But in order to keep the project on schedule, many notes I would like to put in, and which many readers would find helpful, would simply take too much time. However, what we will probably decide to do, once our initial translation is ready in 1997, is to bring out a later Study Edition of the Original Bible, which will contain many of those more extensive notes. However, they will cover many useful points beyond matters of strict translation. Many of you know of the NIV Study Bible, published by Zondervan, or the new HarperCollins Study Bible that is just now out through the Society of Biblical Literature. These might serve as good models of the type of thing I have in mind.
Hebrew phrase is tohu and bohu.
You can see that all of these notes deal directly with understanding the possible meanings in English of the key Hebrew terms in this verse. None of them offer evaluative interpretations. But this would really go beyond the strictly linguistic evidence and clearly move into the kind of evaluation and theological interpretation which I think I should avoid in our initial text edition. These notes simply inform the reader of the original language behind the English translation, and explain translation options. This verse deals with the function of these heavenly bodies, from the human viewpoint.