Comments on Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: Rereading Psalm 8:5: In Search of a Better Transla...

Dr. Mariottini I have really enjoy how you exegesi...

2009-01-07T01:33:00.000-06:00

Dr. Mariottini I have really enjoy how you exegesis Psalm 8:5 however, i think that it is in insult when we tried to compare God with Human being. God is in a class all by himself. What makes God a God is the attributes that he posses which is omnipotent,omniscience, omnipresence, including how infinite and unlimited he is. a little lower then Elohim, that is a Big difference. Elohim is a plural word and I think its meaning is broad. Elohim do means God, god, Angels, Spirit. that's why I believe that the psalmist was comparing mankind with the angels instead the Almighty God.
but I do believe that we share his nature. Please email back thanks

Dr. Mariottini, Thanks for your excellent article...

2006-12-02T08:43:00.000-06:00

Dr. Mariottini,

Thanks for your excellent article. I have a question about verse 7.

The Tanakh Translation renders the second part of the verse as "laying the world at his feet". All the Christian translations that I can find use some variant of "under his feet". The difference between seeing the world as a gift from God rather than something to dominate seems important.

Thanks again,

Joel Copeland

Dear Cur Deus Homo,This passage is very difficult ...

2006-04-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

Dear Cur Deus Homo,

This passage is very difficult to interpret and understand. I believe the NRSV comes closer to the intent of the text. Maybe in the near future I will write a post on this passage and give a detail presentation of my views.

Thank you for your response to my post.

Claude Mariottini

Dear Toni,Thank you for your questions. I agree w...

2006-04-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

Dear Toni,

Thank you for your questions. I agree with you that the idea of rank in included in the mind of the Psalmist. Human beings were created a little lower than God. However, the idea that human beings share in the nature of God is also affirmed by Genesis 1:26-27.

As for the Septuagint, it was only a Greek translation from the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts. The Septuagint was the Bible used by the early church because most of the early Christians read and spoke Greek. Thus, the Septuagint was quoted by the NT writers often because they were writing their gospels and letters in Greek. There are some problems with the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew text, however, the Septuagint serves as a witness to an older text behind the text of the Old Testament.

I hope this explanation will answer your questions. If you have additional questions, feel free to write again.

Claude Mariottini

Thank you for your thoughts on this translation of...

2006-04-05T17:46:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your thoughts on this translation of elohim. I would appreciate any comments you might have on 1 Samuel 28:13:

The king said to her, "Have no fear; what do you see?" The woman said to Saul, "I see a divine being [elohim] coming up out of the ground." (NRSV)

For elohim:

NIV "a spirit"
KJV "gods"
LXX theos (?)
NASB "a divine being"
Vulgate deos (?)

I don't know Latin or biblical Greek that well, so perhaps I am misreading the text in those cases. This story about the "bringing up" of Samuel is troubling, and I think the translation of elohim in this verse is extremely problematic. Please offer your thoughts on this one.

Thanks again...

Dr. MariottiniI have enjoyed reading your posts. ...

2006-04-04T07:58:00.000-05:00

Dr. Mariottini

I have enjoyed reading your posts. I have a couple of thoughts on your post if you could comment. First, I agree with your translation of elohim as "God". In my opinion it appears that the psalmist is trying to convey a "ranking", so to speak, rather than the nature of humankind, by placing humankind below God but above the angels. Should'nt the words "a little lower" speak more of position rather than nature and thus the translation made simpler?

Second, I did not realize that the author of Hebrews quoted the Septuagint. I have always thought of the Septuagint as merely another translation from the original text but, would the fact that a NT author quoted it give the translation more credibility? I realize that translation is what the authors read and learned but would the fact that they were inspired by God to write scripture mean in any way that the translation should carry more weight? Also, how often is the Septuagint quoted in the NT.

Thanks so much for your work.