Genesis 3:22
Footnote:
146 | The Hebrew word פן pen (Strong's #6434) is traditionally understood as a conjunction meaning lest, indicating a caution or potential avoidance (e.g., Gen. 3:22, Exod. 13:17). It is derived from the feminine פנה (Strong's #6438), which means corner or angle. The conceptual link between corner and lest (avoidance) may arise from the idea of turning away or redirecting to prevent an undesired outcome. Additionally, פן (Strong's #6435) is associated with removal or turning aside, reinforcing this notion of avoidance or prevention. These related meanings suggest an underlying spatial or directional metaphor in biblical Hebrew, where avoiding a consequence is akin to turning away from a corner or obstacle. In this verse, the reader was always left with an abrupt, cut off sentence due to the translation "lest" : Now, lest he eat also from the tree of life. Such a reading is obviously nonsense. The forced interpretation was that this was some sort of "suspended sentence" or "rhetorical device" that only scholars have the wherewithal to interpret who conveniently add an elipsis (–) to explain away the nonsense. Hence, what is clearly a cut off of speech mid-sentence—. Hebrew ממנו Translators were not consistent with the meaning of mimenu which can mean either from out of it/him, or from out of us. Eating from out of him (the tree) is to eat from out of himself. (#4480) |