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NASB | 1 Chronicles 17:16 ¶ Then David the king went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Chronicles 17:16 ¶ Then David the king went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house and family that You have brought me this far? |
Subject: "Who am I?" How important is it? |
Bible Note: Dear Ray, The word for 'gods' in Deut. 5:7 is also 'elohiym', like that of Gen. 1:1 and 2 Sam. 7:22.. I believe that the reason that 'elohiym' is rendered as 'gods' in one place and "God" in another is explained by the words preceding the word 'elohiym.' In this case, we have 'no other'.. (Deut. 5:7) Here is the explanation in Strong's Concordance behind the Hebrew word for 'other'... "312 'acher akh-air' from 309; properly, hinder; generally, next, other, etc.:--(an-)other man, following, next, strange." With this word preceding the word that could be rendered as "God" (even though it does not use His personal name), one could gain a little more understanding as far as why the word 'gods' is not capitalized. If you remember, the word 'elohiym' itself can be rendered as a plural word. In this sense, this verse is taking 'elohiym's "literal" meaning instead of the one used by Moses in Gen 1:1.. One must remember that the Hebrew language is not nearly as flexible or descriptive as that of English (or anywhere near the comparison of Greek flexibility). So one could see how the same word 'elohiym' could be rendered as 'gods' in one verse, "God" in another, and as 'angels' in a third verse.. An example of a word in the English language that has so many different meanings like this is the word "love".. The Greek uses three different words to describe the different aspects of what we call "love".. The Hebrew OT provides three different 'titles' or names for God that it uses.. "Adonai" which means "Lord", "YHWH" which is God's 'proper name', and 'elohiym' which is also used throughout the OT (the most used of the three) to designate or refer to God.. So the Hebrew does try to 'make up' for this generalization of the word 'elohiym' by giving us three different words in which God can be referred to or called, but it still must be translated within the context and using the other words around 'elohiym' for support (such as the ones preceding), since every single letter in Hebrew is capitalized.. I would copy some Hebrew and put it here if the Study Bible Forum's font would allow it.. I hope you have found this interesting Ray! --Nolan |