Genesis 1:4
And he is fearing elohim אֶת-the Light, for he became good,15b and he is being separated elohim in between the Light and in between the Dark-one.
Footnote:
| 15b | Elohim "Mighty Ones" as an Angelic Host The Hebrew verb ויבדל (vayibadel) can be in Qal "he is separating" or the Niphal (passive) form, "he is being separated." It is from the conjugation of the verb בדל (badal), which means "to separate" or "to divide." The Hiphil causative form generally should have the letter yod י which is missing.
The similarity between the verbs "ראה" (ra'ah, meaning "to see") and "ירא" (yara, meaning "to fear") in Hebrew lies in their conjugation forms. Both verbs share a similar triliteral root structure, which can lead to confusion, particularly when the verb forms are conjugated in similar ways.
The morphological similarity is that both verbs are in the imperfect tense, third person masculine singular, and are spelled the same. However, their meanings diverge significantly due to the different roots: "ראה" (ra'ah) relates to vision or appearance, while "ירא" (yara) relates to fear. Hebrew כי "ki". Gesenius and Fuerst both have extensive entries on this conjunction And other scholars have studied its use extensively. In its ~4500 occurances it is usually a relative conjunction "because" or "for" and used with verbs. The interpretation of כי טוב "that it was" is problematic as it is adding a verb where there is none in order to force the meaning טוב as the noun "good." However, טוב is also a verb meaning, "to be pleasing/good" (cf. Strong's #2895). In the complete/perfect form, it would mean "he became good." The idea of "was good" is rendering it as an adjective, and would be inconsistent with a perfect verb. Also, the entire structure in this phrase is found elsewhere: וירא בלעם כי טוב בעיני יהוה "And Balaam is fearing, for he became good [טוב] in the eyes of He Is..." (Numbers 24:1 RBT) כי טוב לנו for he became good [טוב] to ourselves (Numbers 11:18 RBT) |
