Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>]

Sounds like they copied the Torah, not vice versa - took from a 
universal account, and put mythological figures into the story. And 
they did not understand the theology/nature of G-d as pre-existing 
everything.

Shoshanna




The following excerpt is from http://www.geocities.com/stmetanat/genesis1.htm

It basically relates a theory of vowel pointing to
support the theory that the author of Genesis 1 ripped
off Marduk mythology.

Here is the reasoning presented:

BEGIN QUOTE
’ÄúIn the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’Äù is only 
one of possible translations. When the word ×ë×®×ê is vowel-pointed 
as ×ë÷º÷½×®÷½×ê (bŸÅrŸÅ), it is a verb meaning ’Äúhe created’Äù. 
However, it is probable that the original vowel-pointing was 
×ë÷º÷ƒ×®÷¼×ê (ber‰ç), which is a gerund meaning ’Äúcreating’Äù; in 
which case the verse translates as ’Äúin the beginning of God’Äôs 
creating the heavens and the earth’Äù. This provides a much clearer 
setting for what comes after.

In the beginning of God’Äôs creating the heavens and the earth, there 
was not a state of total nothingness or nihilum: there was a primeval 
realm of water to be resolved into the reality of sea and sky we see 
today. The word teh‰çm, meaning ’Äúabyss’Äù, is an allusion to an 
ancient, pre-Biblical Babylonian myth. According to Babylonian 
mythology, the god Marduk fought the water-goddess Tiamat (=teh‰çm), 
slew her and cut her into two: the sea and the sky.
END QUOTE

Convinced?


James C. Read
UK
















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