This is not my idea. It is the idea of Pat J. Heil http://pajheil.blogspot.com
It is very intriguing!
...But
I’m very proud of myself for having the perseverance to dig out the
evidence. In Genesis 1:26 where it uses b’tsalmenu and ki-d’mutenu, most
people assume that it’s the royal “we”, Gd saying in our form and
likeness.
But look at Genesis 18:22, odenu omed, he was still standing, Genesis 44:14 hu odenu sham he was still there, and Genesis 43:9, eervonu for Yehudah going bail for Binyamin as far as bringing him back.
So -nu is not always “our”. As in Genesis 1:26 naaseh is a nifal 3rd masculine singular with adam as its grammatical subject and logical object, so you have to look deeper into the context before deciding that -nu has to be 1st plural.
Turn it over and over, you never come to the end of it.
Yes, I have documented these citations in my book.
Been awhile since I learned (and taught) dikduk, but as I recall, the dagesh in the nun is the key.
ReplyDeleteWith no dagesh = "we", with dagesh = "he" or "him"