Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rolf" <rolf.furuli AT sf-nett.no>]

Dear John,

I am not aware of of a single instance in the Tanakh where the context 
suggests that (lM does not have a temporal meaning, but have a local meaning. 
This is also the case with the corresponding Aramaic word. To the best of my 
knowledge, the local meaning is late and was acquired through Aramaic; for 
example, (LM HABBA in the Mishnah. We should keep in mind that the basic 
meaning of (LM is a time with hidden length (cf. the verb); it can be 
eternal, but needs not be eternal. We should also be careful with the meaning 
of the Greek word AION, It can refer to eternity, or it can have a local 
meaning. The Greek world KOSMOS is in most Bible translations translated by 
world. The references can be, 1) the world of mankind, 2) mankind outside the 
Christian congregation, 3) the circumstances into which a human being os 
born, 4) adornment, and 5) possibly one time: the universe. The word AION  
does not have any of these references. So, to translate both AION  anD KOSMOS 
 as "world,"  which many Bible translations do, cause confusion. Some 
translations use "age" for AION, and this works in some contexts. But the 
basic meaning of AION in the local sense is the things and circumstances that 
characterizes a certain period of time (this AION, the previous AION, and the 
coming AION). There is only one KOSMOS  but there are several periods 
referred to by AION.

The original question referred to Ecclsiastes 3:1. The readers seek a 
commentary on a book of the Bible in order to be illuminated. Biblia Hebraica 
has been widely criticized for all the "L's" and other guesses, and to 
introduce a different reading than the Hebrew text has, when there is 
absolutely no manuscript evidence for it anywhere, is in my view to mislead 
the readers. To appeal to the context is in my view very weak; do the 
interpreter really understand the context? I see no problem in discussing 
possibilities, when these are portrayed as possibilities, and the reader 
should be taught that we should not amend the text without solid evidence. 
Guesses are often masked in different ways, and the readers do not deserve to 
have the guesses of the scholar.



Best regards,


Rolf Furuli
Stavern
Norway


Lørdag 1. Juni 2013 17:58 CEST skrev John Leake <jesleake AT yahoo.co.uk>:

> I'm interested that 'eternity' is said to be the 'traditional' 
> interpretation. That's the LXX's position, certainly (αἰῶνα), but the 
> Vulgate (mundum) and Rashi (and I see the JPS translation) all go for 
> 'world' which indeed gives much more satisfactory parallelism (את הכל עשה 
> || את העלם נתן). Just a observation.
>
> John Leake
>
> ----------------------------------
> ان صاحب حياة هانئة لا يدونها انما يحياها
> He who has a comfortable life doesn't write about it - he lives it
> ----------------------------------
>
> On 1 Jun 2013, at 16:05, "Rev. Bryant J. Williams III" 
> <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net> wrote:
>
> > Dear Jerry,
> >
> > Considering the immediate context and the near context of the chapter I 
> > would think that changing the pointing would, although possible, but not 
> > probable. The consonantal text would go either way, but 'olam fits much 
> > better. The immediate context has not time represented by time, "zeman," 
> > in 3:1-8, then 'olam in 3:11, 14 in juxtaposition with creation 
> > represented by (asah, "made"). This gives more to the thought that 
> > "eternity" has a more metaphysical quality to the thought of 
> > "timelessness." This "timelessness" is something that man is not able to 
> > wrap the mind around as indicated by the latter part of the verse in 
> > which "man" is unable to "fathom," "understand," "comprehend," the works 
> > God has made. The use of 'olam in verse 14 corresponds to what is said in 
> > verse 11. In the end man is to "revere" God, i.e. to glorify and praise 
> > Him for who He is, The Creator.
> >
> > Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
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> >