# Settling argument re: Old Testament **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 8, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383 "2002-10-08T16:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/21 "2002-10-11T01:27:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dougie\_monty \* > \*\*_Originally posyed by Zev Steinhart_ > > I beg to differ, Zev. 🙂 > According to the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary in Dr. James Strong’s _Concordance,_ the Hebrew name _Adam_ is indeed akin to _dam,_ “blood”; it is also akin, according to Strong, to _adamah,_ as you note. 🙂 \*\* **Zev Steinhart** and **dougie\_monty** , I think you’re both right. The name _Adam_, spelled _aleph-daleth-mem_, can be analyzed as _aleph_ + _dam_ ‘blood’, in addition to the whole word originally meaning ‘red earth’. That it’s red earth is significant here. Why is the Red Sea called that? Some say it’s because of the red color of the ground near its shores. The ancient land of Edom near the Red Sea is named from the same Hebrew root as Adam, because of its red earth. What makes earth red is the presence of iron oxide, the same compound that makes blood red. Hemoglobin in blood turns red when oxidized, which is why arterial blood (coming from the lungs) is a brighter red color, as it’s carrying oxygen. In Kabbalah symbolism, the letter _aleph_ is associated with the element “Air.” The air of the breath combined with the blood makes red. Therefore, red earth (iron oxide), similar to red blood (hemoglobin iron oxide): Adam. Coincidentally, _dam_ means ‘breath’ in Persian. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/22 "2002-10-11T03:34:20Z")
OK, that’s just way too much coincidences and symbolism for me. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/23 "2002-10-11T04:21:27Z")
av8rmike writes: \> Seriously, he usually pulls this stuff, says things like, “I know I \> read it somewhere, but can’t remember where,” but then \> expects us to take what he’s saying as God’s honest truth. I don’t think your problem is one that can be solved in General Questions. Your problem is not the answer to a specific question (that was solved very quickly, and it’s not really a help to you); rather, your problem is that your father is stubborn and unwilling to listen to you or anyone else when he is contradicted. Why don’t you go over to the forum IMHO and start a thread called something like “What can I do about my father who refuses to be corrected by anyone else, no matter how wrong he is?”. ---
**Author:** ![NeutronJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neutronjack/32/4134_2.png) [@NeutronJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeutronJack)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/24 "2002-10-11T04:34:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > **Well, since the vast majority of the people in the world believe that the Bible was originally written in Hebrew,** Really? I would imagine that the vast majority of the people in the world have no opinion on the subject. Christians make up only about a third of the population of the world ([http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm](http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm)), and I doubt that most of them have any idea what language the bible may have been written in. Even adding Muslims and Jews (if we’re speaking of the OT) only brings up the total to 53%, hardly a “vast majority”, even if they _all_ believed it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/25 "2002-10-11T04:34:45Z")
Wait! You mean that **av8rmike** ’s father is really the person who posts to the SDMB as [_NAME DELETED_] ? ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/26 "2002-10-11T13:13:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > **I don’t think your problem is one that can be solved in General Questions. Your problem is not the answer to a specific question (that was solved very quickly, and it’s not really a help to you); rather, your problem is that your father is stubborn and unwilling to listen to you or anyone else when he is contradicted** Sure it can, and as you said, it basically was. **av8rDad** (;)) gave me some factoid that he thought he’d heard somewhere but wasn’t sure about. The factual question was, “was the Old Testament originally written in Hebrew or something else? Where/how might this misconception have originated?” **DDG** and **zev** have provided enough evidence to convince me he’s wrong; if he wants to prove himself right, he’ll have to show me his evidence. If there’s any more factual evidence (either way) anyone wants to present, please do so, otherwise, take the rest of the discussion to GD. And thanks, **Wendell** , but I’ll figure out how to deal with my dad. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/27 "2002-10-11T13:36:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrNeutron \* > \*\*Really? I would imagine that the vast majority of the people in the world have no opinion on the subject. Christians make up only about a third of the population of the world ([http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm](http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm)), and I doubt that most of them have any idea what language the bible may have been written in. > > Even adding Muslims and Jews (if we’re speaking of the OT) only brings up the total to 53%, hardly a “vast majority”, even if they _all_ believed it. \*\* Fair enough, I suppose. I may have overstated it a bit. But, in any event, we’ve pretty much established here that the Bible (or at least the “OT”) was written in Hebrew. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383/28 "2002-10-12T17:39:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > \*\*ROFL, Zev!!! 🙂 > > Seriously, after posting the above, a real question related to this topic occurred to me: > > The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures, contains a fair number of books beyond what the Jewish Bible and Protestant Old Testament include, these being what are generally referred to by Catholics as the deuterocanonical books and by Anglicans and Protestants as the Apocrypha. They were apparently considered Scripture by the Seventy but were not written in Hebrew (except for the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sirach) and were not included in the canon accepted at Jamnia. (These too may have contributed to the “translated into Hebrew” idea of the OP.) > > What status do they have in Jewish thought and reading? Do you ever look at Tobit or First Maccabees? Do you consider them of (religious) value? \*\* The late, very controversial philosopher, Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz made a point about rabbinic Judaism relationship with the Bible. Here is a quote from Rabbi David Hartman’s book _A Heart of Many Rooms_, describing Leibowitz’s views: > [@](#): > > The sanctity of the Bible in Jewish life is not a result of revelation but rather of the rabbis’ decision to endow the twenty-four books of the Bible with sanctity. The normative authority of the Talmud, not divine intervention in history, established the canon. If you regard the Bible as authoratative only within the framework of the legal authority of the Jewish tradition, you are not forced to regard the Bible as a source of normative direction - that is, as Torah and mitzvah. Thus, Leibowitz neutralized the problem of the Bible’s factual truth claims by asserting that factuality is the business of science and has no intrinsic religious significance. Judaism is concerned with how we act in the presence of God. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settling-argument-re-old-testament/131383.md?page=1)