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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 2:6

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  • From: "Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>
  • To: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>, "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 2:6
  • Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 20:00:55 +0300

Well, Job 36:27 made me doubt about 'ed as "mist" in the first place. Can't be the mist that arises from waterless earth, and the clouds.
I would rather have Job 36:27 as something to do with "turn": he takes drops of water *to return* them as his rain.

I cannot believe that anyone was stupid enough to put two creation stories together. And I can grammatically reasonably read Gen2 as the story of development of the world, not of its creation.

Vadim


Vadim, it is quite obvious that the object of "will rise" in 2:6 is 'ed. Job 36:27, which is the only other place in which the word is used, makes it clear that 'ed has to do with water. Like it or not, Gen. 1:1-2:4 and the rest of chapter 2 tell almost opposite creation stories. In chapter 1, the world is founded on water, and man comes last. In chapter 2, the story begins with man being put into a desert. You can argue about the kind of irrigation system God would use, but "mist" is as good a guess as any.

Yigal

Does anyone know why 'ed in Genesis 2:6 is translated "mist"? This rendering has nothing to do with the root meaning, and both here and in Job "to turn" is more likely translation, assuming a derivation from aleph-holam-dalet.

Genesis 2:5 ends with, "Man was not there to work the ground."
Genesis 2:6, "He [man] would turn, he would rise out of the earth, would water the whole face of the ground." The man was formed from earth to water it.
Genesis 2:7, "Lord God begot the man, dust of the earth he [the man] breathed into his nostrils, essence of life; the man was for a living soul."

Translation "the mist" doesn't make much sense: if we assume that the earth was waterless, then where the mist came from? Besides, Genesis 1:7 explicitly mentions that the earth included much water.

Vadim Cherny
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