Judgment in the midst of the 'trees' of the garden?

[gregoryfl]

Virtually every English translation I have looked at (Julia Smith's translation being the only exception) renders Gen 3:8 in this way:

They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
(Gen 3:8) WEB

Here is the underlined portion (among the trees of the garden) in the original language:

(Gen 3:8) ... בתוך עץ הגן

What virtually everyone will picture when they read this, is Adam and Eve hiding among a group of trees in the garden. However, that is not what the Hebrew says.

Here are 2 other similar phrases to compare, and in doing so, you will hopefully notice why it is I said what I did above about the Gen 3:8 rendering in English. Those 2 similar phrases are 'among the trees of the forest':

(Son 2:3)  As the apple tree among the trees of the forest...

(Son 2:3) בעצי היער

(Isa 44:14)  He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest.

(Isa 44:14) בעצי יער

Here we have two verses both speaking of being among a group of trees in a forest. Two things to note here are:

1. The ב preposition that comes before the word for tree (עצ), bolded in the above verses, is what a Semite would say to indicate being 'in the midst of a group of something. In Gen 3:8 we do not have that construction. Instead we have the word בתוך, which speaks of the midpoint of something. It is more specific than simply saying something is 'in' or 'with' something.
2. Notice that the word for 'trees of' is עצי in Son 2:3 and Isa 44:14, as well as every other time the plural construct is found in the text. In Gen 3:8 however, we find the SINGULAR usage of the word (עצ).

These 2 points tell us an entirely different story in Gen 3:8. What it says is that they hid...

In the middle of tree of the garden.

(בתוך) in middle of (עץ) tree of (הגן) the garden. My translation.

If Moshe wanted to write what most translations say, they would have written it like this:

(בהעצי) among the trees of (הגן) the garden.

What the text is actually saying is that they hid in the middle of the tree in the garden, the tree they ate from and (according to tradition, attempted to make clothing from to cover themselves). Not just with the tree, but in its middle, up into that tree to hide.

They appear to be in the tree the entire time they are judged, and also given the seed of promise, the solution.

I see here a beautiful connection between this and what happened with Yeshua, the seed of promise. This is recorded for us in Galatians 3:13

(Gal 3:13)  But Mshikha has redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, and has been a curse for us; (for it is written, Cursed is everyone that is hanged in a tree;)

לַן דֵּין משִׁיחָא זַבנַן מֵן לַוטתָא דּנָמוּסָא והוּ הוָא חלָפַין לַוטתָא כּתִיב גֵּיר דּלִיט הוּ כֻּלמַן דּמֵתּתּלֵא בּקַיסָא

Like the first Adam, the last Adam Yeshua was in a tree when the judgment and curse of the entire creation was placed on him, and by that, redemption from that same curse. Both the judgment and the solution took place once again in a tree.

Ronen

[rosered]

   :dsunny:

[micah7:9]

I find your explanation  :dsunny: Thanks, explains a lot.
"What the text is actually saying is that they hid in the middle of the tree in the garden, the tree they ate from and (according to tradition, attempted to make clothing from to cover themselves). Not just with the tree, but in its middle, up into that tree to hide."