Message 3 of 5 Subject 6 of 7

Subject:         Re: Who Really Wrote the Quran?

Date:             11/22/2003 2:15 PM Eastern Standard Time

From:            MktSystms

Msgld:           <20031 122141537.19475.00035114@mbs-mO7aoLcom>

Green:>>That is true----God does not take on form in Judaism----BUT man WAS created in his image. Judaism is not a religion for concrete thinkers

The Hebrew word that is translated as “image” in English has absolutely nothing to do with form.

The phrase in Hebrew is b’tzalmeinu, and this means: in the mold We have prepared for man, not “in Our form” This refers to the mold created for man, i.e. in order to make him. It would be like when an architect creates blueprints before the actual construction takes place.

Even in English the word “image” does not necessarily connote a physical reproduction of similitude. It can also refer to “a mental picture of something not real or present”; “a standard or typical example as in He is the image of propriety;” “a mental conception held in common by members of a group;” “an idea or concept;” “a popular conception (as of a person, institution, or nation) as projected, as in a political candidates public image;” “or a personification of something specified: That child is the image of good health. In any of these contexts the verse could be rendered, even relying on the English usage, without implying that HaShem has any degree of corporeality.