Changing the Text, NIV?

Assorted retorts from yahoo boards and elsewhere : Paulogia took on the Tower · Creation vs. Evolution : Changing the Text, NIV? · Durupınar Alternative to Judi? Three Remarks

Here we have a text:

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there. [a] Or from the east; or in the east [b] That is, Babylonia Genesis 11 NIV on Biblegateway https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+11&version=NIV

Why would they want "eastward"?

Coordinates: 39°42.113′N 44°17.899′E [2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ararat

Some consider Noah landed "on Mount Ararat" (Aghri Daghi) rather than less precisely "in the mountains of Ararat / Urartu / Armenia". This is where the 44°17.899′E coordinate comes in. Now, look at footnote b, "that is Babylonia", let's take Eridu, since some identify Tower of Babel with Ziggurat of Eridu, and since Eridu is clearly in Babylonia:

Coordinates 30°48′57″N 45°59′46″E
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eridu

So, if mankind or its élite left Noah's landing place and went to a plain where they built Babel, and if landing place was Mount Ararat and if Babel was at Eridu, they would have gone a bit less than two degrees eastward. And a bit less than nine degrees southward.

So, if you go two degrees eastward and nine degrees southward, you can resume the journey as "eastward"? Fine. Does the Hebrew say "eastward"? No.

Let's take a look.

The following is extracted from Hebrew interlinear Genesis 11
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/11.htm

way·hî		And had
ḵāl		all
hā·’ā·reṣ		the earth
śā·p̄āh		language
’e·ḥāṯ;		one
ū·ḏə·ḇā·rîm		and speach
’ă·ḥā·ḏîm.		one
way·hî		and it came to pass
bə·nā·sə·‘ām		as they journeyed
miq·qe·ḏem;		from the east
way·yim·ṣə·’ū		that they found
ḇiq·‘āh		a plain
bə·’e·reṣ		in the land
šin·‘ār		of Shinar

Can we be sure that "miq·qe·ḏem" means "from the east"? That would conflict with a journey from Mount Ararat to Eridu. Well, let's take Numbers 34. There we have "eastward" and we have "from the wilderness". We'll look at both. And one more word.

The context is God giving Israelites their land, and before anyone gets into a discussion on Zionism, I consider Palestinians as Israelites and more precisely Catholic Palestinians as covenant-keeping Israelites. But back to Numbers 34 verse 3.

The following is extracted from Hebrew interlinear Numbers 3
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/numbers/34.htm

wə·hā·yāh		And shall be
lā·ḵem		Your
pə·’aṯ-		border on
ne·ḡeḇ		the Negev
mim·miḏ·bar-		from the Wilderness
ṣin		of Zin
‘al-		along
yə·ḏê		the border
’ĕ·ḏō·wm;		of Edom
wə·hā·yāh		then shall extend
lā·ḵem		your
gə·ḇūl		border on
ne·ḡeḇ,		the Negev
miq·ṣêh		to the end
yām-		of Sea
ham·me·laḥ		the Salt
qê·ḏə·māh.		eastward

So, "eastward" is qê·ḏə·māh, not miq·qe·ḏem, while "from the Wilderness of Zin" is mim·miḏ·bar-sin. It would seem that the "mi + consonant doubling" preposition means "from".

On the other hand, we also have "miq·ṣêh" translated as "to the end". Could it be that the preposition is really "miq" and that consonant doubling after "mi" in the one case is because miq is followed by a q, and in the other because q+m become m+m?

I do not know, as I am not a Hebraist (meaning, I do not know Hebrew). But at least, a normal word for eastward would be qê·ḏə·māh rather than miq·qe·ḏem, and mi plus double consonant or miq (becoming mim before m) would mean from rather than to.

LXX and Vulgate both translate miq·qe·ḏem as "from the East".

Obviously, if the landing place is Mount Judi and Babel is Göbekli Tepe, we get a different picture.

Coordinates: 37°22′10″N 42°20′39″E
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Judi

Coordinates: 37°13′23″N 38°55′21″E
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe

OK, 9 minutes North to South (that's 1/6 - 1/7 of a degree) and 3° (degrees) 25' (minutes) 18" (seconds) East to West, I think that would qualify as "from the East". The classic translation. Not the one favoured by NIV.

And if Shinar is all Mesopotamia rather than just South or Lower Mesopotamia aka Babylonia, there is no problem placing it in Göbekli Tepe (or Gobbling Turkey, as a friend of mine used to mock my position).

Hans Georg Lundahl
Bibliothèque Pompidou
St. Lucian of Beauvais
and Companions, martyrs
8.I.2020

Bellovaci, in Galliis, sanctorum Martyrum Luciani Presbyteri, Maximiani et Juliani. Horum duo ultimi a persecutoribus gladio perempti sunt; beatus autem Lucianus, qui, una cum sancto Dionysio, in Galliam venerat, et ipse, post nimiam caedem, cum Christi nomen viva voce confiteri non timuisset, priorum sententiam excepit.

I'll have to ask a Latinist about "excepit" too ...