the objections that may be made are the following. First, all the ancient Versions render bārāʾ by ‘create’; if the verb really meant ‘separate’ it is remarkable that the meaning of this not infrequent verb was universally forgotten so soon. Secondly, in the Hebrew Bible the verb bārāʾ occurs parallel with the verbs ʿāśâ, ‘make’, and yāṣar, ‘form’ (cf. Isa. 45:7). We may also compare Isa. 65:17 and 66:22, the former of which speaks of God creating (bārāʾ) new heavens and earth, and the
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