Interplanner
Well-known member
The section titles of Moses writing
Moses writing often had section titles. His units of material often follow this pattern:
1, title or topic
2, background
3, new material
One of the reasons for this is that it was originally oral, told around herders and desert trekkers' campfires. It was learned by memory. A person was eventually supposed to be able to hear a section title and go from there.
In relation to Gen 1, then, the section is the creation of heavens and earth. The background is that the earth was already formless and void (we don't know how long, but there is a clue in Jeremiah as phrases go). We also know there was no local sun.
By the end of the new material, the creation week, it has light, form and is filled. So all three conditions are 'fixed.'
Some of the next section titles are:
2:4
5:1
6:9
10:1
There is also ancient near east cultural background involved in the expression 'formless and void' but it isn't about the 3 part layout.
Moses writing often had section titles. His units of material often follow this pattern:
1, title or topic
2, background
3, new material
One of the reasons for this is that it was originally oral, told around herders and desert trekkers' campfires. It was learned by memory. A person was eventually supposed to be able to hear a section title and go from there.
In relation to Gen 1, then, the section is the creation of heavens and earth. The background is that the earth was already formless and void (we don't know how long, but there is a clue in Jeremiah as phrases go). We also know there was no local sun.
By the end of the new material, the creation week, it has light, form and is filled. So all three conditions are 'fixed.'
Some of the next section titles are:
2:4
5:1
6:9
10:1
There is also ancient near east cultural background involved in the expression 'formless and void' but it isn't about the 3 part layout.