Any Hebrew-speaking Dopers who have studied the Bible/Torah:
King James Genesis 1:28 reads, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Italics mine.)
What’s the Hebrew word for “dominion” in this context, and what does it imply/connote in that language?
My Jewish translation into English reads
God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth.”
Haj
Screwed that up…
God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”
Haj
The Hebrew word is radah (resh dalit he), reign or rule.
Does that have a connotation of stewardship and responsibility? (I suppose you could make a case that all rulerships have a responsibility, but…)
Thanks to both of you!
The actual word in the Hebrew version is **ורדו ** (If you can’t see this on your monitor – U-r’du.) This is in the imperative tense, plural, but what matters is that the ROOT is, indeed, R.D.H (or more properly R.D.Y.)
The modern meaning of the root is “Lord it over” (sorry! :)), “be a tyrant” – the Hebrew word for “Tyrant” is “Rodan”, from the same root.
In biblical Hebrew, I’m pretty sure the meaning was just “rule over”, “control” – so, in the end, what the other guys have said…
I’d say that yes, it does connote “rulership”, and thus responsibility; but this is a word whose meaning appears to have changed greatly from biblical times, so you’d need a real bible scholar, not a mere speaker of Modern Hebrew, to tell you that conclusively.
Hope this helps
Dani