Adam and the Tree of Knowledge
Ed Tyler etyler@truman.edu
Tue, 16 Feb 1999 10:20:36 -0600 (00919203636, 4.1.19990216100042.00a52f00@pop.truman.edu)
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At 04:40 PM 2/15/99 -0500, JAlw@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 99-02-15 09:36:47 EST, you write:
>
><< Subj: Re: Adam and the Tree of Knowledge
> Date: 99-02-15 09:36:47 EST
> From: etyler@truman.edu (Ed Tyler)
> Sender: owner-errancy@infidels.org
> To: errancy@infidels.org (ERRANCY)
>
> At 10:39 PM 2/13/99 +0000, Joseph Crea wrote:
> >Hello, Joe!
> >
> >At 05:09 PM 2/13/99 EST, JAlw@aol.com wrote:
> >>Achilles:
> >>
> >>
> >>[God said] 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
> (Gen
> >>2:17). . . and [Adam] did eat (Gen 3:6). . .And all the days that Adam
>lived
> >>were nine hundred and thirty (Gen 5:5)
> >>===========
> >>Joe Alward:
> >>
> >>Matt has implied that this is not a contradiction; would he, or anyone else
> >>explain why? Do inerrantists claim that Adam died a spiritual death?
> >
> >
> >CREA
> > Short answer --Yes. See my response to Aaron's reply to Matt's posting
> >titled "Packing my bags!".
> >
> >
> Ed
>
> Actually, it's not a "contradiction," although the inerrantist explanation
> is incorrect. The "On the day X occurs he/you will die" formula is a
> figurative pronouncement made by rulers and is found several times
> throughout the Old Testament is contexts where it is apparent that death is
> not necessarily going to result on that particular day. It's merely a
> ruler's way of assigning the death penalty to a given transgression.
>=============
>Joe Alward:
>
>First, what is the "incorrect" inerrantist explanation?
Ed
I believe that Joe has addressed the inerrantist explanations. They hate the
idea of figurative language in the creation accounts, so they try to explain it
away.
Joe
>
>I did a search on "day" and "die" in the Bible and found no examples of the
>kind you're referring to. Can you guide me to a particular verse?
Ed
I'm not sure that you find the precise wording elsewhere. B. Gemser ("Motive
Clause in Old Testament Law," VTSup 1 [1953] 50-66) notes that the appendation
of a "not" + imperfect verb form to a motive clause is a characteristic feature
of Hebrew law; the infinitive + qal (in this case "you will die") is
characteristic of divine and royal threats in prophecies and narratives: 1 Sam
14:39, 44; 22:16' 1 Kings 2:37. 42; 2 Kings 1:4, 6; and Ezek. 33:8,14 are
offered as examples.
The phrase "on the day" merely emphasizes the promptness of action or
consequence: 1 Kings 2:37 and 42 give excellent examples.
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At 04:40 PM 2/15/99 -0500, JAlw@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 99-02-15 09:36:47 EST, you write:
>
><<
Subj: Re: Adam
and the Tree of Knowledge
> Date: 99-02-15 09:36:47 EST
> From: etyler@truman.edu (Ed Tyler)
>
Sender: owner-errancy@infidels.org
> To: errancy@infidels.org
(ERRANCY)
>
> At 10:39 PM 2/13/99 +0000, Joseph Crea wrote:
> >Hello, Joe!
> >
> >At 05:09 PM 2/13/99 EST, JAlw@aol.com wrote:
> >>Achilles:
> >>
> >>
> >>[God said] 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
> (Gen
> >>2:17). . . and [Adam] did eat (Gen 3:6). . .And all the days
that Adam
>lived
> >>were nine hundred and thirty (Gen 5:5)
> >>===========
> >>Joe Alward:
> >>
> >>Matt has implied that this is not a contradiction; would he,
or anyone else
> >>explain why? Do inerrantists claim that Adam died a
spiritual death?
> >
> >
> >CREA
> > Short answer --Yes. See my response to
Aaron's reply to Matt's posting
> >titled "Packing my bags!".
> >
> >
> Ed
>
> Actually, it's not a "contradiction," although the
inerrantist explanation
> is incorrect. The "On the day X occurs he/you will
die" formula is a
> figurative pronouncement made by rulers and is found several
times
> throughout the Old Testament is contexts where it is apparent that
death is
> not necessarily going to result on that particular day. It's
merely a
> ruler's way of assigning the death penalty to a given
transgression.
>=============
>Joe Alward:
>
>First, what is the "incorrect" inerrantist
explanation?
Ed
I believe that Joe has addressed the inerrantist explanations. They
hate the idea of figurative language in the creation accounts, so they
try to explain it away.
Joe
>
>I did a search on "day" and "die" in the Bible
and found no examples of the
>kind you're referring to. Can you guide me to a particular
verse?
Ed
I'm not sure that you find the precise wording elsewhere. B. Gemser
("Motive Clause in Old Testament Law," VTSup 1 [1953] 50-66)
notes that the appendation of a "not" + imperfect verb form to
a motive clause is a characteristic feature of Hebrew law; the infinitive
+ qal (in this case "you will die") is characteristic of
divine and royal threats in prophecies and narratives: 1 Sam 14:39,
44; 22:16' 1 Kings 2:37. 42; 2 Kings 1:4, 6; and Ezek. 33:8,14 are
offered as examples.
The phrase "on the day" merely emphasizes the promptness of
action or consequence: 1 Kings 2:37 and 42 give excellent
examples.