Word: תהום
Representation: THOM
Transliteration: T'home
Noun: "watery-deep", "abyss", "chasm"
Strong Concordance: H8415
Exposition
This word appears 22 times in the Tanach. Interestingly enough it is never prefixed by a "ה", indicating "the watery-deep". Perhaps because it is the only watery-deep, even if it is split into two in Genesis 1:7.
Besides passively waiting beneath a coat of darkness in Genesis 1:2, we read in Genesis 7:11 that it is from this very watery-deep that its pools of water did burst forth, flooding the world from the windows in the firmament/heavens. And in Genesis 8:2, these same windows of the firmament/heavens are closed and the pools of water in the watery-deep are closed off.
We also read in Genesis 49:25 that Shaddai will bless Joseph (which is repeated in Deuteronomy 33:13) with blessing of the deep from below. This speaks of wonderful streams and rivers for irrigation. It should be noted that in Genesis 1:6-7, the Elohim separate the deep, making it into upper waters and lower waters. The upper waters were held back by the firmament/heavens, and the land floated upon the lower-waters/deep.
In Ezekiel 26:19, God threatens to have the deep-waters come up and cover the land. While God did promise not to flood again like he did, the raining of the water-deep from above, there was no promise to use the watery-deep from below. He repeats in 31:4 that the source of the streams and rivers are from the watery-deep below, and in 31:15, He threatens to close the watery-deep and cause the trees to die.
The list goes on this way: תהום is an expression of a deep-abyss of water, water that will be split to be held aloft by a firmament/heavens, and upon which floats the land. From the upper watery-deep are fountains that create the rains, and from the lower water-deep is the source of rivers and other land-associated water.
The Biblical view of the world is different than the realistic view, and one needs to keep that in mind.
In Ezekiel 26:19, God threatens to have the deep-waters come up and cover the land. While God did promise not to flood again like he did, the raining of the water-deep from above, there was no promise to use the watery-deep from below. He repeats in 31:4 that the source of the streams and rivers are from the watery-deep below, and in 31:15, He threatens to close the watery-deep and cause the trees to die.
The list goes on this way: תהום is an expression of a deep-abyss of water, water that will be split to be held aloft by a firmament/heavens, and upon which floats the land. From the upper watery-deep are fountains that create the rains, and from the lower water-deep is the source of rivers and other land-associated water.
The Biblical view of the world is different than the realistic view, and one needs to keep that in mind.
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