Genesis 3:10
Footnote:
122 | My Own Self Strong’s #595, אנכי anoki. This is the stand-alone Hebrew for my ownself. The first-person singular is typically built into Hebrew verb constructs, but this is an emphatic. It occurs 359 times. Scholars have never understood its significance. " אָנֹכִי and אֲנִי appear to be two parallel formations (both containing the element ani)" Strongs #589 אני is the "contracted" form of I, myself. What is clear is that there is a distinction and that this mystery is only in regard to this pronoun of the ego "I" self. But this can be broken down with י- taken as a first person possessive suffix my/of myself. With that in mind, we find the logic of my-self for אני. But what about the extended form אנכי? Scholars were stumped: In some cases אני and אנכי appear capable of being used indifferently; in others the choice seems to have been determined, partly by rhythmical considerations, partly by a growing preference for אֲנִי among later writers. (cf. BDB #595) But what distinguishes the two is the addition of the letter kaf כ which represents a palm of a hand. There being two palms on every person, it would follow that the meaning was likely meant to be along the lines of my other self. Or myself of myself, a meaning that lines up with another mystery, "I am who I am." “So also men ought to love the women of themselves as the bodies of themselves. The one loving the woman of himself, loves himself.” Eph. 5:28 literal |