Some of the notes are extensive originally intended for students in Elementary Biblical Hebrew class at Louisiana State University.

Transcription

1 Genesis 2-3 Some of the notes are extensive originally intended for students in Elementary Biblical Hebrew class at Louisiana State University. Needs text critical notes. (2:4b) (2:5) Job. = II bush, shrub, plant under BDB 967a. Very rare. Only Genesis and שׂ יח Kittel. See Genesis 37:18 gloss in ט ר ם 793a. herb, herbage under BDB = ע שׁ ב 855a. sprout, spring up under BDB = צמח preformative(?) and three root letters and I-0-I vowel pattern. Stem ה Note ה מ ט יר and form? מטר = Hiphil send rain, rain under BDB 565a. form? preposition(?). Stem and ל Note ל ע ב ד Theological note Okay so what reasons does the story give for why there is not yet any שׁיח or?עשׁב Because there is no מטר or אדם yet. Are we being asked?אדם and מטר to compare (2:6) pattern? mist. Very rare. Only Genesis and Job. Are you starting to see a = א ד the third?) root ה preformative(?) and two(? is ה and ו Recognize simple ו ה שׁ ק ה letters. Why do we not see a I-0-I vowel pattern? For root/stem see Genesis 29:2 my notes. (2:7)

2 = יצר What can you figure out from just the first two letters? That leaves ו יּ יצ ר form, fashion under BDB 427b. What kind of verb root is this? The root means potter in Phoenician which is another West Semitic language יצר closely related to Hebrew. now. dry earth, dust under BDB 779b. Learn this word = ע פ ר A little tricky. What can you figure out from just the first two letters? That ו יּ פּ ח leaves פח with a strong dagesh in the.פ Stem and root? See if Kittel neat verb trick #3 helps. Look up your guess in BDB. with a אפּ which leaves וֹ and pronominal suffix ב Peel away the preposition ב א פּוֹ strong dagesh in the.פ What root will this probably be under in BDB??א פּוֹ so why אַף Without a suffix the word is ת You should start recognizing your basic noun/adjective endings such as נ שׁ מ ת so what noun are we looking for? נ שׁ מ ה = breath under BDB 675b. How do you think we should interpret נ פ שׁ in this context? Especially if G-d נפח in?אדם of the אף the (2:8) with a strong טע What can you figure out from first two letters? That leaves ו יּ טּ ע dagesh in the.ט Does Kittel neat verb trick #3 work again? נטע = plant (verb) under BDB 642a. What root might this be under in BDB? We have only two root letters so our ג ן options are (1) גנה (4) גנן (3) גון (2) גין (5) something else. Since we have absolutely nothing else besides גן which is probably the best first guess? This part is extraordinarily important. You can have ABC or AvB or ABB roots but never AAB roots in Semitic languages. 726b-727a. = preposition + Place Name. Look under BDB ב ע ד ן What can you figure out from first two letters? Does Kittel neat verb trick ו יּ שׁ ם #2 help? That leaves שׁ ם with an I class vowel so what is the stem?

3 (2:9) which we צמח What can you figure out from first two letters? That leaves ו יּ צ מ ח saw in verse 5 but what is the stem? Pay attention to the A class vowel under the prefix pronoun. Why ו יּ צ מ ח and not ו יּ צ מ ח* which we might expect? Remember that gutturals especially ח ה and ע prefer A class vowels even when we should get something else. a prefix pronoun? or stem נ so is the חמד We see three root letters נ ח מ ד preformative? Pay very close attention to the qamets under.מ There is a small but important difference between Niphal affix נ פ ק ד and Niphal participle.נ פ ק ד And since participles are verbal adjectives is this adjective being used as an (a) attribute (b) predicate or (c) substantive? חמד = desire, take pleasure in, Niphal desirable under BDB 326a. What root might this be under in BDB? Many nouns in Hebrew are formed מ ר א ה by adding מ to the root. See if you can find this. Rinse and repeat. One member of the class commented that we have learned מ א כ ל go! but not any of the (many) words for food. Well here you אכל which דעת and strong dagesh which are what? That leaves ה Peel away the ה דּ ע ת is difficult to figure out even though it is a pretty common noun. Either ת is part of the root or the only two root letters we can see are דע so what is the (ידע knowledge (from = ד ע ת helps. third? See if Kittel neat verb trick #Q5 under BDB 395b. Do you notice anything odd about where in the Hebrew Bible this word most frequently appears? The meaning is clear enough but what exactly is this? We will not learn עץ החיים anything more about this tree until Genesis 3:22. הדעת Pay attention to the syntax which is a little strange. Why not עץ הדעת טוב ורע Jewish and Christian interpreters have struggled for centuries to?הצוב והרע understand exactly what this is and what it represents. Once of my favorite answers is by Reuven Kimelman in Women in the Hebrew Bible. (2:15)

4 rest, Hiphil B lay or set down, place, put under BDB 628a. Arm = נוח < ו יּ נּ ח הוּ rest. Akk nâḫu rest. Arb nāḫu IV make camel lie down (on his נחת Ph.נוּח breast). (2:16) (2:17) (3:1) viper. serpent under BDB 638a. Arb ḥanašu(n) serpent, = נ ח שׁ in ע רוּמּ ים here to ע רוּם crafty, shrewd, sensible under BDB 791a. Compare = ע רוּם 2:25 which is based on a completely different root. (3:2) 65a. under DBD אף כי also, yea > indeed under BDB 64b. See discussion of = אַף This has traditionally been translated as a question. But is it a question? Now whether it is a question or not there is the opportunity to answer or respond in 3:3. Theological/literary note = Compare לא תאכלו מכּל עץ הגן to what G-d actually said in 2:16. Are they the same? (3:3) 814b. lest under BDB = פ ן Theological/literary note = Again compare what the woman says here to what G=d actually said in 2:17. How does she describe the tree? the negative command? the consequence of eating from it? (3:4) So far there have been subtle but important differences between ל א מוֹת ת מ תוּן what the serpent and the woman say and what G-d actually said. Now we have direct contradiction using exactly(?) the same language that G-d used in 2:17.

5 (3:5) 824b. open (eyes/ears), Niphal be opened under BDB = פקח (3:6) be a noun ת What root might you find this under in BDB? Could that ת א ו ה preformative? That leaves.אוה Could that be the root? Go look under BDB 16a and see if that is correct. 968a. = Hiphil make wise, cause to consider, give insight, teach under BDB שׂכל Literary note Notice how the story moves at a quick pace. How much happens in only a few verses! Suddenly the action slows down so that we know every thought and every consideration that leads to... ויאכל.ותאכל And what?ויאכל process does the man go through before (3:7) + pronoun and the prefix ו You can immediately recognize the ו יּ ת פּ רוּ complement. That leaves תפר which could be the root. Look under BDB 1074b. 750a. leaf, leafage under BDB = ע ל ה < ע ל ה 1061a. fig-tree > fig under BDB = ת א נ ה 292a. girdle, loin-covering, belt under BDB = ח גוֹר ה Theological/literary note = So they do not just make clothes for themselves but a particular type of clothes/coverings. They make something to cover the sexual/reproductive organs. I leave it to you to decide if there is any significance to this. Also did the serpent tell the truth? What did the serpent say would happen if they eat from the fruit? Did that happen? Yes? No? Yes but with a twist? (3:13)

6 674a. = Hiphil beguile, deceive under BDB נשׁא (3:14) 161b. belly (of reptiles) under BDB = ג חוֹן (3:15) 33b. enmity under BDB = א יב ה 1011a. put, set under BDB = שׁית 1003a. bruise under BDB = שׁוף (3:16) conception, pregnancy under BDB 248a. Some discussion of unusual = ה ר יוֹן form. (3:18) 881a. thornbush, thorn under BDB = קוֹץ 2x? thistles under BDB 205a. = ד ר ד ר Hapax. sweat under BDB 402b. = ז ע ה