Biblical Hebrew Forum

["YODAN" <yodanco AT yodanco.com>]

I completely disagree with the concept you state.  What does it mean
"correctly understand" -- does anyone today know what "correctly understand"
means when it comes to Biblical (or another ancient) text?  True, some
interpretations are very far from the text - they are called midrashim.  But
interpreting a text written in Biblical Hebrew (and I mean by this not only
the technical/grammatical aspects of the language) -- why isn't the
understanding I offered a valid one?  Surely you are not saying that I don't
understand the Hebrew meaning of the verse.  

Think about this -- if one is told today that they are terminally ill
(usually this is accompanies by some time-frame prognosis), isn't this the
beginning of death itself?  Isn't this even worse than death?  Sure, we all
know that we will die.  But only when one is told that they have a terminal
disease it is when they become aware of this fact at a different level than
before.  Adam apparently wasn't even aware that he is mortal. The revelation
he is can mean death. 

Anyway, you may agree or disagree -- I'm not planning to argue this. I just
offered my understanding of the text and consider am baffled why anyone
would consider THIS  Biblical phrase to possibly a clumsy lie. But this is a
free country and each person can interpret anything in any way they wish.  

-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of K Randolph
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:57 PM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Gen. 2:16-17 :: idiom or clumsy lie

Yodan:

But that is not what the text says. In correctly understanding
Biblical Hebrew, we need to limit ourselves to what the text says.

On 11/29/06, YODAN <yodanco AT yodanco.com> wrote:
> How about the meaning "on this day you will become aware of death" -- the
> awareness of death that is worse than death itself. This, the awareness of
> mortality, is one of the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit.
>
The text merely says "you shall surely die" nothing more.

It is known that the processes that will eventually cause your death
started the moment you were conceived in your mother's womb, but in
the average person it takes about 70 years to reach their conclusion.
In other words, you are dying from the moment of conception.

The ancients seemed to have this same understanding, in that one of
the words they used for 'man' comes from the concept of 'mortality',
i.e. mortal.

Also in Genesis 5:3 Adam sired a son in his image named Seth. One of
the aspects of Adam at that time was that he was mortal, therefore so
was Seth.

Yours, Karl W. Randolph.
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