Abstract
In the Bible, order is delimited by chaos in the primeval ti,e and in the eschaton. Closer reading reveals a reccuring pattern, leading from chaos to an ideal order and then from the ideal to reality.
Both chaos and paradise aren't but stages on the way to a differentiated society. Chaos is described either as an amorphous mass, or personified as a threatening but finally subjugated monster.
Only exceptionally, evil is seen as created ex nihilo by the God himself. The text of the Hebrew Bible, in its non-analytical rendition, contains prototypes of most of the modern theories of chaos, working with theodicy, "tehomophobia", hylozoism, and other topics.