Originally Posted by: Yasah' I form (yatsar - fashion, shape, devise, create, and mold) light (‘owr) and I create (bara’ – make, form or fashion something out of elements that exist, cause something to happen, carve or pare down) darkness (choshek — obscurity, blackness, concealment and confusion; the absence of light; ignorance, distress, and sorrow), I prepare and produce (‘asah — cause to happen, make, gain and profit from, deal with, ordain, fashion, and bring about) reconciliation (shalowm — favor and salvation, health, peace, prosperity, safety, friendship, companionship, and relationship) and create (bara’ – make, form or fashion something out of elements that exist, cause something to happen, carve or pare down) evil (ra' - that which is disagreeable, displeasing, and malignant), I Yahuwah make, prepare and produce (‘asah — cause to happen, make, gain and profit from, deal with, ordain, fashion, and bring about) all of (kol) this.
‘Owr, the word rendered "light" can be "the light of instruction and guidance, the light of judgment, the light which removes someone from darkness, trouble and danger, the light of life, the light of a lamp, or the light of God." ‘Owr can also be the "light of the sun and stars"
The DSS Bible differs in one word in this verse. Shalowm does not appear in the DSS, since we do not yet have access to the actual scrolls and must rely on translations, I am not certain what the Hebrew word used was, the DSS Bible translates it as Goodness, which if I had to guess I would say is the Hebrew word is tuwb - beneficial qualities, abundance, beauty, fairness, and joy.
In the most basic sense Yah is behind evil, in that he created the Adversary, he created man, and everything else.
What I find interesting is the word bara’ is used with both Choshek and Ra’ but not with ‘Owr or Shalowm/Tuwb. Bara’ carries the connotation of using something that is already there, darkness being the absence of light, darkness is achieved by removing light. Yah is often compared to light, so darkness is created by Yah pulling back, contracting Himself to allow it.
I think the same idea can be draw in the second part of the verse. It is often said that evil exists when good men do nothing, so at least to a degree evil is not just the opposite of good, it is the absence of good as well, when Yah was present in Eden with Adam, there was not evil, but after the fall, Yah pulled Himself back and thus allowed evil to exist.
So both darkness and evil exist because Yah allows it to exist, by pulling back Himself, and not stopping it. I would say that he allows it because it is needed for free will.