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NASB | Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 6:4 There were Nephilim (men of stature, notorious men) on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they gave birth to their children. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown (great reputation, fame). [Num 13:33] |
Bible Question:
I admit I'm not a Hebrew scholar but in verse 4 (not 5) when it mentions Job's sons, it uses the word "ben" by itself. (translates to sons, children, descendents...") In verse 6 it uses the words ben-elohiym which translate to Sons of God. Putting this in context then tells us the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came with them. The Hebrew word for present themselves is "yasab" which translates "to stand before". This implies that the sons of God as well as satan were literally standing in God's presense. How could you interpret this as being Job's sons? Do you really think that God, satan, and Job's sons were standing around talking about Job's faith? Gen 6:4 does use the same "ben-elohiym" when talking about the Sons of God. Whether or not the Nephilim are the offspring of the Sons of God and the daughters of man, I haven't investigated thoroughly enough to make a definite conclusion. Keep in mind that the ASV and KJVs are a word for word translation while the NIV is a thought for thought translation. When doing a word for word translation you run the risk of loosing the original meaning because some words could have more than one meaining and also the the way the words were used together could have different meanings. A thought for thought translation tries to take this into account. Granted, you rely upon how the interpreter translates but same goes for what words the word for word translators choose. |
Bible Answer: Verse 5 uses the word too, in reference to Job's sons. Verse 6 and verses 4 and 5 use the word "ben" which means sons. Do we not "stand before" God when we worship Him? You misunderstood. I did not interpret the "sons of God" in verse 6 to mean Job's sons, although if they were worshipers of God they may have been there too. In worship, God is the audience since it is He whom we worship. We literally "stand before" Him to offer our worship to Him. Thus, your objection doesn't seem reasonable. You well stated the reason I object to the NIV. It is a "thought for thought" translation rather than a word for word translation. Of course, I believe in verbal inspiration. By that I mean that each word placed in the original manuscripts originated with God. Or, to be more exact, every word placed in the Bible was placed there by God through inspired men (2 Peter 2:21; 1 Corinthians 2:13). If this is so (as I firmly believe) then a "thought for thought" translation injects man's words into the text and is unreliable. In fact, it is not a translation at all. It is a paraphrase of what the person "thinks" the writer is thinking. If you translate "word for word" at least you have the words the Holy Spirit gave. There are very few words in the Bible where there is debate as to what English word(s) is to be used to give an exact meaning of the original word. "ben" means son and the phrase in verse 6 means "sons of God." Why not translate it like that and then let the reader figure out what it means from the context, rather than injecting man's word in it by using the word "angels" or the phrase "heavenly beings"? Also, we need to let the Bible interpret itself. Look the word (phrase) up and see how it is used in other passages. That will help in determining how the Bible uses it in general and may help interpret what it means in the context you are studying. |