Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT hotkey.net.au>]

Dave,

I'm not sure if I'm missing something here. Gen 2:5 uses the word TEREM to 
temporally locate the
creation of man, and it is before the plants. This is regardless of the 
nuance of the wayyiqtol
form. Just looking at the narrative, there seems to be a bare ground that is 
watered by a mist.
Then man is made. Then a grove is planted and man is put in it.

Now, my wife tells me I suffer from domestic blindness (I can never find 
anything around the house,
even when it's right before my very eyes!), so am I missing something that 
you are plainly seeing
here?

In response to Bill's answer, Gen 2:5 uses the expression SYX HSDH - "field 
bush". This is not a
cultivated plant, but any shrub growing out in the open countryside. It also 
uses another word,
(SB, which is also used in Gen 1 - it's the generic term for vegetation. So, 
I don't see how Gen 2
refers to cultivated plants rather than wild plants. In fact, the opposite 
seems to be the case.

BTW, Dave, I agree to some extent about the non-temporal nature of the 
wayyiqtol form. I think it
has more to do with logical sequence than temporal sequence (though often 
these overlap
significantly).


Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)