Biblical Hebrew Forum

["JAMES CHRISTIAN READ" <JCR128 AT student.apu.ac.uk>]

HH: Most scholars apparently do not think that is the best rendering,
since major published translations of the Bible do not have "had
become." It is incongruous with the context which describes things "at
the beginning." There is no former state to refer to.

JCR: But of course there is a former state. There was no
heavens or earth. Elohim created [perfective aspect] them
and they had come into existence [perfective aspect]
formless and waste. I am unaware of even a single
natural occurence of English 'was' where the aspect is
perfective.

HH:
KJV: Gen. 4:21 And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of
all such as handle the harp and organ.

JCR: This translation simply doesn't make sense. The
English 'he was the...' implies that he is no longer
such. No such problem is derived from the perfective
translation of 'he became/ended up/came to be/ the...'.