[otabdeveloper4]

To the writers and readers of this text "the waters" would have meant, first and foremost, the primal element. Not the literal stuff floating in puddles.

The correct analogy for a person from 2020 would be "chemical elements", or even "atoms and molecules".

[mcv]

Interesting perspective. It's certainly worth keeping in mind that words from ancient texts may have had meanings that we currently don't recognise anymore. This sounds quite plausible.