Re: [asa] Gen 2, NASB vs. NIV -- Which came first, animals or man?

Here is a post by Hebrew / Biblical Studies scholar Chris Heard on this:
http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/?p=669

Chris concludes that the NIV translation is very unlikely.

On Jan 31, 2008 8:11 AM, Iain Strachan <igd.strachan@gmail.com> wrote:

> David,
>
> I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there is no difference in the
> Hebrew between past tense (formed), and pluperfect tense (had formed).
> Hence it would seem that either translation is possible. The context of Ch
> 1 seems to indicate that the pluperfect is the preferred translation.
>
> However, I'm sure someone on the list knows more about Hebrew than I do
> and will be able to confirm or deny.
>
> Iain
>
>
> On Jan 30, 2008 4:26 PM, David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Here is another interesting translation question.
> >
> > In the NIV, Gen. 2:18-19 reads:
> >
> > *18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will
> > make a helper suitable for him." *
> >
> > * 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the
> > field and all the birds of the air.*
> > In the NASB, however, the text reads as follows:
> >
> > *Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; (S<http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen.%202&version=49#cen-NASB-49S>
> > )I will make him a helper [a<http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen.%202&version=49#fen-NASB-49a>
> > ]suitable for him." *
> >
> > * 19(T<http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen.%202&version=49#cen-NASB-50T>
> > )Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and
> > every bird of the sky, and (U<http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen.%202&version=49#cen-NASB-50U>
> > )brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever
> > the man called a living creature, that was its name.*
> >
> > This difference in translation is crucial if one wants to read Gen. 2
> > literally and harmonize it with Gen.1, because the NASB translation
> > implies that the man was created before the animals -- that the animals were
> > created specifically in response to man's need for a helper. The NIV, in
> > contrast, uses the past perfect to indicate that the creation of the animals
> > already was complete.
> >
> > My general understanding is that the NASB is a more direct translation
> > than the NIV (and in my sorry efforts to learn Greek, trying to translate
> > small parts of the Gospel of John, I've found that to be the case in
> > spades). If the NASB is correct, that would seem to suggest that these
> > really are different versions of the story, which probably suggests
> > something about genre and interpretation.
> >
> >
> >
> > **
> >
>
>
>
> --
> -----------
> After the game, the King and the pawn go back in the same box.
>
> - Italian Proverb
> -----------

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Received on Thu Jan 31 11:06:04 2008