Word for Word: Episode 22

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֮ אֶת־הָרָקִי

God formed an expanse

Second to just speaking, that is programming the universe, the analogy to a potter with clay describes the work of God.  The verb used for this work is עָשָׂה (`asah) which means to do, work, make, produce. It is often translated "to form".

The second day of creation is the work of making a space to work. This includes building a "work bench". Given the nature of things, the sphere began to collapse upon itself at an exponential rate. But gravity was no match to the arm of God, which could provide an overwhelming "centrifugal force" that began at what would become the surface of the planet earth. In this miracle, the compact, stone hard water was softened and began spreading outward. In the space of one local rotation all that was left at the center was a spinning rock covered with water and an atmosphere.