May the mumbling commence!
There’s a whole lotta evil goin’
on! Read from the beginning of Genesis
chapter six from Peterson’s The Message:
When the human race began to increase, with
more and more daughters being born, the sons of God noticed that the daughters
of men were beautiful. They looked them
over and picked out wives for themselves.
Then God
said, “I’m not going to breathe life into men and
women endlessly. Eventually they’re
going to die; from now on they can expect a
life span of 120 years.”
This is back in the days (and also later)
when there were giants in the
land. The giants came from the
union of the sons of God and the daughters of men. These were the mighty men of ancient lore, the famous ones.
God saw
that human evil was out of control.
People thought evil, imagined evil – evil, evil, evil from morning to
night. God was sorry that he had made
the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God
said, “I’ll get rid of my ruined
creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds – the
works. I’m sorry I made them.”
But Noah was different. God liked
what he saw in Noah. (Genesis 6:1-8)
Now read it from the NIV
translation:
When men began to increase in number on the
earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters
of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will
not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and
twenty years."
The Nephilim were on the
earth in those days – and also afterward – when the sons of God went to the
daughters of men and had children by them. They
were the heroes of old, men of renown.
The Lord
saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every
inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord
was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with
pain. So the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created,
from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the
ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made
them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:1-8)
There is much in this passage that’s
difficult to translate from the Hebrew. One
of these instances is the days of human beings to be 120 years. The NIV and Peterson seem to generally agree
with one another, but Peterson goes a little further in the interpretation with
his designation of the 120 years as a life span.
Another instance is the
Nephilim. The NIV chooses to
transliterate the word (the Hebrew word represented in letters from our alphabet). Thus, the word is not translated. Peterson chooses to translate the word into
one of its potential meanings – that of giant.
The other differences that I see in
the texts are mostly an update of language.
I like them. Yet, there are a couple
of additions. Peterson includes the
concept of the creation being ruined. It’s
a reminder that our actions have consequences for all of creation. I agree with this addition and believe it is
in accord with the Spirit of the Word written here. Peterson also underscores Noah’s difference
from those around him. I believe we are
called to be different than the world so that we might follow God. This addition is also in accord with the Spirit
of the Word.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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