And God Said:
“It is Good”
As God fulfills his plan to order creation with overflowing differentiation in his Cosmic Temple — which is the meaning of the word bara in Genesis 1:1 — he repeatedly states: “It is good” (ṭôb). What is the significance of this phrase?
First, it is helpful to know that the Hebrew word ṭôb (“good”) is similar to the Akkadian ţābu (“good”) which was the translational equivalent of the Sumerian word dug₃. This Sumerian term means “sweet, good; beautiful; favorable; satisfying; pleasing” and “fresh (water)”. Unfortunately, when the Sumerian word for “good” and “fresh water” was translated into Akkadian, and later Hebrew, it lost many of the dual meanings that were possible with phonetic wordplay.
The similar sounding forms of “dug” that follow below match the context and meaning of God’s ordering of creation with his spoken commands and would have come into the mind of the ancient Mesopotamian listener every time they heard God say, “It is good” (dug):
dug₃ = to be good, sweet, beautiful, favorable; pleasing; fresh (water) [dùg, page 25]
dug₄ = to speak, talk, say; to order; to do, perform
du₃-ugu = to be begotten and put in place
du₇-u-gu₃ = to be perfected and completed by the commands of the Lord
du₇ [page 10] = to be fitting, suitable; to be finished, complete, perfect
u = Emesal dialect for lugal/en = lord, master; king [page 283]
Here the God of heaven orders creation by his spoken commands so it may be a home for all creatures in God’s providential care. It is also a holy sanctuary for human beings to have relationship with God.
Consequently, each time God speaks and commands the overflowing differentiation of creation, he declares: “It is good” (spoken, ordered, performed — dug₄).
Each creative event is a fresh outpouring of God’s wisdom from the ABZU: “It is good” (satisfying fresh water — dug₃).
Every time God begets and puts the creation into its properly ordered place, he announces: “It is good” (begotten and put in place — dug₃-ugu).
And ultimately, when the Cosmic Temple has been properly ordered and is ready for his rest and reign upon its throne (bara₂,₅,₆), God declares: “It is very good” — it is fitting, suitable, finished, complete, and perfected by his spoken commands (du₇-u-gu₃).
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