Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Kevin Graham" <kevlds AT hotmail.com>]

==  Kevin, please stop saying things like "scholars are generally in 
agreement", and come up with some good arguments against this rather obvious 
point that the meaning and purpose of the image of God in Genesis 1:26 is 
explicitly stated in that same verse, that humanity will have dominion.

Peter, please don't pretend I've presented ZERO arguments, but merely relied 
on consensus. The text only says dominion was a consequence of being in the 
image, it does not say that dominion is the defining element of the image. I 
have the consensus of scholarship backing me on this point, so how can you 
sit there and say your interpretation is such an "obvious point" and that it 
is "explicit"?

== Dominion was God's purpose in creating humanity, and this was possible 
because the image of God distinguished them from the animals etc.

But this doesn't say what the image is. The blessing of dominion was granted 
AFTER man was created in the image of God. Again, I've provide far more 
material than the two of you put together on this point, so how can you 
imply that I haven't made any arguments and have relied strictly on 
consensus? I bring up consensus for two reasons. 1) So you know I'm not just 
pulling this stuff out of my butt, and 2) because it is a valid observation 
when its plausibility is doubted as "obvious" and "explicitly" so. It is so 
obvious, but the most respected commentators disagree. OK.

== While I would not claim that this is all there is to the image, the link 
in this verse is so close that "defining element" seems to me exactly how it 
should be described.

I've provided plenty of conflicting evidence in my other post. There appears 
no reason to believe this to be so other than theologica, and you've 
provided no reason to believe otherwisel. All the early references or 
allusions to Gen 1:26, even in the Hellenistic period,  undermine your 
thesis.  For instance, one Jewish tradition recalls that the angels 
worshipped Adam shortly after his creation, because they mistook him for God 
Almighty. Why? Because he was created in God's glorious image. He looked 
just like him. There is nothing supporting the domonion explanation and 
nothing to support the morality explanation prior to the middle-ages. So if 
you want to keep pushing these arguments, you have to deal with the mountan 
of conflciting evidence I've presented, and give us something more 
authoritative than your blase dismissals

I would think that if any of the modern apologetic explanations held any 
water, then there would at least be SOME evidence of these arguments in the 
Jewish tradition prior to the Rabbinic period. But you've offered absolutely 
nothing by way of pre-rabbinic evidence. Instead, again, everything alluding 
to the image of God implies the very interpretation I've been suggesting. 
Were the Jews getting their own scripture wrong for thousands of years?