But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Exodus 33:20 NIV One – Let’s begin this investigation by noticing an important change in the English translation. The NIV (as above) uses the phrase “no one,” rather than the direct Hebrew “no man.” The actual Hebrew word is ʾādām, but the NIV translators have offered…
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [p]suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NASB Not good – God’s words, lōʾ ṭôb, are an amazing assessment of the human condition. According to the first chapter of Genesis, everything was good. In fact, more than good. Very good. Blessed. Exactly as intended. But less than 17 verses later, after…
And Job said, “May the day on which I was to be born perish, as well as the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’” Job 3:2-3 NASB Boy – The Hebraic idea of a person encompasses all of that person’s life. This includes all the relationships, connections, obligations, heritage, and genealogy that make someone who he is. …
Your faithfulness continues throughout generations; You established the earth, and it stands. Psalm 119:90 NASB Generations – Disney borrowed from Genesis. “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Well, maybe not exactly. After all, the…
May their encampment be laid waste, and in their tents may no one dwell. Psalm 69:26 [Hebrew Bible] Robert Alter No one dwell – Enough already! David’s already cursed them. He’s already wished them trapped, blind, and feeble. He’s elicited the storm God to scorch them with hot lava. Why keep the curses going? Ah,…
Leave off from man, who has breath in his nostrils. For of what account is he? Isaiah 2:22 Robert Alter Of what – כִּֽי־בַמֶּ֥ה ki-va me(h). Stringing together ki (for, but, thus, because, when, . . .), ba (in, at, with, away from, among, upon . . .), and me(h) (what, which, that, how), the…
I will not act in My blazing wrath, I will no more destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I do not desire to root out. Hosea 11:9 Robert Alter Not a man – Christian theology employs texts like this one to support its view…
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 NASB To them – This is the first time…
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. Genesis 2:4 NASB The account of – The King James renders this verse as “these are the generations of.” This represents the Hebrew tôlēdôt, but it misdirects us in English. The English word…
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.” So God created man in His own image, in the…
