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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 1:1-3, was: Alter's translation
  • Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 13:19:03 -0600

Herman Meester wrote:

Dear Peter,To be sure, I do not think the masoretes are never wrong, or that
theyare divinely inspired. I just think it is highly unlikely they wouldnot
have known exactly what they were handing down to us in this case;we are
talking about the first verses of Tora, not something somewherein Chronicles.
I admit, "בראשית BR)$YT" may have been meant as "in the beginning". Myintent
was, however, to respect MT first, and then try to make senseof it; only if that really doesn't
work we could look for extra-MTsolutions, like emendations and the like.
Don't you think by the way, the parallel with Gen 2,4-7 is remarkable?It supports
"my" understanding of Gen 1,1-3 very well.
About LXX, it's true it's an old source, yet it's a translation madein Egypt
for a Greek audience. The translators and how good theirHebrew was we may
never know, and how much did they adjust the Hebrewtext to fit their theology?
About my theology with the "light" and so on, I do agree with you: wefirst
have the text and its syntax, and then theology. However, I didstart wih the former and
then saw it produced the latter. You see, I'mnot much of a theologian at all ;)
RegardsHerman

HH: There are verses where there is a preposition followed by a noun in the construct, followed by a verb that seems to be in relation to the noun (1 Chron. 29:3: "above all I provided"), but they don't seem to require the insertion of "of" in English the way Gen 1:1 would by your view. Another example might be Prov 17:4 ("before a quarrel breaks out"), but here the preposition and noun function together as a preposition.

HH: Another difficulty with your view is that it gives an imperfect meaning to the perfect verb arb, it seems to me. There is a process of creating, and at the beginning of it something happens. Also, where there is a verb in a construct relationship to a prepositional phrase and a possible modification with "of" in English, it usually involves an infinitive, such as we see at Gen 2:4: "in the day of the Lord's making earth and heaven."

Yours,
Harold Holmyard





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