Thursday, December 4, 2008

GENESIS CHAPTER 1:1 and 2 part 2

Be-reshith bara Elohim eth ha-shamayim we-eth ha-arets: (2) we-ha-arets hayethah tohuwa-bohu we-choshekh al-pnê tehôm we-rûach Elohim merachepheth al-pnê ha-mayim.

In beginning Gods (he) created the heavens and the Earth. But the Earth was laid waste and made desolate, and destruction turned on the abyss.

Something I want you to think about, while I'm cooking Dog Food with my wife, and helping my son with his homework...why didn't I put "the" in my translation of the first verse?

Because it's not there in the Hebrew... ha-shamayim= the heavens...ha-arets= the earth...be-reshith=in beginning...if the writer(GOD) had intended it to say "In the beginning" it would read...Ba-reshith...be-reshith, in its construct here, is not used like this anywhere else in the Old Testament...be=in...reshith=first...perhaps Be-reshith is an idiom?
Ponder that for awhile...I'll be back when I'm done...

It's late...I'm tired...still have a lot to do...we'll pick this up tomorrow...hopefully, before the Laker game...just remember, God is a really great writer...best I've ever read...he phrases things a certain way for a reason...people always seem to want to help Him out...explain away his grammar, etc...He doesn't need the help...
Anyway, I'll give you a hint on the idiom...think of how they start each episode(after the first one) on LOST or HEROES...

2 comments:

abaddon911 said...

Hello! It was this blog (and the one previous to this one) that I was making mention of when I wrote about the missing "the" idiom (as in: "In beginning" and not "In the beginning") It seemed to me like there was more you had desired to expand on. Perhaps not though. I apologize for the confusing reference before. I had read them all at once. I will be more specific in future comments. Thank you for your studies, stories and for the faithfulness in responding to our comments. You must have found a way to make the relative theory of time into an absolute. Your time consumed for the sake of these blogs is appreciated.

Christopher Blake said...

You were right about my wanting to expand on it...I think the placement of the quotation marks threw me...
A writer is only as good as his/her audience, so I thank you...and time is our most precious commodity...that's why I choose to give it to God when I can...my way of saying I love you to Him...

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Christopher Blake is a loving husband...devoted father...minister...crippled ex-cop...screenwriter...novelist...actor...and more than a little rough around the edges...