My first try at translating Hebrew w helps

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Since I've started studying Hebrew I've wanted to translate the Creation account since it is my favorite part of the Bible. This is my first order result using tools to help figure verb forms and whatnot. One thing I've noticed from studying the Hebrew is that humankind is named by God after the first man, Adam.


Ben's Elementary Translation of the Creation account.

Day 1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth; and the earth was without form and empty: darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. So God said, “exist light” and then light existed. And God saw that the light was good. Thus God separated between the light and darkness. And God called the light “day” and the darkness “night”. And there was dusk and there was dawn, one complete day.

Day 2

And God said, “exist an expanse to separate the waters and exist division between the waters and the waters.” Thus God made the expanse and divided between the waters above and the waters below. And it was so. And God named the expanse heaven. And there was dusk and there was dawn, the second day.

Day 3

And God said, “exist the waters below heaven in one ocean and appear the dry ground.” And it was so. Then God gave names; to dry ground, Land; to the collection of waters, Sea. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Sprout the earth sprouts; herbs seeding seed, of fruit trees producing fruit after its kind which is in it on the earth.” And it was so. And bore the earth sprouts: herbs seeding seeds after its kind and trees producing fruit after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was dusk and there was dawn, the third day.

Day 4

And God said, “exist lights in the expanse of the heavens: to divide between the day and the night, and be for guideposts, and for seasons, and for days, and years, and exist for lighting the earth from the expanse of heaven." And it was so. And God made two main light sources: The greater for ruling the day and the lesser for ruling the night. And the stars, God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth and rule over the day and night and to separate between light and darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was dusk and there was dawn, the forth day.

Day 5

And God said, “Swarm waters with swarmers having a living soul and flying creatures fly around over the earth across the face of the expanse of the heavens.” And God created the great whales and all living souls that creep with which the waters swarm after their kind and all flying creatures with wings after their kind. And God saw that it was good and blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply: fill the waters of the Sea and the flying creatures multiply on the Land.” And there was dusk and there was dawn, the fifth day.

Day 6

And God said, “Bring forth the earth living souls after their kinds: cattle, reptiles, and all land animals after their kinds.” And it was so. Thus God made the land animals after their kinds, and the cattle after their kinds, and all creepers of the ground after their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let Us make Adam in Our image according to Our likeness and let them rule over fish of the Sea, over flying creatures of the heavens, over the cattle over all the Earth and over all the creepers creeping on the land.” And God created the Adam in His image; in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. And God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the Sea, the flying creatures of the heavens, over all the life moving on the Earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you all herbs seeding seed which is on the face of all the Land and every tree which bears fruit containing seed, to you it shall be for food. And to all land animals and to every flying creature of the heavens and to all creatures on the Earth which in it is a living soul: every green herb for food.” And it was so. And God saw all that He had made, and behold: it was very good! And there was dusk and there was dawn, the sixth day.

Day 7

And the heavens and the earth were finished and all their host. God finish on the seventh day from the work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God bless the seventh day and sanctified it because on it He rested from all the work He had done in Creation.

(optional as to whether this is part)

This is the history of the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a Ben's attempt at translation from elementary knowledge of Hebrew with help from E-Sword and his interlinear Bible.

I always interpret that to mean that god is both male and female, 'let us create them in our image and so he created them male and female'.

Seems fine to me Parakeet, it's a lot like the KJV, I don't see a lot of difference there, only the words seeding and creeping.

Are you planning a trip to Israel some day? Knowing Hebrew could be handy.

s**t, I want to learn Hebrew. (I plan to convert to Judaism and you have to learn Hebrew when you convert.) I've started teaching myself, but I'm not very good.

I genuinely admire your lingual abilities, especially since you're self-taught. I find that learning a foreign language is incredibly difficult.

I have heard of that before. Systematic Theology by Grudem says (p 227)

Two undergrad books I've found interesting in this context are:

Berlin, Adele, and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds., Michael Fishbane, senior consulting editor. 2004. The Jewish Study Bible: Featuring the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pritchard, James B, ed. 1958. The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

I think it's great you are pursuing this, by the way. An interesting experience I had in taking my undergrad coursework in theology was gathering source materials related to Job and translating the last few chapters (39-40ish through 42, I think.) I recommend that particular task, someday.

Jon