InSights

In the first post, I talked about the process of developing a research topic, gathering your sources, and starting to build your database of knowledge. If you have done things properly, your workspace may look something like this.  (Mine often does when I’m in the middle of a project.) Now, it is time to tackle...Read More

“Why do I have to write a research paper? It’s not like I’m going to be a professor or something….”  Surely, this is a thought that many students have had over the years, even if they may not have been bold enough to voice it to their professor. It is an understandable disposition, but one...Read More

At the beginning of a new academic pursuit, or even the beginning of a fresh academic term, there is a lot of excitement about what lies ahead. New books, new courses, new books, new friends, new experiences, new books, new concepts…did I mention that you get to buy new books? Some of that starts to...Read More

In the initial posts of the Insights series I began by examining the principal Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1. The series of posts focused on whether Gen. 1:1 was a grammatically independent statement or whether it was subordinate to 1:2 or 1:3. I outlined four reasons for favoring traditional understanding of Gen. 1:1 as a...Read More

In the previous post we noted that scholars who consider Gen. 1:1 to be a grammatically independent statement (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) differ on how it relates to what follows. We noted that some commentators consider Gen. 1:1 to be a summary of the creative events outlined in Gen....Read More

The initial posts of this series examined the leading Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1. The posts that followed focused on whether Gen. 1:1 is a grammatically independent statement, as the vast majority of English versions translate it, or whether it is grammatically subordinate to 1:2 or 1:3, as some late 20th and early 21st century...Read More

In previous postings, I have examined three reasons commonly-advanced for favoring the two alternative translations to the traditional rendering of Gen. 1:1 as an absolute beginning (“In-the-beginning God created the-heavens [or heaven] and-the-earth”). The arguments are based on grammar, style, and theology. In each instance I indicated why the arguments are not fully persuasive. In this post, I’ll address yet another area of inquiry: historical precedence in translation. This fourth area in my opinion tips the probability scales decidedly in favor...Read More

In the previous post, I looked at a second commonly-advanced reason for favoring the two alternative translations to the traditional rendering of Gen. 1:1 (“In-the-beginning God created the-heavens [or heaven] and-the-earth”). It was a stylistic argument that maintains that Gen. 2:4 and 5:1 indicate that berē’šît of Gen. 1:1 should be rendered as a subordinate statement (“when … began”). We found the stylistic basis...Read More

In the previous post, I began an evaluation of the strength of two leading alternative translations over against the traditional rendering of Gen. 1:1 as an absolute beginning, “In-the-beginning God created the-heavens [or heaven] and-the-earth.” Our evaluation proceeds on the basis of four-interrelated lines of inquiry. The initial inquiry related to grammar. In the present post I’ll look at style.    Stylistically, when commentators or translation committees interpret the initial word of Genesis (berē’šît) as a circumstantial phrase (“when...Read More

In the previous two postings, I introduced two alternative interpretations to the traditional rendering of Gen. 1:1 as an absolute beginning, “In-the-beginning God created the-heavens [or heaven] and-the earth.” These alternative translations interpret berē’šît in Gen. 1:1 as an adverbial Hebrew construct (“when … began”) and consequently subordinate Gen. 1:1 grammatically either to 1:2 or 1:3. In the following series of postings I will evaluate the strength of these two leading alternatives over against the traditional rendering of Gen. 1:1. The evaluation will be based on four interrelated lines of inquiry: grammar,...Read More

In the preceding post, I noted that it is grammatically possible to interpret and translate Genesis 1:1 as a dependent (subordinate) statement. Proponents of this interpretation and translation thereby make the whole of Gen. 1:1 grammatically subordinate to either 1:2 or 1:3 as an adverbial clause. These alternative translations interpret berē’šît in Gen. 1:1 as...Read More

In previous posts we have assumed the traditional translation of Genesis 1:1, “In-the-beginning God created the-heavens [or heaven] and-the-earth.” This familiar rendering interprets Gen. 1:1 as an absolute statement, grammatically independent (i.e., not subordinate) to what follows. This interpretation has a long precedence in translation history. The earliest example is the Septuagint, a major pre-Christian...Read More

In previous posts we looked at the first three words of the Bible, “In-the-beginning God created …” We noted that the first verb of the Bible relates to (God’s) creative activity (bārā’: “created”), while the first subject of the Bible is “God” (Elohim).  This time we’ll look at the two objects of the verb, “the heavens and the earth” (‎אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ: ’ēt haššāmayîm ve’ēt ha’ārets). Both are designated in Hebrew with object markers (אֵת, ’ēt, pronounced as ate), the second of...Read More

In the previous two posts we looked at the first two words of Genesis 1:1, “In-the-beginning” (berē’šît: בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית) and “he-created” (bārā’: בָּרָא). Today we’ll look at the third word in the Hebrew text of the Bible, Elohim (pronounced like ӗh-low-heem´). This noun is always rendered “God” in standard English translations. (In Hebrew it looks like...Read More

In the initial post, we looked at the first word of the Bible, berē’šît (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית), often translated as “In-(the)-beginning.” (In a future post, we’ll look at other translation possibilities for this word in relation to Genesis 1:1–3.) This time, we’ll look at the second word of Genesis 1:1, bārā’ (בָּרָא), a verb. (It is pronounced...Read More

Master of Divinity students take Hebrew and Greek courses as part of the curriculum. What do such languages offer? In one word, “immediacy.” The biblical languages enable readers to approach the Scriptures directly rather than indirectly through translation. In forthcoming posts I’ll offer examples of insights from the biblical languages, and today we’ll begin with...Read More