From: George Murphy (gmurphy@raex.com)
Date: Sun Nov 02 2003 - 19:58:55 EST
Walter Hicks wrote:
>
> Vernon Jenkins wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > I read in the Hebrew of Gen.2:5 that the pristine earth experienced no rain;
> > and in 2:6, a brief reference to the alternative hydrologic cycle that then
> > obtained.
>
> And I read in english
>
> 2.6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the
> ground-
> 2.7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into
> his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
>
> So Adam was made of mud (or do we have interpret something)?
>
> Interpret? Interpret? Surely that is not allowed ;)
>
> In the 50's Tennessee Ernie Ford had a song called "16 Tons". The first line was
> "Some people say a man is made out of mud."
>
> Biblical literalist no doubt.
I don't want to defend Vernon's argument, but Gen.2:7 says "from the dust of the
ground." The Hebrew `aphar is "dust". It is not legitimate interpretation to infer
from v.6 that all the ground was muddy & thus ignore the literal sense of v.7.
It is of interest however that the Vulgate translated the Hebrew as /de limo
terrae/, which Douay-Rheims Challoner in turn renders as "of slime of the earth." But
this is not what the Hebrew says, as all the modern translations agree.
& of course whether or not this is to be understood as an historical &/or
scientific description is another question.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@raex.com
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
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