Beautiful Women or 'False Judgment'? Interpreting Genesis 6.2 in the Context of the Primaeval History

In Gen. 6.2 the sons of God see that the daughters of humankind are 'beautiful', yet the adjective used in 6.2 is not ‭הפי‬, 'beautiful, handsome', but ‭בוט‬, 'good'. An examination of the adjective ‭בוט‬ in the present study leads to the conclusion that ‭בוט‬ in Gen. 6...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kaminski, Carol M. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2008
In: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Year: 2008, Volume: 32, Issue: 4, Pages: 457-473
Further subjects:B beautiful
B sons of God
B approval formula
B Eve
B Genesis
B primaeval history
B Good
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In Gen. 6.2 the sons of God see that the daughters of humankind are 'beautiful', yet the adjective used in 6.2 is not ‭הפי‬, 'beautiful, handsome', but ‭בוט‬, 'good'. An examination of the adjective ‭בוט‬ in the present study leads to the conclusion that ‭בוט‬ in Gen. 6.2 does not mean 'beautiful', but 'good'. This study proposes that 6.2 is not connected to the 'beauty' motif found in the ensuing chapters of Genesis, but to the 'seeing...good' motif in the preceding creation story (Gen. 1-3). The conclusion is reached that what sets the story in motion is not the attractive appearance of the women, but the false judgment by the sons of God whose actions recall Eve's in Gen. 3.6.
ISSN:1476-6728
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0309089208092142