Tehom
Tehom
Primordial waters of creation in the Bible
Tehom (Hebrew: תְּהוֹם təhôm) is a Northwest Semitic and Biblical Hebrew word meaning "the deep” or “abyss” (literally “the deeps”).[1] It is used to describe the primeval ocean and the post-creation waters of the earth. Tiamat, a Mesopotamian primordial goddess of the sea, may be cognate with tehom in the Book of Genesis 1:2.[2] According to a theological dictionary, it derives from a Semitic root which denoted the sea as an unpersonified entity with mythological import.[3]