Biblical Hebrew Forum

[fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>]

Hello Karl:

A voice in the wilderness you may be.

The word רע may exclude any moral aspect or connotation in 14th century
b.c., hebrew. I doubt however, that you would find much support here or
elsewhere for that view. Witness Moses' historic speech in Deuteronomy
30:15:

ראה נתתי לפניך היום את החיים ואת הטוב ואת המות ואת הרע

to mean "see I have set before you this day life and good and death and
displeasing."  ?

The Moshe speech on both sides of this statement appears all about and only
about the required moral behavior of the hebrew people.

regards,

fred burlingame






On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 4:23 PM, K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com> wrote:

> Fred:
>
> On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 8:38 AM, fred burlingame 
> <tensorpath AT gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Karl:
>>
>> Thanks for your message.
>>
>> Please allow me to respond.
>>
>> 1.  Genesis 2:17:
>>
>> ומעץ הדעת טונ ורע לא תאכל ממנו כי ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות
>>
>> generally translates by the academic community, in pertinent part, here
>> (and elsewhere across the masoretic text), as: "evil," and not
>> "displeasing." The "tree of knowledge of good and displeasing," represents
>> not, the english rendering here (and elsewhere in the old testament),
>> commonly accepted.
>>
>
> You are mixing translation with meaning in the original language. Further,
> “commonly accepted” does not always mean accurate.
>
>>
>> 2. The hebrew verb root of the noun שלום , generally translates as to make
>> whole or complete by payment.
>>
>
> Payment is only one way of making whole or complete, depending on the
> context and what is being made whole. Look up in a concordance. I like to
> use Lisowski’s.
>
>>
>> Deuteronomy 23:1
>>
>> כי תדר נדר ליהוה אלהיך לא תאחר לשלמו כי דרש ידרשנו יהוה אלהיך מעמך והיה בך
>> חטא
>>
>> generally translates in pertinent part as "pay" vows.
>>
>> 3. The first of two couplets (double parallelism) in Isaiah
>> 45:7, contrasts light and darkness. The second of the two couplets hence,
>> likewise implies a crisp and clean contrast.
>>
>> 4. All of the above circumstances argue for and support an english
>> rendering of "good and evil" in Isaiah 45:7, versus your proposed
>> contrast "fullness and displeasing."
>>
>
> “Evil” in English includes a moral aspect that is not included in the
> Hebrew word רע, but is included in the Hebrew word רשע. Which words are used
> in the verse? Go with that.
>
>>
>> regards,
>>
>> fred burlingame
>>
>>
>> Karl W. Randolph.
>