All major English translations correctly place a period immediately after the second phrase,
"the windows of heaven were opened." This accurately translates the Hebrew text which prescribes
the sentence break with a pausal (Owens, 1989). Furthermore, the verbs in the first sentence are
in the perfect tense, and the verb in the second sentence is in the imperfect tense. The text groups
the first two phrases together in one sentence, and the third phrase in a separate sentence.
If "the windows of heaven were opened" is an adverbial phrase, it should be in the same sentence with
the event it is modifying. That is not the case. Instead, the first two phrases are grouped together
in one sentence, and the third phrase is separated in a sentence by itself. Thus, the sentence structure
supports three events.
This page is in development 2/11/2014
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Copyright 2014 Mark Amunrud. All rights reserved.
