Savagemutt

I've started reading the OT whenever I happen to be in a hotel room with nothing better to do, and one thing keep striking me as odd. Its god's habit of saying the phrase "I, even I" whenever he's about to lay some heavy shit down. Such as:

"And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die." (KJV)

What does "I, even I" mean? Is it just some awkward translation of a Hebrew concept?

Thanks. I know its a pretty trivial question, but it keeps bugging me.

Toto

It looks like a translation of an emphasis in Hebrew.

Compare different translations:

http://bible.cc/genesis/6-17.htm

Ben C Smith

Yes, I think so.

Hebrew has two slightly different pronouns for I, a shorter and a longer form. Often these forms are used interchangeably, but sometimes it seems that the longer form is more emphatic. So, if the shorter form is I, then the longer form, if more emphatic, would have to be I myself or I, even I.

Some of the lines you see translated that way actually use the pronoun twice in a row (think I I), obviously for emphasis (as in Isaiah 48.15, for example).

Ben.

Savagemutt

Doesn't it feel nice for you guys to have a simple question to answer? Thanks, Toto and Ben Smith.