From: Steven Craig Miller (scmiller@www.plantnet.com)
Date: Fri Dec 24 1999 - 15:00:19 EST
<x-flowed>To: Ken Johnson,
<< Where my new insight rest is not just on the word Logos but on the
context of the previous phrase "en archee", which is a Hebrew "In the
Beginning" , not a Greek one. While John may have written his Gospel in
Greek, his concept reflects a Hebraic origin. Based upon the assumption
that John's concept of en archee is Jewish, his thoughts about the
beginning and creation will be completely foreign to Greek cosmology and,
as a result, strike at the very core of the Gnostic heresies that he was
probably battling at Ephesus in the late first century A.D. >>
It is my personal opinion that the notion of a sharp distinction between a
"Greek" mode of thinking versus a "Hebraic" mode of thinking is highly
suspect, for the simple reason that there was no common "Greek" mode of
thought, nor more than there was a common "Hebraic" mode of thought. But
instead of going into what I think would probably be a fruitless debate,
allow me to switch subjects here.
The Jewish Publication society translates the beginning of Genesis
differently than most Christian translations, they give:
<< When God began to create heaven and earth -- the earth being unformed
and void ... >>
Whereas the NRSV has:
<< In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth
was a formless void ... >>
It seems to me that the LXX conforms more to the Christian interpretation
of Genesis 1:1. The Jewish position appears to be that there was already an
earth before God began to create. In "The Torah: A Modern Commentary" by
the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, they note that the JPS
translation follows the opinion of Rashi (an "outstanding commentator on
the Bible and Talmud," who lived in the 11th century CE). They go on to
write: << Later scholars used the translation "In the beginning" as proof
that God created out of nothing (ex nihilo), but it is not likely that the
biblical author was concerned with this problem. >>
If one were to take the JPS and the commentary by the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations as presenting one Jewish POV, then the LXX translation
must represent a different Jewish POV.
-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
scmiller@www.plantnet.com
Disclaimer: "I'm just a simple house-husband (with no post-grad degree),
what do I know?"
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