God Guesswork

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”  Genesis 1:26  NASB God said – “How can…

Harder Than It Looks

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may [d]prove what the will of God is, that which is good and [e]acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12:2  NASB Not be conformed – I didn’t know if I should choose the verse in Genesis (1:26) or this verse in Romans. …

47.78.04° N, 25.49.70° W

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:9-10  NASB Seas – The ancient fear of chaos.  The…

Halakhic Man

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”  Genesis 1:26  NASB Image/ likeness – We have probably…

Active Directive

And God said, “Let us make a human in our image, by our likeness, to hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and the cattle and the wild beasts and all the crawling things that crawl upon the earth.  Genesis 1:26  Robert Alter Hold sway – Most of…

Becoming Human

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness;”  Genesis 1:26a  NASB Mankind – A famously misunderstood verse!  ʾādām in this English translation is rendered “mankind,” assuring that the reader will understand it as “everyone of the species.”  Adapted from the paradigm of Greek philosophy, this verse appears to claim that all…

In His Image

“To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.  Isaiah 40:25  NASB Will you liken – When we use a verb like dāmâ (to be like, to resemble) with God, we usually form the question in this way:  “What is God like?”  But you can instantly recognize that this…

Conversation and Identity

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;  Genesis 1:26a NASB Image/likeness – According to a footnote in my Siddur, a synonym for nefesh hayah in the Mishnah (Bava Kanna 2a) is mav’eh which the Talmud derives from the root ba’ah (to ask, request, seek).  Furthermore, Onkelos renders nefesh hayah as “speaking spirit” (ruah mamlal’).  The implication is significant. Our identity is…

Start Right

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;  Genesis 1:26a NASB Image/likeness – As we begin another “eternal return”[1] cycle, perhaps we should start with a decidedly different view than the one behind a New Year’s pagan festival. The OT recognizes man’s total dependence with great clarity. Man is a creature…