“Adam and Eve Aren’t Who You Thought,” Scholar Says

A self-taught Jewish Biblical scholar in Texas is fashioning an entirely new allegorical interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, discovering rich motivational lessons and spiritual guidance from the Book that have gone unexplored by scholars and Jewish and Christian clergy until now. Drawing on his extensive study of ancient Semitic languages beyond Hebrew –including Akkadian, Syriac-Aramaic, Arabic, Ugaritic (a rediscovered Semitic language), Amharic (a Semitic language in Ethiopia), and Sabaic (a language of southern Arabia), David Kolinsky has written an extensively researched translation and commentary of the first parashah (portion) of the Hebrew Bible. Having already translated the entire Torah and many other books of the Old Testament allegorically, he anticipates writing commentary on each portion of the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) and on some of the writings (Esther, Jonah, and Ruth) in the years to come.

“My intent is not to replace previous understandings of the Torah,” said Kolinsky - the founder and teacher of this new approach – “But rather to provide a deep dive into an allegorical understanding of the Torah based on the alternate meanings of even the seemingly simplest words and names. The Torah itself is rich with word play,“ Kolinsky notes. For example, Adam and his wife are described as ערום (arum) “naked” in Genesis 2:25 and in the following verse, the snake is described as ערום (arum) “cunning.” Such word play is elucidated by Kolinsky’s understanding of the underlying Semitic roots. While seemingly identical, the first word, arum, (ערום) meaning ”naked“ evolved from the word arah (ערה) ”naked” and the second from the word rymah (deceptive רימה).

“Whether a person believes that the Torah is Divine, Divinely inspired, or of human authorship, I am hoping that these understandings will intrigue and engage both people interested in the Bible as well as those interested in what can be gleaned from the Torah’s allegory about human nature and behavior,” Kolinsky said.

Another of his findings relates to the first family of Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. Kolinsky explains that in Torah allegory, each character represents a human archetype -a pattern of human behavior- that interacts and to some extent struggles within the mind of each person. From the verb DaMAH (דמה “to think imaginatively and make comparisons”), Adam represents “a person’s thinking” or musing over his many options. “To me, it brings to mind Rodin’s sculpture, The Thinker, lost in his own thoughts, but in crucial ways utterly inert,” Kolinsky says. ”As an archetype, Adam needs some support and guidance.”

Enter Chava (known to English readers as Eve חוה). Her name is traditionally tied to the word for life, “Chai,” but, Kolinsky says, her name also means “one who points things out and instructs.” In the Bible’s words, Eve is an “ezer k’negdo” - a helper in opposition to Adam’s “thinking.” Her role is to take Adam’s thoughts and turn them into action, Kolinsky says, an archetype that, in some marriages, persists today.

Kolinsky says the next generation also represents the next stage of how our minds function cognitively. From the verb QaNaH (קנה to visually fix on things and acquire ), their first son Cain (קין) represents our repeatedly evaluating our many choices. From the Arabic root, his brother’s name Abel represents “a person’s ability to avail oneself of an opportunity.” From this reading, Abel’s name and archetype leads us to make an informed decision based on our many choices. However, Cain kills Abel. In other words, our constant evaluation of those choices (as represented by Cain), kills off our ability to avail ourselves of those opportunities (Abel).

“I am not saying that the traditional reading of the text is wrong,” says Kolinsky, “but the rich text of the Torah has always been understood on multiple levels of interpretation.” Here Kolinsky is using the related sister languages and the underlying etymological connections and connotations of these words and names to view the text from another angle, another perspective. “I think people will be both enchanted and spiritually moved by the hidden meanings of the text that the ancient roots of the words convey.”

Kolinsky reiterates that taking a fresh eye to the Hebrew scriptures did not originate with him, nor does he expect his to be the final word. “One of the many commentators of the Hebrew text that I greatly appreciate and admire is the 19^th century German, Orthodox Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.” Although Kolinsky’s etymological paradigm is more conservative than that of Hirsch and Kolinsky’s commentary is allegorical, Hirsch also authored an etymological dictionary of Biblical Hebrew that he used in his biblical commentary.

In a similar fashion, Dr. Martin Worthington, an Assyriologist and professor previously at St. John’s College of Cambridge University, England, shows that double entendres were also used in the Semitic language of Akkadian in the “Epic of Gilgamesh.”

“I hope that my work will build on his and the hundreds of others who have engaged with and illuminated these sacred texts,” Kolinsky added.

Kolinsky invites interested readers of all faiths and non-faith to his new website TorahAllegory.org. There, one can find his first full-length commentary entitled “And There Was Evening and There Was Morning,” his 900+ page etymological dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, and many blogs and examples that elucidate his allegorical understanding of the Torah at TorahAllegory: https://www.torahallegory.org

Alongside the usual translation of the text, readers may be delighted to discover unique allegorical interpretations of each verse and detailed explanations that have never before been presented or discussed.

Kolinsky, who is 56 years old, earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Political Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis and his medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He lives in Plano, Texas with his two children, and their dog, Canela.

He has dedicated himself to biblical research and writing full time. A native of Monsey, New York, Kolinsky teaches students and adults Biblical Hebrew and Torah part time at various venues. He is one of the regular prayer leaders and Torah readers at Congregation Nishmat Am in Plano.

Kolinsky can be contacted at:
(831) 236-0772
yishalom0411@gmail.com

Contact Information

David Kolinsky

Author

(1) (831) 236-0772

yishalom0411@gmail.com