Versions

Today's post is a little different than my first two posts. Today I read Genesis 7 - 10. I was reading the story of the flood. In this story, we can see God's relationship with Noah and how raw God was with him in telling him everything that He was doing. 

Well let me just get to the point of why I titled this post "VERSIONS". One of the major things about God, which I love, is His words. I love it when God promises something. Why? Well, that's simple. It's because God cannot go back on His word. God is not a liar. When God promises a good thing, we can be sure that the good thing He promised will surely happen! I hope that is encouraging for you today.

The promise that God told Noah is in Genesis 9:11 "I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And sometimes when God makes a promise, He gives a sign to remind us of that promise, and here is where my dilemma is formed.

In the English Standard Version (ESV) of the bible it says that this is the sign (v13) "I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." and in some other versions it says "I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth." I know this may or may not be a big thing for some, but for me having "bow" and "rainbow" makes the image a little different. 

From what I hear and see and researched, it seems like the English Standard Version is the version that goes to great extent to be as literal as possible to the original manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures. With that said, I wonder why some versions have "rainbow" and others have "bow". So seeing how the ESV is possibly the closest to the original text, could it be that the word "bow" was used because that's what God had said, and later because we know the science behind a rainbow put the pieces together of the event and see that God was talking about a rainbow?

Well when looking at a rainbow, it does look like a bow

Well, like I said before, to some, this may not be that big of a deal, but for me, this is how much attention I pay to the words that are in the Bible. That's the reason why I love this book so much! When looking at how long ago it's been written, then centuries later, by different writers, and still stays consistent regardless of that, I can't help but to just stand in awe of the authenticity of the text and how real God is to me.