Dean Anderson

In another thread (here) about biblical contradictions and errors, I brought up Genesis 2:17.

The KJV says...

2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

...which is blatantly not true. According to Genesis, Adam lives for another 930 years after eating the fruit.

Other bibles translate this differently, for example...

(NIV) 2:17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.

or

(Young's Literal) 2:17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.

or

(Complete Jewish) 2:17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die.

Can any of our Hebrew scholars here tell us which translation is the most accurate?

Without having the ability to translate the Hebrew myself, I would guess that it is more likely that the original version mentions dying that day - and some translations have 'softened' this to dying at some unspecified point in the future. The reason for this guess is that there is a good reason for softening the translation if you find it unpalatable to have the Elohim lying. I cannot see any reason for the translation to be 'hardened' the other way though. If the original Hebrew refers to dying at some point in the future, why would the KJV translators make the Elohim lie?

Amlodhi

Hi Hobbit Fancier,

The literal Hebrew reads, ". . . in the day you eat (or; 'in the day of your eating') from it, dying you will die."

The expression "dying you will die" is a literary repetition used for emphasis, and thus, usually translated as "you will surely die".

Unlike some, however, I don't really see a problem with this passage. For one thing, I can scarcely credit that the editor of this book was so completely oblivious that he would have God say that A&E would immediately die upon eating from the tree and then continue straight on to tell of the remaining years of their lives.

The preposition "in" of the phrase "in the day" is indicated by prefixing the Hebrew character "ב" to the Hebrew word for day (Yom). This attached preposition translates as "in", "by", "with", and also some other meanings.

The way I read the passage, it doesn't say, for instance, that, "You die on the day that you eat of it", or "On that selfsame day you die". Rather, it says that, "In (by, with) the day that you eat from the tree, (comma) you shall certainly die".

IOW, "in the day" refers to the action of eating from the tree. "In that day", it becomes certain that A&E will die.

Namaste'

Amlodhi

Dean Anderson

You seem to be assuming that the original author would have had a problem with 'Elohim' lying to Adam.

In the context of the Genesis 2-3 story, with 'Elohim' creating Adam as a slave to do manual labour for 'him' and then cursing him and kicking him out so that he can't eat from the Tree of Immortality, lying is the least of 'Elohim's moral failings.

I think that 'Elohim' = 'Omnibenevolent God who would not lie' is a later development in beliefs.

That is not to say the translation should be the harsher 'The day you eat it, you die' rather than 'The day you eat it, you doom yourself to eventual death', but I don't think the harsher translation can be ruled out because the author would not have had 'Elohim' lie to Adam.

Madkins007

Is God threatening Adam here, or just warning him, or just passing on some helpful advice about the stuff around him?

"Eat of the tree and die!"?

"Be careful of the tree, Adam. If you eat of it, you will loose your immortality (or something similar)."?

"By the way dude, the tree? Stay away from that thing- it will mess you up!"?

judge

Hi Amholdi,
interestingly we have the same or similar phrase used in 1 Kings 2:42 where Solomon tells Shimei that he too will surely die on the day he "leaves town".

Shimei does not die on that day but rather his death sentence is passed.