From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 3:15 and order of ideas
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:08:56 -0600
Dear Chris,
I cannot find any demonstrable instance in the Tanakh of zara( taking a
masculine noun or pronoun as its subject and meaning "to impregnate." Can
someone point me to attestations that I have overlooked?
HH: What follows is not the Tanakh, and the
grammar of the passage is debated (the KJV
thought that Sarah conceived seed), but the best
interpretation of Heb 11:11 follows the path of
the NIV:
Heb. 11:11 ΒΆ By faith Abraham, even though he was
past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was
enabled to become a father because he considered
him faithful who had made the promise.
HH: A literal translation of "become a father" is
"for a laying down of seed." That is what seems
to reduce the credibility of the KJV
interpretation:
Heb. 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself
received strength to conceive seed, and was
delivered of a child when she was past age,
because she judged him faithful who had promised.
HH: It is BAGD that notes the meaning of KATABOLH
can be a technical term for the sowing of the
seed, for begetting (TOU SPERMATOS [EIS GHN H
MAHTPAN] "of the seed [in earth or womb]." BAGD
says that if this understanding is correct, the
term could not apply to Sarah in Heb 11:11, but
only of Abraham. Of course the verb KATABALLW can
mean "throw down."
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 3:15 and order of ideas
, (continued)