I would like to remedy a flaw for English speakers in the book of Genesis. A flaw that may seem innocuous, but we must remember where the devil lives…in the details. If we are to fear the Lord, it behooves our translation committees to ensure that the fearfulness of God is clearly communicated. This brings us to the eighth verse in Genesis chapter three. The infamous “cool evening walk”. The image of a serene God taking an evening stroll to check in on his kids. Only to be met with children that respond with irrational fear. Seemingly due soley to their conscience. But this is a far too anthro-centric reasoning for their fear. What’s more, this is not a fair portrayal of the Hebrew. Our translations need to bother to communicate that, the visitation of God himself is the fearful thing, the arrival of divinity is a cause for trembling.

I am ever mindful of James Jordan’s caution about making too much of word study. Fear not, then, as I begin on my diatribe with linguistic minutiae, we will remerge to the macro. The phrase in question, ֵלרוּח היּוֹם is typically rendered “in the cool of the day” (ESV, NASB, KJV) or “breezy-time of day” [1]. This doesn’t seem overly congruent with how רוּח is used earlier in Genesis. Prior to 3:8 it has referred to the Spirit of God. Both in the hovering over creation and in the animation of Adam. Why then, is it being used as “cool”? “Breezy” at least gets you closer to Spirit domain. I am as surprised as you are that my one year of Hebrew was insufficient to solve this riddle. Surely, these translation committees know what they are doing. They must know something I don’t know. But my teeth couldn’t unclench the thought that the English was not doing the Hebrew justice. Thus, I turned to a Hebrew mind, Umberto Cassuto.

I consulted Cassuto’s commentary on Genesis and much to my pleasure found an ally. Cassuto acknowledges the uniqueness of this phrase “ֵלרוּח היּוֹם ” and he is also perturbed by its reckless translation. He is emphatic that this cannot mean “coolness or breezy”. As Cassuto works through the Rabbinic tradition, he points out that this may refer to something locationally, “on the East side”, or “the side that rises with the day”. He ends up synthesizing the Ugaritic and Arabic similarities and concluding that he would translate “ֵלרוּח היּוֹם ” as “at midday” or “in the hot of the day”. [2]. This gave me enough confidence to feel I wasn’t crazy.

While Cassuto gets us close, I felt there was still an itch left to scratch. The Leithartian call to “over tones” kept ringing in my ear. Instead of thinking strictly linguistically, let us look at sequence. What is happening in this event? The day in question is an implied seventh day. The Lord is drawing near to His creation by His Spirit. He then calls out to His creatures in order that they would respond. He then proceeds to judge mankind’s activity on the day, and dole out judgements. Let’s keep this framework in mind and consider what other events in Scripture follow a similar pattern.

We can start by taking a look at the entire book of Leviticus. God calls out instructions to His people on the seventh day. If the offering is performed faithfully, it is a pleasing aroma.

Isaiah 13:4-6 describes the blast of instruments, the arrival of judgement, all rushing toward the fearfulness of the Day of the Lord.

The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together!
The LORD of hosts is mustering a host for battle.
5 They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens,
the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.[a]
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
as destruction from the Almighty[b] it will come!

Ezekiel 30:2-4 describes the Lord assessing the works of Egypt and Ethiopia in judgement, as the Day of the Lord.

Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 For the day is near,
the day of the LORD is near;
it will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom for[a] the nations.
4 A sword shall come upon Egypt,
and anguish shall be in Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and her wealth[b] is carried away,
and her foundations are torn down

Joel 1:13-16 calls Israel to fast in light of their vineyards, and tree groves being destroyed so they may be ready for the Day of the Lord.

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;
wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
Because grain offering and drink offering are
withheld from the house of your God.
14 Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the LORD your God,
and cry out to the LORD.
15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the LORD is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty[a] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes, joy and gladness
from the house of our God?

What’ s more is that every Sunday, every “Lord’s Day” (Rev 1:10) God calls us, assesses us in confession, instructs us by His Word and distributes gifts and discipline at His table (1 Cor 11:20)3.4

Meredith Kline, in a more expansive essay, makes similar arguments about Genesis 3:8. He addresses not just the “cool of the day” but also the “voice of the Lord”. He points out the commonality with the “voice of the Lord” and other theophany descriptions to bolster the legitimate fear Adam and Eve feel. “Whether it is the sound of the advancing Glory or the sound of the Lord’s speaking from the midst of the Glory, the qol yhwh is characteristically loud, arrestingly loud.” [3]

Two things clearly emerge. The first is that Adam and Eve botch the first Eucharist. They partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil without discerning the body. They did not partake according to God’s Word and thus die. Second, the Lord’s visitation to them is the first Lord’s Day, the first Day of the Lord. The reason they are afraid is twofold; yes, they are now ashamed of their sin, but also the Triune God is manifesting His presence to them explicitly. Think of the terror at Mount Sinai, even though the people were far from it. Imagine now the power of God, the Spirit of God strolling into your garden. Thunder, rushing wind, blasts of trumpets. Tis not a tame God.

How then do we translate, “ֵלרוּח היּוֹם ”? Do I just ask Crossway to footnote this article in all future Bibles? …It’s not a bad idea. I must have patience, however, with the progress of God’s revelation. Paying respect to the Hebrew also means paying respect to the coyness with which God is alluding to the Day of the Lord. How do these two concepts then meet? How do we handle the odd linguistic scenario while considering fairly the obvious way similar events are named later in the canon? I suggest “by the Spirit of the day”. Thankfully, I am not alone in my conclusion as I take Kline’s work as a retroactive “atta boy”.

“We may then translate Genesis 3:8a: “They heard the sound of Yahweh God traversing the garden as the Spirit of the day.” The frightening noise of the approaching Glory theophany told them that God was coming to enter into judgment with them. The sound of judgment day preceded the awesome sight of the parousia of their Judge. It was evidently heard from afar before the searching, exposing beams of the theophanic light pierced through the trees in the midst of the garden. Momentarily, then, it seemed to them possible to hide from the eyes of Glory among the shadows of the foliage. Thus, inadvertently, they positioned themselves at the place of judgment in the midst of the trees of the garden, at the site of the tree of judicial discernment between good and evil.” [4] – Kline

If we can establish the reality of God’s visitation as being an awe-inspiring event, we can begin to taste the fear of the Lord. If the judicial nature of this act is heard more clearly in the minds of English speakers, we will conform ever so slightly closer to the mind of God.

Matt Corey, along with his wife and their three children live in Maine. He is a pastor in the CREC, a teacher at Mirus Academy, a writer, and musician.

Bibliography:

All Scripture: ESV: Study Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, 2016.

[1]: Fox, Everrett. “Genesis 3:8.” The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: A New Translation with Introductions, Commentary, and Notes, Schocken Books, New York, 2000.

[2]: Cassuto, Umberto. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis: From Adam to Noah, vol. 1, Varda Books, Skokie, IL, 2005, pp. 151–154.

[3.4]: Kline, Meredith. “Primal Parousia.” Meredith G. Kline Resource Site, 7 Dec. 2016, https://meredithkline.com/klines-works/articles-and-essays/primal-parousia/#.