Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear Petr,

Let us speak to what the text says not to what "supposed sources" are that
cannot be proved one way or the other.

TOB in TWOT, Vol. 1, pp. 345 - 346, indicates five areas of meaning:
    1)    practical, economic, or material good,
    2)    abstract goodness such as desirability, pleasantness, and beauty,
    3)    quality or expense
    4)    moral goodness,
    5)    technical philosophical sense.

I would take the use of TOB in Genesis 1, since it is an adjective here (1:4,
10, 12, 18, 21, 25 & 31) as referring to the idea of qualitativeness. The 
remark
of, "it is good" is the description that God gives to that part of creation of
each day with "very good" being given for the sixth day as a description of 
the
results of the Creation of Man and Woman (Genesis 2 is merely a more detailed
description of that 6th day). Thus, TOB "good" = perfect.

Genesis 2:9 (2x), 12  are used in a moral and qualitative/descriptive uses;
while, 2:18 is more of a qualitative use, because it is a judgement of God 
about
the singleness of man ('Adam), not a moral judgement.

See also Nelson's Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament, pp. 162-164; A
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, pp. 99-100. I do not have access to
TDOT.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Petr Tomasek" <tomasek AT etf.cuni.cz>
To: "K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>
Cc: "B-Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 10:09 PM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] tob in Genesis 1


> > > Dear all,
> > >
> > > I am doing my research on the meaning of tob in Genesis. It makes me
> > > confuse whether  tob is comprising the moral as well as the functional
> > > component. Kindly advise, your contribution is much appreciated.
> > >
> > > regards,hh
> > > cheechen
> > >
> > >
> > > Tob טוב in Genesis 1 could be understood as morally neutral, as it was 
> > > in
a
> > context where there was no immorality. That came later. Therefore, when 
> > God
> > mentioned that everything he had made was exceedingly pleasing, he 
> > referred
> > to the functional aspect.
>
> That's totally nonsense, Karl, the Genesis 1 (BTW, I don't know if
> cheechen ask just about the first chapter!) is a "preamble" to the
> Torah and as such it reinteprets old babylonian myths in legalistic
> (halakhic) terms. So your pseudohistorical reading of it is totally
> unapropriate.
>
> > Karl W. Randolph.
>
> -- 
> Petr Tomasek <http://www.etf.cuni.cz/~tomasek>
> Jabber: butrus AT jabbim.cz
> SIP: butrus AT ekiga.net
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>


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