Notes on the Bible (1834), by Albert Barnes, Bible Commentaries

Albert Barnes

We will discover that many theologians note an intriguing allusion in the opening lines of the Bible. The American Presbyterian theologian Albert Barnes, who published the 1834 popular commentary, Notes on the Bible, wrote of Genesis 1:2 that the verb rı̂chēp (רחף) in its specific context means "brooded," with the allusion to the actions of a bird brooding over its eggs. The brooding spirit of God thus operates upon chaos as an organizing, vivifying force (Barnes' Notes on the Old and New Testaments).

This allusion has been recognized from antiquity, so tracing lines of influence from individual to individual can easily be mistaken since both individuals may share a debt to a common tradition.