Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jvass AT indiana.edu]

Dear all,
Regarding the line Bereshit 5:1, "zeh seifer toldat Adam...":

Seifer refers to written documentation of the lineage of Adam, which
follows this verse rather than precedes it. So I do not understand how
this could be an author's signature of what precedes it, particularly
as it begins a chapter and what follows is precisely what it introduces.

Chapter five contrasts quite a bit from the lineages of noah {beginning
with " 'eleh toldot noah..", in Isaiah 43:9, and the lineage of the
sons of Noah beginning with the words " 'eleh toldot
benei-noah shem, ham ve yafet.." in Bereshit 10:1.   What follows those
two statements which lack the word 'seifer' seem to be folk narratives
or oral history describing groups of peoples and their characteristics
whereas what we have in chapter five is a specific genealogy of a
family line for ten generations.

Whoever kept these records, it would seem they refer to chapter five.

My question is: What is the verb “be hibar’am in 2:4?  It is nifal, is
it a past tense form for lamed alef?    This is the line that seems to
introduce the second creation story (‘eleh toldot hashmayim ve ha’aretz
behibar’am…) or perhaps join the two stories.

Best,
Jill


Quoting Joel Stucki <joel AT stucki.ws>:

> On 7/16/06, JAMES CHRISTIAN READ <JCR128 AT student.apu.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Karl has suggested that Genesis 5:1 was an authorship
> > signature attributing authorship of Genesis 2:5-5:1 to
> > Adam himself. We have yet to see the evidence of this
> > ANE practise but I am particularly suspicious of this
> > one because I find it difficult to believe that fallen
> > Adam would be considered worthy of authoring a part of
> > what would become the hebrew canon.
> >
> > James C. Read
> > UK
> Not all traditions have a negative view of Adam. The Koran identifies
> him as a prophet. Many Jewish commentators have positive views of him
> as well. Christian views are quite varied. Some might suggest that a
> single wrong act might not permanently disqualify him from righteous
> deeds. There is also quite a bit of Jewish and Christian tradition and
> early apocryphal documents that claim Adam kept records. I believe
> Josephus even says as much.
>
> Joel Stucki
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