150 
or as Dathe renders it, “ Terra facta erat,” — It had be- 
come waste and desolate. It had become, as the LXX. have 
it, invisible and unfurnished; invisible by reason of the water 
and darkness, and unfurnished by absence of the productions 
which formerly existed upon it; for this seems to be the 
intention of the Greek translators. But, of whatever character 
the change may have been, that there was a change is, I think, 
clearly indicated by the word in the second verse.* And not only 
* The word occurs again in the first verse of the third chapter, where, 
I think, it ought to be translated in a similar manner. “ Now the ser- 
pent had become more subtil.” — D1”iy HYl BTUni. 
To illustrate this meaning, let me quote the way in which the verb 
iTn is rendered, in the versions, in a few passages taken from Genesis 
and elsewhere. 
i. 3. 1. Let there be light — “I1X W — yevj/tb/rw <pu>c — Fiat lux — Es 
werde Licht. 
i. 6. 2. Let there be a firmament — yp“l 'H' — y£j'??0//rw orepEw/ia — 
Fiat firmamentum — Es werde eine Feste. 
i. 6. 3. And it was so — p 'iTl — Kai iyevcTo ovriog — Et factum est ita 
— Und es geschah also, 
i. 14. 4. And God said, Let there be lights — mXO 'IT 1 — y erpOtirtoirav 
tytoarnpEQ — Fiant luminaria — Es werden Lichter. 
ii. 5. 5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth — D“iD 
P~IN2 H'rV — 7rpo tov yeviadai eV< rijg yijg — Antequam oriretur 
in terra. 
ii. 7. 6. And man became a living soul — □“IXIYTH — teal eye veto 
6 uvOpconog rig ^vyi/v £wer«n — Et factus est homo in animam 
viventem — Und also ward der Mensch eine lebendige Seele. 
iii. 22. 7. And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us — 
triND n'H mxn }n — Tcioi) ’ASap yeyovev wg tig el- f)/dwv 
— Ecce Adam quasi unus ex nobis factus est — Siehe Adam ist 
worden als unser einer — Voici, l’homme est devenu comme 
un de nous. 
v. 4. 8. And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth, were eight 
hundred years — D"IX V3' VrPl — eyevovro Si al f/fiepai ’ASap 
— Et facti sunt dies Adam. 
vi. 1. 9. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply — pnn '3 Wl 
mxn — Ktu iytvETO i/viKa ijn^avro ot avdpejiroi. 
xvii. 16. 10. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her ; yea, I 
will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations : kings of 
people shall be of her. 
vrp moo D'oy onaS nn*m. 
tarai rig tOrr/, ml [iarriXelg iOviov ii, avrov eoovrai. 
Eritque in nationes, et reges populorum orientur ex eo. 
Yolker sollen aus Ihr werden, und Konigo fiber viel Volker. 
Je la benirai, et elle deviendra des nations. Des rois chefs de 
peuple sortiront d’elle. 
