Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>]

In the earlier thread I argued on the basis of Hebrew grammar and 
Hebrew grammar alone for the "traditional" translation of Genesis 1:1. 
The fact that many generations of Christian (and Jewish) scholars have 
understood the verse in that way does not make it wrong! Any of the 
other proposed translations involve finding in this verse a 
syntactical structure which (as far as I know, and no-one has offered 
counter-examples) occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible: a 
prepositional temporal phrase forming a complete clause in itself, 
with no preceding verb and separated from the following clause by a 
WAW which is not part of a WAYYIQTOL verb form. If anyone can provide 
any other examples of this construction in the Hebrew Bible, please 
let me know.

What was the point about "Miss Wisdom" in Proverbs? I hope she was 
actually Mrs Wisdom, as she had children (8:32). Yes, she was created 
as, or at, the beginning of YHWH's work of creation [YHWH QFNFNIY 
R")$IYT D.ARK.OW] (8:22), at a time when there were no earth (8:23), 
heavens (8:24), or even depths [T.:HOMOWT] (8:24). So there was not 
much there when God started, not even the chaotic deep of Genesis 1:2. 
Sounds like creation ex nihilo to me, with wisdom being the first 
created thing, followed by the things mentioned in Genesis 1:1-2.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: SV: Gilgamesh
Author:  <npl AT teol.ku.dk> at Internet
Date:    18/01/2000 15:28

<snip>

        Finally, how can Christian doctrine live with any other translation
of Gen 1:1 than the approved one? So which translation is the exclusive one, 
after all.

        NPL