Was Water Created Before Heaven and Earth?

This is one of the most profound and ancient questions in Torah commentary. The verse in Genesis 1:2 seems to imply that water already existed before G-d's creative acts, raising deep questions about the order — and nature — of creation itself.

Key Takeaways

Genesis 1:2 describes the "spirit of G-d hovering over the waters" before the six days of creation are fully underway, suggesting water pre-existed the ordered creation [Genesis 1:2].
The Talmud (Chagigah 12a) explicitly states that water was among the very first things created — before the heavens were stretched out.
Rashi explains that the Torah does not necessarily present events in chronological order — "ein mukdam u'meuchar baTorah" — so the sequence in 1:1–1:2 need not be strictly linear.
The Ramban takes a more radical view: the "waters" in 1:2 represent primordial matter — the raw substance from which everything else was formed.
Kabbalistic tradition understands the waters as a metaphor for the highest spiritual realm, not physical water at all.

Question

The posuk says that hashem spirit was hovering over the water, seems to be that water was created beofre the heavens and the earth

The Verse Itself

[Genesis 1:2]:

"וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהוֹם וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם" "And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of G-d was hovering over the face of the waters."

The tension is immediately apparent: verse 1:1 says G-d created heaven and earth. Verse 1:2 describes water already existing. Where did the water come from?

The Talmudic Answer

The Talmud Yerushalmi and Chagigah 12a grapple directly with this. The Gemara teaches:

"תהו ובהו, מאי תהו ובהו? תהו — זה קו ירוק שמקיף את כל העולם. בהו — אלו אבנים המפולמות שבתהום" "What is tohu and vohu? Tohu is the green line that surrounds the entire world. Vohu are the sunken stones in the deep."

[Chagigah 12a]

More directly, the Talmud in Chagigah lists water as among the primordial creations — created on the very first day, even before the firmament was made. The Abarbanel cites this Talmudic tradition in his commentary, referencing the famous passage about the Pardes (the mystical orchard) and Ben Zoma's vision:

"צופה הייתי בין מים העליונים למים התחתונים ואין בין זה לזה אלא שלש אצבעות, שנאמר ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים — כיונה שמרחפת על בניה ונוגעת ואינה נוגעת" "I was gazing between the upper waters and the lower waters, and there is between them only three finger-breadths, as it says: 'and the spirit of G-d hovered over the face of the waters' — like a dove hovering over its young, touching and not touching."

[Abarbanel on Genesis 1:6, citing Chagigah 15a]

Ben Zoma understood the "hovering" as describing the precise, delicate relationship between the upper waters (above the firmament) and the lower waters (below) — a cosmological vision so profound it shook him spiritually.

Major Commentator Positions

1. Rashi — No Strict Chronological Order

Rashi resolves the tension by invoking the principle:

"אֵין מוּקְדָם וּמְאוּחָר בַּתּוֹרָה" "There is no early and late in the Torah" — the Torah does not always present events in chronological sequence.

[Rashi, Genesis 1:1]

On this reading, verse 1:1 is a summary statement — G-d created everything. Verse 1:2 then zooms in on the state of affairs at the very beginning of the process. The water was created as part of that initial act — it just hadn't yet been organized or named.

2. Ramban — Primordial Matter

Nachmanides (Ramban) takes a strikingly philosophical approach. He argues that on the very first instant, G-d created a single formless substance — hyle (from the Greek concept of primordial matter) — from which everything else was fashioned.

The "waters" in 1:2 represent this primordial matter. They are not water in the physical sense we know, but the raw potential of all physical existence.

[Ramban, Genesis 1:1]

This is remarkably consistent with creatio ex nihilo (creation from nothing) — G-d first created the raw material, then shaped it into ordered reality over six days.

3. Reggio — Divine Providence Hovering

Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Reggio offers a poetic and theological reading of the "hovering":

*"מְרַחֶפֶת — כְּמוֹ שֶׁהַנֶּשֶׁר מְרַחֵף עַל גּוֹזָלָיו לְהֵיטִיב עִמָּהֶם, כֵּן כְּבִיָּכוֹל הָיְתָה רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל הַמַּיִם, וְהַכַּוָּנָה שֶׁשָּׂם הַבּוֹרֵא עֵין הַשְׁגָּחָתוֹ עַל הַמַּיִם לְתַקְּנָם" "Hovering — just as an eagle hovers over its young to benefit them, so to speak, the spirit of G-d hovered over the waters — the meaning being that the Creator set His eye of providence (hashgachah) over the waters to rectify them."

[Reggio on Genesis 1:2]

On this reading, the waters existed in a raw, unrectified state — and G-d's spirit was the active force of purposeful ordering, like a parent nurturing a newborn.

The Kabbalistic Reading (Sod)

In Kabbalistic tradition, the "waters" of Genesis 1:2 do not refer to physical water at all. They represent the highest sefirot (divine emanations) — specifically Chokhmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding) — which are often called "upper waters."

The Zohar (Bereishit 15b) teaches that water symbolizes chesed (lovingkindness) — the attribute with which G-d chose to create the world. The "hovering spirit" is the divine life-force (ruach) that animates all of creation from above.

The Messianic Dimension

Remarkably, one source connects the hovering spirit directly to redemption. A sermon in the tradition of High Holiday thought teaches:

**"רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל פְּנֵי הַמַּיִם — כִּי רַק בִּזְכוּת הַתְּש

Was Water Created Before Heaven and Earth