According to Bereshit, there was a word right at the start. Nobody knows what word, but it was a Hebrew word. Then came light, and then water. So it would appear that water came first. But on closer inspection, the Earth was already there, under the water, and the water was then gathered together, leaving dry land and seas. 

So the Earth was there all the time, under the ocean, so which came first isn't clear. 

37 minutes ago, mistermack said:

According to Bereshit, there was a word right at the start. Nobody knows what word, but it was a Hebrew word. Then came light, and then water. So it would appear that water came first. But on closer inspection, the Earth was already there, under the water, and the water was then gathered together, leaving dry land and seas. 

So the Earth was there all the time, under the ocean, so which came first isn't clear. 

I wonder where that thing about a "word" came from. Because their is no mention of it in the Hebrew text:

Quote

1In the beginning God created the sky and the earth.		אבְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ:
2And the earth was [a mess], and darkness was on the face of the abyss, and the wind of God hovering over the face of the water.		בוְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָֽיְתָ֥ה תֹ֨הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְח֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם:

So, it is not clear where the water came from. The light came next. Then, a separation between water below the sky and water above the sky. The separation between land and seas came later.

Edited February 8, 20223 yr by Genady

Where was God living if there was nothing?

29 minutes ago, Doogles31731 said:

Where was God living if there was nothing?

Why "nothing"? There is no mention of "nothing". All it says is, the sky and the earth were not there.

I'm truly filled with wonder at the sheer scale of it. 

A few arabs sat round a fire, and someone said "I wonder where it all came from"    and they started making up stories. And one of those very stories is still being taught to millions of innocent children as fact, five thousand years later. 

I wonder what we could inflict on the kids of 7022, if we started now? 

I imagine rather a different situation. A little kid before going to bed asks the mother to tell a story. "What story?" asks the mother. "Where the earth and the sky and all the rest came from," answers the kid. "OK," says the mother, "In the beginning..."

11 hours ago, Genady said:

I imagine rather a different situation. A little kid before going to bed asks the mother to tell a story. "What story?" asks the mother. "Where the earth and the sky and all the rest came from," answers the kid. "OK," says the mother, "In the beginning..."

There was the light, and only a few could see...

Where were these 'few' who could see  the light if there was no earth and sky?

21 hours ago, Doogles31731 said:

Where was God living if there was nothing?

Define nothing?

Define god?

16 minutes ago, Doogles31731 said:

Where were these 'few' who could see  the light if there was no earth and sky?

Right. Specifically because light supposedly was not there yet when there was no earth and sky.