Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)]

On Tue 21 Mar 2000 (09:50:29), lizfried AT umich.edu wrote:
> I (stupidly) hadn't considered the b-$-gam alternative. (very red-faced)
> If the second alternative is correct ($gg), would the author be placing
> flesh as the source of sin??
> I think the first alternative must be the one the author had in mind.
> Flesh isn't evil per se, but the source of man's frailty.

 Dear Liz,

 Thanks for the feedback. The LXX has at 6:4a (the corresponding verse),
 and the Vulgate has at 6:3a

 KAI EIPE KURIOS hO QEOS,
 And the LORD God said,
 Dixitque Deus

 OU MH KATAMEINH TO PNEUMA MOU EN TOIS ANQRWPOIS TOUTOIS EIS TON AIWNA,
 My Spirit shall certainly not remain with these people for ever,
 non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in aeternam

 DIA TO EINAI AUTOUS SARKAS.
 because they are flesh.
 quia caro est

 Accepting the LXX as 3rd century BCE, we can see how its translators
 construed the verse. Jerome writing circa 400 CE takes it the same way.

 So IMHO the first alternative Ba'a:$eR GaM must have been the original
 author's intention. 

 An interesting thing about the verb DuWN = DiYN is that it is the root
 of the word 'aDhoWN, ruler. With the 1ms pronominal suffix this becomes the
 QeRe' perpetuum, 'a:DoNaY, my sovereign.

 If the second alternative is correct, then the condemnation is upon men
 for erring or wandering astray from God's sovereignty by an act of wilful
 rebellion. That they did not repent upon hearing the preaching of Noah
 (2 Peter 2:5) reinforces this. Flesh Ba&aR has a similar connotation to
 SARX in the N.T.; an ethical dimension. We must avoid the later Gnostic
 dichotomy "Spirit good, flesh evil" because the flesh is neutral. It is the
 human will which rebels against God, and follows the appetites of the flesh.

 So "flesh" is not the source of sin, but the vehicle of sin. The source of
 sin is firmly declared to be the Serpent in Genesis 3.

 Shalom
 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
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