Law of Moses
In Hebrew, two side-by-side nouns form a construct chain, which may express a possessive relationship between two nouns, where the first is the construct noun and the second is the genitive noun. However, a construct chain has a broad semantic range. Accordingly, the following explores a number of potential meanings for the construct chain “law of Moses.”
Modern readers may be tempted to assume that the construct chain, “law of Moses,” means that Moses wrote all the law. In fact, Bruce Waltke and M. O’Connor explain that within the subjective genitive category, a possible meaning is the “genitive of authorship,” which could mean, “Moses wrote the law.”[1] However, authorship does not necessarily mean “all” and the possibility does not necessarily mean definiteness – other options exist. Another option is the “possessive genitive” that may translate the construct chain as “Moses has or possesses the law.”[2] Waltke and O’Connor provide a second adverbial genitive category, which includes both the possibility of the “genitive of a mediated object” and “the genitive of advantage.”[3] The former may translate the construct chain “the law given to Moses,” and the latter may mean the “law for Moses.” Neither is conclusive in all contexts, but may be possibilities. Finally, Waltke and O’Connor offer a final category, the adjectival genitive, which includes the “topical genitive” and the “attributive genitive.”[4] The former may translate the phrase as the “law about Moses,” and the latter suggests the meaning, “Mosaic Law,” which may designate the Torah. Regardless of modern assumptions, multiple semantic options certainly exist.
Deuteronomy 4:35
The Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים has a number of potential translation options. Deuteronomy 4:35 reads in the MT (BHS) as follows: אַתָּה֙ הָרְאֵ֣תָ לָדַ֔עַת כִּ֥י יְהוָ֖ה ה֣וּא הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ין ע֖וֹד מִלְבַדּֽוֹ. A wooden literal translation may be, “You were shown to know that Yahweh, He is Elohim, there is not anyone else from to alone him.” An attractive translation is “to you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God (אֱלֹהִים); there is no other besides Him” (Deut. 4:35 [NASB]). The following study shows that אֱלֹהִים in verse 35 denotes Yahweh, the God of Israel.
The context of what was shown in Deuteronomy 4:35 hearkens back to the “signs and wonders” Yahweh performed delivering the Israelites from the oppression of Egypt (Deut. 4:34). Additionally, the following verse reminds Israel of Yahweh’s miraculous self-disclosure from Mount Saini and the burning bush (Deut. 4:36). In other words, the writer highlights and refers to the uniqueness of the one and only Yahweh, the God of Israel. At first, the verse’s meaning seems straightforward. However, the underlying semantic risk associated with verse 35 is the phrase, “there is no other besides Him” (אֵ֥ין ע֖וֹד מִלְבַדּֽוֹ). Often modern readers assume the phrase denies that other gods exist. For example, Peter Craigie asserts that the monotheism of Israel affirmed the existence of one God and “the reality of all other gods was denied.”[5] However, elsewhere in Scripture it appears that Israel clearly recognized the reality of other gods. For example, the Psalmist states, “God has taken his place in the divine council, in the midst of the gods (אֱלֹהִים) he holds judgment” (Ps. 82:1). Accordingly, although the context of the verse dictates that no other gods compare to the uniquely powerful one and only אֱלֹהִים, which in this verse is Yahweh, the God of Israel, it does not deny the existence of other gods.
Deuteronomy 32:17
The ESV renders Deuteronomy 32:17, “They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known….” The question at hand is whether the ESV is an accurate translation of Deuteronomy 32:17. The first half of the verse is the one in focus, and it reads in the MT (BHS) as follows, יִזְבְּח֗וּ לַשֵּׁדִים֙ לֹ֣א אֱלֹ֔הַ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֹ֣א יְדָע֑וּם. A literal translation may be, “They sacrificed to the demons not God (אֱלֹ֔הַ), gods (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) they had not known.” The following analysis shows that the ESV is not an accurate translation due to the incorrect rendering of אֱלֹ֔הַ.
The lemma for the Hebrew word אֱלֹ֔הַ is אֱלוֹהַּ and a broad word search notes that it occurs 58 times in the Old Testament. However, Michael Heiser explains there are “no occasions in the Hebrew Bible where אֱלוֹהַּ is contextually plural or used as a collective noun.”[6] Accordingly, unlike the ESV, the proper translation of Deuteronomy 32:17a includes the singular “God” (אֱלֹ֔הַ) in the first phrase and the plural “gods” (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) in the second phrase. The question remains as to the reason the ESV translators would render אֱלֹ֔הַ in the plural. Heiser explains that one possibility is that the translator wanted to deny the existence of other gods by suggesting that the demons were not gods.[7] However, the ESV inexplicably refers to the reality of gods (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) in the next phrase. Heiser suggests another reason the ESV may render אֱלֹ֔הַ in the plural is due to syntactically parallel verses.[8] However, this approach does not reconcile the fact that Scripture has no attestation to אֱלוֹהַּ in the plural. Regardless, other Scripture passages attest to the reality of other gods (See Ex. 15:11). Accordingly, the ESV translation of Deuteronomy 4:35 is incorrect.
Daniel 7
In Daniel 7, verses 14, 18, 21-22, and 27 all reference potential recipients of the Most High’s kingdom. An examination of pronouns assists in identifying the recipients. The following analysis shows that the Most High’s kingdom belongs to a plurality of subjects.
The Son of Man is one recipient of the Most High’s kingdom in light of Daniel 7:14, which states, “And to him (Son of Man) was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.” However, other recipients may exist. Bruce Waltke and M. O’Connor identify two primary classes of personal pronouns: independent personal pronouns and attached pronominal suffixes.[9] Furthermore, Paul Joüon and Takamitsu Muraoka explain that the personal pronoun “agrees almost always in number and generally in gender with the noun it represents.”[10] In Daniel 7:18, the holy ones (קַדִּישֵׁ֖י) of the Most High also receive (יקַבְּלוּן֙) and possess (יַחְסְנ֤וּן) the kingdom. Here, the tsere yod ending on the word “holy ones” indicates a masculine plural noun, which agrees with the masculine plural Aramaic pronominal suffixes. Indeed, all noun and verb references to “holy ones” in the Daniel verses are masculine plural indicating a plurality of subjects. John Goldingay suggests the Aramaic word “holy ones” (קַדִּישֵׁ֖י) could represent supernatural beings or humans.[11] More specifically, Heiser notes קַדִּישֵׁ֖י “can refer to the members of the divine council.”[12] Accordingly, in light of the evidence, the Most High’s kingdom appears to belong to all three, the Son of Man, human followers, and the supernatural divine council.[13]
Bibliography
- Craigie, Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1976.
- Goldingay, John E. Daniel. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 30. Dallas: Word, 1998.
- Heiser, Michael. “Does Deuteronomy 32:17 Assume or Deny the Reality of Other Gods?” (2008). Faculty Publications and Presentations. Paper 322. Accessed September 13, 2015. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs/322.
- ———. The Unseen Realm. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2015.
- Joüon, Paul, and Takamitsu Muraoka. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. n.p.: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2003.
- Waltke, Bruce K., and M. O’Connor. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990.
[1] Bruce K. Waltke and M. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 143.
[2] Ibid., 145.
[3] Ibid., 146–47.
[4] Ibid., 149–52.
[5] Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1976), 143.
[6] Michael Heiser, “Does Deuteronomy 32:17 Assume or Deny the Reality of Other Gods?” (2008), Faculty Publications and Presentations, Paper 322: 138, accessed September 15, 2015, http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs/322.
[7] Ibid., 138–39.
[8] Ibid., 139–40.
[9] Waltke and O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 291.
[10] Paul Joüon and Takamitsu Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (n.p.: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2003), 550.
[11] John E. Goldingay, Daniel, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 30 (Dallas: Word, 1998), 176.
[12] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2015), 257.
[13] Ibid., 258.