Re: [asa] a theological exercise

amad can also mean something like "cease," can't it? In which case,perhaps
it refers to the moon ceasing to serve as a light, in other words being
hidden in darkness.

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 5:21 PM, D. F. Siemens, Jr. <dfsiemensjr@juno.com>
wrote:

> Taking /damam/ to mean "to be silent" surely clarifies matters. Evidently
> the sun was noisy till Joshua told it to be quiet, and it has not made
> noise since. But a rational approach requires us to take the locations
> given in Joshua 10:12, 13 seriously, so the meaning cannot have to do
> with silence. Note that /`amad/, "to stay.' is used of the moon, and
> there are more meanings given for /damam/ in Strong's. TWOT notes; "Those
> who explain this miracle in terms of silencing the sun's heat have a more
> difficult time, especially in view of the parallelism with the moon." (p.
> 193).
> Dave (ASA)
>
> On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 19:40:24 -0600 (MDT) gordon brown
> <Gordon.Brown@Colorado.EDU> writes:
> > On Tue, 3 Jun 2008, Dennis Venema wrote:
> >
> > > It¹s not just verses about the sun rising: Psalms speak of the
> > Lord
> > > establishing the earth that it might never be moved, and Joshua¹s
> > ³long day²
> > > specifically refers to the sun stopping, not the earth.
> > Ecclesiastes also
> > > states that the sun moves relative to the earth as it hastens back
> > to the
> > > place of its rising.
> > >
> > >> Yet, maybe that reflects my own historical situatedness to some
> > degree.
> > >
> > > I would say so: this was no trivial discussion when it took
> > place.
> > >
> > > Here¹s Luther¹s take on the issue:
> > >
> > > ³People gave ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that
> > the earth
> > > revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon.
> > Whoever
> > > wishes to appear clever must devise some new system, which of all
> > systems is
> > > of course the very best. This fool [or Œman¹] wishes to reverse
> > the entire
> > > science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua
> > commanded
> > > the sun to stand still, and not the earth.² ‹ Martin Luther, Table
> > Talk
> >
> > Luther's argument depends on understanding the Hebrew verb damam to
> > mean
> > stand still, whereas its literal meaning is to be silent. The verses
> > that
> > I know of that speak of the earth not moving appear to me to say
> > that it
> > cannot be moved off its foundation. Therefore I think that the real
> > issue
> > ought to be the meaning of the earth's foundation rather than the
> > meaning
> > of motion.
> >
> > Gordon Brown (ASA member)
> >
> ____________________________________________________________
> Click to get information on the ultimate Bahamas relaxation vacation.
>
> http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3nJs6Zdjo08vp4Hb5vtxM6VawM6v0PovwgDElx05IVrcW0HT/
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
> "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
>

-- 
David W. Opderbeck
Associate Professor of Law
Seton Hall University Law School
Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology
To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.