earth’s atmosphere. Our current atmosphere is clear and bright, composed of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. But the primitive atmosphere with which planet earth was created was different. The Torah describes it with one word “hoshekh” ”, which is usually translated by “darkness”.
The vast majority of classical biblical commentators agree that here “darkness” does not mean “absence of light”, since as in the story of Plato’s cave, one can only speak of the absence of light once light is created. Nahmanides (Ramban) and Eben Ezra proposed that here darkness should be understood as something tangible. Nahmanides compares it with the ninth plague of Egypt, a kind of gas that prevents any kind of light. For Eben Ezra, “that tangible darkness is like a “fog”, toxic and with less oxygen.
Based on these and other opinions we could assert that for the Tora early Earth’s atmosphere was like the present day atmosphere of Venus: formed of three thick layers of dark clouds, are composed of sulfuric acid and carbon dioxide, which do not allow sunlight to reach the surface.
This indication about the primitive Earth’s atmosphere may redefine the previous words tohu vabohu “uninhabited”, a little better. The Tora asserted that there was no life on Earth, and now is saying that the conditions for life are not yet there. In other words, Earth is not only “uninhabited” but at this initial point, because of hoshekh it is also “uninhabitable”.
ABYSS
Almost all biblical translations render the word tehom as “abyss”. And this could be a second example of non-Jewish influences in biblical translations. The word “abyss” is related to the Mesopotamia’s pagan mythology. For example, in the Sumerians creation myths, Enuma Elish, when the gods / monsters fight against each other to death (seeking power or revenge) the defeated or dead god “falls into the abyss”, a legendary bottomless pit from which one cannot return. Also in the Christian tradition the abyss is a place where evil spirits meet, and where Satan eventually will be thrown after defeat.
But in Hebrew the word abyss in this sense does NOT exist (not to be confused with sheol which means “underground grave”). In biblical Hebrew the word tehom is a “geological” term, associated with different sources of water. It can mean the sea, its depths or usually the natural reserves of fresh groundwater. Rashi explains that in our verse the word tehom means the ocean. But we must clarify what the Sages said about the primitive ocean: At the time of its creation Earth surface was covered by “water.” Continental dry-land emerged on the Third Day of creation (every morning, when we set foot on the floor we say a berakha that alludes to this phenomenon: רוקע הארץ על המים). Radaq (see quote below) explained that in its initial phase because planet earth was completely covered with water life could not exist — tohu vabohu— . God did not create our planet with life, but He created it with water. Lots of water.
SCIENCE AND TORA
Once we translate the Hebrew words according to their original meaning we can see some incredible coincidences between what this verse describes in 2 or 3 words and what modern science speculates that occurred at the beginning of our planet.
According to modern science
√ The primitive atmosphere did not allow life. It was dark, lacked free oxygen, and contained ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide.
√ In the beginning early Earth was covered by a huge ocean called Panthalassa. The continents as we know them today, emerged at a later stage.
√ And water? The Tora explains clearly that water was part of the initial inventory of our planet. Modern science, speculations aside, at present time has no demonstrable or convincing explanation of how our planet has so much water….
רד“ק בראשית 1:2
והארץ בתחילת בריאתה לא היתה בשלימותה, כי היתה תהו ובהו – כלומר: ריקה מכל בריאה שלא היתה לא בה ולא עליה, כי היתה כולה מכוסה במים
