Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ishnian" <ishinan AT comcast.net>]

Dear Ishnian,

Could you please send my attached post to the list. I have a new E-mail 
address, and b-hebrew does not accept it, even though I get mails from 
b-hebrew at this address.

Best regards,

Rolf Furuli




Dear Ishnian,

it is true that the ideas of a "firmamet" or "solid vault" are found in many 
cultures. When discussing RQY( in Genesis 1, we should neither assume that 
the writer of Genesis had the same idea ot another culture nor that he did 
not have such an idea. The question is what we can construe on the basis of 
the passage itself and of the use of the word in question in other contexts.

In this discussion, I would like to refer to an old, but still very valuable 
book, namely James Barr, "The Semantics of Biblical Language," 1975. Barr 
points out the danger of using the etymology of a word for semantic purposes, 
because the meaning and applications of a word changes through time. He 
stresses that what counts is the the meaning of a word at that time it was 
used, and in its own context. Barr coined the term "the etymological 
fallacy." That "hammering out" is a part of the etymology of RQ( does not 
have much weight when we are considering its meaning and reference in Genesis 
1. Karl has already referred to  Job 37:18. What is "hammered out" or 
"spread" is $XQ, which can refer to clouds or to the sky. In Isaiah 40:15 $XQ 
refers to dust, and in Psalm 18:12 it refers to clouds. Therefore, we must 
conclude that the root RQ( can refer to hammering out a solid object or to 
spreading out something that is not soli d. We should therefore look at 
Genesis 1 apart from the views of other cultures, and we should not be guilty 
of the etymological fallacy. 


Best regards,


Rolf Furuli
Stavern
Norway