Lockman - Bible questions and answers

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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse
Results		Verse	Author	ID#
1	"Flaming sword" or 'blazing drought'?	Gen 3:24	loavesnfish	232262
	Why is this translated "flaming sword" rather than 'blazing drought'? Since the point of Eden seems to be that it was well-watered and therefore everything grew there, and the punishment was to have to make a living cultivating cursed soil, isn't this a way of providing drought wherever Adam went so that he couldn't escape his punishment or find his own way out of it without God? Also, if he was looking for the path to the tree of life, what better way to hide it than to make the whole ground look like the path so that it disappeared?
2	"Flaming sword" or 'blazing drought'?	Gen 3:24	srbaegon	232275
	Hello loavesnfish, First, what in the Hebrew would cause you to think it should be translated "blazing drought?" Second, leaving Eden intact and placing a flaming sword is a powerful image to those around to what was lost in the fall and for their need to seek God's daily mercies for life. But that's just my opinion. Steve
3	"Flaming sword" or 'blazing drought'?	Gen 3:24	loavesnfish	232281
	Steve, Thank you for answering my question! First, I must say that I believe Eden to have been a real place and Adam a real man, not just symbols. What I meant was "enwrapping drought" or "enveloping drought." In Hebrew the word for "drought" in Genesis 31:40 and Jeremiah 50:38 and Haggai 1:11 seems to share the same root with the word translated "sword" here and with the word for "to parch." Apparently, it is a cutting off of water resulting in drought, and a sword also cuts things off, so they are related ideas. When one considers Genesis 2:6 and 10 which emphasizes water in mist and FOUR rivers, it seems clear that drought would be a real challenge for a man who has never had to cope with it or even thought of it. Genesis 3:17-19 mentions that the cursed ground grows plants which grow best in dry conditions, hence "parched" ground rather than well-watered. In Genesis 3:24 the cherubim stationed in the east do not have weapons, they simply watch to guard the path to the Tree of Life. Since it is contrary to God's plan of salvation to actually kill Adam or his children, a sword seems out of place since swords deal death. The idea was to keep Adam away from the tree and out of the garden so that he wouldn't try to solve his problem without God or frustrate the judgment against him. So, sending a drought when he tries to get back to Eden seems to be a better way to do this. I am not dogmatic on this idea, but it seems more in line with God's revealed character. loavesnfish
4	"Flaming sword" or 'blazing drought'?	Gen 3:24	srbaegon	232306
	Hi, I follow your reasoning. I have not attempted a word study on the subject to know if the Hebrew extrapolation fits. If it does, then the drying up of the abundant watering could fit. Steve