Humans and nonhumans as נֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה and Ntu-Beings: Ecological appraisal of Genesis 2:7.19 in dialogue with African-Bantu Indigenous cosmology
The Hebrew text of Gen 2:7, 19 describes both humans and animals as nephesh hayya’ (living being). However, a large number of contemporary influential Bible translations render this expression differently for humans and animals. It is translated living being for humans (v.7), but living thing/creatu...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
SA ePublications
2022
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| In: |
Old Testament essays
Year: 2022, Volume: 35, Issue: 2, Pages: 149-171 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Hermeneutics
/ Human being
/ Animal species
/ Organism
/ Nefeš / Word
/ Bible. Genesis 2
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament HD Early Judaism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The Hebrew text of Gen 2:7, 19 describes both humans and animals as nephesh hayya’ (living being). However, a large number of contemporary influential Bible translations render this expression differently for humans and animals. It is translated living being for humans (v.7), but living thing/creature for animals (v.19). This is however not justified by any clue in the text, which views humans and non-humans as both adamah-beings and nephesh hayyah. Likewise, African-Bantu cosmology depicts humans and non-humans as ntu-beings (muntu: human being; kintu: non-human being; hantu: place and time; kuntu: means or approach).The root ntu in the word kuntu implies that the way muntu (human being) interacts with other beings (kintu, hantu) must be informed by a vision of nature not as a "thing" but a living being. In addition to elements of socio-historical approaches and African-Bantu indigenous cosmology, this study makes uses of a hermeneutics of suspicion and the Earth Bible principle of mutual custodianship to retrieve ecological wisdom of Gen 2 in the African context. |
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| ISSN: | 2312-3621 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Old Testament essays
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.17159/2312-3621/2022/v35n2a3 |