At our last meeting we discussed the symbol located under the first
letter of the first word in Genesis 1:1 -
Remember - Hebrew is read from right to left - so the first letter in
the word is -
We learned that the symbol under the letter ( :
) should be translated as "a" instead of
"the." Therefore, using the traditional translation,
Genesis 1:1 would begin - "In a beginning." Today we
will examine the "in" part of the translation.
Always keep in mind that, in almost every case, translators have more
than one choice when they make their translations. Once they make
that choice their readers never know anything about
the other options that their translators rejected.
Discussing those other options isn't always easy. One factor that
makes this very difficult is that
we are dealing with the words of the Bible. People have strong beliefs about
their Bible's words, even if they were written by a translator. People forget that they
are reading the words of translators, not those of the original
author. Just remember that if the words in your Bible are English,
you are reading a translation, not the original, and somebody had to choose
those English words.
So, let's return to the discussion of the first letter in
Genesis. The translator had other options than
"in" when they made their translations. Below are
some of the other choices (HOLLADAY LEXICON
page 32 column A):
(1) in;
(2) among; (3)
as; (4) within;
(5) on; (6)
according to; (7) into;
(8) by; (9)
with; (10) without;
(11) against; (12)
[away] from; (13) more
than; (14) through
[by]; (15) for; (16)
because of, for the sake of; and (17)
when.
Get your pen & paper and write down a few of the
options for the first letter and the symbol under it. Does the
choice you make affect the meaning? Does it affect your
theology? Share your thoughts
with others by using our new GENESIS DISCUSSION
BOARD - just click
here. If you post a message to the GENESIS
DISCUSSION BOARD we will also add you to our
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