described the world in a way that was far removed from the actual world around him. The reason has to do with the purpose of the text within the narrative, its literary and theological intent. The story in Genesis 1 is brilliant. Perhaps the language is best described as “heightened prose,” since it does not take the form found in passages more clearly poetic by the conventions of Hebrew poetry, though admittedly, there is still a lot not fully understood about ancient Hebrew poetry. The language,