Filed under: Creation and Origins, The Music of the Bible Revealed | Tags: Creation and Origins, The Music of the Bible Revealed
Here is a short test video of Esther Lamandier performing Genesis 1:1-5 in Hebrew. It is taken from a much longer track of Genesis 1:1-2:3. God willing, one day I can put up the full track with Hebrew and English lyrics after my usual fashion, with background photos as usual.
I translate verse 2 as I do for a reason. First, that is what the exterior context points to as far as the meaning of the Hebrew phrase “haytah tohu wavohu” means (Isaiah 24:11; Jeremiah 4:23; cf. 2 Kings 21:13). Second, that is what the interior context directly indicates, particularly by this very melodic rendition. The only other possible sequence of accents in Genesis 1:2a would merely draw one’s attention to the state of being: “was unformed and unfilled”, as one author put it, as if this were primeval chaos ready to be worked like an unformed lump of clay. But this sequence specifically defines the state of being as “had become chaotic and disordered”. So verse 1 puts the original Creation in the timeless pass, and verse 2 points out that something catastrophic had happened to part of it. This relates (as many theologians have realized) to the origin of Satan and his demons and the origin of evil in the world.
As for the melodic rendition’s interpretation, Suzanne Haik-Vantoura herself had not been quite so self-consistent in her understanding of its implications when she published the score of Genesis 1:1-2:3, but became so later. “Topsy-turvy” (that it, its French equivalent) is how she described the meaning of *tohu wavohu* to me. She did point out in her score that “the melody *vacillates*, as if deprived of a base” on “haytah tohu wavohu”.
Being able to address a crux text like this so precisely is yet another reason why not just any melodic interpretation of the Hebrew Bible (as attached to the Masoretic accents) is acceptable. No style of synagogue chant can give you such a clear choice between two exegetical options (which happen to be the only two that the words themselves allow). The original ancient music to which the Hebrew Bible was sung and studied (cf. Psalms 119:54) consistently either supports or clarifies what the Living Church of God teaches, and one of its foundational teachings has to do with the meaning and significance of Genesis 1:2.
Best wishes in Jesus Christ (שלום בישוע המשיח),
John Wheeler (יוחנן רכב)
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[...] Just yesterday I created a short test video of Genesis 1:1-5 as performed by Esther Lamandier (see the button, upper left, for the cover of her CD). I created the video to assist my pastor in the creation of a sermon he’s giving today (and should repeat elsewhere later), as well as to edify my subscribers. A fuller discussion of the music and its implications is found on today’s edition (first article) of LCG Scribe. [...]
Pingback by News over the morning mocha… « The Chronicles of Johanan Rakkav August 8, 2009 @ 11:44 amLadies and Gentlemen:
I ran across you website while doing a search. It appears you are interested in the creation/evolution issue.
I would like to introduce you to my new book, Exemplar Creation, which represents a major breakthrough in the understanding of origins. My book harmonizes empirical science and the Bible while respecting the integrity of scripture. This book exposes and corrects over twenty-two hundred years of theological error in regard to the Genesis creation story.
Some theologians and scholars believe in young-Earth creation theology, even though it strongly conflicts with the physical evidence of empirical science in regard to time. Others believe in an old Earth based on the evidence of science, even though its acceptance is mired in significant biblical interpretative error and in some instances violates the clear language of the Hebrew text. My book offers a solid resolution of this issue by harmonizing the evidence of science in regard to time and the Bible based on a new translation of Genesis Chapters 1 and 2.
In 2000, the 28th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America was given a comprehensive report by the Creation Study Committee about the interpretation of Genesis (may be viewed at http://www.pcahistory.org/creation/report.html). No significant recommendations were made. Because of conflicting information, the committee basically concluded that there several ways of interpreting the creation story. My book now challenges that cross-denominational paradigm.
If you are interested in a solution to the Genesis problem, then my book is must reading. You will not be disappointed. My book is currently sold on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com (select the category “books,” then enter the title name “Exemplar Creation,” and then hit search).
J. Gene White
Comment by J. Gene White August 28, 2009 @ 3:15 pm316 Chestnut Drive
St. Charles, MO 63301
Mail87@jgenewhite.com
Dear Gene (if I may),
Thank you for your recommendation. It is interesting enough on its own merits to leave in the comments section. However, I suspect that if you think that the solution to the creation/evolution debate lies in a “new translation of Genesis 1 and 2″ in their entirety, then your conclusions are probably much misguided. I don’t like judging a case before I hear it, but I have my reasons for honest skepticism (which follow).
The only really significant cruxes in Genesis 1-2 are 1:1-2 and 1:14-18. These are the only verses with possible “cosmological” implications in our modern sense. The rest of these chapters may be understood in a perfectly simple and straightforward manner.
Genesis 1:1-2:3 describes first an initial creation complete in the timeless past (with a fascinating melodic hint at the expansion of the “heavens” and the condensation of the “earth” in a way broadly supportive of modern cosmological theory), then a catastrophic change of state in which “the earth had become chaotic and disordered” (much like a dish being wiped and then turned upside down), and finally what was in effect a “re-creation” in six literal earthly days nearly 6,000 years ago, according to the Masoretic chronology. Now we either accept that paradigm and examine what we think natural science says in that light, or else we abandon it and seek some other paradigm that has no biblical basis at all.
As for the rest, if “made” in 1:16 is to be understood as “made…to rule”, as the accentual-verbal grammar suggests to me, then the problem of the alleged origins of the astral bodies during Creation Week vanishes. Other Scriptures hint that they were already in existence during the state described in Genesis 1:1, and the angels with them.
Comment by rakkav August 28, 2009 @ 3:32 pm