@Daisy The most widely available form of the MT in print is BHS which is a reproduction of the text of the L (the Leningrad Codex) along with text critical notes. However, it won't do you much good unless you have at least a basic command of Hebrew. The WLC, a digitized version of L, is widely available online, e.g. Biblegateway. Glad I could help.

I'm going to get a basic command of Hebrew and Greek. Any suggestions?

Last question... Regarding: lexicons. There's an interpretation on the part of the people writing the lexicons when they ascribe meanings to the words. I can understand that it's a process and that it is a legitimate one. And obviously, a word can have several meanings. But how do we KNOW that they've ascribed the right meaning to a word? Isn't it fair to say that they're interpreting and may, at times, be incorrect?

@Daisy In some cases we do not know if a right meaning is ascribed, as even the lexicons will indicate questionable translations for words that are used rarely, or in a context that is wholly different than what is typical for the word. But generally, most words are well documented enough to have a grasp on the range of meanings, and then most range of meanings are then narrowed by the context of usage.

There are instances where a context could potentially still warrant a possibility between two meanings; in which case it comes down to comparing the choices in context and making a determination as to which is the better choice.

So yes, interpretation comes into play at times.

Really, your question on Gen 2:8 is interesting, in that I could see a possible argument for it being translated not spatially as "east" (like Gen 3:24), but temporally as "from before" or "from the beginning" (cf. Prov 8:22-23), simply because we are also working with the "beginnings" of things in Genesis ch. 1-2.

So it is possible that Gen 2:8 is not indicating the location of Eden, but rather indicating that the garden was planted previously, as in the 3rd day (Gen 1:11-13), and now attention is being focused on it because this is where God is going to place Adam. But against that, and for the east idea, is Gen 3:24, where it clearly appears to be directional and the same Hebrew preposition is used with the term.

hi Scott, thank you! I have another question for you, if that's ok? Can you click here: blueletterbible.org/kjv/isa/30/1/t_conc_709001

When you read the English words on the left side of the page, corresponding to the Hebrew words on the right side of the page, all the words prior to the last Hebrew word are missing from the concordance. Are those words missing from the texts?

@ScottS, I left you a message above... For example, this verse (above) in English (left side) from Isaiah, reads: "...with a covering but not of my Spirit..." But the only Hebrew words on the right are "macekah" (covering) ruwach (spirit). So were the English words "with a... but not of my" added?

THANK YOU, Scott -for the explanation above.

This crazy thing keeps erasing my words.

When you go to that link, on the left side of the page, it reads: "...with a covering but not of my spirit..." When you go to the right side of the page, it's missing the words "with a...but not of my." All it says is: maccekah ruwach (ruach). My question is: Are the words that are missing here (with a...but not of my) missing from the text?

@Daisy: The Hebrew on the right is, as the column notes, the "Root word," not the full in text word. "with a covering but not of my Spirit" is not just מַסֵּכָה (maccekah) and רוּחַ (ruwach), but rather מַסֵּכָה וְלֹא רוּחִי, so it is not showing interlinear the "but not" (וְלֹא) nor the 1st person possessive suffix ("of my"), which is the difference between רוּחַ (root) and רוּחִי (text). In short, you cannot translate simply using an interlinear.

Awesome. Thank you! Can I ask you another one? If no, no worries! If yes, can you tell me if the word "also" is in Hebrew in the MT of this verse. "Also" is after "tree of life" and before "in the midst of the garden." Want to know if "also" is in the MT there. It's not showing up in half the translations so I can't tell if it was added or not. THANK YOU

(Genesis 2:9) blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/2/1/t_conc_2009

I'll have the Hebrew down by next week.

:o)

@Daisy: Last one! "Also" is one way to express the waw conjunction on the word tree. The last part of the Hebrew, "וְטֹוב לְמַאֲכָל וְעֵץ הַֽחַיִּים בְּתֹוךְ הַגָּן וְעֵץ הַדַּעַת טֹוב וָרָֽע" could literally be rendered in more word-for-word order, "... and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

These were all things that God had "made grow," the and is what some translations put as "also," since it follows the "every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food."

Thanks!