Have You Noticed Verb Tense Differences in Bible Translations?
Have you ever played a "Spot the Differences Game"? The other day, I was led to look at Genesis 2:19 - and to listen to it very carefully in a variety of translations. I was amazed at how the meaning of what I heard was so different in one of the translations! Which of these Bible translations was correct? Could it be that this one translation that stuck out like a sore thumb was correct and the rest were wrong?
I needed to know! Which translation had the correct form of the word "form"?
This post reveals what I discovered and the broader life lessons I learned from examining this scripture.
Genesis 2:19 English Translation Differences
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Genesis 2:19 Verb Tense Differences |
In Genesis 2:19 we find Our Father putting the creatures He created in front of the first being He created to see what his first person will call them. "So, what is so Earth-shattering about this?" you might ask.
When I was led to look very carefully at several translations, I discovered that one translation seemed to have totally missed a very important point in this small section of scripture.
Why Did Our Father Create These Other Beings?
In Genesis 2:18 it says:
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| Genesis 2:18 Masoretic Text from Blue Letter Bible |
This scripture is about Our Creator looking compassionately on his first creation and seeing that it was not good for his first creature to be alone.
Our Creator says He "will make a helper for him".
One Genesis 2:19 Translation is Definitely Not Like The Others!
Most translations of Genesis 2:19 say that Our Creator formed the animals and brought them for his first creation to look at them. So the meaning would be that Our Father made the animals out of compassion for his first living being - to try to create a helper for him.
However, the ESV translation says:
"Now out of the ground, the LORD God had formed" the animals and brought them to his first creature for naming.
If the ESV translation was correct it would mean that Our Father had formed the animals before the person and just presented them to the person to see if any of them would be a suitable helper.
Now, many people might be thinking - "Why is she being so picky about this?"
There was something in me that just had to know - Did Our Creator make the animals as a result of His compassion for the person? What did the original Hebrew say?
What Does the Original Hebrew Scripture Say in Genesis 2:19?
Well, according to the Strong's dictionary entry shown on the Blue Letter Bible website, the correct translation of the Hebrew verb seems to be.... drumroll, please...
If the ESV mistranslated this verb, what other tiny mistranslations in this version of the Bible have skewed the meaning of the original Hebrew scriptures? This is definitely something to be aware of and keep an eye on.
What I Learned From This Experience
This experience emphasized for me, the importance of going directly to the source to find out the intentions of what is being said. This is also very true in life.
So many times in today's society, people eagerly join in with a throng of people accusing someone of doing or saying something. It is important to stop to find out for ourselves exactly what was written or said before speaking out against our neighbour. We need to find out what exactly was said, how it was said, and why it was said.
For example, were they sick, or exhausted, or in over their heads in overhead? Did it come from a place of fear and insecurity? There are many reasons people might say something that can make it seem like they are crazy, or mean, or whatever label the crowd decides to apply on a particular day.
It is definitely important to go directly to the source for clarification about the meaning of something they said or wrote before jumping to conclusions.
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About This Author
Sister Su is grateful to God for healing her many times and keeping her alive. She is a Trent/Queen's Concurrent Education graduate with over 20 years of teaching experience. In addition to her passionate pursuit of the truth, she looks for ways to help people show their best selves to the world and get out of debt. You can find her actively participating on many Social Media platforms. See her linktree for more details:@Sister_Su | Linktree
This post was proofread with the free version of Grammarly
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