Prove Genesis 2:17 is prophecy and not just a mere statement of fact based on God's design or a simple factual statement of cause-and-effect.
Genesis 2:16-17
The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
My pleasure! In like fashion to the
opening post item 1 of this thread which peoves the prophecy contained in Genesis 2:16-17, the following is proof that Genesis 2:16-17 is God’s command with an embedded prophecy.
The Meaning Of The Hebrew Words אכל(akal)/"eat" and מות(muth)/"die"in
Genesis 2:16-17
In reality, the word "freely" does not appear in the Hebrew of the
Genesis 2:16-17 passage. The Hebrew source word for "freely" is truly "to eat" in English for
Genesis 2:16.
Also, the word "may" does not appear in the Hebrew of the passage. The Hebrew source word for "may" is truly "you will be eating" in English for
Genesis 2:16.
The word "surely" can surely lead to misinterpretation of the passage since the Hebrew source word for "surely" is truly "to die" in English for
Genesis 2:17.
First, we need to look at the passage, so here is
Genesis 2:16 from three different angles: New American Standard Bible, Hebrew Bible, and Interlinear.
Now, here is
Genesis 2:17 from three different angles of NASB, Hebrew Bible, and Interlinear.
"but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." (
Genesis 2:17, NASB)
ומעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו כי ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות
(
Genesis 2:17, Hebrew Bible, historians say accent marks for vowels did not appear in early Hebrew script)
but-of-the-tree of-the-knowledge of-good and-evil not you-eating from when in-the-day you-to-eat of-it to-die you-dying (
Genesis 2:17,
Interlinear word(s) for word(s) translation of English from Hebrew)
Second, we need to look at the lexical construction.
The final two words of both verses follow similar patterns. The final two words are verbs. The final two words have the same root word. The first word is the Qal (
Strong's 7031 - light, swift, fleet) infinitive absolute verb form (to be). The second word is the qal (
Strong's 7031 - light, swift, fleet) imperfect second person masculine singular verb form (incomplete action thus present tense applies and past tense can be included and future tense can apply).
In Hebrew grammar, the qal is the simple paradigm and simplest stem formation of the verb.
The word roots are easily distinguishable when carefully examined.
Here are the final two Hebrew words of
Genesis 2:16, אכל תאכל, notice the consistent word root. Both of these words are
Strong's 398 - eat.
Here are the final two Hebrew words of
Genesis 2:17, מות תמות, notice the consistent word root. Both of these words are
Strong's 4191 - die.
The sixth word of
Genesis 2:17 is תאכל which is precisely the same word that appears as the second of the two last words at the end of the
Genesis 2:16, so we have a point of reference for this word.
Notice that the Hebrew word אכל (
Strong's 398 - eat) in
Genesis 2:16 is not the Hebrew word חפשי (
Strong's 2670 - free).
Third, it is prudent to mention that the Masoretes added the vowel accents into the Hebrew written manuscripts. The Masoretes were a sect of Jews that lived after Jesus ascended to heaven. We have earlier copies of Hebrew manuscripts that contain consonants only, so the Hebrew consonant only script is what I use here in this essay. I use the consonant only script because it more closely represents the original Hebrew writing.
Fourth, it's time to apply proper translation.
In
Genesis 2:16, the final two words "אכל תאכל" (to-eat you-eating) are of significant relevance to this topic since both of these words are of the root "eat".
The first of the two words "אכל" (
Strongs 398 - eat) is the infinitive verb form thus it translates to English as "to-eat"; however, some English translations use the word "freely", yet "freely" is an inappropriate translation of "eat" because the word is not the Hebrew word for "free" while it is the Hebrew word for "eat".
The second of the two words "תאכל" (
Strongs 398 - eat) is the imperfect verb form thus it translates to English as "you-eating".
These two words essentially result in the first part of the command being "of every tree in the garden to eat you will be eating" thus liberty of action without punishment is expressed. Also, instead of the permissive of "may" as part of the "eat" verb, it is appropriate for "will" to be part of the "eat" verb; in other words, "may eat" is the wrong translation., and "will eat" is the correct translation.
In
Genesis 2:17, the final two words "מות תמות" (to-die you-dying) are of significant relevance to this topic since both of these words are of the root "die".
The first of the two words "מות" (
Strongs 4191 - die) is the infinitive verb form thus it translates to English as "to-die"; however, some English translations use the word "surely", yet "surely" is an inappropriate translation of "die".
The second of the two words "תמות" (
Strongs 4191 - die) is the imperfect verb form thus it translates to English as "you-dying".
These two words essentially cause the end of the command to say "day you are to eat of it to die you will be dying" thus the punishment is expressed.
continued to
post #255
