Thursday, December 2, 2021

Note on Genesis 8:7 and the meaning of "until" (‎עַד/ἕως) in the verse

  

Keating’s use of Gen 8:7 is unfortunately based on a bad translation of the Hebrew and does not make the point Keating thinks it does. Keating cites the Douay-Rheims version of the passage (“went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up”) and then states: “In fact, we know the raven never returned at all” (Catholicism and Fundamentalism, 285). The Hebrew וַיֵּצֵ֤א יָצוֹא֙ וָשׁ֔וֹב עַד־יְבֹ֥שֶׁת הַמַּ֖יִם, however, is better reflected in the newer Catholic translation the NAB: “it flew back, and forth until the waters dried,” which is essentially the same rendition given by the NIV (“it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up”) and the NASB (“which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up”). Obviously, the flying back and forth could have lasted only until the water dried up and need not have continued after that point, making Keating’s use of this passage precarious. (Eric D. Svendsen, Who is My Mother? The Role and Status of the Mother of Jesus in the New Testament and Roman Catholicism [Amityville, N.Y.: Calvary Press, 2001], 285 n. 45)