Verby Pick-Up Duck: bara'

It's been quite a while since we've gone hunting for verbs and played verby pick-up duck. So I thought I'd give it a shot again. (Ah, yes, pun intended.)

This time, I thought to play it in Hebrew.

I don't claim to be a Hebrew expert... I'm just studying along at my leisure. But it feels good to put myself to the task. Very good.

Our verb lurks in the good book of Genesis, 1:1... Bara'. Created. Meaning to form or fashion, birth, transform, make fat.

Surely, it's a proper spring verb, with all the blooms bursting and the ground swelling, and the new birds emerging from blue eggs and white eggs and eggs with speckles.

Indeed, in Genesis, a brief moment after bara', God is rather springily pictured as a wind or a fluttering bird (I'll not go into the linguistic explanation here... we're only playing verby pick-up duck.)

In reading John Walton's commentary, I was surprised to discover that this verb is not so much about God creating matter from nothing (we get that from Hebrews 11:3), as it is about God designing, bringing order, assigning roles and destinies. In the bible, bara' is only used with God as its subject.

So, going out on a limb, here's my question... Can we humans, in any sense, apply this word to ourselves? Could it be said that you or I bara'? Or not...


Photo by Pauline Stickland. Mom to Martin, God bless 'er.

(P.S... I did not plan this, but I see that my dear editor is thinking on this very issue today. How could I not link to her entry? (See post called "Who is an Artist?")


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