Biblical Hebrew Forum

[John Ronning <ronning AT ilink.nis.za>]

Dear List Members,

Below is a synopsis of a recent article on Genesis 2 dealing with
several threads discussed on this list (WP and sequence, polemics of
Genesis 2, relationship between Genesis 1 and 2).  Also some interesting
points for those involved in Bible translation.

Mark Futato, "Because it Had Rained: A Study of Gen 2:5-7 With
Implications For Gen 2:4-25 and Gen 1:1-2:3," WTJ 60 (1998), 1-21.

Gen 2:5 a two-fold condition with a two-fold reason
1. no shrub of the open country (siyax hassadeh [&IYAX HA&&FDEH]) was
yet in the ground
2. no cultivated grains (`eseb hassadeh [("&EB HA&&FDEH]) had sprouted
Why? - a two-fold reason:
1. The Lord God had not brought rain upon the earth
2. There was no man to cultivate the soil.

Explanation: siyax hassadeh is wild (uncultivated) desert vegetation
that grows spontaneously as a result of rains (in Palestine, these are
fall rains that come after months of dryness which leaves the ground dry
and hard).  See Gen 21:15; Job 30:4, 7 for the other occurrences of this
word.  On the other hand, `eseb hassadeh always refers to cultivated
grains (e.g. Exod 9:22, 25).

Gen 2:6-7 a two-fold resolution to the conditions of v. 5:
1. Rain clouds began to come up [or He brought up rain clouds - ya`aleh
for incipient action] from the earth and they watered the whole face of
the ground.
2. The Lord God formed the man, dust from the ground . . . and he became
a living soul.

Explanation: the word "rain-cloud" 'ed or )"D  is often translated
"stream," as if it were rising out of the ground.  Doesn't fit the
context (problem was - "no rain," not "no water"!).  Only other place
where 'ed is found is Job 36: 27  - "rain cloud" makes better sense:
27 When he draws up drops from the sea,
 they distill as rain from his rain cloud ('Ed)
28 The clouds pour down their moisture
  and abundant showers fall on mankind.

Further evidence for 'ed as "rain cloud" - (1) targums so translate it;
(2) Eblaite evidence cited by Dahood.  Dahood also notes the proper name
Matred (MA+R"D) in Gen 36:39, which he translates as "rain of the
rain-cloud" with elided aleph.

Objection: clouds don't "come up" from the ground.  Answer - in Biblical
idiom, they do (the rain clouds first appear on the horizon, so "come
up" as they approach the viewer.
Ps 135:7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from its storehouses.

"rise" = same verb as Gen 2:6 (`lh).

Also 1 Kings 18:44; "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming
up from the sea" (or west).

Jer 10:13/51:16.  "And He makes the clouds to rise (hiphil, `lh) from
the end of the earth."

Suggested translation of v. 6: "He began to bring up rain clouds from
the earth, and they watered the whole surface of the ground." (takes as
hiphil, with God as subject, like Ps 135:7, Jer 10:13)

Summary of vv. 5-7
 Condition                   Reason                       Solution
1. No wild vegetation  no rain                         God sent rain
2. No cultivated grain  no cultivator                  God formed a
cultivator

Note indication of dischronology in Gen 2:8, 15 - two statements that
God put the man in the garden of Eden to cultivate it (only happened
once).

Reason for non-chronological narrative in Genesis 2:4-25:  It is an
example of "synoptic/resumption-expansion."  I.e. the story is told in
brief form (synopsis), then repeated (covering the same ground), with
added detail.  V. 8 is a synopsis (8a - The Lord God planted a garden
toward the east, in Eden; 8b - and there He placed the man whom He had
formed.) of vv. 9-24.

Note continuation of the two-fold concerns of vv. 5-7 (vegetation,
cultivator).

Relationship between v. 8 and the following:
V. 8a "The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden."
 Resumed and expanded in the description of the garden and its source of
water, vv. 9-14.

V. 8b "and there He placed the man whom He had formed."
 This thought is resumed and expanded on in vv. 15-25

The start of v. 9 (which uses the wayyiqtol form) must be
chronologically prior to v. 8b (otherwise Adam would starve while his
food supply was growing).

Vv. 10-14 are an explanatory "aside;" they explain how the garden was
watered.

V. 15 repeats the thought of v. 8b, adding the purpose - "to cultivate
it" (also picks up on v. 5b - there was no man to cultivate it).  Vv
18-25 - details of the creation of woman.  Indication of dischronology
compared to Genesis 1.  Using the standard wayyiqtol in v. 19 rather
than an "aside" pluperfect comment "serves to elevate the material to a
main-line situation in the narrative, rather than demoting the material
to a subordinate level."  (In translation, using the pluperfect may be
preferable to avoid confusion).


Reading Genesis 1 in light of Genesis 2:
Gen 1:2 like 2:5 in two-fold condition: (1) earth was "unproductive and
uninhabited" (tohu wabohu), (2) darkness was over the face of the deep.

Parallel structure of the six days of creation (two sets of three days,
double creation on days 3 and 6):
1 light   4 light-bearers
2 waters above/below 5 birds/sea creatures
3a dry ground  6a land animals
3b vegetation   6b man

3b-6b (vegetation/man) are the two-fold focus of Gen 2:4-25.

Conclusion: "Gen 2:4-25 is properly read as a resumption and expansion
not of Day 6 but of Days 3b and 6b taken together as a unit."

Lessons for Israel:
Canaanites worshiped Baal as the bringer of the rains & fertility.
Genesis 2 shows us that from the beginning it was Yhwh God who brought
rain; acc. to Deut 11:10-17 he still brings rain, depending on Israel's
obedience to the covenant.

FYI,

John Ronning