>Actually, I believe the text reads ki beyom 'akolka mimenu
>mot tamut. So the time of death is indeed specified as "in
>the day of your eating" or "at the time of your eating."
>Hermeneutics may then come into play after all. If, for
>instance, we find it unlikely that the Lord was merely
>putting forth a vain threat, we would be left with the
>conclusion that Adam (and Eve) did indeed die that day as
>the Lord said they would...spiritually, that is.
Bryan,
I dont take "in the day..." as literally as you do. The phrase is
unspecified (as opposed to "today" or "tomorrow"). It is as vague and
imprecise, I think, as "the Day of the Lord" or in Christian terms, "the Day
of Christ's return". Thus, I render the phrase "whenever you eat of it,
death will result", which nicely preserves the ambiguity of the phrase.