Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00041)

> (In the Beginning God said "Let there be Light"...)

According to the original Hebrew text:

"In beginning gods ... said let light be."

This is a literal translation of the received text. Note, "In
beginning" - there is no definitive article ("the") in the
Hebrew, although the language does have it. Thus, the text
describes a process rather than an act. "Gods" is the literal
translation of the Hebrew word Alhim or Elohim, and is used for
lesser gods as well as for YHWH, who is thus a plurality as
distinct from a trinity, which is not attested by "scripture" -
a word which means nothin more than "writings".

All existing Bible translations (of which there are an
increasing number of variants) are translated in the light of
the Christian religious beliefs of the translators.

In the UK, we have the Jerusalem Bible (RC) and the New English
Bible (Church of England). I use the New Revised Statndard
Version (USA) for *approximate* fidelity to the received texts
in the original languages - of which there are variants.
Example: one Greek document states (as usually rendered) that
John baptized people in the River Jordan at Bethany, which on
today's map is physically impossible - 2 miles out. Another
gives the place as Bethabara, which is/was a river crossing just
below the Sea of Galilee - much more likely.

> He is not bound by those laws, because He is the Creator of those laws.

No he didn't.

Alan.

> Evangelical Polemist
> 1Pet3:15