Systematic Theology Introduction (1e)

Objects of the verb bara [the Hebrew word for “created” found in Genesis 1:1] include:

• the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 40:26; 42:5; 45:18; 65:17);
• man (Gen. 1:27; 5:2; 6:7; Deut. 4:32; Ps. 89:47; Isa. 43:7; 45:12);
• Israel (Isa. 43:1; Mal. 2:10);
• a new thing (Jer. 31:22);
• cloud and smoke (Isa. 4:5, prophetically recalling the cloud and smoke that God had miraculously brought to reside over the tabernacle and guide the Israelites in the Exodus);
• north and south (Ps. 89:12);
• salvation and righteousness (Isa. 45:8);
• speech (Isa. 57:19);
• darkness (Isa. 45:7);
• wind (Amos 4:13);
• a new heart (Ps. 51:10).

In each case, this verb seems to have in view the inception of something, and not the fashioning of something from previously-existing material. [Ibid.]