Most of us who give the Bible any thought at all assume that the English translations of the Hebrew Tanakh {Old Testament) have been performed in an accurate manner. My research, however, has found that in a number of cases our assumptions have been wrong.
Case in point is the translation of Gen. 2:16. In the Heb. Tanakh Gen. 2:16 states, “So he lays charge, yhwh >elohiym, upon the human archetype in regard to saying,'From the whole tree of the garden eat you must eat'.”
Gen. 2:16 conveys the beginning of God’s “command.” However, every English translation of this verse employs the English auxiliary verb “may” when rendering the final clause, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden." The auxiliary verb “may” is not only completely incongruent with the Heb. verb tzavah=lay charge/command, but it is also completely incongruent with the repetitive verbal clause at the conclusion of the verse, >akol tho>kel=eat you must eat.
The English auxiliary verb “must” is the only accurate translation; "From the whole tree of the garden you must eat." When translated accurately, however, the Deity’s “command” to the human archetype becomes considerably more complex and more difficult to interpret.
Not many know that there are in fact two very different methods of biblical translation.
The most common method is referred to as “expositor”; where the translator renders the source text already knowing what the text “must” convey. The “expositor” is reader oriented, shuns theological difficulties, glosses over renderings that appear to make no sense, translates large units of the text, and expounds upon the text to make it say what the reader expects it to say.
The rarely used and more precise method of translation is referred to as “interpres”; where the translator renders the source text as it is written. The “interpres” translator passes along any difficulties in the source text, translates small unites of the text (words & bound morphemes), includes the exact representation of grammatical categories, and regularly employs lexical sources.
The common English translation of Gen. 2:16, using the auxiliary verb “may” to denote a “command,” is a clear example of “expositor” translation techniques. This "expositor" translation of Gen. 2:16 completely distorts what the author is conveying as the Deity's command. By rendering Gen. 2:16 as "you may freely eat" the Command being issued appears to only pertain to the prohibition of partaking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the warning of death described in Gen. 2:17. That is not what the Heb. Text is conveying.
Christian dogma is founded on the idea that the Deity's command was intentionally disobeyed by the human archetypes in the Garden of Eden. St. Paul states in Romans 5:12, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned ... 5:14, "Yet death exercixed dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam ...". As I have shown above, however, for literally thousands of years the Deity's "commands" of Gen. 2:16 & 17 have not been translated accurately or fully understood.
The accurate translation of 2:16 & 17 would enable a more accurate interpretation of not only the Deity's commands, but would bring closer scrutiny to other aspects of the Heb. Eden Text associated with the "commands." The veracity of biblical translations and interpretations would also be called into question, and these questions could in fact alter the creation/evolution debate.
I hope I have clearly conveyed the inaccurate translation of Gen. 2:16 so that a discussion and debate on this and related subjects can be started.
Transliteration convention employed above: > denotes the first Heb. letter “aleph.”
Ger
Edited by autumnman, : Was asked to separate paragraphs by an open line.
Edited by autumnman, : Make more clear the purpose and intent of topic.
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