From: Kyle Dillon (spiffy@learningstar.com)
Date: Tue Nov 10 1998 - 15:04:15 EST
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<DIV><FONT size=2>A while ago I was studying the documentary hypothesis (or JEDP
theory), and came across an argument for the dual authorship of Genesis 1 and 2.
The author of the first chapter supposedly believed that mankind was formed
after all the other animals, while the author of chapter 2 believed man was
formed first, and then the animals were created so man could find a helper among
them. This view was based on the fact that 2:19, following God's statement that
Adam needed a helper, says that God formed the beasts and birds. An argument
against this is that the Hebrew language has only two tenses: perfect and
imperfect. And that the verb for "form" in 2:19 was pluperfective, and
was therefore simply a reference to a prior formation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I decided to look it up in the LXX, to see how the earliest
translators viewed this passage. The Greek text says: KAI EPLASEN hO QEOS ETI EK
THS GHS PANTA TA QHRIA TOU AGROU, KAI PANTA TA PETEINA TOU OURANOU. Now here,
the main verb is aorist, not pluperfect, which would cause some to agree with
the documentarian's view, that the formation of the animals came after Adam's
need for a companion. However, what confuses me is the use of the word ETI.
Learning Greek, I have been taught that ETI would normally be translated as
"yet" or "still." What is its meaning in this verse? That
this verse is a second reference to the prior formation of the animals, or that
it is actually a reference to a second, subsequent formation of the
animals?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Kyle Dillon</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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