Enormous amounts of interpretive efforts have gone into the first book of the Hebrew Bible. In modern critical studies of Genesis, for instance, it is often suggested that the nature of the "earth-waters" relationship in Chapter 1 is totally different from that in Chapter 2. Professor Tsumura here offers a linguistic analysis of some key terms related to the initial situation of the earth in its relationship with the waters in Gen 1:2 and Gen 2:5ff that helps to clarify some of the hermeneutic issues at stake.

David Toshio Tsumura is professor of Old Testament at Japan Bible Seminary, Tokyo, chairman of the Tokyo Museum of Biblical Archaeology, and editor of Exegetica: Studies in Biblical Exegesis.