Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Thanks to all who sent me the Vulgate text. I think this demonstrates
(for what it's worth) that the Hebrew was understood in the 4th century
CE, by Jerome and the Jews of Bethlehem who helped him, in the sense "In
the beginning God created..."

Peter Kirk

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jason A. Hare [mailto:language_lover64801 AT yahoo.com]
> Sent: 29 March 2002 01:46
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: Re: Is R)$YT even a "time" word?
> 
> Just as an FYI... the Vulgate is online in a very easy-to-use format:
> 
> http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?language=latin
> 
> In fact, you can verify that Genesis 1.1 reads as Jack says by
visiting
> this link:
> 
> http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=genesis+1:1&language=latin
> 
> You can replace the passage with any reference... NO SPACES (use + to
> separate book and reference).  It will also let you see entire
chapters.
> 
> Shalom,
> Jason
> 
> > > 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
>