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Hebrew Without Vowels or Accents

The text of Genesis 1: 20 to 23 appears as follows:

Samaritan Targum Interlinear Translation

Here’s the interlinear translation of Genesis 1: 20 to 23 from tanakh.info:

Facts About Hebrew

We can add the following to our facts about Hebrew:

24.  The Hebrew adjective/noun chay  חי (Strong’s 2416 – 503 occurrences & 2417) means ‘alive, living’ forms part of the verbs chaya  חיי (Strong’s 2418) and chayah חיה (Strong’s 2421) translated as ‘live(d)’.  In Gen 1:24, 25, & 30, chayah חיה (Strong’s 2421 – 263 occurrences) are assigned Strong’s 2416, and translated as ‘beast’.  In Gen 1: 20, 21, 24, 30, 2:7 & 19 the adjective/noun chay (Strong’s 2416) is found in conjunction with the Hebrew noun nephesh  (Strong’s 5315) means ‘a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion’, and translated as ‘living creature’ until Gen 2:7 where they are translated ‘living being’ in reference to ‘adam’, then back to ‘living creature’, of the animals the man named in Gen 2:19.  This is an example of translator bias, where English words are chosen, not based on literal meaning, but to align with theology, which is the reason we can’t understand the meaning of scripture from English translations.

25.  The Hebrew tannin תנינם (Strong’s 8577) by definition means ‘serpent, dragon, sea monster’.  Only the NASB, Tanakh, and Jubilee Bibles translated tannin appropriately as ‘monster’ or ‘dragon’ in Gen 1:21.  Other Bible’s translate it as ‘creatures’ and the King James Bible as ‘whales’ which is incorrect.  Outside the Genesis creation account, tannin is never translated as ‘creatures/whales’, only as ‘serpent, dragon or monster’, evidencing this to be a mistranslation.

26.  The Hebrew adjective gadol  גדול (Strong’s 1419) most often translated as ‘great’, is from the verb/adjective gadal גדל (Strong’s 1431 & 1432) that means ‘to grow/growing up, become/becoming great’, the noun godel גדל (Strong’s 1433) that means ‘greatness’.  

The word ‘great’ conveys a positive sense, as an adjective it means more of something than average, and as a noun in it is used in reference to a distinguished person, but in scripture, ‘great’ isn’t always positive.  Gadal is used positively in relation to the ‘great’ things Yahweh will do in Joel 2:21, and the Messiah, the ruler in Israel whose ‘greatness’ will reach to the ends of the earth Micah 5:4.  It is used in a negative context of the ‘great’ things Satan’s northern forces do in Joel 2:20, of boasting Obadiah 1:12, arrogance Zeph 2: 8 & 10, magnifying ones self above another Dan 8: 4 to &  Zech 12:7, or ‘great’ mourning in Zech 12:11.

We must look at the context to determine whether ‘great’ is meant in a positive or negative sense. 

27.  The Hebrew noun sherets שרץ (Strong’s 8318), is the same as the verb sharats (Strong’s 8317) except for the vowel points, meaning ‘an active mass’ or ‘swarming/teeming’ respectively.  Although sherets/sharats occurs twice in Gen 1:20, most Bible versions translate it once as ‘teem’,  ‘swarm’, ‘abundantly’, or ‘be filled/full’, except the ESV where it is translated as ‘swarm with swarms’, and NASB as ‘teem with swarms’.  The duplication emphasizes the volume of monsters in sea in comparison to the birds in the heavens, an important part of the account that should not be omitted.

28.  The Hebrew verb barak ברך (Strong’s 1288 – 330 occurrences) and berak (Strong’s 1289 – 5 occurrences in Daniel) mean ‘to kneel, bless’, and are most often translated as ‘bless(ed)(es)’.  The masculine noun berek ברך (Strong’s 1290 – 25 occurrences), and feminine berak, (Strong’s 1291 – 1 occurrence in Dan 6:10) which are the same except for the vowel points, both mean ‘knee’, and they are the same as barak and berak except for the vowel points. 

Translating barak as ‘bless’ makes it appear the object to which it refers is favored by God, when that is not the case.  For example, in Gen 1:22 the verb barak is specific to the monsters and birds generating offspring, not an indication that they have God’s favor.  Similarly in Gen 1:28, the verb barak is specific to man being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth and subduing it and having dominion over every living thing that moves upon the earth.  In Gen 2:3, the verb barak is specific to the seventh day being set apart.  A more fitting translation would be ‘authorize, consent, allow, sanction, grant, enable, entitle’ which is what seems to be meant by God ‘kneeling’.

Constructing The Sentences

Let’s construct the sentences – subject, verb, object:

Gen 1:20 has a major clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘said’, and within the object are two subordinate clauses, first – the verb ‘teem’, and object ‘the waters with an abundance of souls living’, and second – the verb ‘fly’, and object ‘birds above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens’.

Gen 1:21 has a major clause, the subject ‘gods’, the verb ‘create’, there are three  et את that indicate they are direct objects of the verb ‘create’; ‘monsters great’, ‘every soul living that moves which swarmed the waters according to kind’, and ‘every bird winged  according to kind’.  Then a major clause, with the subject  ‘gods’, the verb ‘saw’, and the object ‘good’.

Gen 1:22 has a major clause, the subject ‘gods’, the verb ‘sanction’, there is plural  et אתם (indicated by the prefix ם) indicating two direct objects of the verb ‘sanction’; the first for the monsters (although this isn’t stated directly it is clear from the context that only the monsters fill the seas and the birds multiply on earth) to ‘be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas’ and the second for the birds to ‘multiply on earth’.  In the first direct object there is an et את indicating ‘the waters in the seas’ is a direct object of the verb ‘fill’.

Gen 1:23 has a major clause with the subject the ‘fifth day’, the verb ‘be’, and the object ‘evening’, and a sub clause with the verb ‘be’, and object ‘morning’.

Literal and Figurative Translation

The paragraph translates as follows:

And said gods “let swarm the waters with an abundance of souls living and birds let fly above the earth across the face firmament the sky”.  And created gods monsters great and every living soul that moves swarmed the waters to kind and every bird winged to kind and saw gods that good.  And sanction gods saying “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and birds let multiply in earth”.  And be evening and be morning fifth day.

Analysis

The ‘great monsters/dragons’ and ‘birds’ are opposites, and like the greater and lesser lights God created in separate spaces in Gen 1: 14 to 19, they are separated as a result of monsters being created for the ‘waters’ and birds for the ‘earth’ respectively in Gen 1:21 & 22.  Just as the separation of the greater and lesser lights on the second day was declared ‘good’, meaning acceptable for the time being, the separation of the monsters and birds on the fifth day is declared good in Gen 1:21.

The active mass of monsters or dragons living in the water, represent  monstrous leaders and king’s of the nations under Satan’s influence. In Ezek 29:3 Pharaoh is called a “monster great crouching in the midst river”, similarly in Ezek 32:2 God says Pharaoh is “like a monster in the seas”, and in Isaiah 13:22 & 34:13 there are monsters in their palaces/temples.  God destroys Jerusalem, Judah, Hazor (the greatest city in the land of Israel in the late Canaanite period, “the head of all those kingdoms” Joshua 11:10, which today is Tel Hazor), and Babylon, leaving them desolate, a place where only monsters live Jer 9:11, 10:22, 49:33, & 51:37. God destroys the mighty ones like Pharaoh by the sword of other mighty ones, desolating them, bringing them down to the pit, to Sheol where the strong and mighty ones slain by the sword end up Ezek 32: 11 to 32. 

Birds flying in the heavens represent Israel, however “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” Romans 9:6.  The nation of Israel became Babylon the great, glorified itself and lived sensuously, and was burned up with fire Rev 18:2, 7 & 8.  Which is what Paul meant when he quoted Isaiah “though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved” in Romans 9:27.  Righteous Israel (Israel of God) are represented as doves that God settles in their houses in Hosea 11:11 & Isaiah 60:8.

God had a plan from the beginning, ancient times, that was brought to pass Isaiah 37:26, established an ancient nation and let them declare the things that are coming, events that are going to take place Isaiah 44:7, declared the end from the beginning Isaiah 46:10, the purpose of rebuilding the ancient ruins Isaiah 58:12, on the favorable year of Yahweh Isaiah 61: 1 to 4, which Yahshua stated was fulfilled in Luke 4: 16 to 21.

In order to rebuild the ancient ruins, “God, intending to show wrath and make power known, bore with great patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” Romans 9:22.  Throughout time, God uses the nations to refine and test Israel, that those who call on God’s name, God will answer and say “they are my people” and they will say “Yahweh is my god” Zech 13:9.   When judgment takes place, mighty ones like Pharaoh are given for food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the heavens Ezek 29: 5, and birds that fly in mid-heaven are called to the great supper of God to eat the flesh of kings, commanders and mighty men and their horses in Rev 19: 17 & 18.

In my next article, I will look at Genesis 1: 24 to 31.

Hebrew Without Vowels or Accents

The text of Genesis 1: 14 to 19 appears as follows:

Samaritan Targum Interlinear Translation

Here’s the interlinear translation of Genesis 1:14 to 19 from tanakh.info:

Facts About Hebrew

We can add the following to our facts about Hebrew:

21.          In fact #5, we looked at et את which according to Strong’s and NAS Exhaustive Concordances is not translatable, and up until Gen 1:16 hasn’t been.  In Gen 1:16 there are four occurrences of et את , and the 4^th is translated as “He also made” in NIV and NLT, “He made” in Berean Study Bible, “He made” in NASB and KJB, and is not translated in the Tanakh (see above), ESV, ISV and Christian Standard Bible.

We discussed that in Brown Driver Briggs it states that et is “the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite”, which in this verse indicates that “two lights great”,  “the light greater”, “the light lesser”, and “the stars” are direct objects of the verb “made”. 

This is the first instance where the plural gods elohim אלהים is made to appear singular and masculine (male), a false image that permeates organized religion today.

22.          As we discussed in fact #10, Hebrew verb or אור (Strong’s 215) translated as ‘to give light/shine’  in Gen 1:15 is the same word as the noun or (Strong’s 216) translated as ‘light’ in Gen 1: 3 to 5, except for the vowel points.  There is another noun,  or with the prefix mem מ, maor מאור (Strong’s 3974) which means ‘a luminary’, and is translated as ‘lights’ in Gen 1:14 to 16.  In Gen 1:15, maor is preceded by the preposition ל that means ‘to, for’ (fact #15), translated as ‘for’ which makes it function as a noun, ‘for light’, but if translated as ‘to’ would function as a verb, ‘to light’.  This is something to keep in mind as we construct sentences – subject, verb, object, whether or not this methodology captures the meaning of the text, and if not, what the alternatives are.

23.          The Hebrew noun oth translated as ‘sign’ אות (Strong’s 226) and the noun moed מועד (Strong’s 4150) translated as ‘seasons’ in Gen 1:14, fail to capture the full meaning of this verse.  The noun oth more specifically means ‘pledge, oath’, being the same as the verb uth, that means ‘to consent, agree’, except for the vowel points which were added by scribes.  The noun moed is from the verb  יעד meaning ‘to appoint’, and most often translated as ‘appointed time/meeting’.  In the broadest sense, the message of Gen 1:14 is that  the heavenly luminaries allow mankind to track time, to know when the time for fulfillment of God’s ‘pledge, oath’ has arrived.

Constructing The Sentences

Let’s construct the sentences – subject, verb, object:

Gen 1:14 has a major clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘said’, and within the object are three subordinate clauses, first – the verb ‘be’, and object ‘light in the firmament of the heavens’, second – the verb ‘to divide’, and object ‘between the day and between the night’, third – the verb ‘be’, and object ‘for pledge and for appointed time, and for days and years’.

Gen 1:15 has a major clause, the subject ‘lights in the firmament of the heavens’, the verb ‘be’, and the object contains a subordinate clause, the verb ‘to light’, and the object ‘upon the earth’.  The sentence ends with a subordinate clause the subject is the major clause, the verb ‘be’, and the object ‘so’.

Gen 1:16 has a major clause, the subject ‘gods’, the verb ‘made’, and the object ‘two the light the great’, and two subordinate clauses – the first with the subject ‘the light greater’, verb ‘to rule’, and object ‘the day’, and the second with the subject ‘the light lesser’, verb ‘to rule’, and object ‘the night and the stars’.

Gen 1:17 has a major clause, the subject ‘gods’, the verb ‘set’, and object ‘them in the firmament of the heavens’, and three subordinate clauses, the first with the verb ‘to light’, and object ‘upon the earth’.

Gen 1:18 the second with the verb ‘to rule’, and object ‘over night’, the third with the verb ‘to divide’, and object ‘between the light and between the darkness’.  Then a major clause, with the subject  ‘gods’, the verb ‘saw’, and the object ‘good’.

Gen 1:19 has a major clause with the subject the ‘fourth day’, the verb ‘be’, and the object ‘evening’, and a sub clause with the verb ‘be’, and object ‘morning’.

Literal and Figurative Translation

The paragraph translates as follows:

And said gods “Be light in the expanse the heavens to divide between the day and between the night and be for pledge and for appointed time and days and years.  And be for lights in firmament the heavens to shine upon the earth and it was so.  And made gods two lights great, the light greater to rule the day and the light lesser to rule the night and the stars.  And set them gods in firmament the heavens to shine upon the earth, and to rule over day and over night and to divide between the light and between the darkness and saw gods that good.  And be evening and be morning day fourth.

Analysis

Tradition would have us believe that creation was perfect ‘in the beginning’, until ‘the fall’ in the garden of Eden in Gen 3, but we know from our study that it was not.  Throughout Genesis 1, God was creating separation between the wicked and righteous, and declaring the separation ‘good’.  In Gen 1:14, God made heavenly luminaries to divide between the day and night, and for tracking time, which is only necessary when life is finite.  The lights illumine the earth Gen 1:15 until all righteous mankind are reunited with God through the Messiah and all evil destroyed, along with death itself, at the final judgment Rev 20:11 to 15 & 21:23 to 25.

God, who knows all things, was preparing for the fall of mankind, and had already planned for their future salvation through the Messiah, which is the ‘pledge for the appointed time’, not ‘seasons’ as translators would have us believe.  Daniel’s 77’s prophecy points to the generation in which the Messiah was born as the decreed time the Messiah would come and rebuild Jerusalem Daniel 9: 24 to 27, which is the heavenly Jerusalem, not the earthly one.  The 77 generations are listed in Luke 3: 23 to 38, from Adam to Yahshua.  Yahshua warned that the ‘appointed time’, the ‘tribulation’, the ‘day of the LORD’ would take place in that ‘generation’ Matthew 24: 1 to 44,  Mark 13: 23 to 33, and Luke 21: 10 to 36. 

The ‘greater light to rule the day’ is the opposite of the ‘lesser light to rule the night’ in Gen 1:16 and they are separated having been created in the ‘day’ and ‘night’ respectively, which were separated on the first day Gen 1: 3 to 5.  As the separation on the first day was declared ‘good’, meaning acceptable for the time being, the creation of the greater and lesser lights in their separate spaces is declared good on the fourth day in Gen 1:17.

The ‘greater light’ that rules the day is the Messiah, the light that shines in the darkness, the darkness did not comprehend John 1:4.  Satan is the ‘lesser light’, the moon, and his angels, the stars who rule over the darkness called night Gen 1:5.  Satan is the ruler of the earth John 14:30 & 16:11 until the Messiah (the archangel Michael who stands guard over God’s people Dan 12:1) wages war with the dragon and his angels, a third of the stars of heaven swept away by his tail, and throws them out of heaven Rev 12: 4, 7 & 8.

In the New Jerusalem the illumination of God and the light of the Messiah will be the only lights Rev 21:23.

In my next article, I will look at Genesis 1: 20 to 23.

Hebrew Without Vowels or Accents

The text of Genesis 1: 9 to 13 appears as follows:

Samaritan Targum Interlinear Translation

Here’s the interlinear translation of Genesis 1:9 to 13 from tanakh.info:

Facts About Hebrew

We can add the following to our facts about Hebrew:

18.          The Hebrew el אל is translated as a participle ‘into’ in Gen 1:9  (Strong’s 413 which occurs 5517 times and is translated sometimes as ‘against’ in reference to positioning), but allegedly it could be a noun meaning god (Strong’s 410 235 times), or ‘not’ (Strong’s 408 725 times and Strong’s 409 4 times). The fact that the letter lamed ל which means ‘to, for’ is within the word el אל supports the Strong’s 413 definition, and this meaning makes sense in the context of Gen 1:9, makes it more probable. 

Plus, we don’t see  el אל translated as ‘god’, or ‘not’ until well into Genesis (chapters 14 & 13 respectively), and in the case of ‘god’ within known interpolations (4 times in the Melchizedek verses in Gen 14:18 to 22).  When we reach Genesis 13 & 14 in our study, we’ll need to consider whether the translation of  el אל as ‘god’ or ‘not’ is accurate, an error, or an interpolation.   

19.          The meaning of Gen 1:11 & 12 is obscured by translators word choices.  The verb עשה (Strong’s 6213) previously translated as ‘made’ in the form  יעש in Gen 1:7 “gods made the firmament”,  is translated as ‘bearing/yields’, in the form, עשה in Gen 1: 11 “the tree fruit makes according to kind”, and Gen 1:12 “and tree makes fruit whose seed to kind”.  The Hebrew verb zara זרע (Strong’s 2232) is also translated ‘yields’ but means ‘to scatter/sow’, “sprout the earth grass herb to sow seed according to its kind”.  These mistranslations blur the difference between plants which ‘sow/scatter seed’ and fruit trees which ‘make fruit’, which is critical to understanding the broader meaning of the text.

20.              In #4 we discussed the one letter word, beth, that means ‘in’.  In Gen 1:12 we find beth with the suffix waw in the Hebrew bow בו which indicates possessive ‘his, its’ and is translated as ‘in itself’.

Constructing The Sentences

Let’s construct the sentences – subject, verb, object:

Gen 1:9    has two clauses.  In the major clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘said’, the object is what they said, ‘bind together the waters under the heavens into one place and see the dry ground’.  Within the object of the major clause are two clauses, for the first clause the subject is ‘the waters’, the verb ‘bind together’, and the object ‘under the heavens’, and a subordinate clause with the verb ‘see’ and object ‘the dry ground’.  The sentence ends with a subordinate clause the subject is the major clause, the verb ‘be’, and the object ‘so’.

Gen 1:10 has three major clauses.  In the first clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘called’, the object is ‘dry ground, earth’.  In the second clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘called’ and the object ‘gathering of waters, seas’.  In the third clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘see’, and the object ‘that good’.

Gen 1:11 has one major clause and three sub-clauses.  In the major clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘said’, the object is what they said, ‘grow the earth grass, herb sows seed, tree fruit makes fruit to kind whose seed in’.  Within the object of the major clause are three sub-clauses with the subject is ‘the earth’, for the first sub-clause the verb is ‘grow’, and the object ‘grass’, for the second, the verb ‘sows’ and object ‘seed in itself’, and the third, the verb ‘makes’ and object fruit tree fruit with a sub-clause ‘to kind whose seed in itself’.

Gen 1:12 has two major clauses, the first with two sub-clauses.  For the first major clause, the subject is ‘the earth’, the verb ‘brought forth’, and the first object  which is a sub-clause the subject ‘grass, herb’, verb ‘sows’, and object ‘seed’, with a sub-clause ‘to kind’, and the second object which is a sub-clause the subject ‘tree’, verb ‘makes’, and object ‘fruit whose seed in itself to kind’.  The second major clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘saw’, and the object ‘good’.

Gen 1:13 has one clause.  The subject is the ‘third day’, the verb ‘be’, and the object ‘evening’, and a sub clause with the verb ‘be’, and object ‘morning’.

Literal and Figurative Translation

The paragraph translates as follows:

And said gods “gather together the waters under the heavens into one place and see the dry land”, and be so.  And called gods to dry land, earth, and collected the waters called seas and saw gods that good.  And said gods “sprout the earth, grass, herb, sow seed, tree fruit make fruit to kind whose seed in itself on the earth”, and be so.  And brought forth the earth grass, herb sow seed, to kind, and tree make fruit whose seed in itself to kind, and see gods that good.  And be evening and be morning third day.

Analysis

After God separated the waters above from the waters below, the earth was covered by the sea.  The Hebrew noun t’hom תהום translated as ‘deep(s)’ also means ‘abyss, sea’, the figurative meaning is ‘large difference’, and its origin is possibly related to the arabic hama which means ‘to be thirsty, to crave’.   In English the word abyss means ‘hell, the bottomless pit, primeval chaos, unfathomed depth, & moral depravity’.  In Rev 20:13 the sea is indicated to be one of the places the dead are sleeping at the time of the final judgment.

The ‘dry land’ is ‘the wilderness’ Ezek 19:13.  The land is dry due to the absence of the living waters above, God’s spirit Isaiah 44:3, the result of Satan, king of Babylon, overthrowing the cities of the world, and not allowing his prisoners to go home Isaiah 14:4 to 22.  The wilderness is where mankind are tested, as Israel was tested after their Exodus from Egypt, and those who failed to obey God’s commandments were not permitted to enter the promised land, including Moses for not believing, treating God as holy before Israel Numbers 20:12.

Gods gathered the waters, called seas, to expose dry land, called earth, and declared this separation to be ‘good’ Gen 1:9 & 10.  The Hebrew adjective/verb tob טוב means ‘to do/make good’, not ‘excellent’ as Brown-Driver-Briggs indicates.  The separation improves on the situation, making it acceptable to God until the new heaven and earth come down out of heaven from God, the first heaven and earth will pass away, there will no longer be any sea, the tent of God will be among mankind Rev 21:1 to 3, and the earth will not be dry anymore, it’s righteous residents having access to the water of life without cost Rev 21:6 to 8.

We see the difference between the literal, physical sea and dry land during Israel’s exodus from Egypt, when God divides the sea, allowing Israel to walk on dry land Exodus 14: 16 to 29, but Pharaoh’s army sink like a stone in the sea, the depths covered them Exodus 15: 4 & 5. But ‘dry land’ is not paradise either, yet it is on the ‘dry ground’, in the wilderness, that gods create plants that sow seed/offspring and fruit trees that make fruit Gen 1: 11 & 12!

Throughout scripture, fruit trees are used as an analogy for free will, which is why the seed is ‘in itself’, because all will eat “the fruit of their actions” Isaiah 3:10.  In Yahshua’s parable of the sower, there are two different seeds, the wheat sown by God and those with God’s spirit and weeds sown by the enemy, Satan and those with the spirit of lawlessness 1 John 3:2 to 10, and both allowed to grow together until the harvest when the weeds were gathered in bundles and burned and the wheat gathered into the barn, representing the kingdom of heaven Matthew 13: 24 to 30.

In his parable of the sower, Yahshua explains that the seed is the word of the kingdom, but unless the soil is good, it fails to yield a crop Matthew 13: 1 to 8 & 18 to 23.  Yahshua was “a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit” Isaiah 11:1, and he set an example for us to follow 1 Peter 2:21.  Yahshua said “I am the true vine, and my parent is the vine dresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, God takes away and every branch that bears fruit, prunes it so that it may bear more fruit” John 15: 1 & 2. 

Again we see that the Genesis creation account is dual, both literal and figurative at the same time.  The literal ‘sea’, ‘dry land’, ‘seed’ and ‘trees’ in our physical reality represent the spiritual choices we have before us.  Bearing fruit means loving the word in deed and truth, keeping God’s commandments, doing things that are pleasing in his sight, believing in the name of his son, Yahshua the Messiah, and loving ‘one another’ (the children of God only, as we are to not associate with those who do not abide in the teaching of the Messiah 2 John 1:9 to 11) just as he commanded, then God will abide in us by the spirit whom he will give us 1 John 3: 18 to 24.  In order to know the truth and God’s commands, we must study scripture and pray for the spirit of truth to teach us John 14:26 & 16:13.  The gate is small and the way narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it Matthew 7:14.

In my next article, I will look at Genesis 1: 14 to 19.

Hebrew Without Vowels or Accents

The text of Genesis 1: 6 to 8 appears as follows:

Samaritan Targum Interlinear Translation

Now let’s look at the interlinear translation of Genesis 1:2 to 5 on tanakh.info:

Facts About Hebrew

We can add to our list of important facts about Hebrew:

14.          In Genesis 1:6 & 7 there are three occurrences of the preposition/substantive בין , translated as ‘between’ but according to Strong’s means ‘an interval, space between’.  The first occurrences of this word were in Gen 1:4, and I didn’t pick up on the full meaning so I will go back and add it to my translation.

15.          In Genesis 1:6 there is another word to add to our list of common, single letter words found in the article In The Beginning, under #4.  At the end of the sentence, the word ‘waters’ מים occurs twice, and the second occurrence is prefixed with the preposition  ל that means ‘to, for’.

16.          In Genesis 1:7 we find the conjunction אשר that according to Strong’s Concordance means ‘that, who, which’, and is mostly translated as ‘which’, or ‘who(m)’, or ‘because’.

Robert Holmstedt in his 2002 dissertation, The Relative Clause in Biblical Hebrew: A Linguistic Analysis states that the relative clause modifies the noun ‘the waters’, “distinguishing between those waters that were above and below the dividing element, the firmament” p 115.  Holmstedt translates אשר as ‘that were’ in both occurrences in Gen 1:7, emphasizing the separation aspect, supporting that the waters above are different from the waters below.  This nuance is captured in some Bible translations as ‘that were’ (ESV) or ‘which were’ (NASB, and KJB), but not all Bible translations (NIV, NLT, and Berean Study Bible).

17.          In Genesis 1:7 we find a new adjective/adverb כן (Strong’s 3651) that according to Strong’s means ‘so, thus’, but according to Brown-Driver-Briggs, as an adjective means ‘right, veritable, honest’, as an adverb means ‘so’.  It doesn’t seem to affect the meaning of this verse, whether it ends with ‘and be so’ or ‘and be right’.

Constructing The Sentences

Let’s construct the sentences – subject, verb, object, like we did for previous verses:

Gen 1:6 has two major clauses.  In the first clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘said’, the object is what they said, ‘let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it separation space between the waters and the waters’.    Within the object are two subclauses, the subject of both is ‘gods’ from the first clause, in the first subclause the verb is ‘be’, and the object ‘a firmament in the midst of the waters’, and the second subclause the verb is ‘and be’, and the object ‘separation space between waters for waters’.

Gen 1:7 has two major clauses.  In the first clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘made’, the et את indicates that ‘the firmament’ is a direct object of ‘gods made’.    In the second clause, the subject is ‘gods’ from the first clause, the verb ‘separate/d’, and the object ‘space between the waters that were under the firmament and the waters that were above the firmament’, emphasized by the subordinate clause ‘and be so’. 

Gen 1:8 has two major clauses.  In the first clause, the subject is ‘gods’, the verb ‘called’, the object is ‘to firmament sky’.  In the second clause, the subject is the ‘second day’, the verb ‘be’, and the object ‘evening’, and a sub clause with the verb ‘be’, and object ‘morning’.

Literal and Figurative Translation

Finally, we can translate all the sentences in this paragraph:

And say gods ‘let there be firmament in the midst of the waters and be separating space between waters to waters.  So make gods the firmament and separating space between the waters which were under to firmament and space between the waters which were above the firmament, and be so.  And call gods to firmament ‘sky’ and be evening and be morning second day.

Analysis

Looking at what has transpired so far, there is clearly a major theme of separation.  Analyzing how this unfolded, we see that, at the start, gods ‘created’ the heavens and the earth’ in Gen 1:1, and the earth became formless/waste  and void/empty, and darkness over face of deep/abyss and spirit of gods hovering over face of waters in Gen 1:2.  The cause of the earth becoming ‘formless and void’ was the change in Satan from a perfect creation to unrighteous and was cast from the mountain of God as described in Ezek 28: 12 – 16. 

Gods said ‘let there be light and be light’ Gen 1:3, and the light was separated from the darkness on day one Gen 1:4 & 5.  God’s said ‘let there be firmament in the midst of the waters be separation space between waters to waters’, and ‘made gods the firmament’, and called to firmament ‘sky’ on the second day in Gen 1: 6 – 8.  Gods making, as opposed to creating, or speaking into existence appear to reflect a change to the creation due to corruption, hence the separation space between the waters above and below.

The figurative meaning of ‘waters’ in Genesis is similar to Revelation, where waters from God (those above) are said to be the source of life Rev 7:17 & 21:2, and those on the earth are ‘peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues’ Rev 17:15.  The ‘deep/abyss’ can also mean ‘sea’, a large body of water, representing Satan and his angels, who are also separated from God by the firmament.  The ‘deep’ causes trees to grow lofty, its roots extend to many waters, and its heart haughty in its loftiness, as Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, which appears to be referring to Adam, who is outside God’s garden Ezekiel 31: 1 to 10.   

 In my next article, I will look at Genesis 1: 9 to 13.

Interpolations (meaning “the insertion of something of a different nature into something else”) play a major part in redaction (meaning edit, censor or obscure) of the inspired word of God. Other forms of redaction include translation into languages other than the original Hebrew and Greek, mistranslation of key words and phrases, and improper chapter division.  Identifying redaction requires a firm understanding of the message of all Bible text in the original Hebrew and Greek, and a comparison to highlight that which has a different message.

A prime example of the opposing messages found in the Bible is in the difference between the traditional teaching about Adam and Eve and Paul’s teaching.  As Jerome Murphy-O’Connor said in his article Interpolations in 1 Corinthians, it was Paul’s opinion that “Adam was the transgressor par excellence (Rom 5: 12-21, 1 Cor 15:21-22, 45-49); and Eve was the prototype of the entire Corinthian community and not merely of the feminine element (2 Cor 11:3)”.  This truth is obscured by interpolations in 1 Cor 14: 34-35 and the Pastoral Epistles in their entirety, tradition which continues to teach that Eve was the cause of the fall, and redaction of the Genesis creation account, all working in concert to support this lie.

This example reveals the intricacy with which tradition changed the word of God into a lie Jeremiah 8:8.    Traditionalists would have us hold their words in the same esteem as the words of God, but in many cases they contradict them, polluting God’s words with theirs, making it impossible to distinguish between their lies and the truth without a comprehensive analysis.  This leads many to question their faith in God or put their faith in the church and its traditions hoping to find salvation which is only found through the Messiah Gal 2:16.

If I had to guess, I’d estimate that at least half the text of the Bible is not inspired by God.  The problem is so pervasive, we need to divide the Bible in sections to test one at a time.  Testing includes researching source and text criticism.  From the example above we see that not all sources are inspired, and some that are have sections added to deceive us.  When we find text we believe is inspired, and that which is closest to the original, we need to test its translation.

With this in mind, let’s begin testing Genesis.

One of the most important and most difficult decisions we must make is whether or not we believe “all scripture is inspired” as stated in 2 Tim 3:16.  As I stated in my article on Katharine Bushnell, there are two opposing schools of thought on this.  Some, like Katharine Bushnell, believe that “all scripture is inspired” and some, like Ray Munson, believe there are interpolations that need to be weeded out. 

According to Dr. Felix Just, 80% of scholars believe  the Pastoral Epistles and Ephesians  were not authored by Paul and “most likely written late in the first century by some member(s) of the ‘Pauline School’ who wanted to adapt his teachings to changing circumstances”.  Although he admits these writings are pseudepigraphic which means “false attribution of authorship”, works composed “as if it were written by a person from the past (the ‘attributed author), while the actual author was someone else (usually anonymous)”, he states that “these writings should not be called false writings”.  In his opinion, “judging a particular letter to be pseudepigraphic does not mean that it is any less valuable than the other letters, but only that it was written later by someone other than Paul” http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Paul-Disputed.htm .   

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, a leading authority on Paul and Professor of the New Testament, in an article titled Interpolations in 1 Corinthians, states “apart from the manifest contradictions, the principal reason for denying Pauline authorship of 14:34-35 is the invocation of the authority of the Law, as Paul never appeals to the Law in this manner”.  He points out that “vv34-35 are parallel to 1 Tim 2:11-15, not only in content but vocabulary” and opinions that 1 Tim 2:14 “is definitely un-Pauline in its attitude toward Adam and Eve: Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became the transgressor (v14).  For Paul, on the contrary, Adam was the transgressor par excellence (Rom 5:12-21, 1 Cor 15: 21-22, 45-49); and Eve was the prototype of the entire Corinthian community and not merely a feminine element (2 Cor 11:3).  The possibility that 1 Tim 2:11-15 is a return to a position once repudiated by Paul is discounted by what has been said concerning v36.”  In other words, he sees the contradictions as justification for disregarding their message.

I highly recommend going through the four part analysis on Cognitive Discopants titled Did Paul Write The Pastoral Epistles?  The author, Mason Slater, does a comprehensive analysis of the late attestation & mixed reception,  vocabulary & style, and lack of congruence with Paul’s journeys from other Pauline letters, all evidencing the likelihood that Paul was not the author.  He identifies that the Church tradition, teaching against Gnosticism, and Church structure all point to the “post-Pauline era”.  He identifies doctrinal differences between the Pastoral Epistles and Pauline writings, a different meaning for “keeping the faith” from referring to trust in God to trust in Church teachings, and “a more restrictive role for women”.  The alternate message is of great concern because it would leaven Paul’s teachings on vital issues.

The danger of these interpolations, is that they mix Paul’s teachings with a “different gospel” which is exactly what Paul warned against in Galatians 1:6.  The leaven in these verses replace faith in God with faith in Church tradition, subordinate women to men, and men to Church authorities, makes it appear that Paul considers the Law to hold authority over the congregation, and makes it appear that Eve was the transgressor not Adam, all of which are patently false.   Paul warned that those who distort the gospel of the Messiah are accursed in Gal 1:7 – 9. 

This evidences how challenging it is to find the truth.  Not only do we need to study scripture in its original languages, but we need to “test all things” 1 Thes 5:21, “weigh carefully what is said” 1 Cor 14:29, “test the spirits to see whether they are from God for many false prophets have gone out into the world” 1 John 4:1. We need to separate the truth from lies, because the truth sets us free John 8:32 from sin, sanctifies us John 17:17, leads us to holiness, and the outcome, eternal life Romans 6: 18 – 22, but lies are the works of Satan and his children 1 John 3:7 – 10 which keep us enslaved to sin, and the worthless elemental things in the world Gal 4:9. 

In my next article I will present a list of chapters and verses which are suspected interpolations.