ורוח אלוקים מרחפת על פני המים

And a Divine wind was blowing on the face of the waters

The correct translation of these two words, ruah Eloqim is the key to understanding the entire sequence of the creative process. In biblical Hebrew ruah originally means ‘wind’.

But in a metaphorical sense the word ruach can also refer to the soul, breath or Divine inspiration: an invisible intellectual or mental state that moves human beings, especially the prophets. On two occasions the Tora uses the expression ruach Eloqim in this sense, referring to a special kind of wisdom granted by God. 1). When Pharaoh marveled at Yosef’s wisdom (Gen 41, 38) he said that Yosef is “a man who possesses ruach Eloqim [‘ a special divine wisdom ’]”. 2). When God orders Moses to designate Betzalel (Exodus 31, 3) to be the architect of the Tabernacle, He tells him that He granted Betzalel ruach Eloqim, a divine wisdom, which was later called ruach chokhma, ‘a spirit of wisdom’ . Throughout the Tanakh, ruach Eloqim retains the same connotation: an extraordinary form of Divine wisdom or inspiration that is usually granted to a prophet. In the same way the Sages have used the term ruach haqodesh to refer to Divine inspiration.

The meaning of this and other metaphorical forms of the word ruach point to an invisible force that moves or transports by Divine command (we say in the hashkabot ruach haShem tenichenu began eden, referring – metaphorically – to a wind sent by God that lifts the soul of the deceased and takes it to Gan Eden).

But what can ruach Eloqim mean in our verse? The absence of any human being who may be the subject or recipient of a special Divine wisdom does not allow us to understand these words in their common metaphorical sense as Divine inspiration, soul, etc.

THE CHRISTIAN TRANSLATION

Christian translations do not hesitate to translate ruach eloqim as “divine spirit ” or “spirit of God”. Why? Because one of the fundamental principles of Christian doctrine is the trinity, that is, the existence of the father, the son and the divine (or holy) spirit. The rendition “divine spirit” floating on the waters at the time of the creation of the world, is a confirmation of this Catholic doctrine. This “ideological” translation should not surprise us since, as we might one day explain, the Christian interpretation of the Bible has a fundamental objective: denying normative Judaism and affirming the doctrines of the church.

THE JEWISH TRANSLATION

The idea of ​​ruach Eloqim as ‘the spirit of God’ is a concept totally foreign to Judaism and offensive to Jewish beliefs. It is an idea that if taken seriously goes against the Jewish principle of monotheism and dangerously approaches anthropomorphism, that is, the personification of God (“spirit” usually stands as oppose to “body” or “flesh”) .

The official Jewish translation, the Targum, which every vernacular translation should take as a reference, renders ruach Eloqim as WIND guided by God, that is: wind is not a blind random natural force, but an instrument in God’s creation.

A WIND COMING FROM GOD

With this understanding, we can see that in this verse that describes the inventory of planet earth, the Tora mentions the second physical element (the first is water) present on planet Earth at the time of its creation: the wind. And this wind, this text indicates, is guided by God. And while the Tora does not explicitly mention it, Ben Ezra and Radaq explained that “wind” will be a divine auxiliary element in creation, and will be used by God on the third day to “dry” the land that emerges from the depths of the ocean. The wind as a Divine agent appears many times in the biblical text and in rabbinic literature. For example, the Tora explicitly mentions that God brought the locust plague to Egypt through a wind blowing from the east. Or that God opened the sea, drying it with His winds, so that the Jews could escape from the Egyptians. Ruach Eloqim means that God uses wind as one of His agents in “nature.” Following the same idea, every day in our prayers we mention that God “blows the wind to produce rain.”

King David in the beautiful words of his Psalms (Tehilim 104:4) coined an expression that very much paraphrases the words Ruach Eloqim. He said: ruach se’ara osa debaro, “the powerful wind that follows His command”.

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