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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Divine body parts, was: Doctorates (PhD or ThD?)

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Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Kevin Graham <kevlds AT hotmail.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Divine body parts, was: Doctorates (PhD or ThD?)
  • Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 13:20:40 +0100

On 06/09/2005 13:05, Kevin Graham wrote:


I was also referring to the mainstream in ancient Judaism, or perhaps more accurately mainstream Israelite religion, as represented by the biblical authors. I would be interested to see examples of biblical authors attributing body parts to God which cannot be understood as metaphor. This might end up as a more illuminating discussion than the one about qualifications.


There is clear evidence that Moses understood God anthropomorphically. Firstly, Gen 1:26 says humanity was created in the tselem of God. Numbers and Psalms mention the "form" of Yahweh. ...


Well, the ancient theological tradition is that the "image of God" was not physical but moral and spiritual. It is hard to be sure how ancient that understanding is. It could well be as old as the text, especially if that text is rather late as many hold. I accept that an alternative is that an ancient more anthropomorphic sense was reinterpreted by later biblical authors.

... Moses also mentions his encounter with God's presence on Sinai. He was forbidden to see his face, but referrred to God's "backparts." What is the metaphor behind that?

Well, Moses could not see God's face because he doesn't have a visible face - a lesson which God was trying to teach Moses with this incident. What was it that Moses actually saw? The text refers to God's 'AXORIYM, a word which can refer to the rear parts of an object or a person, but is more commonly rather metaphorical, so the translation might be more like "from behind". This sounds like a metaphorical description of the pillar of cloud and fire, God's shekinah glory, which Moses and the Israelites are to follow. I don't think it requires to be taken literally.


--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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