On 10/31/06, Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote:I note that God's original command in 2:17 has the infinitive absolute, MOT TAMUT, although Eve's restatement of it in 3:3 lacks this, perhaps a subtle indication that she is already sceptical. So when the serpent responds in 3:4 with the negated infinitive absolute, LO-MOT TEMUTUN, could the meaning be something like "It is not certain that you will die", rather than "You will certainly not die"?
For example, the frequent repetition of MOT YUMAT seems to militate
against an emphatic meaning. So does, e.g., the particular use in Gen
3:4: "The serpant told the woman you will not die" is much more
likely than the nearly nonsensical, "the serpant told the woman you
will not die empatically/certainly/etc."
Why is "the serpent told the woman you will most certainly not die"
"nearly nonsensical"? You seem to assume that the empasis or
intensity applies only to the verb and the "lo" negates the
hypothesized intensive verb. But it's quite possible that "lo"
negates the verb "die" rather than "most certainly die". When
someone (that is, the woman) has her doubts, this is quite a
persuasive technique and makes perfect sense in context.
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