Q: Are "Create" and "Make" interchangeable?

In the Hebrew Bible, the verbs בָּרָא (to create) and עָשָׂה (to make) may be interchangeable but not entirely, though they are closely related; both describe divine creative activities but can convey different nuances. The distinction is not difficult to understand; even in English, the verbs “create” and “make” can be used interchangeably in some contexts but not in all. If different terms are employed by the author Moses under divine inspiration, there must be a reason or purpose.

בָּרָא (to create): This verb is exclusively used to describe an act of God to create something out of nothing or to bring about something fundamentally new. The verb is not used to describe human activity or the actions of any other figures.

Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:21, “So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

עָשָׂה (to make): This verb has a broader range of application. It can refer to human or divine activity and often describes making or doing something from pre-existing materials.

Genesis 1:7, “And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.”
Genesis 1:16, “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.”
Genesis 1:25, “And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'”
Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Some verses with both בָּרָא and עָשָׂה:

Genesis 1:26-27, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Genesis 2:4, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.”
Genesis 5:1, “This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
Isaiah 43:7, “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah 45:7, “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does (make) all these things.”
Isaiah 45:12, “I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.”
…

Conclusion: It’s important to consider that Hebrew, like any language, has synonyms that may be used interchangeably but still carry nuanced differences in meaning. While both בָּרָא (to create) and עָשָׂה (to make) can refer to acts of creating, בָּרָא (to create) is generally used for divine acts of creation and often carries the nuance of initiating something new or unique, though not always out of nothing, and עָשָׂה (to make) has a broader range of meaning and application for making or doing, which could involve shaping or organizing pre-existing materials, and is not restricted to divine action; humans also “make” things using the same verb.

Reflections

There is nothing that God creates that he doesn’t make according to his purpose, and there’s nothing that he makes that he doesn’t also create. They may not be two different actions or steps but different aspects to look at one work. Likewise, the one who is recreated is made in the image of Christ. “Those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30b). Just as justification and sanctification are distinguishable but inseparable, so are “create” and “make.”

Genesis 2:3, “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Genesis 5:1, “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.”
Deuteronomy 32:6, “Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?”
Isaiah 43:7, “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Matthew 19:4, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female.”
Hebrews 11:3, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”