Hello Peter,
Thanks for providing me with Armin Held's comments.
He wrote: Concerning the food question: Mike Satterlee's translation does not
work out because the Hebrew "le", repeatedly used in v.30, clearly specifies
the dative case for "every beast of the earth", for "every bird of the air",
and for "every crawling one of the ground". It definitely doesn't work out
from the Hebrew, one would have to change the text.
Well, I don't read Hebrew. But I have closely compared the Hebrew text in
Gen. 1:30 with that in Gen. 9:3. And they both appear to be constructed in
basically the same way and to be saying essentially the same thing.
I have suggested that Gen. 1:30 might be able to be properly read as saying,
"And all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the
creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in
it - I give, as every green plant, for food." To do this we eliminate the
word "to" before "all the beasts," "all the birds," and "all the creatures."
And we add the word "as" before "every green plant."
In Gen. 9:30 God told Noah, "Every creeping thing that is alive, for you
shall be food, even as the green plant, I have given you all things."
I believe Armin is saying that the word "to" in Gen. 1:30, as in the phrase
"to all the beasts of the earth ... I give every green plant," is definitely
a part of the Hebrew text and is not simply thought to be implied by
translators, as I have suggested. At this point, since Armin reads Hebrew and
I don't I will have to defer to his expertise. However, since the Hebrew
texts of Gen. 1:30 and 9:3 appear so similar, I will be seeking a second
opinion on this matter. As Ronald Reagan said, "Trust but verify."
However, as Armin points out, a translation of Gen. 1:29,30 such as the one I
have suggested is not necessary to understand that Gen. 1:27,28 is referring
to God's creation of the human race long before His creation of Adam and Eve.
Mike
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