Summary Of Carol Meyer's Translation

Carol Meyer’s translation of Genesis reads similar to the NRSV version translation. The main difference I see comes from the neutral phrasings used for the first human prior to the “cosmic surgery,” where the first human would become a man and a woman, Adam and Eve. One issue with the Meyer translation that I found unsatisfactory is the use of neutral pronouns. This is a nit-picky issue for me because the neutral phrasing might translate better, tone wise, in the original tongue of the writing. However, English does not have a very effective word to describe a person in the neutral tense, so I found it awkward reading the neutral pronoun, “it.” “It” sounds impersonal and distancing, as the word tends to denote something that is an “other,”
or atypical (I think of the Stephen King book, It, when regarding this, particularly Pennywise the Clown). Another interesting part of the reading is the section pertaining to the Eve writing, on the subject of the creative forces of the Eve figure. This section in Eve reads that “‘create’ is the same as the word used in the Bible for the Creative power of God.” I found this an interesting read because of the potentially blasphemous translation of Eve “creating a person equally/together with the Lord.” The part of interest for me is the term “equally,” as it is my understanding that the concept of “God” is a subject that is higher than everything. So a human being equal to God would mean that either the God of the Bible is not a god or that Eve is a Goddess. Personally, to reconcile my understanding of the readings with my small knowledge, I would think that Eve conceived the baby human with Adam, and using Eve’s biology, and Adam's semen, God knits the baby human inside of her. Hence, “Creating a person ‘together’ with the Lord.” In my opinion, this would be the superior translation. It reconciles Carol Meyer’s writing in that Eve provides the raw materials for creation, and it also places God as a god, which should be why the word for “create” is used in the beginning when he makes everything, as well as when he knits the baby inside of Eve. It is a creative power of God acting through the bodies of his creation.