How's do jws explain Genesis 35:18

by loosie 10 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • loosie
    loosie

    Genesis 35:18 (New World Translation)

    18 . . .And the result was that as her soul[a] was going out (because she died) she called his name Benoni; but his father called him Benjamin.. . .

    i never asked them and now I can't

  • I Want to Believe
    I Want to Believe

    The soul "going out" is equated to a candle's flame "going out": it doesn't actually go anywhere, it's just a phrase denoting it fading from existance.

    Or were you talking about her husband overriding her dying words by renaming their son? That was a jerk move with no good explaination.

  • mP
    mP

    Given "ben" means son in hebrew the word means son of xxx, i cant help you with the "oni" bit.

    Most bible readers completely fail to appreciate the many names in the OT are not names they are often labels that are making a statement about the person. In fact many times we know the character by this label rather than true name.. Solomon is a example where the name we use was not his brth name.

  • loosie
    loosie

    Yeah I meant the soul going out part. Seems that they are making it into something it's not.

  • jam
    jam

    Please explain, 1 King 17;21,22

    Elijah raises the widow,s son, "O LORD my God, let

    this child"s soul come (into him Again)." And the LORD

    hearkened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the

    child's soul (came into him again.)

  • transhuman68
    transhuman68

    The 1984 NWT reference Bible has a footnote showing that the word 'soul' is in Hebrew 'naph-shah' and a Google search of that word takes you to: http://bible.cc/genesis/35-18.htm where it says:

    And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, for she died,.... In childbirth; she had most passionately desired children, without which she could not live with ease and peace of mind, and now she dies by having one; see Genesis 30:1; and by this account of her death it appears, that death is the separation and disunion of soul and body; that at death the soul departs from the body; that the soul does not die with it, but goes elsewhere, and lives in a separate state, and never dies; it goes into another world, a world of spirits, even unto God that gave it, Ecclesiastes 12:7,

  • transhuman68
    transhuman68

    And just to confuse everyone, here's the Watchtower explanation from 'Insight on the Scriptures Volume II pg. 1006: Represents life as a creature. Both ne'phesh and psy·khe' are also used to mean life- not merely as an abstract force or principle- but life as a creature, human or animal.
    Thus when Rachel was giving birth to Benjamin, her ne'phesh (“soul," or life as a creature) went out from her and she died. (Ge 3 5: 16- 19)
    She ceased to be a living creature. Similarly, when the prophet Elijah performed a miracle regarding the dead son of the widow of Zarephath, the child's ne'phesh (“soul," or life as a creature) came back into him and “he came to life," was again a living creature.-1Ki 1 7: 17-23.

  • irondork
    irondork

    What about Mathew 10:8?

    And do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul...

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    From an earlier post of mine:

    Fascinating in his connection is the priestly legislation about ceremonial uncleanness arising from contact with a nephesh met "dead nephesh" or more probably "nephesh of a dead person" (cf. Leviticus 21:11, Numbers 6:6). The sense might be more the latter on account of the construct relationship and the parallel expression "nephesh of a man who dies" (nephesh ha-'adam 'asher yamût) in Numbers 19:13. If a person is out in the open and touches someone who has died, he or she would be unclean for a week (Numbers 19:16). But if a person is inside a tent at the time somebody dies, he does not have to touch the dying person to become unclean; he or she is unclean by virtue of being contained within a tent with the person (v. 15). This suggests that contact is made anyway in the air inside the tent. The following verse confirms this by adding that "every open vessel without a sealed cover" would become unclean as well if unsealed at the time of death (v. 16). The contents within a vessel exposed to the air become defiled in the presence of a person who dies; the departure of the nephesh into the air and confined by the ceiling and walls of the tent may be the implied agent of contamination.

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    As a dub, I always had trouble with Matt 10, because I knew that the argument was weak, and it seemed to say that body and soul were seperate.

    The "Insight book" says: p 1006 -1007

    "Jesus’ words at Matthew 10:28: “Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” While men can kill the body, they cannot kill the person for all time, inasmuch as he lives in God’s purpose (compare Lu 20:37, 38) and God can and will restore such faithful one to life as a creature by means of a resurrection. For God’s servants, the loss of their “soul,” or life as a creature, is only temporary, not permanent.—Compare Re 12:11."

    Just to confuse things further, it says also:

    "Soul and Spirit Are Distinct. The “spirit” (Heb., ru′ach; Gr., pneu′ma) should not be confused with the “soul” (Heb., ne′phesh; Gr., psy·khe′), for they refer to different things. Thus, Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the Word of God as ‘piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and their marrow.’ (Compare also Php 1:27; 1Th 5:23.) As has been shown, the soul (ne′phesh; psy·khe′) is the creature itself. The spirit (ru′ach; pneu′ma) generally refers to the life-force of the living creature or soul, though the original-language terms may also have other meanings."

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