Word Plays in Genesis - Newsgroup Post

Word Plays in Genesis

Someone posted a message in the "alt.christnet.theology" Newsgroup asking about word plays in Genesis. Specifically he referred to Gen 2:23 and 3:20.

Gen 2:23 reads, "And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’"

Gen 3:20 is, "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living."

The poster's claim was that these word plays only make sense in Hebrew. In the first, the Hebrew word for "woman" (ishaah) sounds similar to the word for "man" (ish). In the latter, "Eve" (chavaah) and "living" (chaay) also sound similar in Hebrew.

His contention was the only way for these word plays to "work" in Hebrew is if Adam either spoke Hebrew, or "by an incredible co-incidence" Hebrew was similar to the "first language." If that was the case, he wanted to know where the "the deal" with Tower of Babel fit in?

Or the other possibility he gave was that Genesis is simply "bunk."

In reply I posted the following (with some modifications for use here):

In English "man" and "woman" sound similar. Is this an "incredible co-incidence" also? Or is English in someway similar to the "first language?"

My point is, some word plays come through in other languages, others do not. In this case, the word play comes through in both Hebrew and in English. Why that is the case I'm not sure. But I would guess that it would have something to do with the etymology of the words.

In other words, since the persons of "man" and "woman" are related in any language, languages have a tendency to use words that sound similar to designate each.

As for Gen 3:20, it is possible that when Moses TRANSLATED Genesis from the language it was originally written in, he purposely used a word to translate Eve’s name that sounded like the Hebrew word for living as this was the way it was in the original. Or vice-a-versa, he used one of the Hebrew words for living that sounded like the name Eve in the original.

In the same way today, a translator might use words that enable word plays to come through in the "receptor" language whenever possible. There is often more than one word in a language that means the same thing (they’re called synonyms you know).

As for how the Tower of Babel fits into all of this, I remember a show on PBS from a few years back titled something like, "In search of a first language." The conclusion of the show was that there was not ONE first language. But more likely, all languages of today descend from about a dozen different languages.

That analysis would fit perfectly with the Biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel. When God confused the languages I doubt every single person was made to speak a different language. But more probably, God confused the languages along family/ tribal lines. And about a dozen or so different languages would fit the narrative nicely.

The people who spoke the same language would then have sought each other out and spread out with one another thus leading to the formation of the races.

Lastly, it is entirely possible for Hebrew to be nearer to the language that existed before Babel than other languages that originated at Babel. But it would not be an "incredible co-incidence" but as a result of the providence of God that this came about.

All the above makes the existence of word plays in Genesis reasonable. So the word plays should not give you reason to suppose Genesis is simply "bunk."

><> Reepicheep <><

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