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Why does it say "This is A history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created"?
To me "A" implies more than one. If this is the word of God (or Gods according to the Hebrew Elohim) why would there be the possibility of other stories?
5 Answers
- SheyneinNHLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
It doesn't say that.
This is what it *actually* says:
אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ, בְּהִבָּרְאָם
And the literal meaning is "These are the generations of the heavens and the earth, in their being created."
So please don't fret too much about details of your translation. All translations of Torah into some other language are going to alter the actual meaning, more or less, it's inevitable. And only the original Hebrew is the genuine word of G*d.
Also? Elohim doesn't mean "gods". It's what is called a "plural of majesty". This type of noun takes a singular verb, and is a singular noun. This particular word means "G*d". The Hebrew words for sky, water, and noon also have plural endings, and nobody would argue that there are more than one noon in a day, would they?
If you are so keen to know the precise meanings of these texts, perhaps you should learn Biblical Hebrew, it's the only way to know what it actually says.
Source(s): Me, reading Torah in Hebrew since 1955 - Anonymous8 years ago
Hmmm...this is what I have:
Gen 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
What version are you using?
- Josh6Lv 68 years ago
Why does this cause a possibility of other stories. Did you not read the first three verses (Genesis 1:1-3)?
- PRTSTBDLv 68 years ago
Genesis 2:4 says, "This is THE account..." What version are you quoting from? I keep finding "THE" instead of "A"
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- Anonymous8 years ago
Good catch. "THE" history would command more authority.