Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jack Kilmon" <jkilmon AT historian.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>
To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 1:55 AM
Subject: RE: Is R)$YT even a "time" word?


> No, LXX is not useless! You make the decisive point yourself: "They were
> simply translating what was before them". What was before them (in their
> reading tradition) was BARA' not BERO'. And they, as Hebrew speakers of
> the 2nd-3rd century BCE (at least that seems to be the consensus
> dating), understood BERE'SHIT BARA' 'ELOHIM as "In the beginning God
> created..." not "In the beginning of God creating...". We have the
> testimony there of Hebrew speakers from long before the time of Rashi.
> 
> The Vulgate is similarly useful, for Jerome translated from Hebrew with
> the help of Hebrew speakers and so his translation is based on their 4th
> century CE understanding of Hebrew, also well before Rashi. Does anyone
> have the Vulgate text available to check?


1.  in principio creavit Deus caelum et terram 

Jack