William Andrew Dillard
HEBREW HONEYCOMB
AND MAN BECAME A LIVING SOUL
Genesis has been described as the baby book of mankind. Certainly it is true to its name which means “beginning.” The book is of immense value, attracting the keen attention of all who would learn of their origin, and the beginning of so many things affecting modern life.
Relating the creation story, Holy Writ profoundly states “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7. Researching the ancient language one finds interesting information not readily stated here, but confirmed in other places in God’s Word. Specifically, attention is drawn to the word “life.” In the ancient Hebrew language, it is plural, thus: “man became a soul of lives.” Since the dual number is used in Hebrew for two things that normally go together, but is not used here, the employment of plural indicates at least three. Thus does the bible affirm that man is a spirit, a soul, and a body. I Thess. 5:23.
The body that God created from the same elements as the earth was a lifeless form until He breathed into it the breath of lives. The result is man became a soul of lives. Soul is the working expression of an intellect and spirit appropriately housed in a physical body to which they give life.
For those with hearing ears, this provides great understanding of the species as it relates both to sin and to salvation. Sin stained all three aspects of mankind. Just so, all three must be saved to realize the fullness of salvation. However in the wisdom and purposes of God, no one receives salvation in totality at one time. Instead, in the new birth, the spirit of a repentant person is both saved and sealed with the Holy Spirit of God, Eph. 4:30. In obedient discipleship, the mind is saved by being renewed to a high state of spiritual maturity, Rom. 12: 2. Under the operating laws of our present cosmos: that of sin and death, there is no hope for the body. It MUST die! However in the rapture or resurrection the body will be saved in immortal newness. It is then that men will know the fullness of salvation, and more precisely what Adam and Eve lost in paradise in choosing to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil instead of the Tree of Life.
It is of immense importance that every offspring of Adam should know this information, especially those of the household of faith. It is of eternal consequence what is done with the application of this information regarding the soul of lives that each one is.
UNDERSTANDING THE THEOLOGICAL POWER OF CONJUNCTIVES
HEBREW HONEYCOMB
William Andrew Dillard
UNDERSTANDING THE THEOLOGICAL POWER OF CONJUNCTIVES
There is great power in language conjunctives to transmit proper, cohesive thought. It is true in daily language usage, but greater in theology. Think!
To help assure continuity of thought, such conjunctives as “furthermore, and, additionally,” signifies continuing thought with previous statements. Words such as “therefore, subsequently, but, however, conversely” signal a change in thought pattern to a different or opposite effect.
Obviously, the use or misuse of these powerful unions of thought convey strong implications in both spoken and written form. Unfortunately, the translators of the English Bible choose to use what they thought was a neutral conjunctive “and” almost exclusively. But, it is not neutral. “And” being used to imply both continuous and diverse thoughts may confuse the reader, especially the unstudied one.
Genesis 1:1-2 is a case in point. Verse One denotes the Almighty, Triune, Creator creating (cutting out, forming, shaping in perfection ) both the heavens and the earth.
Verse two states, “And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” There is no mention of the heavens being in such chaotic state. Focus is shifted from the universal cosmos to the planet earth. The shift does not convey a continuation of the actions of verse one, but a different effect altogether. What a difference would be made if readers were reading “but” or however” that is contextually warranted instead of “and.” The context warranting such understanding does not reference the heavens being in such a chaotic state, but both were created instantly by the power of the Word of the Almighty. Yet it is the earth only that is portrayed as a chaotic mess of which God is not the author. It is simple: The perfect God never does an imperfect thing!
The prophet Isaiah underscored this fact. He wrote in 45:18 that the Creator did not create either the heavens or the earth in vain “tohu” the same Hebrew word used to describe the chaotic condition of the earth in Genesis 1:2. The method of creation is simply the Word of His mouth, and a sudden reality, as denoted in Isa. 48:3. In the ancient Hebrew language, there is a distinct difference between a consecutive conjunction and a simple conversive conjunction. Consecutive conjunctions are employed in all the verses of Genesis 1:3-31, but in Genesis 1:2 it is a simple conversive conjunction that is not to be understood as consecutive to verse one action.
While this theological explanation may not be fully appreciated by the average person, it is a vital part of the overall understanding that is to be derived from the pages of Holy Writ both here and in other places as well. In English, context demands the proper use of conjunctives.
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