Re: Hebrew terms

George Murphy (gmurphy@raex.com)
Sun, 14 Jun 1998 21:46:56 -0400

Loren Haarsma wrote:
>
> I'm hoping that someone who has studied Hebrew can help with a
> translation issue.
>
> Archeology has shown that Ancient Near Eastern "cosmology" pictured the
> earth and the sky sandwiched between primeval waters which were split
> into the "waters below" ("the Deep") and the "waters above" (with "the
> firmament" holding back the waters above the sky).
>
> There are a number of passages in the Old Testament -- particularly in
> Job, Psalms, and Proverbs -- where the New International Version
> translates a Hebrew term as "clouds," but where the context strongly
> suggests that the author had in mind, not ordinary clouds, but rather
> the "waters above the firmament." (There is a partial list of passages
> below. There are also many other passages translated as "clouds" where
> the context strongly suggests that the author had in mind ordinary
> clouds.)
>
> Question: Does Old Testament Hebrew use the same word for both "the
> waters above the firmament" and for "clouds"? The context and usage in
> various passages suggest that the writers understood a difference
> between them. But perhaps they did use the same term, or used several
> terms interchangeably. Does someone know the answer?
>
> Here are some passages where the context suggests that the term
> translated as "clouds" in the NIV was intended to refer to the waters
> above the firmament.
>
> Job 20:6
> Job 26:5-10
> Job 38:9
> Job 38:34
> Job 38:37
> Proverbs 3:20
> Proverbs 8:28
> Genesis 49:25
> Deuteronomy 33:13

None of these verses uses the Hebrew phrase from Gen.1:7, "the
waters above the firmament", _hamayim asher me`al laraqiah_ or that from
Ps.148:4, "waters above the heavens", _hamayim asher me`al hashamayim_,
for "clouds", but use other words. E.g., Job.38:37, Prov.3:20 & 8:28
use _shechaqim_, "dust, thin cloud, vault of heaven, sky".

> And possibly:
>
> Job 22:14
> Job 35:5
> Job 36:28-29
> Psalms 97:2
> Psalms 104:3
> Psalms 135:7
> Psalms 147:8

I didn't check these.

> The Genesis and Deuteronomy passages also make me wonder about the
> Hebrew term translated as "dew" in the NIV. (The context seems to
> suggest that the blessing to Joseph's descendents was to extend -- to
> put it colloquially -- "from the very tippy-top to the very bottom.")
>
> Related question: Does Old Testament Hebrew use the same term(s) for
> ordinary seas and for the waters below the earth ("the Deep"). Does it
> use such terms interchangeably?
>
> Here are some passages where a Hebrew term translated as "waters" seems
> to refer to "the waters above" or to "the Deep," and not to "ordinary"
> waters:
>
> Psalms 24:2
> Psalms 29:3
> Psalms 33:7
> Psalms 74:13
> Psalms 104:3,6,7
> Psalms 136:6
> Psalms 148:8
> Proverbs 8:29
> Proverbs 30:4

The "deep" in Gen.1:2, which may be related to the name Tiamat,
the chaos monster of Babylonian myth. This word is used in Ps.104:6 &
Prov.8:28. The other verses have the usual _yam_, "sea", or _mayim_,
"waters".
>
> And possibly:
>
> Job 28:25
> Job 38:30
> Psalms 46:3
> Psalms 93:4

I didn't check these.

> Any help would be appreciated. If you know of an expert to whom you
> could forward these questions, or if you know of a good reference, that
> would be helpful, too.
>
> Loren Haarsma

-- 
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@imperium.net
http://www.imperium.net/~gmurphy