Why so many versions of Genesis 2:19?

by Inquisitor 14 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Inquisitor

  Hello everybody! Big welcome to you, Bible scholars!

  The New World Translation by JWs reads at Genesis 2:19: "Now Jehovah God was forming from the ground every wild beast of the field and every flying creature of the heavens, and he began bringing them to the man to see what he would call each one..."

  The issue with Genesis 2:19 is that, depending on the translation, it presents a contradiction to the order of creation. Specifically, 2:19 seems to contradict the account in Genesis 1:20-23. In Genesis 1, the flying creatures were made on the 5th DAY but Genesis 2 seems to imply that these same creatures were created on the 6th DAY, after Adam, before Eve! Whether or not that contradiction is apparent depends on which translation you use.

  It is conceivable to wiggle out of the complication when translators render Genesis 2:19 in the following way:

  "Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them" - New International Version (NIV)

  "The Lord God had formed all of the wild animals. He had also formed all of the birds of the air. He had made all of them out of the ground. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give them." - New International Reader's Version

  Note how this translation (New International Reader's) emphasized the past perfect tense in this scripture, almost as if they were paranoid that someone might pick up on the complication.

  "And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim had formed every animal of the field and all fowl of the heavens, and brought [them] to Man, to see what he would call them" - Darby Translation

  "Now Jehovah God was forming from the ground every wild beast of the field and every flying creature of the heavens, and he began bringing them to the man to see what he would call each one..." -NWT

  But there are translations that seem oblivious to the problem. These latter ones allow for the understanding that the flying creatures were created right after Adam:

  "Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them" - New King James Version

  "And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them" - 21st Century King James Version

  "And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them" - American Standard Version

  "So the LORD God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam [ a ] to see what he would call them" - New Living Translation

  So my questions are:

  Which is the correct renderring of Genesis 2:19? How do translations such as the NIV justify the way they employ a past perfect tense? Was the use of such a tense done SOLELY because they were aware that any other tense would lead to a contradiction with Genesis 1? Is this an example of a dishonest translation?

  What was the original Hebrew verb and tense used at Genesis 2:19?

  Thanks for being this interested in my post! lol

  Regards

  INQ
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  Narkissos

  Which is the correct renderring of Genesis 2:19?

  # 2: anything like "and Yhwh-God formed / proceeded to form," or "so Yhwh-God formed / proceeded to form," etc. This is a consecutive action, which rules out both the NWT and the NIV renderings (although in a sense I find the NIV pluperfect even worse).

  How do translations such as the NIV justify the way ;they employ a past perfect tense?

  They don't. The NIV Study Bible doesn't comment on the translation.

  Was the use of such a tense done SOLELY because they were aware that any other tense would lead to a contradiction with Genesis 1?

  I can't see any other reason.

  Is this an example of a dishonest translation?

  And a good one at that.

  What was the original Hebrew verb and tense used at Genesis 2:19?

  wayyiçer = w (and, so) + yçr ("to form, fashion" like the potter = yoçer), qal, consecutive imperfect (as shown by the vocalisation of the w): this is the basic form for consecutive actions in a narrative.

  When classical Hebrew needs to create the "flashback" effect of our pluperfect (as in the NIV) it generally uses the default vocalisation of w + perfect tense, most often putting the subject before the verb. The NIV would be a more plausible translation of weYhwh-'elohim yaçar. The NWT tries to translate the imperfect ("was forming") as it were not a consecutive.
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  Inquisitor

  WHOA! Hail Narkissos!

  Thanks for that concise response.

  Would you mind recommending me some citable reference for the usage of "wayyiçer" in Genesis 2:19? I want to create an impenetrable argument on this scriptural contradiction.

  Cheers, buddy! INQ
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  jw

  
  inquisitor,

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  19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man would call every living creature, that was to be the name thereof.
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  hamsterbait

  The Genesis account also says that God created the land on the third day.

  Yet anybody with a knowledge of geology knows that dry land is still being created every day in the 21st century. Iceland is growing bigger by 10 cm every year, and in millions of years will be a huge continent.

  I think that Gen 2 is simply saying that God continued to create new animals even after man came to exist. An open minded examination of the fossil record shows this.

  Moses copied from a source writer to compile that account. (Like Job, it might not be as Moses penned it). I don't want to guess what the original source was trying to tell us.

  HB
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  Inquisitor

  
  Hi HB

  ...anybody with a knowledge of geology knows that dry land is still being created every day in the 21st century. Iceland is growing bigger by 10 cm every year, and in millions of years will be a huge continent.

  
  I don't know much about geology, but I was given the impression that in several parts of the world, land is actually shrinking due to the global-warming-induced rise in sea level. Are you certain the reverse is happening in Iceland?
  

  I think that Gen 2 is simply saying that God continued to create new animals even after man came to exist.

  
  That was precisely the understanding put forward by the WTS in 1991:
  

  *** g91 6/8 p. 14 Did Each Creative Day Always Finish What It Started? ***
  Genesis 2:19 seems to point to progressive creation involving flying creatures , for it states: “ Yahweh God continued to form from the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds [“every flying creature,” NW] of the heavens and to bring them to the man to see what he would call them. ”—
  

  Thus the Bible record of Genesis chapter 1 indicates that broad categories of plant and animal life began to be created by God when the earth had been brought to a stage of development suitable for a given type of creature life. The filling of these broad categories with many individual kinds of life, such as “flying creatures,” was a progressive, ongoing activity of God. This ongoing divine activity may have continued beyond the end of the creative day on which it commenced.
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
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  Inquisitor
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  Shining One

  ># 2: anything like "and Yhwh-God formed / proceeded to form," or "so Yhwh-God formed / proceeded to form," etc. This is a consecutive action, which rules out both the NWT and the NIV renderings (although in a sense I find the NIV pluperfect even worse).
  LOL, who are YOU to take issue with professional translators? You give yourself too much credit, Snark.
  Rex
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  Robdar

  I occasionally date a Jewish guy. Most Jews (at least the non-orthodox) dismiss the Genesis account because of the above contradictions. I asked him to do me a favor: tell the other Jews to tell the Gentiles that even they don't believe everthing in the Bible. IMO, Fundamental Christians need to hear that.
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  Narkissos

  Would you mind recommending me some citable reference for the usage of "wayyiçer" in Genesis 2:19? I want to create an impenetrable argument on this scriptural contradiction.

  I'm afraid I have no specific reference at hand which might be available to you. The construction is a very very common one, the default one for successive action in narrative -- treated under the paradigmatical form wayyiqtol (with the regular root qtl instead of yçr) in Joüon's French Grammaire de l'hébreu biblique § 118, you can check the same paragraph in the English adaptation by Muraoka (http://www.logos.com/products/details/2179) or any other Biblical Hebrew Grammar.

  Of course there are exceptions but there must be evidence for them in the very narrative under consideration (intertextual embarrassment will not do). Joüon himself (§ 146 i) translates Genesis 2:19 as a simple narrative past, "Et Jéhovah Dieu forma de la terre tous les animaux des champs" = "And Jehovah God formed out of the earth all the animals of the fields."

  You can also look up any recent scholarly commentary on Genesis (I'd recommend Claus Westermann's, translated into English in the Augsburg series). The basic point being, Genesis 1:1--2:4a and 2:4b--3 are completely different creation stories, which were never meant to be mixed into one narration. This obviously was not a problem for the redactor of Genesis who was content to simply juxtapose the two accounts, without any attempt as "reconciling" them.